Maryville Young Players holds auditions

The Maryville Young Players will be holding auditions for the 2017 play “Honk Jr.”

“Honk Jr.” marks the 11th show that Pat Immel and Vanessa Parsons have produced. They came up with the idea of starting Maryville Young Players around 12 years ago. They had noticed there were a lot of summer activities in the community for children interested in sports, but there were few opportunities for children who enjoyed signing, dancing, theatre and fine arts.

“Princess and the Pea” was the first MYP show and had a cast of 38 students performing. Each year, the program has grown with 2016 tipping the scales with 196 children participating in the production of “Peter Pan.”

“There is no way we could do what we do without the support of the community and parents. People see the value in it,” Immel said.

Students who are interested in participating in the 2017 play may register online at www.maryvilleyoungplayers.org/ under the “Honk Jr.” tab. Registrations are due by Thursday, April 20.

Those who wish to try out for a speaking role including lead and supporting roles need to audition. Auditions will be held from 6:30 to 8:30 pm, Friday, April 21 and from 9:30 am to 2:30 pm, Saturday, April 22. Children have the choice of two songs to sing as well as choosing one of six sections of lines to memorize for their audition. More information about the roles can be found on the website.

Students who do not wish to try out for a speaking role will be cast into a chorus and do not have to audition.

Children who get a speaking role will participate in pre-camp days. These are extra working days before the general camp/practices begin when they will work on memorizing their lines and movement.

“We try to pick shows that will provide more students with bigger roles. There are lots of shows we could do that only have six roles with lines. That just doesn’t fit the type of show we want to do. We want to give more opportunities,” Immel said.

The children are also split into two casts, allowing for more opportunities for the children to explore different roles.

The general camp is held from May 23 to June 9. Cast one will meet from 1:15 to 3:15 pm each day while cast two meets from 3:30 to 5:30 pm. During the camp, there are additional enrichment classes offered including topics on improvisation, set design, choreography, song writing and others.

The performances will be at 2 pm and 7:30 pm on Saturday and Sunday, June 10 and 11.

The fee is $75 for the first child and $65 for each subsequent child in a family. The fee includes a shirt, snacks each day, enrichment classes and other amenities.

There are a few scholarships available to pay for the entry fee. Those interested can email MaryvilleYoungPlayers@gmail.com.

“It’s a lot of work, but not everything is about money. It’s a great way to give back, it’s nice to give back to the kids,” Immel said.