Darien Arts Center Stage Holds Auditions for Spring Production

Auditions for the DAC Stage production of Baby, by Richard Maltby, Jr. and David Shire, are being held on Sunday, January 8 at 6:00 p.m. and Monday, January 9 at 7:30 p.m., with callbacks on Tuesday, January 10 at 8:30 p.m. in the DAC Weatherstone Studio. Several adults, ages 18 and older, need to be cast for the production, which will run on weekends from April 21 through May 6.

There is nothing more exciting, frightening and utterly transformational than impending parenthood. In Baby, three couples work their way towards parenthood under three very different sets of circumstances. The musical, full of heart and joy, examines how parents-to-be experience the emotional stresses and triumphs, as well as the desperate lows and the comic highs that accompany the anticipation and arrival of a baby.

The three couples on a university campus deal with the painful, rewarding and agonizingly funny consequences of the universal experience of pregnancy and upcoming parenthood. There are the college students, barely at the beginning of their adult lives; the thirty-somethings, having trouble conceiving but determined to try; and the middle-aged parents, looking forward to seeing their last child graduate from college…when a night of unexpected passion lands them back where they started.

A multi-generational adult cast is sought and actors should come prepared to sing and read. Sheet music will be required for auditioning and music should be provided in the proper key, as the pianist will not have time to transpose music for singers who are auditioning.

Parts to be cast are:

Danny Hopper - A composer and baseball player in his Junior year of college. Lizzie's loving and supportive boyfriend. 18 to 25 years old. Vocal range top: A4. Vocal range bottom: A2.

Lizzie Fields - A composer in her Junior year of college. Danny's bright-eyed, loving, sincere girlfriend. 18 to 25 years old. Vocal range top: F5. Vocal range bottom: G3

Alan Mcnalley - A college administrator fighting for the youth and for a second chance. Married to Arlene. 40s to 50s years old. Vocal range top: F4. Vocal range bottom: B2.

Arlene Mcnalley - Alan's wife, a dedicated community volunteer, who is weighing the aspects of a patterned life with children or an empty nest. 40s to 50s years old. Vocal range top: Ab5. Vocal range bottom: B2.

Pam Sakarian - A neurotic, eager, go-getting women's collegiate basketball coach desperately wanting a child. Married to Nick. 30s to 40s years old. Vocal range top: F5. Vocal range bottom: G2.

Nick Sakarian - Danny's collegiate baseball coach and Husband to Pam. Quirky and playful. 30s to 40s years old. Vocal range top: F#4. Vocal range bottom: B2.

Additionally, an ensemble of friends and townspeople will be cast. Rehearsals are two weeknights and one weekend day per week from February 4 until tech week, with no rehearsals during the week of February 18 through 25. Performances are April 21, 22, 28, 29 & May 5, 6 at 8 p.m., and April 23 & 30 at 2 p.m.

The DAC Weatherstone Studio is located at 2 Renshaw Road, Darien, CT 06820, behind Darien Town Hall. For more information about auditions, contact the director, Carin Zakes at czakes@me.com. For more information about the DAC, visit darienarts.org.

Pictured are DAC Stage committee members Donna Wyant, Anne Ernst Wright, Joseph Maker, Regina Elliott, Abbie Van Nostrand, Dana Fead, Autumn Howard, Joan Carlo, Carin Zakes and Peter Green outside the DAC Weatherstone Studio, located at 2 Renshaw Road, behind Town Hall.