Gallery 7 Theatre and Performing Arts will be holding open auditions for its final production of the 2012/2013 “Theatre for Life!” season, The Foreigner, a hilarious comedy by Larry Shue. The audition, to be held on Wednesday, April 3 at 6:30 PM, is open to male performers ages 16 & up and female performers ages 18 and up.
Charlie, a pathologically shy young man, is a little down on his luck of late. His best friend “Froggy”, a munitions expert in the British Army, treats Charlie to a vacation at a small fishing lodge in rural Georgia. Before leaving, Froggy announces to all that Charlie is from an exotic foreign country and can’t speak a lick of English. And so the fun begins. As Charlie listens in on sinister plots and scandalous revelations, he unwittingly becomes the catalyst to righting what has been wronged. Written by one of America’s great comic writers, this is a hilarious play with a classic ‘good versus bad’ story at its heart.
“The Foreigner is pure fun, filled with adventure, intrigue and even a touch of romance,” explains Ken Hildebrandt, Gallery 7 Theatre’s Executive Artistic Director. “For those looking for a little spiritual and intellectual nourishment, there’s a few food-for-thought things sprinkled in too about relationships, racism and truth verses lies.”
Following its premiere in Milwaukee, The Foreigner opened in the fall of 1984 at New York City’s Astor Place Theatre, where it ran for 686 performances over 2 years. The play won two Obie and two Outer Critics Circle Awards including Best New American Play and Best Off-Broadway Production, and was named by the American Theatre Critics Association as one of the best regional theatre plays for the 1983/1984 season. The Foreigner has become a staple comedy for both community and professional theatres, and is perhaps one of the most performed and most loved modern comedies.
The cast consists of five male and two female characters, and will be directed by Carissa Boynton. Boynton has directed numerous productions for Gallery 7 Theatre, including Robinson Crusoe and the popular Tuesdays with Morrie. The show will run June 7 & 8, 13 – 15, 20 – 22, 2013 at the MEI Auditorium, 4081 Clearbrook Road, Abbotsford. Rehearsals will commence April 8, and will occur on Monday, Wednesday and Thursday evenings from 6 to 10PM. Two Saturday rehearsals will also be held.
Those interested in working behind the scenes in such areas as stage management, sound operation, running crew and others are also invited to attend the audition. For more information, or to register for the audition, please call 604-504-5940 or email info@gallery7theatre.com.