Auditions

Audition details

All are welcome to audition for CCP. For this production we are seeking performers age 15 and up. No need to sign up for a time slot. Audition times are allocated in order of arrival. If you don’t like to wait, we recommend arriving later.

Preparing for auditions

• We are looking to cast 20-25 singers aged 15 and up
• This will be a music intensive experience offering opportunities for solos, duets, small groups, and large chorus. All cast members will be in the full chorus numbers. This year we are looking to have fewer chorus numbers and focus more on opportunities for solos and small groups.
• Prepare 32 measures of a song (no more than 2 minutes) of your choice that fits the Jazz Age era of the 1920s and 1930s.
• An accompanist will be provided. Please bring a copy of your music, in your key, clearly marking your start and end point for the pianist, printed double-sided and in a 3-ring binder. Please do not staple your music.
• Be aware that you may be asked to sing a selection from the show at auditions.
• You will be asked to complete an actor agreement. Please bring a performance resume if you have one. If under age 18, a parent signature is required on the Actor Agreement.
• Bring a listing of all your potential rehearsal conflicts from October 2025 through mid-January 2026.
• Bring a headshot. A simple selfie is all that is needed.
• In-person auditions are strongly preferred
  

Rehearsals:

• Beginning in early October, rehearsals will generally be held once a week through early December at Hamline Church in St. Paul.
• We will not have rehearsals around Thanksgiving and will break for a period of time leading up to Christmas.
• All cast members must be available to participate in rehearsals the week between Christmas and New Years at Plymouth Playhouse.
• All cast members will be asked to contribute a $30 activity fee
  

Performances:

• Plymouth Playhouse in Plymouth, MN
  • Friday, January 2 at 7:00 pm
  • Saturday, January 3 at 2:00 pm AND 7:00 pm
• Hamline Church United Methodist in St. Paul.
  • Sunday, January 11 at 4:00 pm
    

Concert repertoire

Our concert will feature Jazz Age music of the 1920s and 1930s. Think Hollywood musicals starring Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers and Harlem’s “Cotton Club”. This was a golden era for American music, bursting with innovation, rhythm, and cultural transformation. While jazz was often driven by performers and bandleaders, several composers and songwriter-performers shaped the soundscape of the time with iconic works that still resonate today. The following is provided for reference only; this is not our concert program.

Here’s a curated list of key Jazz Age composers who defined the era. Please note, this list is for illustration purposes and is not our concert program.

Major Composers & Songwriters

Composer	Signature Contributions & Style
Duke Ellington	Sophisticated orchestration; classics like Mood Indigo, It Don’t Mean a Thing (If It Ain’t Got That Swing)
George Gershwin	Blended jazz with classical; Rhapsody in Blue, An American in Paris, Porgy and Bess
Irving Berlin	Tin Pan Alley legend; wrote Puttin’ on the Ritz, Blue Skies, and Cheek to Cheek
Fats Waller	Pianist and entertainer; known for Ain’t Misbehavin’ and Honeysuckle Rose
Jelly Roll Morton	Early jazz pioneer; King Porter Stomp, Black Bottom Stomp; claimed to have “invented jazz”
Cole Porter	Sophisticated lyrics and melodies; Night and Day, Let’s Do It (Let’s Fall in Love)
Richard Rodgers	With Lorenz Hart, created jazzy Broadway hits like The Lady Is a Tramp
Benny Goodman	Clarinetist and bandleader; Sing, Sing, Sing helped define swing