Mary Poppins 2020

• High School Students - students from Central Catholic & St. Thomas Aquinas are invited to audition at their respective schools.
  St. Thomas Aquinas High School Auditions - Tuesday, November 19 from 5:00-7:00 pm - Auditions in the 1st Floor Choir Room
  Central Catholic High School Auditions - Wednesday, November 20 from 5:00-7:00 pm - Auditions in the 3rd Floor Choir Room
  Students will be notified by the director if they need to attend callbacks on Tuesday, November 26, 5:30-7:30 pm at Aquinas.
  
• Elementary Students - students from any Stark County Catholic Elementary School, in grades 4-8, are invited to audition. Please note, elementary students will primarily serve ensemble roles with the exception of Jane and Michael Banks. All students will audition at St. Michael Catholic School, located at 3431 St. Michael Blvd, Canton. Auditions will be held in the St. Michael Room, which can be accessed from the church entrance. Signs will be posted. 
  Elementary Auditions - Monday, November 25 from 3:30-6:00 pm - Auditions in the St. Michael Room
  Students will be notificed by the director if they need to attend callbacks on Tuesday, November 26, 5:30-7:30 pm, at Aquinas.   
  
  
• Audition Information - All students will be asked to perform a portion of Jolly Holiday or 32 bars of a song of your choice.
  
  High School Student Preparation - High School students can audition for any principal roles or ensemble. 
        ~ All students will be asked to perform a portion of Jolly Holiday or 32 bars of a song of your choice. High school students will not have dialogue to prepare ahead of time and instead will be asked to cold read from the script. Please use this version of Jolly Holiday: https://youtu.be/OpWjHmiNysg  
        ~ Audition information for specific high school roles: 
        Mary Poppins vocal audition: prepare 0:29 -1:07 AND 3:18- 4:03 of Practically Perfect. 
        All featured female leads (Winifred Banks, Bird Woman, Miss Andrews, Mrs. Corry, etc.) vocal audition: Prepare 0:49-1:54                Being Mrs. Banks (Reprise). 
        Bert vocal audition: please prepare 0:55-1:40 of Prologue/Chim Chim Cher-ee/Cherry Tree Lane Part 1.  
        All featured male leads (ex. George Banks): please prepare 0:04-1:02 of Step in Time. 
  
  
  Elementary Student Preparation - Elementary students can audition for Jane or Michael or an ensemble role.
        ~ To prepare for Jane & Michael: please prepare the section timed 1.11 - 1.51, of Jolly Holiday (linked below). You should 
        also prepare the following dialogue: Jane & Michael Playing the Game scene.  
       ~ For ALL elementary students, for ensemble roles, prepare the section timed 5.31-6.34, of Jolly Holiday (linked below).
        Please use this version of Jolly Holiday: https://youtu.be/OpWjHmiNysg

Rehearsal & Show Details 

• Rehearsals will alternate between Central Catholic, St. Thomas Aquinas, and St. Michael School. A detailed schedule will be released after casting. 
• Every effort will be made to call cast members to rehearsals only when their roles are needed. Rehearsals will be offered three times a week, from 6:00-8:00 pm, and will offered more often closer to the show date.
• During Tech Week, the week of March 30, ALL cast members should plan to attend all rehearsals each day that week at the Canton Palace Theatre. 
• Please note that this year there are FOUR shows: Friday morning, April 3 for SCCS elementary students, the evenings of Friday, April 3 and Saturday, April 4, and an afternoon performance on Sunday, April 5 all at the Canton Palace Theatre. 

Questions

Contact our Director of the Arts & Musical Director Criseyda Dowd at [email protected].

About the Director, Mrs. Criseyda Dowd 

Criseyda Dowd was appointed the Director of the Arts position for Stark County Catholic Schools in August of 2019, a position responsible for expanding visual and performing arts opportunities at Central Catholic and St. Thomas Aquinas High Schools. Dowd is a graduate of Central Catholic High School, where she performed theatrical roles which instilled a love for theatre and launched her theatre career path. After graduation from Central, Dowd attended Baldwin-Wallace Conservatory earning a Bachelor of Music, receiving honors in musical theatre. Following graduation, Dowd was chosen to study at the prestigious Oxford School of Drama in England. While there, she was selected to perform for, and was trained by, members of the Royal Shakespeare Company and Kenneth Branagh’s Renaissance Theatre Company and earned the honor of top actress in her class. She then moved to London, where she studied voice with internationally renowned singing coach Ian Adam while continuing her performing career. Dowd has worked on stage, in commercial television, and in film alongside Emmy, BAFTA, and Academy Award nominees and winners in acting and directing. She was the leading actress in a Shakespearean Repertory Company. Following her years in London, she lived in Chicago, where she taught acting and created the program, “Shakespeare: An Actor’s Approach” for middle and high school English Literature classes. After 18 years in Chicago, she and her family recently returned to her hometown in Canton, where she is a private acting and voice coach.