‘Noises Off’ auditions take place Dec. 4 and 5

Stage Crafters recently announced auditions for their first production of the 2018 season — "Noises Off" — that will be held in March.

Auditions will be held at 7 p.m. Dec. 4 and 5 at Stage Crafters Rehearsal Hall, 40 Robinwood Drive in Fort Walton Beach. Check-in and scripts will be available at 6:30 p.m.

The comedy is a play within a play as the show follows a group of bumbling actors beginning with their dress rehearsal of "Nothing On." It is midnight and the cast is hopelessly unready. Baffled by entrances and exits, missed cues, and bothersome props, they drive their director to near hysteria. Then we see a matinee performance a month later from backstage with romantic rivalries, lovers' tiffs, and personal quarrels leading to offstage shenanigans, onstage bedlam, and the occasional attack with a fire axe. Finally we see a performance near the end of the 10-week run. Relationships between the cast have soured, the set is breaking down, and props are winding up on the floor and in the way. The actors remain determined to cover up the mounting chaos, but it is not long before the plot has to be abandoned entirely.

"Noises Off" pokes fun at theatre and takes the audience on a hilarious ride giving new meaning to the anthem “the show must go on.”

This production will be directed by Melissa Wolf-Bates and Douglas Henderson. For information, call 217-2903, 317-717-3191, or email melissa.wolf.bates@gmail.com or douglasrhenderson@gmail.com

The second production from Stage Crafters will be "The Little Mermaid" in August 2018. Based on the work of the Danish storyteller Hans Christian Andersen, a beautiful little mermaid named Ariel wants to know how people live in the mysterious world of dry land. This entertaining musical is fun for the whole family with all the delightful Disney characters, including Ariel’s side kicks Sebastian, Scuttle and Flounder, lighting up the stage.

The last production, "A Chorus Line," will be in November 2018. It opened on Broadway in 1975 and ran for a record-breaking 6,137 performances, won nine Tony Awards and in 1976 was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Drama.