Auditions for "Camelot" on Sunday

The 5th Avenue Theatre Company is planning to stage on of my favorite shows this spring - Camelot! It's the musical version of the legend of King Arthur, natch.

My pal (and the show's director) Eddie Harbert sends along this notice about auditions:

I wanted to send out an invitation to all of you to come and audition for Camelot, which is a musical being presented by 5th Avenue Theatre Company on April 23-25 and April 30-May 2 with a school performance on April 29. Date of auditions is this Sunday, Feb. 21 at 2:00 p.m. at City Hall Auditorium.

Camelot is the story of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table. It is the love story between King Arthur and Guinevere. Everything is wonderful in the land of Camelot until Lancelot arrives from France to join the Round Table. Throw in a couple of witches and an illegitimate son and doom is certainly on the horizon - or is it?

Many beautiful and familiar tunes are in Camelot such as "If Ever I Would Leave You," "Camelot," "How to Handle a Woman" and "What Do the Simple Folk Do." I would like to have a chorus of about 25 people or more. There are about 10 speaking roles in the show. I would also like to cast a boy and a girl between the ages of 8-12.

Everyone should come prepared with a song to demonstrate their vocal range. An accompanist will be provided. Auditions will be held only one day and all those auditioning are requested to be there at 2:00 p.m. Everyone will be given the chance to read and sing. Anyone interested in serving on the tech crew is also requested to come at that time.

If you have any questions about auditions or the show, please feel free to email me at eddie_harbert@yahoo.com or call 304-412-8738.

Please come join us in this glorious production which has not been done in our community in 30 years:

"Don't let it be forgot,
That once there was a spot,
For one brief shining moment
That was known as Camelot!"

Eddie's a great guy and an outstanding director, and he's assembled an excellent directing team, so I know it's going to be a great show!

And I have to admit (dare I say it?) - I'm tempted to try out for it. I'm not much of an actor, and I'm not much of a singer, and I can't dance, but I do love the show.

The only other time I was on stage was in a production of 1776, and it was a heck of a lot of fun - so we'll see. Maybe I could land the part of Peasant #4...

I'm still on the fence, although my lovely wife is pushing for me to give it a shot. We'll see...