Open auditions for the Southwestern College Summer Theatre Festival productions of “The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee” and “Willy Wonka” are coming soon to Southwestern College.

Auditions for “The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee” will be Saturday, May 26, in Messenger Recital Hall in the Darbeth Fine Arts Building on the campus of Southwestern College.  Audition times are 1-4 p.m. and 6-8 p.m.  Actors auditioning need to be prepared with 16 bars of a song and a story to tell from their experiences in school.  The auditions are open to adults or anyone in high school or college.

On the following Saturday, June 2, auditions for the production of “Willy Wonka” will begin.  They will occur in the Richardson Performing Arts Center in the Christy Administration Building.  Audition times will be from 9 a.m.-noon; 1-4 p.m.; and 6-8 p.m.  Ages kindergarten to adult are welcome to audition and need to be prepared with 16 bars of a song and a story to tell from their experiences in school.

“The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee” is a musical theatre tale of overachievers' angst following the experience of six adolescent outsiders competing for the spelling championship of a lifetime.  The show will be performed June 22-24 at 7:30 p.m. and June 17 at 2 p.m.

“The Broadway production of ‘The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee’ won two Tony awards,” says director Allyson Moon.  “Actors will be auditioning for the six spelling bee competitors and the administrators who run the bee.”

“Willy Wonka” allows its audience to enter a world of pure imagination.  The show will be performed July 13-14 at 7:30 p.m. and July 15 at 2 p.m.

“‘Willy Wonka’ is the musical version of Roald Dahl’s ‘Charlie and Chocolate Factory,’” Moon says.   “It has been a movie twice over, once with Gene Wilder and once with Johnny Depp in the title role.  This stage production of the same name features the songs that everyone knows from the classic family film plus a few more.  Actors will be auditioning for the role of Willy Wonka, the children and parents who win the tour, Oompa Loompas, and children and adults of the town.”

For more information, contact Moon at (620) 229-6328 or by emailing Allyson.moon@sckans.edu.