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West Jordan Youth Theatre answered frequently asked questions here for everyone just in case other people are wondering!
Sign ups: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/5080948a4a82da1ff2-newsies
Rehearsal Schedule: Rehearsals are scheduled Monday/Wednesday evenings from 6-9 and Saturdays from 1-5 and will be held at the United Methodist church on the corner of 3200 W and 9000 S in West Jordan. Not everyone will be called to every rehearsal. The week or so before the performance we will be having tech rehearsals every weekday evening and Saturdays at the Midvale Performing Arts Center which is our venue for the show.
Will everyone who auditions get cast?
Unfortunately the answer to this is no. For our last show we had over 100 kids audition and since we have such a small stage we ended with a cast of just over 60. Given the nature of newsies and the amount of room we need on stage to dance we are aiming for a cast of between 40-50 which means we won’t be able to cast everyone. It should also be noted that everyone from our production team has had the opportunity to work with and build relationships with so many awesome and talented kids and we won’t be able to cast based on these relationships. Make sure you come to auditions prepared and show us everything you have at callbacks! If we cast all the amazing kids we’ve had the opportunity to work with in the past we would have hundreds of newsies! Stand out, act, sing and dance your heart out. Give us your best and we promise to do the same!
Will we be casting girls as Newsies?
YES! We’ll just be pinning their hair back and throwing a hat over it!! We are currently in the process of going through the named newsies and arranging them by vocal part so we know which voices will be better suited to which roles.
Do all the kids have to tap dance?
No! This may be good news for some! We will only have one tap number in the show and those that can tap will but the others just won’t be in that number. At callbacks we will have a few different dances depending on their dance level but everyone called back will have to do some level of dance. You can prepare by practicing choreography via YouTube or finding a local dance class. Also if you have flips or tricks we will want to see those!! Practice them and be ready to show off at callbacks! This is a dance heavy show are there are not many non dancing roles so come and show us your moves!!
When are performances?
We will be performing 9 shows between October 21st and the 29th. This IS during fall break for Jordan School District which we realize may cause some complications for some kids. Our venue had limited availability and this was the only time we were able to get it. Silver lining… the kids on fall break get to sleep in the morning after a late show!
Are we planning to edit the mature content from the script?
At WJYT we do the full length shows, not the junior versions, so occasionally there are a few PG things in the show. We do our best to choose shows where the overall theme is appropriate for kids. With this show we’ve upped our minimum age to 10 for a few reasons, one of them being the content. There is a bit of mild language, some innuendo, etc. but we will also be taking this into account when we cast specific parts and choosing older kids to play these. We are contractually obligated to do the script as written which means we cannot omit or change these parts. If your child is uncomfortable saying these things please let us know and we can try to find a different role for them. We suggest watching the Broadway version of Newsies to get an idea of which characters you/your child would feel comfortable portraying.