Ever had the itch to step on stage, or wonder what goes on behind it? Your chance arrives next weekend as the Marathon Community Theatre holds auditions for its 2026-27 main stage show season on Aug. 22 and 23.
Shows for the season include:
- “Annie”: The sun will come out in November as the classic musical follows tough-but-tender orphan Annie from her hard-knock life in a New York City orphanage to the home of billionaire Oliver Warbucks. Opens in November 2026.
- “Arsenic and Old Lace”: This dark comedy follows Mortimer Brewster as he discovers his sweet, seemingly harmless aunts have a rather disturbing hobby: poisoning lonely old men. Opens in January 2027.
- “Peter Pan Goes Wrong”: A comedy of ridiculous proportions as the Cornley Polytechnic Drama Society attempts to stage a production of “Peter Pan” – and can’t seem to get a single thing right, from forgotten lines, cast fights and technical disasters. Opens March 2027.
- “The Shark is Broken”: A behind-the-scenes look at the men – and notoriously difficult mechanical shark – that brought the movie “Jaws” to life. The show imagines actors Robert Shaw, Richard Dreyfuss and Roy Scheider killing time – and occasionally each other – while waiting for the movie’s malfunctioning shark to work. Opens in May 2027.
Detailed information about each show’s audition, including rehearsal schedules and sample readings, is at marathontheater.org/open-auditions. Singing and dancing auditions will take place from 10 a.m. to noon on both days, and script readings will run from 1 to 3 p.m. Actors auditioning for “Annie” must attend one reading session and one singing/dancing session, while all other shows must attend one reading session. Anyone interested in auditioning for a show who is unable to attend open auditions may contact a show’s director to request a separate audition.
Thought about auditioning, but nervous to give it a try? Don’t be. No experience is necessary, and for plenty of MCT regulars, the biggest hurdle was simply walking through the door for the first time.
“Community” is at the center of the theater’s name, and auditions aren’t reserved for seasoned performers. Whether you’ve spent years under the lights, haven’t been on stage since your rendition of “townsperson #12” in the third-grade Christmas pageant, or have never acted at all, the weekend is a chance to see where you might fit into the upcoming season.
And being part of a show doesn’t necessarily mean being in the spotlight. Each production relies on volunteers behind the scenes for costumes, props, lighting, sound, stage crew, set construction and plenty more.
Auditions are designed to give directors a chance to see what prospective cast members can do in a friendly-low stress environment. Script readings don’t require memorization, while musical auditions give performers a chance to sing, move and work alongside others.
So whether your dream is to belt out “Tomorrow,” dispose of a body with impeccable manners, survive a catastrophically bad trip to Neverland or spend an evening arguing about a broken mechanical shark, MCT has a stage waiting.
