CASTING CALL / AUDITIONS

This Sunday, the Magnificent Moorpark Melodrama & Vaudeville Company will hold auditions for “Road to Paradise.”

Described by the producers as “a spoof of the Bing Crosby and Bob Hope ‘Road’ pictures,” the show needs singer-dancers in the Hope and Crosby mold, plus actors to play characters patterned after Dorothy Lamour, Sessue Hayakawa, Marlene Dietrich, Eugene Pallette, Marie Dressler, Johnny Weissmuller and Judy Canova, plus various Japanese soldiers and Polynesian natives; Asian-Pacific performers are encouraged to audition. But, we hasten to point out, if you’re old enough to remember most of the prototypes, you’re probably too old for the show. Ask your parents, and be prepared to sing, dance and do a cold reading. An accompanist will be provided, but bring your own sheet music.

Rehearsals begin Monday and run Monday through Wednesday nights and Saturday mornings. Performances will be Thursday through Sunday, Oct. 9 through Nov. 14. There will be some pay.

The Moorpark Melodrama is at 45 E. High St., Moorpark. Auditions are from noon to 4 p.m. For further information, call 529-1212.

The Thousand Oaks-based Conejo Players will hold auditions Aug. 30 through Sept. 1 for “Big River,” the Broadway musical adaptation of “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.”

Parts in the cast of 23 range from 18 to 50 years old, including 16 men (of whom three are black) and seven women (of whom two are black).

Major roles include Huck (18 to 20 years old), Jim (35 to 40), the King (40 to 45) and the Duke (35 to 40); plus Widow Douglas (35 to 45), Miss Watson (45), Judge Thatcher (50 to 55), Pap Finn (40 to 45), Tom Sawyer (18 to 20) and Mark Twain (50).

There are also various crew and other backstage positions available.

Prospective cast members should come to the audition prepared to sing and dance. Bring your own sheet music, preferably not from the show’s score.

Auditions are Aug. 30 at 2:30 p.m.; Aug. 31 and Sept. 1 at 7:30 p.m.

Rehearsals begin Sept. 8, Monday through Wednesday until Sept. 30, then Monday through Friday until opening night, Nov. 6. Performances will be Thursday through Saturday nights and Sunday matinees through Dec. 19. There will be no pay. The Conejo Players Theater is at 351 S. Moorpark Road in Thousand Oaks. For further information, call producer Judy Marquie at 498-1766.