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So you wanna be a
star?
Auditions for Saskatchewan Express are
held twice a year; for the summer tour and for the winter tour. The summer tour
is a development program and performers are offered a scholarship while the
winter show is a full-time job during which the performers are under contract.
In order to be considered for the summer tour, performers must be 15 years of
age or older and for the winter tour, they must be out of school. Extensive
travel is involved for both tours.
At the summer
audition:
Performers will be adjudicated by a
panel of three judges; the Artistic Director of Saskatchewan Express, and two
music professionals and the auditions for dancers are judged by a professional
dance teacher and/or choreographer and the Artistic Director.
Performers are expected to perform 32 bars of two vocal selections in
contrasting styles of your own choosing and 32 bars of a piece selected and
distributed ahead of time by Saskatchewan Express. You must prepare a
short monologue, no longer then one minute
in length, or you'll be given an improv piece to perform for your private
audition and you will also
be required to do some part-singing with other performers. All those auditioning must take
part in a group dance audition and if you are selected for call backs, you will
be doing a bit of group and duet singing. Rehearsals are held Friday nights,
Saturdays from 9 a.m. to 9:30 p.m. and Sundays from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. as well as
during Easter break and while the principal choreographer sets the show (usually
Easter week). Saskatchewan Express is sensitive to school scheduling and does
try to accommodate students schedules wherever possible.
At the winter
auditions:
These auditions are held in a similar
fashion but on a smaller scale to the summer auditions. The auditions are held in June or July with
selections being made before the end of the summer. Rehearsals usually begin the last
week in September and as this is a full-time
 job, are held during the day and
some evenings. Performers initially rehearse material from the summer to be
used for fall shows and later begin rehearsing material for the annual December
production. After Christmas, the intensive touring begins with the Clean Cat
School Recycling Program which involves performers going out in groups to
deliver an environmental program to elementary school children. In February
and March, the annual Saskatchewan Express School Tour performs across the
prairie provinces. Throughout the entire winter, shows for conventions,
conferences, trade shows, casinos and other venues are booked as requests are
received. Contracts run from September until March.
For further information please contact
Leanne J. Scott at (306)522-3403 in Regina or email to
leanne@saskatchewanexpress.com
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