Join Beijing Playhouse for song and dance this Christmas.  A fairy tale for the children with a whole level of humor for the adults--a munchkinized Christmas musical comedy for adults and children alike.

There's no over-the-rainbow or follow-the-yellow-brick-road in this crazy show.  Heck, there are no rainbows!  And the bricks aren't even yellow!  Be prepared for a whole new zany twist and a classic story.

In true British comedy tradition, audience members are invited to cheer and boo and hiss as Dorothy, Tin Guy, Not So Brave Lion and Scaredy Crow Man find their way to Santa, uh, I mean, the Wizard himself.  Glenda the Good Witch, with a penchant for cigars and martinis, helps them along.  The Wicked Witch of the East tries to stop them at every turn.  Munchkins and flying monkeys all help Dorothy and her friends discover the magic of Christmas. 

In true British tradition, Wizard of Oz has served up raucous family entertainment on the West End every Christmas for centuries.  A cast of 30, with crazy Christmas costumes and happy music, make this show perfect for families—especially children. 

What's it like for an actor in a Beijing Playhouse show? Click here for nationally broadcast TV show about the making of a previous Beijing Playhouse production.

Performances are Monday—Saturday nights and Saturday and Sunday matinees, December 6-22, 2013.

Rehearsals are five times per week in October and November 2013.  Sunday, Monday, Wednesday, Thursday evenings, 6:30 pm to 9:30 pm (or occassionally 10 pm) and Sunday afternoons, 2:30 pm to 5:30 pm.

Beijing Playhouse, China's English Broadway Theatre, seeks 30 actors and singers for our English production of the Christmas musical comedy Wizard of Oz.

Professional acting experience is great—but not necessary. We love discovering new talent. Nationality is not important. Ability to sing and perform in English is required. 

At Beijing Playhouse all roles are open. There are 30 roles in this production of Wizard of Oz. Experienced actors welcome.  As always, newcomers are encouraged to try out for a role. Be part of the fun of creating live Broadway theatre.

• 6 boys, age 6-14
• 12 men, age 15-60
• 2 men, age 60-80
• 6 girls, age 6-14
• 12 women, age 15-60
• 2 women, age 60-80

Acting in community theatre is a big responsibility and a lot of fun.  There's no pay.  Acting in English Broadway theatre is volunteer. Did we mention we have fun parties? Well, we do!

Wizard of Oz auditions are Sunday, September 22 and Monday, September 23, 2013 at 6:30 pm at British School of Beijing's Sanlitun campus. (Call backs are Wednesday, September 25 at 6:30 pm at the theatre and possibly Thursday, September 26 at 6:30 pm back again at BSB in Sanlitun.)

Please arrive on time.  Punctuality is an actor's friend. Beijing traffic is always bad.  Please be respectful of your fellow actors and plan accordingly.  Actors who do not arrive on time are much less likely to be cast in theatre productions.

Monologues are optional and encouraged but not necessary. You'll do a live reading from the script and will perform scenes from the show with other actors.   You will sing a song of your choosing.  The choreographer will teach you a simple dance. 

We love non-native English speaking actors in our shows.  If you are non-native English speaker, we strongly suggest bringing a memorized English 60 second language monologue.

Beijing Playhouse's auditions and rehearsals of Wizard of Oz take place at British School of Beijing in Sanlitun, just a 10 minute walk west of the Agricultural Exhibition Center subway station on line 10.

The first week of performances will be at British School of Beijing in Shunyi.  2nd and 3rd weeks of performances are a centrally located theatre.

Charity Reader's Theatre, presented by Beijing Playhouse Drama Club, performs Tennessee Williams' classic Cat on a Hot Tin Roof.

There is one performance only.  The rehearsal process will condensed from Beijing Playhouse's usual two months down to just one intense week.  Charity Reader's Theatre is all about acting, acting, acting.  There are no sets, no props, no costumes, no lighting design, no sound design, no subtitles.  Just acting.  And actors will not 100% memorize their lines--hence the reader's theatre concept.

Cat on a Hot Tin Roof
By Tennessee Williams and directed by Chris Verrill
Auditions:  Sunday, July 14, 2013 at 10:30 am
Performance:  Saturday, July 20 at 7:30 pm
(Dates are tentative.)

Tickets are 30 RMB.  Students and children are 1/2 price.  100% of all ticket sales is donated to Rural Women's Literacy Project.

Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, winner of the Pulizter Prize and one of the classics of American literature, is set in a plantation house as the family celebrates the 65th birthday of Big Daddy.

The mood is somber, despite the festivities, because a number of evils poison the gaiety: greed, sins of the past and desperate, clawing hopes for the future spar with one another as the knowledge that Big Daddy is dying slowly makes the rounds. Maggie, Big Daddy's daughter-in-law, wants to give him the news that she's finally become pregnant by Big Daddy's favorite son, Brick, but Brick won't cooperate in Maggie's plans and prefers to stay in a mild alcoholic haze the entire length of his visit.  By evening's end, Maggie's ingenuity, fortitude and passion will set things right, and Brick's love for his father, never before expressed, will retrieve him from his path of destruction and return him, helplessly, to Maggie's loving arms.

“This is a gripping and intensely moving play….There is, indeed, no one moment in the evening when the stinging accuracy of Mr. Williams' ear for human speech is not compellingly in evidence.”
—The New York Times

Cast Needed
8 men
5 women
4 children

To receive audition notices, send us an email at performance@beijingplayhouse.com.

performance@
beijingplayhouse.com.