Open auditions for Shakespeare productions by the West Hudson Arts & Theater Company and Teaneck New Theater, in association with The Hackensack Performing Arts Center, are upcoming.
Auditions for “Twelfth Night” will be in person Wednesday, May 8 from 7 to 9:30 p.m. at the Theater at the West Hudson Arts & Theater Company, 15 Frank E. Rodgers Boulevard S., Harrison. Free parking is available in a lot on Jersey Street.
Performances will be outdoors at the Hackensack Performing Arts Center, 102 State St., Hackensack, July 10, 17 and 24. Additional encore performances will take place at outdoor venues in West Hudson, with locations to be announced.
Named for the twelfth night after Christmas, the end of the Christmas season, “Twelfth Night” or “What You Will” (directed by Matt Masiello) plays with love and power. The Countess Olivia, a woman with her own household, attracts Duke (or Count) Orsino. Two other would-be suitors are her pretentious steward, Malvolio, and Sir Andrew Aguecheek. Onto this scene arrive the twins Viola and Sebastian. Caught in a shipwreck, each thinks the other has drowned. Viola disguises herself as a male page and enters Orsino’s service. Orsino sends her as his envoy to Olivia — only to have Olivia fall in love with the messenger. The play complicates, then wonderfully untangles, these relationships.
Send an email to shakes@whatconj.org with questions or for additional information. Visit whatconj.org/event/twelfthnightauditions for audition materials.
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Kevin A. Canessa Jr. is the editor of and broadcaster at The Observer, an organization he has served since 2006. He is responsible for the editorial content of the newspaper and website, the production of the e-Newspaper, writing several stories per week (including the weekly editorial), conducting live broadcasts on social media channels such as YouTube, Facebook, and X, including a weekly recap of the news — and much more behind the scenes. Between 2006 and 2008, he introduced the newspaper to its first-ever blog — which included podcasts, audio and video. Originally from Jersey City, Kevin lived in Kearny until 2004, lived in Port St. Lucie. Florida, for four years until February 2016 and in March of that year, he moved back to Kearny to return to The Observer full time. Click Here to send Kevin an email.