Evergreen Park Candlelight Theatre Holds Open Auditions For 'The Sound of Music' Youth Edition

EVERGREEN PARK, IL—If a few of your favorite things are “The Sound of Music,” Evergreen Park Candlelight Theatre will be holding open youth auditions for their fall production of the famed Rodgers and Hammerstein musical Sunday, July 19.

Auditions will be held from 1 to 4 p.m. in the Performance Hall of the Evergreen Park Senior Center, 9547 S. Homan Ave. Appointments are recommended and can be made by visiting Sound of Music Youth Edition.

The youth version of “The Sound of Music” has been edited down to 70 minutes and tailored specifically to young performers ages 7 to 15. Auditions will consist of a short musical audition, brief assigned readings, and a very basic dance audition.

The production will open on Thursday evening, Sept. 24, with four performances through the weekend at the Evergreen Park Senior Center.

The musical is based on the memoirs of Maria Von Trapp, who, as a young nun, was sent to the home of widower Baron Georg von Trapp to serve as governess for his children. The Baron and Maria fell in love, married, and escaped from wartime Austria with the children. They became popular as the Von Trapp Family Singers. Maria wrote a book about their adventures, from which two German films were produced. The story became the basis for the hit Rodgers and Hammerstein Broadway musical, which became a classic film in 1965.

The Evergreen Park Recreation Department community theater program is now in its twelfth year of producing community theater, offering various comedies, dramas, and musicals for youths and adults. Most recently, the group had a highly successful weekend with the religious drama “The Song of Bernadette.”

An attempt was made in February 2020 to produce this youth version of “The Sound of Music,” but the production was halted by the outbreak of COVID-19. The Recreation Department Candlelight Theatre program is happy to finally make this production available for the talented youths of our local area.

It is important to learn about the production and how to prepare for the audition. Therefore, a full audition informational packet is available at Sound of Music Audition Packet.

For more information, call the Evergreen Park Recreation Department at 708-229-3373.