WHAT ARE DISTRICTS? & why is everyone so crazy about it?
Florida Thespian Troupes each belong to a specific DISTRICT (we are in DISTRICT 1) made up of other Thespian troupes in their area. We attend a District 1 Festival every year (this year November 10th-11th at CHILES HIGH SCHOOL) with all our District 1 friends (like Chiles, Florida High, Wakulla, Maclay, Lincoln, and Troupes from Panama City.)
At Districts we present our Individual Events and are adjudicated by Theatre Professionals. There are performance events and technical events. So it is a GREAT way to see some of the BEST in high school theatre performers and technicians! You also receive fantastic feedback on your performance or technical skills. It is a one day event with SO MANY THEATRE KIDS, you can imagine how much crazy fun that is for everyone!! The total cost for Districts will be around $75 per person. This includes t.shirt, lunch, & registration costs.
AUDITION INFORMATION
Auditions for our Districts Cast are August 28th & 29th and you must register before August 27th and follow all Audition instructions.
AUDITION DAY FOR MUSICAL events: MONDAY, AUGUST 28th 3:00pm-4:30pm
ACTING & TECHNICAL AUDITIONS: TUESDAY, AUGUST 29th 2:00pm-4:00pm
NEED HELP WITH YOUR AUDITION?
August 23-25 (Wednesday-Friday) there will be Thespians in the Theatre room at lunch to help you choose and prepare an audition piece for your Thespians District Audition!
Now let's talk about YOUR AUDITION!
If you are auditioning for a PERFORMANCE Individual Event...
MUSICAL: have 30 seconds of a musical song memorized and prepared (no background music, just you singing loud and proud.) Mrs. Peck will be running those auditions.
ACTING: have 1-2 minutes of a monologue prepared. FROM A PUBLISHED PLAY! And you should have read the play and be prepared to answer a question or two about the play and your characterization. If you need help, come to the Theatre Classroom during lunch August 23-25 and a Thespian will help you look through the monologue books and scripts.
TECH Individual Events: Come to your Tech Audition knowing which play you would like to use for your Technical Piece and what you are interested in doing and a unique concept for your Individual Project. Know that you will be preparing this on your own and that you need to be a very independent worker and have a good grasp of and some experience in that Technical field.
You may audition for a musical event, an acting event, and a technical event. Or just one or any combination of those three categories.
Mrs. Marshall will cast the Acting & Technical Events and Mrs. Peck will cast the Musical Events.
NEED TO SEE THE RULES FOR INDIVIDUAL EVENTS? CLICK HERE!
Students may be cast in a total of 3 events, only 2 can be performance events. IF you are cast in an Individual Event, you will be given a contract to sign and a rehearsal schedule. YOU MUST ATTEND ALL REHEARSALS and prepare your Individual Event to the best of your ability. Even if you are doing a duet scene, monologue, or tech event that doesn’t require large group rehearsals, I would advise you to set aside 2-3 hours a week to work on your District Piece. November 8th will come FAST!!! On November 8th there will be a District Rehearsal/Critiques/Showcase 5:30-7:00pm to see all of the Individual Events that Troupe #1429 is taking to Districts this year.
DATES TO KNOW:
AUGUST 23-27: REGISTER FOR AUDITIONS
AUGUST 28: MUSICAL AUDITIONS
AUGUST 29: ACTING & TECHNICAL AUDITIONS
SEPTEMBER 4: CAST LIST POSTED
SEPTEMBER 11: PARENT MEETING 6:00 & CONTRACT DUE
PAYMENT DUE: October 6th (E-funds online/check to Leon High School/cash)
NOVEMBER 8: DISTRICT SHOWCASE
NOVEMBER 9th: Prep Chiles High School for District Festival (after school)
NOVEMBER 10 & 11 : DISTRICTS @ Chiles High School & Clean up afterwards!
SLATING & *ASTERISKED PIECES…
"My name is Jimmy Jam and I proudly represent Troupe 01-1429. Today I will be performing a Musical Solo from the show Next to Normal with music and lyrics by Brian Yorkey and music by Tom Kitt. The song is ‘Everything Else’ and this piece is asterisked for Adult Language."
What are all the asterisks you ask? Well, here's a breakdown
There are taken directly from the Florida Thespians website:
The asterisk must be followed by one or more of the following codes:
L -for adult language;
S -for sexual situations;
D -for frank talk of death;
SA -for substance abuse;
V -for violence;
R -for religious commentary;
P -for works related to prejudice or intolerance.
G- Gun shot sound effects
You will need to include the district in your slate - go ahead and get used to this slight change. Because this is how they want us to slate from now on…
We are Troupe 01-1429. (or 1377 if they get it wrong AGAIN this year. Which they won’t. We hope.)
10 TIPS FOR A EXCEPTIONAL I.E.
DISTRICT REHEARSAL INFO
FIRST FIVE HOURS REHEARSAL PLAN
LOOKING AHEAD TO STATE IN 2025
FLORIDA STATE THESPIANS WEBSITE
Every other year, our Troupe goes to the STATE THESPIAN FESTIVAL & 2025 will be our next STATE YEAR! Individual Events earning straight Superiors in their adjudication will be eligible to go on and perform/present at the STATE FESTIVAL (March 15-18, during our Spring Break in downtown Tampa.) Our Troupe can choose ONLY 6 of the highest scoring events to perform/present at STATE. Those will be chosen by scoring, the availability of the performers to attend State, & the Director’s evaluation of the students’ commitment level during the process. Anyone attending Districts and scoring Excellent or Superior on their event can attend State as a participant. There are fantastic workshops offered at Stage on a variety of musical/acting/technical Theatre skills plus the opportunity to see the best One-Acts and full plays done by high schools in the state of Florida. State will cost around $500 (bus, super expensive hotel due to Spring Break and downtown Tampa, & registration fees.) Students will also need around $50-75 for eating lunch and dinners in downtown Tampa. This trip is for the mature and trustworthy student since you will be walking around downtown Tamps (in groups) and there are 10,000 other Florida Thespian there at the same time. It is DRAMATICALLY CRAZY & Fun.