Playhouse sets ‘Oliver!’ auditions
Playhouse On the Square will have auditions Saturday for its upcoming production of the musical “Oliver!”
Based on the Charles Dickens classic “Oliver Twist,” “Oliver!” tells of an orphan who finally finds a family after enduring abusive conditions in an orphanage and with assorted foster families.
Casting is being handled by Laurie McCoy and Kim Shafer with vocal directing by Sherri Mitchell.
Roles are available for school-age children through adults. Those auditioning should bring a song they’re prepared to sing, along with being prepared to read and to move.
Auditions will be from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Playhouse. For more information, call 217-491-3977.
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LLCC gallery features Beardstown artist
Lincoln Land Community College’s James S. Murray Gallery in Springfield will feature an installation by Beardstown artist Jeff Miller.
“The Worker Line” will be available for viewing by the public from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Thursday through July 28 at the gallery.
Miller studied in LLCC’s art department before earning a bachelor’s degree from Western Illinois University. He now is pursing a master’s degree in fine arts at Iowa State University, where his emphasis is on printmaking. He currently is interested in using new media and installations with printmaking to explore the working-class struggle.
“The struggle of ambition against the realities of faceless labor has been a driving force in my art,” he said. “This body of work draws from labor-based jobs that exist within a hog-slaughtering plant located in my hometown. ‘The Worker Line’ consists of a single, life-size woodcut block that provides a layered, printmaking-based installation project. The piece touches on the consequences of giving into failure and lack of identity within factory settings. The juxtaposition of these topics combined with a mixed-media approach provides an alternative method with which to approach issues concerning working class struggle.”
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Children’s ballet dives into sea
The Springfield Youth Performance Group will present the children’s ballet “Once Upon a Time Under the Sea” at 2 and 6 p.m. Saturday at Hoogland Center for the Arts in Springfield.
A character meet-and-greet session in the Hoogland lobby will begin 30 minutes before each performance. Tickets for the meet-and-greet, which are not available in advance, are $5.
Performance tickets, which are $10 and $15, are available through the Hoogland website at hcfta.org or by calling 217-523-2787.
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Classic ‘Ghostbusters’ precedes update
The AMC Showplace 12 in Springfield will show the 1984 classic “Ghostbusters” — starring Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd and Harold Ramis — at 2 and 7 p.m. Sunday.
The screening precedes the July opening of a “Ghostbusters” update featuring Melissa McCarthy, Kristen Wiig and Kate McKinnon in the lead roles.
The classic film follows a team of scientists who decide to become “ghostbusters” after losing their cushy jobs at a university in New York City. In the process, they must save the city from destruction after stumbling on a gateway to a dimension of evil.
Tickets for Sunday’s screenings are $12.50
— Compiled by Angela Bauer
