Jan 6 — Jan 7
Student Auditions for 2024 Summer Musicals
Student Auditions for The Color Purple & Everybody's Talking About Jamie
Students (Ages 10–18) are invited to audition for The Color Purple, and students (Ages 13–18) are invited to audition for Everybody’s Talking About Jamie.
Auditions will be held in individual, 5-minute audition slots on Saturday, January 6, in Peacock and Emerson Studio.
SAT, JAN 6 | 10:00AM–1:00PM | Students who are auditioning for both Everybody’s Talking About Jamie AND The Color Purple
SAT, JAN 6 | 2:00–5:00PM | Students who are auditioning for either Everybody’s Talking About Jamie OR The Color Purple
SUN, JAN 7 | 12:00PM–5:00PM | Callback and Dance Call by invitation only
Check in for auditions at the Sunshine Lobby at COCA – Center of Creative Arts, 6880 Washington Ave, St. Louis, MO 63130.
WHAT TO PREPARE
Prepare a 1-minute monologue and 32 bars of a song in the style of the show. The monologue and song need to be memorized and we will watch both. Bring sheet music in the appropriate key, an accompanist will be provided. Bring a copy of your headshot and resume to the audition, you will be asked to add your digital headshot and resume to an audition form you will receive before your appointment time.
January 6, 2024 – January 7, 2024
Discipline
TheatreShow Information
The Color Purple Show Information
JUL 19 | 7:00PM
JUL 20 | 1:00PM & 7:00PM
JUL 21 | 1:00PM
This musical adaptation of Alice Walker’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel (and the popular 1985 Steven Spielberg film) spotlights Celie, a downtrodden young woman whose personal awakening over the course of 40 years forms the arc of this epic story.
Prepare to be spellbound by the powerful voices and unforgettable characters who take you on a heartwarming odyssey of love, empowerment, and redemption. Featuring a Grammy Award-winning score infused with jazz, ragtime, gospel and African blues, this moving tale is a testament to the healing power of love, faith, resilience, and sisterhood.
To celebrate 20 years of COCA summer musicals, we are welcoming back COCA Alumni from past summer musicals to join our current students in a production you won’t want to miss!
Everybody’s Talking About Jamie Show Information
AUG 2 | 7:00PM
AUG 3 | Noon & 6:00PM
Step into a world where dreams are big, heels are higher, and the spotlight shines on the extraordinary. High school student Jamie New, aided by his loving mother and close friends, overcomes discrimination and bullying to step out of the darkness and into the spotlight as he strives to become a drag queen and be recognized for who he truly is. This high-energy, dynamic, full-length musical is cast by audition and rehearses 3:30–9:00PM weekdays for four weeks with a professional creative team, providing teen actors with the opportunity to elevate their skills in singing, dancing, and acting as they create the staged production. The show is fully produced and performed in the Catherine B. Berges Theatre on August 2–3.
Production Information
- Ages 10+ for The Color Purple
- Ages 13+ for Everybody’s Talking About Jamie
- Students must have completed/enrolled in 2/3 disciplines Acting 1/ Voice 1/ Musical Theatre Dance 1 or the equivalency.
- Rehearsal calendars are available now. Actors are asked to bring that calendar to auditions with any and all conflicts. No additional conflicts are guaranteed as accepted after the initial submission.
- Fee: $275 for The Color Purple; $395 for Everybody’s Talking About Jamie
- Sliding Scale Tuition is available. Sliding Scale Tuition Information
Questions?
Please refer to our Audition Q&A for answers to our Frequently Asked Questions.
Questions about registering to audition or if you meet the requirements to audition? Contact COCA’s Registration Office at 314.561.4898 or registration@cocastl.org.
Questions about the productions or the audition? Contact Cameron Tyler, Artistic Producer, at ctyler@cocastl.org.
*A follow-up email will be sent to parents and guardians of students who auditioned within a week of callbacks, regardless of casting. Families are expected to accept the role by enrolling within 2 weeks of notification. The deadline for acceptance of a student role in Everybody’s Talking About Jamie and The Color Purple will be Sunday, January 21. If we do not hear from a student in that window, we will need to recast that role.*
Character Breakdown
The Breakdown below intentionally leaves some characters’ gender identity ambiguous. Please specify what roles you are comfortable playing if they differ from your personal gender or other identities.
The Color Purple Character Breakdown
Young Celie – a woman from Georgia whose story begins when she is 14
Young Nettie – Celie’s younger sister
Church Ladies – Jarene, Doris, Darlene
Mister’s children (boy and girl)
Squeak – Harpo’s lover after Sofia leaves him. Although she is mistreated, she eventually undergoes a transformation, demanding to be called by her actual name, Mary Agnes, and starting a new life.
Adam – Celie’s Son
Olivia – Celie’s Daughter
Grady – Shug’s younger husband
Church Soloist
Ensemble – to play various roles
Children’s Ensemble – to play various roles
Everybody’s Talking About Jamie Character Breakdown
MISS HEDGE – a teacher, thirties/forties
BECCA – a school pupil, Black
VICKI – a school pupil
CY – a school pupil, Asian
BEX – a school pupil, White
SAVIO – a school pupil, Muslim
FATIMAH – a school pupil, Iranian
PRITTI – a school pupil, Muslim
DEAN PAXTON – a school pupil
LEVI – a school pupil, Black
MICKEY – a school pupil
JAMIE NEW – a school pupil, our hero
MARGARET NEW – Jamie’s mother
RAY – Margaret’s best friend
HUGO I LOCO CHANELLE – a faded former drag queen and his retired alter ego, forties/fifties
LAIKA VIRGIN – a drag queen
TRAY SOPHISTICAY – a drag queen
SANDRA SOLLOCK – a drag queen
YOUNG LOCO CHANELLE – Hugo’s younger self
THE OTHER WOMAN – a woman from Hugo’s past
JOHN – a man from Hugo’s past
JAMIE’S DAD
LAD 1 – a local lad
LAD 2 – a local lad
LAD 3 – a local lad
Audition FAQ
What information do I need to provide?
An audition form will be made available before auditions. Please fill that form out before the audition if possible. A rehearsal calendar is available now:
Actors are asked to bring that calendar to auditions with any and all conflicts. No additional conflicts are guaranteed as accepted after the initial submission.
Do you need a headshot and resume?
Photo and resume are needed. The photo does not need to be a formal headshot, a school picture or the like will work. You will be asked to add your digital headshot and resume to an audition form you will receive before your appointment time.
Where in the building are auditions taking place? When are the callbacks and where will they be?
Auditions and Callbacks will be held in Peacock and Emerson Studio. Check in at the Sunshine Lobby. If you need help locating the room, Patron Services at the Front Desk will be able to direct you the room.
What should I do to prepare?
Please prepare a 1-minute monologue and 32 bars of a song in the style of the show. The monologue and song need to be memorized and we will watch both. Bring sheet music in the appropriate key, an accompanist will be provided. Bring a copy of your headshot and resume to the audition.
What we are looking for in an audition?
Make strong acting choices, be friendly, and be prepared.
How will we notify people of callbacks?
Not everyone will be called back due to the needs of the show. It is still possible to be cast if you don’t get a callback. Will notify those who received callback by email the night after they audition.
What will happen at callbacks? And how long will I be there?
Callbacks will be cold readings. Cold readings are scenes from the show that you have not read before. The goal is for us to see how you act on your feet. Please expect to be there the entire length of the callback. You may be asked to read multiple roles with multiple people.
Where should parents plan to be?
Parents can wait in the lobby or hallway, but they should understand that they should not watch the audition or plan to talk to the directors at the audition (very busy time).
How will you know if you were cast?
A follow up email will be sent to parents and guardians of students who auditioned within a week of callbacks, regardless of casting. Families are expected to accept the role by enrolling within 2 weeks of notification. The deadline for acceptance of a student role in Everybody’s Talking About Jamie and The Color Purple will be Sunday, January 21. If we do not hear from a student in that window, we will need to recast that role.