Auditions for Akeelah and the Bee

New Tampa Players and director Joia Holbrook are seeking a diverse cast for our fall production of Akeelah and the Bee.

Auditions:

Sunday, July 25th at 7:00 PM @ Uptown Stage at the University Mall

Directions to Uptown Stage:

The University Mall is located at 2200 East Fowler Ave., Tampa, FL 33612. Once you arrive at the University Mall, park on Fletcher side of the Mall near Burlington Coat Factory. Walk towards Burlington Coat Factory and follow the sidewalk to the left. The sidewalk will go around the building between the Mall and the new apartments construction site. Continue down the sidewalk. Uptown Stage’s backdoor is number 6620 has a red stage star on it. Ring the doorbell on the left of doorframe. If you get lost, please call 443-850-8997.

Auditions Material:

Please prepare a one minute monologue for this audition. We will also do cold readings from the script.

Schedule:

Please come prepare to list all rehearsal conflicts between July 26th and September 26th. Rehearsals will begin on August 1st and will be on weekends (Saturday mornings, afternoons, and Sunday evenings) initially and will move to Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday evenings at the end of August. A cast conflict calendar will be made once the show has been cast and rehearsal calendar will be created based on cast conflicts.

Important Dates:

Technical Rehearsal: Sunday, September 12th at 2-8PM

Dress Rehearsals: Monday, September 13th at 6:30 PM, Tuesday, September 14th at 6:30 PM, Wednesday, September 15th at 6:30 PM, and Thursday, September 16th at 6:30 PM

Performance Dates:

Friday, September 17th at 7:30 PM

Saturday, September 18th at 7:30 PM

Sunday, September 19th at 3:00 PM

Saturday, September 25th at 3:00 PM

Saturday, September 25th at 7:30 PM

Sunday, September 26th at 3:00 PM

COVID-19 Protocols:

For auditions, all cast, crew, and auditionees will wear masks and socially distance as much as possible.

SHOW SYNOPSIS:

Akeelah Anderson, an 11-year-old spelling enthusiast, attends middle school in the southside of Chicago. She lives with her widowed mother Gail and her older brother, Reggie. Her principal suggests that she sign up for her school wide Spelling Bee. She follows his advice and wins. Soon after, Dr. Joshua Larabee, a visiting English professor and her principal’s friend from college, tests Akeelah and decides that she is good enough to compete in the National Spelling Bee. Nevertheless, Dr. Larabee declines to coach her because she is rude to him. As a result, Akeelah studies on her own to prepare for the district spelling bee. Although Akeelah misspells her word during the final round of the bee, she qualifies for the regional bee when the other finalist is caught cheating. Akeelah also meets and befriendsJavier Mendez, a 12-year-old Mexican American boy and fellow speller. Javier invites her to join the spelling club at his Woodland Hills middle school.At Woodland Hills, Akeelah meets Dylan Chiu, a Chinese American boy who had won second place at the past two national spelling bees. Contemptuous, he asks her to spell "xanthosis". When she starts with a "z", he tells her she needs a coach. At the conclusionof the spelling club meeting, Javier invites Akeelah to his birthday party. At the party, Akeelahnearly beats Dylan in Scrabble. The boy is reprimanded by his father for nearly losing to "a little black girl". After the party, Gail is concerned about her daughter's grades and frequent truancy. As she finds out about Akeelah going alone to Woodland Hills, she subsequently forbids Akeelah from participating in the upcoming state bee. To circumvent this prohibition, Akeelah forges her deceased father's signature on the consent form and secretly studies with Dr. Larabee. Duringthe state bee, Gail comes inside and interrupts her daughter before she can spell her word. Gail relents after a side discussion with Dr. Larabee and the principal. Javier protects Akeelah from disqualification by stalling until she can return. Dylan, Javier and Akeelah advance to the National Spelling Bee.When Akeelah meets Dr. Larabee for coaching, he reveals that he is quitting being her coach because she reminds him of his deceased daughter. Instead, he gives Akeelah 5,000 flashcards to study. Without her coach, rejected by herbest friend Georgia, and feeling the pressure from her neighborhood residents to make them proud, Akeelah loses her motivation. However, Gail tells her that if she looked around her, she would realize that she has "50,000 coaches". Akeelah recruits her family members, classmates, teachers, friends, and neighbors to prepare in earnest. After reuniting with Dr. Larabee, Akeelah goes to Washington, D.C. with him, along with Gail, Georgia, and her principal. Georgia rekindles her friendship with Akeelah after she invites her. During the competition, Akeelah becomes a crowd favorite. After all the other competitors are eliminated, only Dylan and Akeelah remain. The two finalists are allowed a break, during which Akeelah overhears Dylan's father harshly pressuring him to win. Akeelah attempts to intentionally lose by deliberately misspelling "xanthosis". Dylan, knowing that Akeelah knows this word, intentionally misspells it as well. Dylan tells Akeelah that he wants a fair competition, rejecting his father's obsession to win. The two then proceed to spell every word listed by the judges in the hopes of winning the championship together, with Dylan earning a share of it by correctly spelling "logorrhea", much to his father's delight. Akeelah spells the last word onthe list, "pulchritude", and the two are declared co-champions amidst a cheering crowd.

Character Breakdown:
AKEELAH ANDERSON – Female, 11-15, African American
GAIL ANDERSON, African American, Akeelah’s mother
REGGIE ANDERSON, about 20, African American, Akeelah’s brother
DR. JOSHUA LARABEE, African American, Akeelah’s spelling bee coach/teacher
GEORGIA, 11-15, Akeelah’s best friend
BATTY RUTH, African American, Akeelah’s first floor neighbor
MR. WILLIE, African American, building superintendent
JT, 21, African American, neighbor
RATCHET RHONDA, female, 11-15, African-American. Akeelah’s nemesis.
DYLAN CHIU, male, 12-15, Asian American
JAVIER MENDEZ, male, 12-15, Latinx
TRISH, female, 12-15, any ethnicity
IZZY, female, 11-15, any ethnicity
MR. or MRS. CHIU, Asian American – This role may be cast by either male or female
PRINCIPAL, Any ethnicity or gender.
OTHER ROLES: There will be an ensemble for this production, playing a variety of roles. Gender and race is open to all. Roles include: DJ Rule, District Judge, TV Announcer, Chucky, Pronouncer, Snorting
Girl/Boy, Crying Girl/Boy, Foxy Fay/Felix, Horse Girl/Boy, Mohawk Girl/Boy.