Rising Stars Auditions
Disney’s and Cameron Mackintosh’s Mary Poppins JR.
Saturday, January 7, 2023
12:30-4:00 pm 
Franklin Recreation Complex
1120 Hillsboro Rd, Franklin
Ages 1st – 8th Graders

The Rising Stars winter production for 2023 will be Disney and Cameron Mackintosh's Mary Poppins JR, based on one of the most popular Disney movies of all time and the Broadway musical that played for over 2,500 performances and received multiple Olivier and Tony Awards nominations. The jack-of-all trades, Bert, introduces us to England in 1910 and the troubled Banks family. Young Jane and Michael have sent many a nanny packing before Mary Poppins arrives on their doorstep. Using a combination of magic and common sense, she must teach the family members how to value each other again. Mary Poppins takes the children on many magical and memorable adventures, but Jane and Michael aren't the only ones upon whom she has a profound effect. Even grown-ups can learn a lesson or two from the nanny who advises that "Anything can happen if you let it." 


*** CONGRATULATIONS TO THE CAST OF MARY POPPINS JR! For CAST LIST and other IMPORTANT INSTRUCTIONS, click on links. Thanks to all who auditioned! ***


The Cast activity fee is $150. Once the cast list is posted, the Activity Code will be given out. The fee (or first portion of the fee if making a payment plan) must be paid by February 10 or your child will not be allowed to participate in this play. 

Rehearsals will be Tuesdays and Wednesdays from 5:00-7:30 pm, beginning Wednesday, February 1 with a mandatory cast/crew/parent meeting at the Williamson County Enrichment Center Banquet Hall at the Academy Park Campus. Tuesday and Wednesday rehearsals will take place on the Academy Park campus (combination of Enrichment Center rooms and Library meeting room). There will also be 4 Saturday rehearsals: 12:30-3:30 pm on February 4, February 11, and March 4 and 9:30-12:30 on February 25 at the Franklin Rec Center.  The last week of rehearsals (starting March 20) will be every night and will be at the College Grove Artsitorium.

Four Performances will be March 24-26 at the College Grove Artsitorium in College Grove, TN. Performances will be 7pm on Friday, 2pm and 7pm on Saturday, and 2pm on Sunday. The Saturday afternoon performance will be a sensory/family-friendly performance with quieter sound, lights left on in theatre, and a laid-back feel of comfort for those attending to move around if needed. 

Blandina Vergara-Cruz is the director. 

Disney’s and Cameron Mackintosh’s Mary Poppins JR. is presented through special arrangement with and all authorized materials are supplied by Music Theatre International, New York, NY. Mtishows.com 

For further information contact Alison Worden at alison.worden@williamsoncounty-tn.gov or 615-786-0186 ext. 2513. 

Star Bright Players Auditions
School of Rock (Lloyd Webber)
Saturday, February 25, 2023
1:00-4:00 pm 
Franklin Recreation Complex
1120 Hillsboro Rd, Franklin
Ages 12-18

The Star Bright Players Spring 2023 production will be Andrew Lloyd Webber's School of Rock - The Musical!  Rock got no reason, rock got no rhyme…You better get me to school on time! Andrew Lloyd Webber's School of Rock - The Musical is a two-hour, two-act show (plus intermission), based on the hit movie. The tuner follows Dewey Finn, a failed, wannabe rock star who decides to earn an extra bit of cash by posing as a substitute teacher at a prestigious prep school. There he turns a class of straight–A pupils into a guitar-shredding, bass-slapping, mind-blowing rock band. But can he get them to the Battle of the Bands without their parents and the school’s headmistress finding out?

*IMPORTANT* Pre-audition Information will be posted by early February. This will include information on script sides, choreography, vocal, an actor audition form and sign-up for auditions. 

Callbacks for some of those auditioning will be Sunday, February 26 at 1:30pm at the Franklin Rec Complex. If you do not get a call back, it does not mean that you will not be cast. 

The cast list will be posted by Friday, March 3, at 4:30pm online (link will be on this page).  

The Cast activity fee is $175. Once the cast list is posted, the Activity Code will be given out. The fee (or first portion of the fee if making a payment plan) must be paid by April 10. 

CREW: We also welcome Crew members to be a part of this production. The Crew Information form will post in February. Once selected to crew, the crew activity fee will be $35 and will be due April 10. 

Schedule: Rehearsals will Tuesdays, and Wednesdays from 5:00-7:30pm starting March 29 with a mandatory cast/crew/parent meeting. These rehearsals will be at the Academy Park Campus (combination of rooms at library, Enrichment Center, and Performing Arts Center). There will be one Saturday afternoon rehearsal on Saturday, May 13, 2023, at the Franklin Recreation Complex.

Four Performances will be June 8-10, 2023 at the Williamson County Performing Arts Center (112 Everbright Ave in Franklin).
 
Blandina Vergara-Cruz is the director. 

SCHOOL OF ROCK is presented by arrangement with Concord Theatricals on behalf of The Really Useful Group. www.concordtheatricals.com

For further information contact Alison Worden at alison.worden@williamsoncounty-tn.gov or 615-786-0186 ext. 2513. 

Director, Blandina Vergara-Cruz
Originally from Las Vegas, Blandina has more than 25 years of experience in the entertainment industry. She has worked with various theater companies across Williamson County, including Pull-Tight Players where she served as Board Member, Advisor of the Teen Youth Actors Guild and director for several musicals. She was also the director of Kids on Stage Summer Academy, a visual, performance and technical summer academy held in Leipers Fork for over 27 years. Vergara-Cruz has also directed shows for Williamson County Parks and Recreation’s Rising Stars Children’s Theatre Group and Expression City Studios. When she’s not teaching, directing, and running her businesses, she is involved in many community projects, such as being a committee member of the Tennessee Kids Arts Festival and the Executive Director of the Ray of Light Foundation in honor of her son Raymond M. Cruz. Blandina has directed many plays, camps, and special events for Williamson County Parks and Recreation. Blandina directs our Star Bright Players and our Rising Stars Children's Theatre programs. 

Music Director, Cassie Stone
Cassie is originally from Spring Hill, TN. She attended Summit High School where was active in her high school choir and musicals, and even led her own A Cappella group. After graduating from high school, she attended Belmont University where she graduated with a degree in Commercial Music in 2021. Cassie currently works at Franklin Brentwood Arts Academy as a teacher of the advanced high school A Cappella group. She has also been Franklin High School’s Music Director for Footloose. She is so happy to be a part of this adventure of Shrek and can’t wait to get started! Cassie is the Music Director for Star Bright's "Shrek the Musical" and for Rising Stars' "Mary Poppins JR".

Choreographer for Shrek, Claire Hamblen
Claire Hamblen grew up doing community theatre in the Franklin area from age 9 to 17. She is thrilled to work alongside and get to know so many talented kids and put on another fun show. Claire grew up dancing in musicals, competing in a dance company, and participating on her school dance team. Currently, she is teaching First Grade and getting her Masters of Education at Vanderbilt University.

Assistant Choreographer for Shrek, Eva Muterspaugh 
Eva has been a dancer for 14 years. She found her love for dance through ballet, and then went on to learn and love modern, contemporary, jazz, and pointe work. A junior at Centennial High School, Eva has been very involved with theatre for almost 6 years (including several Star Bright Players productions) and started choreographing a little over a year ago. She’s very excited to take on Shrek the Musical this fall and winter and she hopes to see you there!

Stage Manager for Shrek, Leah Worden 
Leah started doing Crew with the Star Bright Players in the 5th grade and has crewed for Star Bright, Rising Stars, Expression City, Franklin Light Opera and Summit High School. After assistant stage managing several productions last school year, she stage managed the Rising Stars production of “Beauty and the Beast JR” this past summer and Franklin Light Opera’s “Best of Gilbert and Sullivan” earlier this fall. Leah, a junior at Summit High School, loves the craft of stage management and looks forward to stage managing Shrek the Musical with the Star Bright Players (her 10th Star Bright production).