With one production left in its 19th season, Footlighters Theatre Society is holding auditions for the spooky Legend of Sleepy Hollow at 2 p.m. Jan 4 at the Snoring Sasquatch.
Ten female roles and eight male roles, which include several teenagers, are available in the production, which will run April 10-12 at Prince Charles Theatre.
“I’ve always liked Sleepy Hollow,” said Jordan Koop, who makes his directorial debut with this production. “It has a nice sense of creepiness. And it’s a classic — everybody knows the story and kind of relates to it.”
Adapted from the 1820 short story by Washington Irving, Legend of Sleepy Hollow is set in 1790 in the countryside around a Dutch settlement in New York. It follows schoolmaster Ichabod Crane, who comes to the farming community of Sleepy Hollow looking for a good life and a wealthy wife who will supply it. Once he sets eyes on the local beauty, Katrina Van Tassel, the only child of a wealthy farmer, he’s sure his dream will come true. Katrina has a boyfriend, Brom Bones, who is extremely jealous.
To complicate matters, a small army of restless spirits, including the most famous phantom of all, the Headless Horseman, haunts the graveyard. When Ichabod tries to make his way home through a terrible storm, he finds that in the dark, there’s something shadowy and towering intent on taking his life…
Koop, who studied theatre in university and has worked on stage and in film, has acted in several Footlighters productions, most recently playing Chad Harvey earlier this month in the locally written Almost Golden. And while he enjoys the spotlight, he decided it was time for a different challenge.
“I’ve been playing around, exploring different avenues,” he said. “I thought it would be exciting to try something new.”
Auditions for Legend of Sleepy Hollow will be by cold readings from the script. For more information, contact Jordan Koop at 250-254-0558.
—FOOTLIGHTERS THEATRE SOCIETY