Auditions
Rodgers and Hammerstein's “Carousel”
Auditions: December 3–4, 2025 | 7 p.m. | Perry Theatre
Auditions for our spring musical, “Carousel,” will be held on December 3 and 4 at 7 p.m. in Perry Theatre. All students are welcome to audition! You do not need to be a theatre major or have any previous theatre experience. View directions to Perry Theatre.
- Pick and rehearse a short audition cut from a song in the style of the show (16-32 bars or around 90 seconds). This could be from another golden-age musical by other composers or by Rodgers and Hammerstein. You can choose your own piece or you can pick one of our suggestions. An accompanist will be provided at the audition.
- Pick and rehearse two script cuts (or sides) to read at the audition. Printouts will be provided at the audition. Please, no digital versions on phones or tablets. You may use your own print-out if you made notes for yourself.
- Optional, but encouraged: listen to the 2018 cast recording, watch the movie, or read the script.
- Printed sheet music for singing audition (in a three-ring binder, if possible).
- Printed copies of your headshot and resume. This is REQUIRED of junior and senior theatre majors and optional for everyone else.
- Information regarding your schedule starting January 13, including class times, work schedules, and other commitments (vacations, school trips, AU athletic events, etc.)
- Clothing and shoes that you can move in and that boost your confidence in a professional audition setting. Sneakers or character shoes are appropriate for the audition. Please no crocs, sandals, or heavy boots.
- Water.
- When you arrive, you will check in at the table in the lobby outside of the theatre. The team will give you an audition sheet and ask you to fill out the conflicts form.
- As a group, you will learn and perform a small dance/movement sequence to demonstrate how you pick up choreographed movement. It will not be an intense dance audition.
- After the dance portion, individuals will come into the theatre to sing and read the script sections.
- The stage management team will let you know if you need to stay after your individual audition.
Callback Auditions
Some students may be asked to return on December 4 for a callback audition. This is an opportunity for the team to see more and ask for specific songs and character script reads. We will let you know at the end of the night on December 3 via email.
About "Carousel"
Read the full synopsis and view character descriptions below.
Julie is a quiet young woman who works and lives at Bascombe Cotton Mill with her friend, Carrie Pipperidge. “Deeper than a well,” Julie is more complex that she might first appear, a daydreamer in her own world. She sees something in Billy Bigelow and falls for him. They marry and, despite warnings from others, Julie devotes herself to him. Though Billy treats her poorly, Julie cannot help but empathize with him. After his fatal misfortune, she courageously carries and raises their child without him.
The skilled barker for Mullin's Carousel at a coastal carnival, Billy is strong and attractive, but he’s also a troubled man known by local police as a sly charmer who deceives women for their money. After a spat with his boss, he spitefully quits his job in defense of Julie. When he finds himself unemployed with a baby on the way, Billy accepts an illicit opportunity to provide for his family. It doesn’t work, and he kills himself. Once in heaven, through the back door, he gets a second chance to go back to earth and right his wrongs.
Carrie is a spirited and complacent young woman. She is sweet and direct, if a bit naïve, and makes all the acceptable choices to live a proper life with a husband and many children. She works at the Bascombe Cotton Mill in town and lives at their boardinghouse with her close friend Julie Jordan. She is smitten by the ambitious but single-minded Enoch Snow, and they marry.
A respected proprietress of a seaside business, Nettie is Julie's cousin and trusted confidant. When Billy can't find work, Nettie gives them a place to stay. When tragedy befalls Julie and her unborn baby, Nettie promises to support her, assuring Julie that she will never be alone.
A warm-hearted, simple-minded fisherman who loves Carrie, Mr. Snow enjoys simple things like tending a garden and taking care of flowers when he is not working. He dreams of growing a sardine-canning business, being married, and having many children. His dreams come true.
A seaman friend of Billy's with an eye for danger. Often conning to get by, Jigger is a man with little patience and a quick temper – always with a scheme. He prefers life at sea, where he is free from the laws of the land, and makes no bones about being attracted to Carrie at the clambake.
The proprietress of Mullin's Carousel, which was left to her by her late husband. She likes to keep an eye – and perhaps more – on Billy, not trusting his relationships with anyone else.
A dignified man of earned wealth, Mr. Bascombe is the owner of the Bascombe Cotton Mill factory, where both Julie and Carrie work.
In the afterlife, the Starkeeper greets Billy and shows him the way it works “up there.” Though he’s not the big man, just the one in charge of the “backyard of heaven,” the Starkeeper grants Billy the chance to return to earth one more time to repair the damage he has done to his wife and daughter.
Billy and Julie’s inquisitive 15-year-old daughter, on the verge of becoming a woman.
Enoch and Carrie Snow’s son. Pompous and snotty.
Circus people, sailors, townsfolk, etc.
Questions?
If you have questions about the auditions, the process, or anything, contact Jessica "JJ" Jensen, visiting senior lecturer in theatre and AU’s “Carousel” director, at jjensen@aurora.edu.