The following shows are school productions intended for the listed age range. Each show includes enrollment in the Spotlight Acting School. You do not have to be currently enrolled to audition. Here are some highlights.

1. Every child is cast in school productions. 
2. The audition process is completely guided.
3. School productions follow school rules. A student handbook will be provided.
4. School productions include skill-building lessons and are run by our trained staff.
5. School rehearsals are typically on Saturdays only until dress week.
6. Tuition for enrollment starts at $85.00 per month
7. Financial assistance is available.
8. We strive to engage every child in each rehearsal.
9. Age ranges are protected to provide leading opportunities for young actors.

Everybody wants to be a cat in Disney’s stage adaptation of the animated classic motion picture.

In the heart of Paris, a kind and eccentric millionairess wills her entire estate to Duchess, her high-society cat, and her three little kittens. Laughs and adventure ensue as the greedy, bumbling butler pulls off the ultimate catnap caper. Now it’s up to the rough-and-tumble alley cat, Thomas O’Malley, and his band of swingin’ jazz cats to save the day.

Auditions Dec 3 at 1:30 pm – The Spotlight Playhouse – Berea

You do not have to be currently enrolled in Spotlight Acting School to audition.

All Students Age 4-9 will be cast.

Age waivers to older students are being granted.  Students in the designated age range will be cast first where applicable.

Students will be expected to sing a song and repeat a dance routine.

Monologues are not required but will be accepted and considered in the casting process. 

Directed by Daesha Miller and Letha Hembree

Rehearsals – Saturdays, 9:00 am – 10:00 am (1st Cast) and 11:00 am – 12:00 pm (2nd Cast)

Performances – April 21-23 (1st Cast) and April 28-30 (2nd Cast)

Standard tuition to Spotlight Acting School is $85 per month before any discounts or financial aid.  For more information contact Mr. Chad at 859-661-0600 or email [email protected] 

Character Breakdown

• AMELIA and ABIGAIL – Two bold geese sisters who rescue O’Malley from the river and lead the way out of the country back to Paris. These comedic characters sing a duet (but no solos), so cast solid singers and actors. It’s also important for Amelia and Abby to be able to move convincingly as geese. If you have a small cast, consider double casting them as Alley Cats in the opening number and for “Ev’rybody Wants to Be a Cat.” Middle C# – C#, D (above middle C) – C#
• DUCHESS – Elegant and nurturing mother of the Aristokittens. This leading role requires small group singing, but no solos, so cast your strongest actor and mover, rather than singer. Look for a mature actress who is able to convey a maternal figure. Try to audition Duchess hopefuls with O’Malleys and Aristokittens to see who works best together. Middle C – High Db
• EDGAR – Villainous butler of Madame. He’s allergic to the pampered Aristocats and secretly hates tending to them. This leading part requires one of your strongest and most mature performers with excellent acting and singing skills. Cast an actor who can portray a believable sneeze, possesses excellent comic timing, and is unafraid to be mean. A (below middle C) – High Eb
• MARIE – Spirited and sassy daughter of Duchess. She is the youngest child and a charmer just like her mother. Since she’s in the majority of the show and has a small singing solo, cast a stronger actor rather than singer. When auditioning, mix and match Aristokitten hopefuls into different trios to see who works best together. F# (above middle C) – B
• SCAT CAT – Jazzy leader of the Alley Cat narrators. He or she is ultra hip and enjoys introducing the Aristocats to jazz music. Scat Cat leads the song “Ev’rybody Wants to Be a Cat,” so cast a strong singer and smooth mover. When auditioning, look for a child that’s willing to go over-the-top on both movement and acting improvisations. The more creative and able to perform outside the box, the better. Scat Cat can be played by either a girl or boy. A (below middle C) – High C#
• THE ALLEY CATS – HEP, MAD, SLICK and WACKY – Small acting parts, but are the glue that holds Disney’s THE ARISTOCATS KIDS together. These storytellers set up and comment on the action as well as execute the scene changes. These roles require actors with strong speaking voices who can focus onstage for long periods of time. They should also have good memories for the more complicated blocking of scene changes and transitions. Casting extra Alley Cats is a great way to use additional children you may have. Depending upon ability, they can take part in all or only some of the production numbers which call for the Alley Cats. Use some strong singers in these roles to help fill out the sound of the chorus. B (below middle C) – High C#
• THOMAS O’MALLEY – Charming and charismatic lead alley cat. He lives as a free spirit with no attachments but secretly desires to be part of a family. This role requires a strong actor, singer, and mover. He should also be comfortable flirting with the actress playing Duchess. When auditioning, mix and match your O’Malley and Duchess hopefuls into different pairs and look for the best chemistry. The success of the show largely hinges on the energy of this leading cat so cast your strongest performer in this role. A (below middle C) – High D
• TOULOUSE and BERLIOZ – Duchess’s sons. Since these Aristokittens are in the majority of the scenes but require little solo singing, cast two of your stronger actors who can sing well. Toulouse yearns to be seen as tougher than he is and has a small singing solo, so cast accordingly. Berlioz (a slight smaller part than Toulouse) requires no solo singing. If possible, the Aristokittens should be physically smaller than the Duchess. D (above middle C) – C
• VICHY and SOISSE – Two privates in the dog army who report to General Napoleon. These are smaller acting roles that require good movers and solid singing voices appropriate for small group singing. If you have a small cast, consider double casting them as Alley Cats in the opening number and for “Ev’rybody Wants to Be a Cat.” Middle C – C#

Spotlight Acting School is proud to offer Shakespeare’s timeless tale of love and loss this winter. This opportunity is open to an intergenerational cast and we will be diving head first into a hands-on understanding of the greatest of bards, William Shakespeare. Stunts will play a great role in this production with ample swordplay. Students and adults alike will be challenged each week with lessons, activities, and games in addition to rehearsing. 

All ages are welcome to audition from children to adults. The target age range is 14-18 with preferential casting being shown to students in this range. All students aged 14-18 will be cast appropriately before filling out the cast with other actors. This guarantee of casting does not have any bearing on the size of the role. All roles must be earned by merit. Actors outside of the 14-18 age range may not be cast if we have too many actors to stage the show, but that is highly unlikely due to the need for citizens, guards, the Capulet family, and the Montegue family.

Spotlight Acting School is a tuition-based institution of the performing arts for students aged 4-18. Full tuition is $85 per month. Many discounts are available as well as financial assistance. No student has ever been turned away due to purely financial reasons. Pre-enrollment is not required. Simply show up at the audition.

Adult participants do not enroll or pay tuition. However, all adults participating in a school production must follow school rules, be respectful, participate in class and rehearsal, and assist in helping the director pull the production together as needed. (Costumes, sets, props, etc.) We are here primarily for the students but having adults participate with them is a great experience and benefit for the students.

Everyone auditioning please prepare and memorize one of the monologues below.

If wanting to be considered for the leads please use one of these two.

ROMEO (Written as a 16yo boy)
But, soft! what light through yonder window breaks?
It is the east, and Juliet is the sun.
Arise, fair sun, and kill the envious moon,
Who is already sick and pale with grief,
That thou her maid art far more fair than she.
It is my lady, O, it is my love!
O, that she knew she were!
She speaks, yet she says nothing: what of that?
Her eye discourses; I will answer it.
I am too bold, ’tis not to me she speaks:
Two of the fairest stars in all the heaven,
Having some business, do entreat her eyes
To twinkle in their spheres till they return.
What if her eyes were there, they in her head?
The brightness of her cheek would shame those stars,
As daylight doth a lamp; her eyes in heaven
Would through the airy region stream so bright
That birds would sing and think it were not night.
See how she leans her cheek upon her hand!
O, that I were a glove upon that hand,
That I might touch that cheek!

JULIET (Written as a 13yo Girl)

O Romeo, Romeo, wherefore art thou Romeo?
Deny thy father and refuse thy name.
Or if thou wilt not, be but sworn my love
And I’ll no longer be a Capulet.
‘Tis but thy name that is my enemy:
Thou art thyself, though not a Montague.
What’s Montague? It is nor hand nor foot
Nor arm nor face nor any other part
Belonging to a man. O be some other name.
What’s in a name? That which we call a rose
By any other name would smell as sweet;
So Romeo would, were he not Romeo call’d,
Retain that dear perfection which he owes
Without that title. Romeo, doff thy name,
And for that name, which is no part of thee,
Take all myself.

For all other roles use one of these monologues:
(Non-gender specific – Pick any option you want)

NURSE (Easiest)
O woe! O woeful, woeful, woeful day!
Most lamentable day, most woeful day,
That ever, ever, I did yet behold!
O day! O day! O day! O hateful day!
Never was seen so black a day as this:
O woeful day, O woeful day!

PRINCE (Average difficulty for Shakespeare)
A glooming peace this morning with it brings;
The sun, for sorrow, will not show his head:
Go hence, to have more talk of these sad things;
Some shall be pardon’d, and some punished:
For never was a story of more woe
Than this of Juliet and her Romeo.

PARIS (A little more challenging and wordy)
This is that banish’d haughty Montague,
That murder’d my love’s cousin, with which grief,
It is supposed, the fair creature died;
And here is come to do some villanous shame
To the dead bodies: I will apprehend him.
Stop thy unhallow’d toil, vile Montague!
Can vengeance be pursued further than death?
Condemned villain, I do apprehend thee:
Obey, and go with me; for thou must die.

FIRST WATCHMAN (Same difficulty as PARIS)
The ground is bloody; search about the churchyard:
Go, some of you, whoe’er you find attach.
Pitiful sight! here lies the county slain,
And Juliet bleeding, warm, and newly dead,
Who here hath lain these two days buried.
Go, tell the prince: run to the Capulets:
Raise up the Montagues: some others search:
We see the ground whereon these woes do lie;
But the true ground of all these piteous woes
We cannot without circumstance descry.

Rehearsals:
Saturdays 1:30 pm – 2:30 pm
(Dec 17 – Apr 29 except multiple Holidays & Spotlight Spring Break)

Dress week: May 1-4

Performances: May 5-7

Spotlight Acting School is proud to facilitate Community Theater opportunities for the region in cooperation with The Spotlight Playhouse, The Spotlight Players, and the Bluegrass Players.

1. Community theater auditions are open to everyone.
2. There is no cost to participate in a community production.
3. You may be asked to help fundraise for your production.
4. Community theater directors are volunteers.
5. The community rehearsals do not follow all Spotlight Acting School rules or safety protocols.
6. Parents of young children are encouraged to stay if a child is cast. We do not provide child care.
7. Casting is not guaranteed and we will only keep the actors we need for the production.
8. A rehearsal schedule for each show is usually available in the audition post.