OREM -- Plans for a new play-reading series and auditions for the premiere of a new musical by LDS playwright Tye Noorda have been announced by the SCERA Center, 745 S. State, Orem.A MUSICAL ADAPTATION of Charles Dickens' "Great Expectations," co-authored by Neil K. Newell and C. Michael Perry, will be read at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday, Dec. 10, in Room B-1 of the SCERA Center complex.
The theater has scheduled similar play readings every other month in an effort to foster new plays and encourage promising playwrights. The program is being hosted by Encore Performance Publishing, a local publisher of plays and musicals for the family market.
The readings, all free of charge, will be informal and unrehearsed. Interested playwrights may submit their unpublished plays for consideration at EPP's office, 555 S. State, Suite 10, Orem, or bring them to any of the scheduled readings. Future dates have not yet been specified, but readings are tentatively scheduled for January, March, May, July, September and November.
Newell and Perry recently collaborated on "Anne . . . With an 'e' -- The Green Gables Musical," which was produced by Spanish Fork Community Theatre.
AUDITIONS for the SCERA Center's upcoming production of Tye Noorda's "Experience" will be held on Thursday, Dec. 17, from 7 to 10 p.m. in Room B-1. There are roles for 10 men and 10 women, including one mature boy who can pass for age 8 or 9, a wide range of teenagers, an "NFL football player type" and several adults. Come prepared to sing 16 bars of a ballad. There will also be dance auditions for youths. Call-backs will be Dec. 19 from 10 a.m. until noon.
"Experience" will be presented Feb. 12-20 in the SCERA's new indoor Showhouse. David Whitlock will direct the production. For further information, call 225-ARTS (2787).