FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                                                  Date: September 7, 2001

Contact: Donna McCracken

Auditions scheduled for child’s cameo role in Ragtime

SPRINGFIELD -- The Community Arts Center will hold auditions for a cameo role in the upcoming production of Ragtime to be performed at the University of Illinois at Springfield’s Sangamon Auditorium at 8 p.m. Friday, October 5, and again at 2 and 8 p.m. Saturday, October 6.

The non-speaking child’s role is “Little Coalhouse,” who has a brief walk-on near the end of the show.  Three African-American boys between 4 and 6 years old are needed to fill the part. Audition materials need not be prepared in advance.

Auditions are scheduled for noon on Saturday, September 15, and 2 p.m. on Sunday, September 16, at the Community Arts Center, 1229 East Monroe Street, in Springfield.  Callbacks will be held at Sangamon Auditorium at a later date.  For more information, call the center at (217) 789-6690 or the auditorium’s administrative offices at (217) 206-6150.

      Ragtime presents a panoramic portrait of three families: one upper-middle class white, one socialist immigrant Jewish, and one Harlem black.  As the characters embark on voyages of self-discovery, their lives become dramatically intertwined with each other’s and with real-life historical characters including Henry Ford, Harry Houdini, J.P. Morgan, and Booker T. Washington. 

Tickets to Ragtime can be ordered by calling the UIS Ticket Office at (217) 206-6160 or (800) 207-6960 between 10 a.m. and 5 p.m. Monday through Friday.  Tickets are $39, 36, 34, and 20 for the 8 p.m. performances and $36, 33, 31, and 18 for the 2 p.m. matinee.