Auditions for 'Hello Dolly'To Be Feb. 24; Play To Mark 20th Anniversary

Auditions for the Les Cheneaux Education Foundation's 2008 summer production of "Hello Dolly" will be Sunday, February 24, at Les Cheneaux Community Schools in Cedarville. Anyone who wants to audition should be at the school music room from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m., and those wishing to be in a leading role should prepare a song to sing. Performers of all ages are needed, and children ages 10 and older are welcome.

As it celebrates 20 years of summer theater productions, the Les Cheneaux Education Foundation wants to make this year's production its most lavish and exciting, said the show's director, Lisa Dunn.

Many leading roles are available, as well as several singing and dancing parts for the chorus. Show dates will be July 24 through July 27, and rehearsals will begin in May. Leading actors will rehearse one or two evenings a week. The chorus and full company rehearsals will average one rehearsal per week.

Mrs. Dunn has served as director, producer, and performer in Les Cheneaux Education Foundation productions since they started in 1988. Music direction will be by Alan Jacobus, whom Mrs. Dunn said "has built an orchestra to rival any in community theater since he joined the company in 2000," adding that "Betty Struble will again lend her remarkable talents on the keyboard to the production."

Mrs. Dunn hopes the production will be a reunion for the people who have been involved with shows over the years, and built summer plays into the popular productions they are now. Mrs. Dunn estimates that more than 500 members of the Les Cheneaux, Pickford, Kinross, Rudyard, DeTour, and Sault Ste. Marie communities have appeared on the Cedarville stage over the past 20 years.

The Les Cheneaux Education Foundation, founded in 1987, uses the profits from the plays to fund scholarships, presentations, and field trips for students in a variety of disciplines. The Education Foundation has also bought equipment for Les Cheneaux Community Schools in the past, and recently launched a fundraising campaign to assist with the school's efforts to update its computers and technology.