TO THE STREETS! - China Plate and Birmingham Hippodrome Non Equity Auditions

Open auditions for local community cast to take place for China Plate and Birmingham Hippodrome’s new concert musical this summer

China Plate and Birmingham Hippodrome are searching for exciting local talent to take part in their new concert musical To The Streets! Over the weekend of 10 – 12 June, the creative team will hold open auditions at the Hippodrome, with a view to finding strong singers and dancers from the local community, particularly those that represent the wide diversity of Birmingham and the West Midlands. The community cast will perform alongside the principal cast at three parks in Birmingham, Coventry and Wolverhampton in August as part of the Birmingham 2022 Festival.

To The Streets! is an uplifting new musical by Roy Williams and Tim Sutton inspired by the 1963 Bristol Bus Boycott, a pivotal moment in the UK’s civil rights history. To The Streets! follows the story of Paul Stephenson, an idealistic youth worker who takes to the streets to stand up for equality in Bristol where tensions are running high as the Omnibus Company refuse to employ Black or Asian drivers or conductors. Lorraine, a teenager newly arrived from Jamaica, joins the fight and in so doing, finds her voice and becomes part of a movement that changes history.

The special performances will take place at Handsworth Park in Birmingham, Windmill Hill in Coventry (University of Warwick Campus) and West Park, Wolverhampton. Successful auditionees will be required to commit to rehearsals from week commencing 18 July and all performances across the three sites in August. Travel expenses will be offered, and access support costs are available to those that need them.

Choreographer Danielle ‘Rhimes’ Lacointe said, “Having witnessed the dance talent of Birmingham and the West Midlands first hand through my work with ZooNation, I’m delighted to get the opportunity to work here again on such an exciting production, telling such an important but little-known story. We’re looking for a group of excellent singers, but also a group of strong and passionate dancers to bring history to life in a dynamic and relevant way. We’re especially keen to hear from people with some experience of hip hop, jazz or lindy hop, whatever your age or background.”

Music and Lyrics Writer Tim Sutton said: “To the Streets! tells the story of how a community stands up for itself in the face of discrimination and injustice. We’re looking for a group of talented people who sing from the heart, to play a vital role in this brand new piece of musical theatre. The score is an eclectic mix of ska, calypso, rock and roll and uplifting anthems, and we hope to have an exciting, hard working summer where we collaborate to tell this fascinating story to a new Midlands audience.”

Auditions are open to anyone aged 16+, with the aim of building a community company that is representative of the city and region’s diversity. For full details on the auditions, visit
www.birminghamhippodrome.com/communitycast

Tickets for To The Streets! are on sale now. To book tickets for Birmingham and Wolverhampton, visit
www.birminghamhippodrome.com To book tickets for Coventry, visit
www.warwickartscentre.co.uk

To The Streets! is presented by Birmingham 2022 Festival. A China Plate & Birmingham Hippodrome production in association with Warwick Arts Centre, City of Wolverhampton Council and DRPG Creative. Generously supported by Arts Council England and The National Lottery Heritage Fund. Supported using public funding by the National Lottery through Arts Council England, Birmingham City Council and Blueprint: Without Walls R&D Investment Fund.

ABOUT BIRMINGHAM HIPPODROME

As a proud, independent charity, Birmingham Hippodrome is on a mission to enrich the cultural life of the region. Our vision is clear; we are creating a world-class cultural scene for our region with Birmingham Hippodrome firmly centre stage. As the cultural beating heart of the city, the Hippodrome reaches over one million people a year through on and off-stage programmes of work, digital presence, and performances in Birmingham and beyond.

Long recognised as one of the UK’s premier presenting theatres, the past three years have seen Birmingham Hippodrome develop into a creative producing organisation focused on access, diversity and inclusion, doubling our impact to match our annual audience of 550,000 with a further 450,000 people engaged via festivals, learning, participation and produced work, including our 2019 youth musical West Side Story, our award-winning co-production with Curve The Color Purple, new musical co-production To The Streets! with China Plate and our forthcoming collaboration with Rambert on Peaky Blinders: The Redemption of Thomas Shelby.

With nine Associate Companies, the Hippodrome produces and commissions bold new work, telling fresh and engaging stories, reflecting the youth and diversity of the city and region. We have further enhanced our reputation as a leading provider for Festivals, engaging over 150,000 people through B-Side Hip Hop Festival, co-producing the city’s Chinese New Year celebrations, and a monthly cultural programme in Bullring Grand Central, Birmingham’s flagship retail centre.

Our Hippodrome Education Network delivers creative activities in 29 partner schools every week - 26 of which are in the UK’s top 10% most deprived communities - with over 35,000 young people taking part over 120,000 times each year.

We are also the largest dance campus outside London, home to Birmingham Royal Ballet (led by Carlos Acosta), DanceXchange, Dance Consortium, OneDanceUK and digital agency The Space; recently developing a new partnership with Chaillot: Theatre National de la Danse (Paris) and being hailed as “a new capital for dance”.

To learn more and find out how you can support Birmingham Hippodrome visit:
birminghamhippodrome.com

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ABOUT CHINA PLATE

Established in 2006, China Plate is an independent producer of contemporary theatre that engages around 35,000 live audience members annually. The company’s central mission is to ‘challenge the way performance is made, who it’s made by and who gets to experience it.’ China Plate is currently making work with Caroline Horton, Inspector Sands, David Edgar, Chris Thorpe, Rachel Chavkin, Rachel Bagshaw, Urielle Klein-Mekongo, Roy Williams, Chris Haydon and Tim Sutton. They are Resident Producers at Warwick Arts Centre and partners in Derby CAN, Derby Theatre’s Arts Council England Producing Hub.

chinaplatetheatre.com