For Immediate Release
April 13, 2007

MANASSAS – Vpstart Crow Productions will hold auditions for Conrad Seiler's The Wonderful Adventures of Don Quixote on Sunday, May 13, from 6-9 p.m., and Monday, May 14, from 7-9 p.m., at The Cramer Center, located at 9008 Center St. in Old Town Manassas, VA.

Callbacks, if necessary, will be held Tuesday, May 15, from 7-10 p.m. The production will run July 13-29, Fridays and Saturdays at 8 p.m. and Sundays at 2 p.m. at The Cramer Center, with a pay-what-you-can preview on Thursday, July 12, at 8 p.m.

The Wonderful Adventures of Don Quixote is based on the famous novel The Ingenious Hidalgo Don Quixote of La Mancha (or El Ingenioso Hidalgo Don Quijote de la Mancha), written in two parts by Miguel de Cervantes in 1605 and 1615. Don Quixote tells the tale of a young village woman's uncle who, after reading about chivalry, now imagines he is a knight himself named Don Quixote de la Mancha. Despite tearful concerns by his niece, Antonia, Don Quixote – with his good horse, Rocinante, and his faithful squire, Sancho Panza – ventures forth into the world for the sake of his imaginary lady, Dulcinea del Toboso, to right wrongs, and challenge his imaginary arch enemy, the Knight of the White Moon. Meanwhile, Antonia has confided in her housekeeper, who seeks advice from the village scholar, Dr. Carrasco. Dr. Carrasco then concocts a plan to bring Don Quixote to his senses, and the adventure begins!

Director Jamie Bartosavage Erdman is seeking to cast 16 actors. No appointment is necessary. Auditions will consist of cold readings from the script. Callbacks will also consist of cold readings from the script as well as movement exercises. Some who are cast may be asked to play multiple roles, and all actors will be paid a small stipend covering all rehearsals and performances at the end of the run.

Ms. Bartosavage Erdman has previously worked with Vpstart Crow as the costume designer for Much Ado About Nothing and The Seagull and as an assistant stage manager for Anne of the Thousand Days. She has mostly worked with NOVA Woodbridge Theatre Group (NWTG), where she directed A Doll's House, Jimmy Shine and Oedi; co-directed The Hot L Baltimore, Where's Charley? and MacBeth; and provided character development coaching for The Rimers of Eldritch and The Crucible. Other NWTG credits include: props designer, costume designer and set dressing for The Importance of Being Earnest; stage manager, costume designer and props designer for A Doll's House; producer and house manager for The Pajama Game; stage manager and lighting designer for Macbeth; stage manager for Lysistrata; and assistant costume designer for Overtones. Ms. Bartosavage Erdman also directed The Baltimore Waltz for Castaways Repertory Theatre for the 2006 NVTA One-Act Festival and costumed The Smell of the Kill for the Elden Street Players. Acting credits with NWTG include The Importance of Being Earnest (Miss Prism), The Rimers of Eldritch (Evelyn Jackson), The Crucible (Mercy Lewis) and Creative Development (Muse #6).

For more information, please contact Ms. Bartosavage Erdman at info@vpstartcrow.com or (800) 660-8580, or please visit www.vpstartcrow.com.

ABOUT VPSTART CROW PRODUCTIONS, INC.
Founded in 1994, Vpstart Crow Productions, Inc. (pronounced “upstart”) is a non-Equity and non-profit professional theatre company dedicated to performing the works of William Shakespeare and other theatre classics. Vpstart Crow’s mission is to produce live theatre as a vital, accessible and exciting part of community life. Employing a resident company of local professional actors and artists of the highest caliber, Vpstart Crow is dedicated to breaking down the barriers between audience and actors in a performance style that is thought-provoking and altogether vpstartling.

The term “vpstart crow” comes from one of Shakespeare’s rival English playwrights, Robert Greene. In his 1592 pamphlet, Groats-Worth Of Wit Bought With A Million Of Repentance, Greene criticizes Shakespeare: “… for there is an vpstart crow, beautified with our feathers, that with his tigers hart wrapt in a players hyde, supposes he is as well able to bombast out a blanke verse as the best of you; and being an absolute Johannes factotum (“Johnny-do-it-all” or “Jack-of-all-trades”), is in his owne conceit the onely ‘Shake-scene’ in a countrey.” In fact, Vpstart Crow spells its name with a “v” rather than a “u” in reference to the way the English language was written in Shakespeare’s day.

Press contacts:
Christine D. Lange
Artistic Director
Vpstart Crow Productions, Inc.
(800) 660-8580
artistic@vpstartcrow.com

Sara Joy Lebowitz
Managing Director
Vpstart Crow Productions, Inc.
(800) 660-8580
managing@vpstartcrow.com

Jay Tilley
Public Relations Consultant
Vpstart Crow Productions, Inc.
(571) 216-7419
sagart16@yahoo.com