The Great Cookie War | Training Show Production in El Dorado Hills, CA

The Great Cookie War
A Training Show Production

Book and Lyrics by Richard Wilson
Music by Lynne Cimorelli

Featuring performers ages 5-9
This show is Rated G

Rehearsals
Saturdays, January 20 – March 2, 2024

Tech Rehearsal/Performances
March 4-9, 2024

PERFORMER’S CALENDAR – CLICK HERE

SHOW OVERVIEW
It is that time of the year – the time when Kid Scouts all over America have their big fundraising cookie sale. The neighborhood of Eagle Creek has not one, but two Kid Scout Troops: Troop 49 and Troop 94. Each intends to be the top selling troop in the region. But is the neighborhood big enough for two top troops? Find out as they go into battle in The Great Cookie War.

REHEARSALS
Saturdays 9:00 am – 11:00 am (Everyone)
Saturdays 9:00 am – 12:00 pm (Leads)

TECH REHEARSAL/PERFORMANCES
Each cast will have a tech rehearsal on March 6th, and perform three shows, March 7-9, 2024.

VENUE
Rehearsals and shows take place at the EDMT rehearsal facility, located at:
4949 Windplay Drive, El Dorado Hills, CA 95762

TRAINING SHOW AUDITION WORKSHOP
This one-day workshop is ideal for any performer between 5-9 years old who wants to audition for EDMT’s 2023 Training Show, The Great Cookie War. The audition workshop is not mandatory to participate in the training show production, but it is a great way to prepare for auditions. Cost is $50.

Date/Time: Saturday, January 6th, 10:00am – 1:00pm

Participants will learn from EDMT’s Founder and Artistic Director, Debbie Wilson:

Exactly what to expect at the audition.
How to choose audition songs. Participants will receive a Google Drive link of appropriate audition songs that they can use.
How to drill your introduction, what to include, and why your introduction is so important!
Dance steps that are in The Great Cookie War dance audition.
The story and characters in The Great Cookie War, including getting to practice lines from the show.
Plus, everyone will get a chance to do a full practice audition to gain experience.
Parents attend for FREE and are strongly encouraged to attend so they can assist their young performer. Only 1 parent per child registered may attend.
Performers wear closed-toed shoes and comfortable clothes to dance in. If your performer has an audition song they would like to sing please have them bring an electronic file in one of these formats, .MP3, .WAV, .AIF, .M4A.

The audition workshop takes place at the EDMT rehearsal facility, located at:
4949 Windplay Drive, El Dorado Hills, CA 95762

ABOUT EDMT’S TRAINING SHOW PROGRAM

Training Shows are an ideal way for young people to start learning about performance and theater. For young people who already have some theater experience, it is a unique opportunity to gain further experience acting, singing, and dancing onstage.
Our Training Shows start with the key theater terms and performing. Student performers then progress through actually staging a performance. The show itself is a “lighter” production that is perfectly suited to younger performers.
The first class is a real audition that parallels the audition process used by El Dorado Musical Theatre and most other stage performance groups. Since all students who enroll in the class participate and perform onstage, auditions are for determining who will perform each specific role.

CAST OF CHARACTERS
NOTE: All roles can be cast with either a boy or a girl.

The Narrator…The storyteller who guides the audience through the story. He/she hopes to narrate for Disney and Pixar movies someday. They are doing this show just to fill out their resume.

The Narrator’s Apprentice…A current enrollee at the Narrator’s Institute who is doing an internship with our official Narrator.

Carey/Carrie…The Leader of Troop 49. Number Two/The Assistant Leader of Troop 49.

Talker…A member of Troop 49 who is willing to strike up a conversation with anyone, on any subject, at any time.

Monster…The highest cookie selling scout in the region for the past three years. Troop 49 recruits Monster when he/she moves into the neighborhood.

Jordan…The Leader of Troop 94.

Jayhawk…The Assistant Leader of Troop 94. He/she moved from Kansas to the neighborhood a few years ago – hence the name.

Lil’ D…A member of Troop 94 who believes in making a positive difference in the world.

Face…A member of Troop 94 who has mastered the art of using a cute expression for selling cookies by the case.

MUSICAL NUMBERS

It’s Cookies!…Full Cast
The Latest, Greatest, Newest Cookie…Full Cast
You’ve Just Gotta Use Your Face…Face
Change Our Ways…Carey/Jordan
Sell Some Cookies for a Panda…Carey/Jordan/Full Cast
Cookies! (reprise)…Full Cast

REGISTRATION
Online registration begins Wednesday, January 3rd at 8:00pm on this webpage and closes when full or on January 10th at 8:00pm, whichever comes first. (If the cast is full you may choose to be placed on a waiting list.) Everyone registered will be in the show. Auditions are to determine who will perform specific roles.

No cast requests.
Please review the calendar thoroughly.
Do not register if you will miss more than two rehearsals.
[New to EDMT: Bring a copy of your birth certificate to your audition to verify your age.]

AUDITIONS
Saturday, January 13th, starting at 9:00am at EDMT’s Rehearsal Facility. Arrive 15 minutes before your audition time to check-in.

We will send an email after registration with instructions on how to submit music electronically for auditions.
Upon arrival to auditions you will be measured for costumes.
Auditionees will be seated by number in a row of 10 chairs in the audition room. Parents are invited to watch. When your number is called, you will come forward, introduce yourself and your song, and then sing for up to one minute.
After 10 sing, they may choose to recite a few lines, provided by the artistic staff, to be considered for a role.
Next, 20 auditionees will be taught a dance and perform it for the staff in small groups. Some groups of auditionees will sing first and dance second, and others will dance first and sing second.
At that point, the first 10 are excused and the next 10 sing and recite lines.

CAST LIST
The cast list will be posted on the EDMT website on Wednesday, January 17th at 8:00pm.

COST
$300 Tuition Fee. This is paid online by credit card at the time of registration. Additional expenses may include the purchase of personal items such as changing garments and shoes; and those which are completely optional, such as a cast photo or t-shirt, etc.

REFUND POLICY

Registered cast members will receive a full refund of tuition, minus a $50.00 processing fee if they remove themselves from the cast before the cast list is posted.
NO refunds of tuition will be made once the cast list is posted on the EDMT website, except in extenuating circumstances such as death in the family, medical injury, serious illness, or surgery not known about prior to auditions.
To request a cancellation prior to the cast being posted, send an email to [email protected]. Make sure to include performer’s name, parent’s name and phone number, and reason for canceling.
NO refunds of tuition will be given to cast members removed from the cast by EDMT staff for behavioral reasons.

Note: Auditionees and their parents are aware that rehearsals require the cast member to have the ability to focus for two hours, with one break.

REHEARSALS
Saturdays 9:00 am – 11:00 am (Everyone)
Saturdays 9:00 am – 12:00 pm (Leads)

Saturday, January 20th is the first rehearsal.
It is extremely important that you review the calendar from the website and provide any schedule conflicts on audition day.
Please DO NOT REGISTER if your schedule has more than 2 conflicts on NON-mandatory dates or ANY conflicts on Dress Rehearsal on March 2nd or Tech Rehearsal/Performances on March 6th-9th.
Missing any of these important dates may result in being dropped from the show.

Rehearsals will take place at EDMT, 4949 Windplay Drive, in El Dorado Hills, CA.

MANDATORY PARENT MEETING
There is a PARENT MEETING on Saturday, January 20th from 9:00-10:00am, at EDMT. You will receive important information critical to the success of your cast member and the show.

SHOW FAQs

Who can participate?
Boys and girls between the ages of 5 and 9. (Age as of the date of auditions.)

Why do we have auditions?
The purpose of the audition is to determine how well students can sing or dance and to determine who can best perform each role. Students are not expected to arrive fully versed as a performer since that is what they are learning in the class.

What are the audition song requirements and preferences?
Choose an age appropriate song, preferably from a musical, no longer than one minute. Performers may sing acapella (voice alone with no accompaniment) or use an electronic music file (acceptable file formats are .MP3, .WAV, .AIF, .M4A). Email an edited music file where you will start singing to [email protected]. The file must be able to be played and transferred (not a song off of Spotify).

What to wear to a dance audition?
Dress comfortably for a dance audition. (Clothes and shoes that allow you to move easily, NO sandals or thick boots.) Everyone is expected to participate in the dance audition.

What is the class/cast size?
Participants are accepted on a first-come, first-served basis. Depending on the number of registrants, we will have a maximum of three casts with 30 performers each. Students who apply after the first 90 spots are filled will be placed on a waiting list.

Will siblings be placed together in the same cast group? Can we request to be in a cast group with a friend?
Cast groups will be created by the artistic staff to meet the needs of the show. Siblings will be placed in the same cast. There are NO FRIEND REQUESTS for cast groups for this show.

Can parents observe rehearsals?
Only registered performers, rehearsal monitors and staff members may be on site while rehearsals are in progress. Parents are not invited to observe.

How will drop off and pick up work?
All performers should enter EDMT through the front door entrance and arrive 10-15 minutes before their scheduled rehearsal time for check-in. After rehearsal, performers will exit EDMT through the front door. A Rehearsal Monitor will wait with the performers in front of the building until parents arrive. Please arrive on time to pick up your performer(s).

Who do I go to when I have a question?
Please direct all questions to the Show Coordinator or Producer. Please avoid disrupting rehearsals by going directly to the artistic staff.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
For any additional questions or information about The Great Cookie War please contact the EDMT office at (916) 941-7464.