General Auditions will be held on Sunday, August 26th OR Monday, August 27th

Sunday, August 26th4-5 Grades: 2:00 pm6-8 Grades: 3:30 pm

Chose to attend EITHER Sunday or Monday

Monday, August 27th4-5 Grades: 4:00 pm6-8 Grades: 5:30 pm

​Bring all 3 forms, completed, with you to auditions (Audition Forms buttons below).Please arrive approximately 15 minutes early for registration.​Also remember to bring a recent photo of yourself. Photocopy of photo is encouraged as the photo will not be returned.

Callbacks will be held on Wednesday, August 29th and Thursday, August 30th4:00 pm - 8:00 pm​Details on which day to attend will be communicated after General Auditions. You may be called back for either Wednesday or Thursday, or both days.

a few words about auditioning, casting policies and rulesHistory: Children's Theatre of Winnetka was founded at the Winnetka Community House in 1974, with the intent to provide an overall theater experience for the children of New Trier Township. Auditions are open to all New Trier Township children (children residing or attending school in New Trier Township) grades 4-8. Our goals remain the same: 1) we teach all aspects of theater arts - producing, directing, acting, singing, dancing, lighting, sound, stage management, crewmanship, props, makeup, special effects, ushering and other disciplines which are needed to create a show; 2) we produce two shows a year that are aimed at appealing to young audiences; and 3) we work to maintain a high standard of professionalism. Since 1974, our shows have ranged from fairy tales to modern classics to Broadway musicals. Over the years our popularity has grown - both among the children who wish to be in our casts and on our crews and among the adults who seek to lend us their talents. Our adult board is an all-volunteer, working board.

Auditions:Auditions and callbacks are CLOSED which means all non-auditioning children and parents may not watch auditions. We have instituted this policy to provide your child with the privacy needed to be comfortable and the opportunity to be their creative best. Please feel free to wait for your child in the lobby area of the Community House or return home until your child calls for pick up when their audition is completed. Thank you for your cooperation in this matter.

Casting:The casting committee consists of the directors of the production, plus any other production staff that the directors wish to include. Normally, the choreographer and the vocal coach are included. At least one casting committee member must be a Board member. Casting is by consensus, with the Director having the final say in case there is no consensus. When there are co-directors, consensus must be reached. With the increased popularity of our productions, the number of children auditioning has risen enormously. It has been necessary for the Board to constantly review casting policies and to establish a casting philosophy. Rules of thumb have been established over the years, some of which are Board policy and some of which are common sense, to aid casting committees in cases where there are a great many talented children available:

Board Policy:

The Director(s) have the freedom to choose those children that they deem most fit to play all acting roles.

Board members' children and children of non-board members who are working on the production will be called back as a matter of courtesy.

When, and only when, talent is equal, a Board member's child will be chosen over a non-Board member's child.

If more than one child from the same family auditions for a show, there is no guarantee that all children will be cast.

Common Sense:

The choreographer is the best judge of dancers.

The vocal coach is the best judge of singers.

The Directors are the best judge of actors.

A grading system will be used to break ties.

All children who try out are graded on acting, singing and dancing. In each case, grading is subjective. There is no scientific way to grade these talents. Directors may have preconceived ideas of how they want the characters to look, act and sound; therefore, it is entirely possible that a child with exceptional talent might be turned away because he or she does not fit the Director's concept. Frequently, children who are not cast in one production will be cast in the next one (based upon the different needs of that show.)

An important factor that enters into casting is a child's size. Every show has different size requirements and the directors select their leading characters first and build their cast around them to create a believable cast. For example, a boy might be "born to play" the part of the father, but if he is no taller than the actor selected to play his son, he will not work out as that character; the audience would not believe him in the part. By the same token, Annie cannot be taller than Daddy Warbucks, and so on. Sometimes a child cannot be cast because of size, despite enormous talent. Other times children of lesser talent must be cast because of their size-appropriateness, in order to make the play believable to the audiences.

Our crew system is designed to allow those children who are not cast and those who are interested in developing backstage skills to be involved in its actual production. It would be very easy to use adults as crew, but we have chosen to use children for all crews and to teach backstage disciplines as well as onstage ones. We are proud of our crew system. We always have some children who do not wish to act but only to work on crew and we make every attempt to give them their first choice of crews. Our goal in all productions is to give crewmembers as much responsibility as possible.

CTW is a non-profit, volunteer organization. Most of the adults who work on the show donate their time for the love of Children's Theatre.

Scholarships are available for the production fee. Call Connie Yonan at (847) 751-1870. All inquiries and scholarships are kept confidential.

We request that parents of cast members participate in some capacity during the rehearsals and performances. There are a variety of opportunities that will fit both your interests and time constraints. A parent meeting will be called after casting is complete to describe these opportunities to you.

Thank you for taking the time to read this and thank you for your children!THE BOARD OF THE CHILDREN'S THEATRE OF WINNETKA​