Castlebar Musical and Dramatic Society (CMDS) will hold auditions for their 2016 production on Tuesday 30th and Wednesday 31st August at 7pm in the Breaffy Woods Hotel, Castlebar.

This is the third year of its journey to bring the best of musical theatre to Mayo. In its first year, CMDS staged the hugely successful and award-winning musical OKLAHOMA. Last year it continued on its journey to Russia for the magnificent FIDDLER ON THE ROOF.

This year CMDS has decided to travel to the SOUTH PACIFIC for its next production. First performed in 1949 on Broadway, SOUTH PACIFIC, the musical composed by Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein, was an immediate success. Featuring some of the best loved tunes of the 20th century including "Some enchanted evening"; "I'm In Love with a Wonderful Guy"; "Nothing like a Dame".

The musical is set on a remote island in the Pacific during World War II. The plot tells the love story of a young, unsophisticated US Navy nurse and a cultured French plantation owner. It also portrays the romance between an ambitious US Lieutenant and a native Polynesian Islander: all set against the backdrop of a US military camp.
The story deals with interracial love affairs and sent out a very progressive message on racism at the time. It became one of the most successful and best-loved musical of its era, and its popularity continues to the present day.

Auditions for this year's musical SOUTH PACIFIC will be held on Tuesday 30th and Wednesday 31st August in Breaffy Woods Hotel, Castlebar at 7pm. Chorus auditions will take place on the Tuesday with principal auditions being held on Wednesday.

Every year CMDS actively recruits and encourages new members, and this year they are appealing to everyone with a passing interest in acting, singing or helping out backstage, to join them for the open auditions.

Director, Alanna Ní Mhíocháin, was very enthusiastic about the upcoming production: "We are very excited to be starting our third production here in Castlebar. After the success and fun that we had with our last two productions, we have decided to continue with another well-known and well-loved Broadway musical. South Pacific is a wonderful show with fantastic songs and dance numbers. We will need a large cast to play the military personnel, nurses, nuns and islanders. We are also going to need volunteers to help out backstage, front-of-house, costume, make-up and much more. We would welcome anyone with an interest in the show to come along to the auditions on the 30th and 31st August."

All information relating to auditions can be found on the CMDS website - www.cmds.ie or by contacting 087-7612214.