News Release 08-071-D

Auditions for Judge Dunson's Secret

	News Release 08-071-D	For more information:
	Release date: 01/07/09	Bentley Gilbert
	For immediate release	(541) 440-7747
	http://www.umpqua.edu/ 

Winchester— Centerstage at Umpqua Community College will be holding auditions for the play, Judge Dunson’s Secret, on Sunday, January 11, at 7 p.m. and Monday, January 12, at 7 p.m. in Centerstage Theatre on the Umpqua Community College campus. Judge Dunson's Secret is a musical adapted from a novel of the same title by Oregon author and equal rights advocate Abigail Scott Duniway. The play was written by two Umpqua Community College faculty members in observance of Oregon's 2009 sesquicentennial. John Granholm wrote the book and Dr. Jason Heald wrote the music and lyrics.

Residents of Douglas County are invited to audition, whether they be students or non-students at the college. Previous acting experience is not required. Parts are available for three men, six women, one boy (age ten to thirteen), one girl (age five to seven), one girl (age eight to eleven), various townspeople and chorus.

Scripts of the play are now available at the front desk of the college library for a one day check-out. Judge Dunson's Secret will be directed by Dean Remick and performed in Centerstage Theatre in March.

For more information about the play or auditions, call Dean Remick at the college- #440-4691.

The Story

Judge David Dunson is a wealthy and prominent citizen of Portland, Oregon in 1883, but he hides a shameful secret. As the plot unfolds, the audience learns that Judge Dunson's secret is not the only one to be revealed by the wiles of Zuleika Shannon, a woman from Dunson's past. Using a clever disguise, native intelligence, and her passion for equal rights, Zuleika re-unites her war-shattered family and leads Judge Dunson on a path to personal redemption.