Rich Rodriguez in January provides the St. Albans Raid Commemoration Committee with a report about planning for the re-enactments. Rodriguez now continues his work with a casting call for the final six available roles.
ST. ALBANS — Six lucky actors will have the opportunity to appear in the St. Albans Raid re-enactments taking place here over the Sept. 20 weekend.
The highly anticipated production is seen as the centerpiece of the 150th anniversary commemoration of the Confederate assault here in 1864.
Rich Rodriguez, scriptwriter, director and narrator for the re-enactments, said Wednesday that five male and one female roles remain to be filled. The cast also includes Civil War era military re-enactors, among them cavalry riders.
It is anticipated that Taylor Park will be filled for the performances taking place in front of building facades depicting sites integral to the real-life event of Oct. 19, 1864. About 20 Confederate raiders robbed three local banks, shot up the town, and escaped into Canada with local posses hot on their heels. The action was a quick-paced one, taking all of 15 minutes and thus the re-enactments will be high drama within a compressed timeframe.
Auditions for the six roles take place on Tuesday, July 22, from 7 to 8 p.m. at Twiggs on 24 Main St. Those interested in vying for the parts are asked to prepare a one minute monologue.
Rodriguez said rehearsals will be scheduled for Tuesday and Friday evenings with nightly rehearsals required the week prior to the performance (Sept. 15-19).
“This will be a large-scale outdoor performance performed in front of thousands of people. There will also be a high amount of visibility as an actor, as VPT (Vermont Public Television) will be filming the event,” said Rodriguez.
Organizers of the overall four-day event have created a jam-packed schedule and utilization of space within Taylor Park has been a major and detailed consideration. Nearly 100 military and civilian Civil War re-enactors will be the park as well.
It is estimated that the area between the Civil War Monument, which is adjacent to Church Street, and the park’s western edge on Main Street can accommodate 5,000 spectators. It is within that space that the crowd, actors, and facades will coexist for the 2 p.m., Saturday, Sept. 20, and 1 p.m., Sunday, Sept. 21 re-enactments.
A large screen TV will simulcast the action caught by VPT cameras in three separate scenes. The narrator and actors’ voices will be broadcast via a public address system.
Dignitaries, including the last remaining relative of Confederate raid leader, Lt. Bennett H. Young, and local descendants of Capt. George Conger, who led one of the posses, will be seated on the monument during the Saturday performance.
Following the re-enactments, participants, military and civilian re-enactors, and others will take part in a Heritage Review, a brief march – to fife and drum – around the park.
The Sept. 18-21 commemoration events have received wide spread publicity with the assistance of the Vermont Dept. of Travel & Tourism, Vermont Chamber of Commerce, Vermont Civil War Sesquicentennial Commission and media regionally and nationally. The raid group’s website and Facebook page has cast a wider net with inquiries from Canada and Europe.
By Messenger Staff
Any questions regarding the auditions may be addressed to Rich Rodriguez at 802-585-0560. More information about the raid and the sesquicentennial events can be found at www.stalbansraid.com.
