Entertainment : After auditions, ACT 1 director Bopp still seeks actor for lead role for play

Katie Hancock, right, performs some lines in the ACT 1 studio during auditions Sunday evening.

Jeff Seitz reads some lines during an audition for ACT 1's 'Picnic' Sunday evening.

April Seitz, Sue Gates, Emma Clingman and Katie Hancock audition for Allison Watkins and Tony Bopp.

     For Director Tony Bopp, finding young adult male actors for ACT 1 shows is never -- pardon the pun -- a picnic.

    "Picinic" is no exception. 

   After two audition sessions, Bopp and Allison Watkins had heard 22 auditions. Only three of those were from males. 

   On Saturday, 15 females and one guy auditioned. The ratio was better on Sunday: 4 females, 2 guys. 

   While there are plenty of females to cast all of those roles, the ACT 1 version of 'Picnic' lacks its two main male characters, including the lead role of Hal. 

   "We need two 20-something males," said Bopp. Hal, the lead role, is an athletic guy. In the 1955 movie based on the play, that role was played by William Holden. "We need a guy built like that," says Bopp. 

    There is also a fringe benefit for any guy who plays that role, said Bopp: He gets a lot of kissing scenes. 

     Bopp said that it is difficult to get men aged 18-40 to audition for ACT 1 shows. 

   One couple auditioned Sunday night. Jeff Seitz and his wife, April are the parents of two of the members in last year's ACT 1 production of "13." Jeff has been in ACT 1 shows before; April said she has been in the audience, watching her kids and husband. This was her first audition. 

     Katie Hancock, who played the lead female role in "13," also auditioned for "Picnic."

    Steve Arnold, the director of "13," also reported having many more females than males for those auditions last year. He needed seven guys for "13;" he had exactly that many audition.

     Bopp told the actors that he planned let them know this week of the cast selection.