Audition Information
for
Puffs
January 2nd and January 3rd, 2023
6 pm-8:00 pm
Thank you for your interest in Auditioning with TAC at the Lake!
Auditions January 2nd and 3rd. No need to sign up - just show up either night at 6:00pm
This is a cold-read audition, so nothing to prepare for. Come ready to read from the script (assistance can be provided).
Audition forms are here: Audition Forms. Please complete it before your audition.
Rehearsal Schedule: January 4 - February 9
Usually Monday-Friday 6:00 pm-8:00 pm. Not every actor will be needed each night.
Show Dates: February 10-12 and February 16-19, 2023
A FREE audition class will be held Sunday, January 1 from 11am-12 noon. This is a great way to familiarize yourself with the audition process and get comfortable with a cold read. No sign-up necessary for the class, just show up!
This is an all ages show with lots of opportunities for young kids, teens and young adults!
The audition will be a cold read, so nothing to prepare. If you are comfortable, you can also prepare a short monologue - original or borrowed! The prepared monologue is a great opportunity for teens to show off their acting chops.
Please fill out the audition form in advance and bring it with you to the theater. We will have some hard copies available if needed. We will also ask that only the actors auditioning enter the theater. Parents are asked to remain in their car or in the lobby (Max of 8 parents in Lobby).
If you are cast, you will be invited to the parent meeting on Wednesday, January 4th at 6pm.
Remember! Casting is subjective and completely based on someone else’s opinion. Sometimes casting decisions are based on age, looks, height, or how you look next to other cast members. You will not get cast in every role you want and sometimes you won’t get cast at all. If you are not cast in this show, you should still celebrate the fact that you gave it your best shot.
About Puffs, or Seven Increasingly Eventful Years at a Certain School of Magic and Magic
Character Breakdown is below the Synopsis
Synopsis
Act 1
A Narrator addresses the audience and begins to tell a tale about a young, orphaned boy with a scar in the shape of a lightning bolt, but dismisses the boy's story to introduce another orphan named Wayne who lives with his uncle Dave in New Mexico. One day, an owl drops a letter in Wayne's living room telling him that he has been invited to "a certain school of female magic and male magic." His uncle quickly tells him that his parents were wizards before rushing him to the train station. Wayne is then taken to the magic school and finds himself in a sorting ceremony in which students are sorted into different houses: "Braves," "Smarts," and "Snakes". Wayne tells another student how nervous he is and ponders if he has enough personality to be sorted. The student is revealed to be the orphan boy from the beginning who then sorted into the Brave house. The hat sorts Wayne in the "Puff" category.
The Puffs introduce themselves in the Puff common room. Megan declares that she was put into the Puff house mistakenly, and she should be with the Snakes. "Cedric" shows up and introduces himself as the group leader. He assures the group that they are a valid house, though they will be bullied. He encourages them to win the Puffs' first House Cup by earning points for good behavior. Megan sneaks out to be with the Snakes. Wayne and Oliver bond over both being new to the school and magic itself and Oliver, a math prodigy, worries about the difficulty of magic. After a day of unsuccessful classes and many lost points, Wayne begins to lose hope. During the appearance for a troll in the dungeon during the school's Halloween feast, Wayne and Oliver notice that Megan is missing. They find her wandering around a forbidden chamber with her ghost friend, the Fat Friar. She complains about being in the Puffs and missing her mom. The Narrator introduces Megan's mom, Xavia Jones, who was put in WizPriz for working with the dark lord. Megan is hostile before agreeing to be friends with Wayne and Oliver. Before they leave, they all look into a mirror where they see their greatest desires. Wayne sees that he becomes a hero, Oliver becomes a famous mathematician, and Megan sees her mom and herself reuniting. Megan tells a teacher that Wayne and Oliver came to save her and the trio is awarded their first set of points. Sometime later, Cedric thanks Wayne for inspiring the Puffs to earn more points. At the end of the year, the headmaster announces that the Puffs came in third place and they celebrate, before the headmaster awards more points to the Braves so that the Puffs end up in fourth place again.
The Narrator introduces the second year, where a giant snake attacks the whole school. On Halloween, Wayne and Megan tell Oliver that a secret chamber has been opened and that the snake is inside. The defense teacher takes matters into his own hands and begins a dueling club. He selects "Blondo Malfoy" and Mr. Potter to practice dueling. After Malfoy casts a spell, it is revealed that Potter can talk to snakes. J Finch worries about dying, but leaves the room despite advice and is petrified when he sees the snake in the hallway. Wayne suggests that he kill the monster himself and become the hero of the school. He meets Ginny and develops a crush. Later, Harry kills the snake and everyone goes home for the summer. In year three, Megan tells her friends that a masked murder is in the school and that she thinks it's Xavia, coming to rescue her. Leanne invites everyone to her slumber party and Sally, believing that Wayne and Oliver are throwing it, flirts with them. She takes off her glasses to get a clearer look at the invitation, and the boys quickly find her attractive. Cedric tells the Puffs a bedtime story about how the magic school was founded. The trio remains awake and Megan reveals that she feels like a disappointment to Xavia. On their field trip the next day the Puffs get drunk on Butterbeer.
In year four, the school holds a special three wizard tournament with two neighboring schools. Names are drawn from a cup to decide who will participate. Cedric's name is drawn but the Puffs' excitement is quickly halted when Potter's name is drawn as well. Wayne gives Cedric a book featuring different kinds of creatures he might have to face during the tournament. In the first challenge, the student must take the golden egg from a dragon's lair. Cedric uses one of Wayne's spells and comes in second place, just behind Potter. Cedric approaches Wayne with the prize from the challenge; Wayne helps him solve the egg's riddle. Wayne tells Cedric that he thinks the most while taking a bath. In the bathtub, Cedric encounters Myrtle and they figure out what the second challenge will be. Oliver and Megan go to a Christmas ball together where they awkwardly attempt to have fun. The Puffs attend the second challenge, which proves to be quite boring, but Cedric wins and they celebrate. When Wayne struggles with a spell, Cedric tells him that the best he can do is try. Cedric also promises to teach Wayne all the magic he knows after the third challenge. At the third challenge, the Puffs see Cedric emerge victorious, before realizing he is dead. The Narrator stops the show and gives the audience an intermission.
Act 2
The Narrator begins the act where it left off. Cedric died during the final tournament challenge. In year five the Puffs are still mourning, but make a promise to not be "too sad." However, a drunk Wayne enters, yelling that there is no purpose in attending school without Cedric to guide them. Some of the Puffs have been inducted into Albus' Army. At the end of the year, Megan and Oliver kiss for the first time and reconcile their friendship with Wayne. It is announced that the Dark Lord has returned and that nobody is safe. In the Dark Lord's lair, he and Xavia are planning to steal Megan from the school and destroy Potter.
At the start of year six, Wayne is hoping to get a girlfriend and get onto the sports team. However, at the sports tryouts the rude coach, Zach Smith, declines all the Puffs. Sally attempts to flirt with Wayne and he agrees to go on a date with her. Megan follows directions from a note she thought was written by Oliver, but it turns out that Xavia wrote the note and to take Megan hostage. Oliver and Wayne get caught as well, and Xavia tells Megan that she must kill Wayne and Oliver first before they can leave. Megan can't bring herself to kill them; Xavia calls her "nothing but a Puff" and a disgrace to the Dark Lord. Xavia begins to cast a death spell to kill all of them, but gets the spell wrong several times. Megan realizes that her mother isn't as evil or capable as she seems. Xavia accidentally releases the trio and they fight her. She vows that they will regret this and vanishes. Megan realizes that deep down, both her and her mother are just Puffs but begins to accept who she truly is. They stop by the mirror they looked at in year one; their other wishes have vanished and their only wish is to remain friends forever.
During the summer, Oliver tells his friends that, for his own safety as a "Mug Born," he will not be returning to the magic school for their final year. Wayne and Megan find it is very hard to get on without him. When Potter returns to fight the Dark Lord and the Puffs all rush to him. Mr. Voldy tells everyone to bring him Harry or that there will be consequences over the school's loud speaker. Potter runs off and the Puffs debate what to do. They come to the consensus that they can't fix anything because they are "just Puffs" so decide to go home. Leanne steps up to tell the group that they still matter at the school; everyone agrees to fight with Potter. Oliver shows up to help his friends. Xavia also sneaks in, now prepared to kill Megan. She accidentally kills one of Voldy's fighters and immediately feels guilty for it. She accept that she is just a Puff and gives Megan her wand. Sally, J Finch, and Leanne are killed during the battle and the trio goes to help them. Voldy, thinking Wayne is Harry, kills him. Wayne awakens in a white train station with the headmaster, who died in the end of year six. Wayne realizes that he died in the battle and complains to the headmaster that his life was useless. The headmaster counters that Wayne was the hero in his own story. Wayne finally accepts his fate and the Narrator closes out the story, informing the audience that Harry killed Voldy and was once again hailed as the hero of the school. But before he lets the audience leave, he takes them to one final destination, nineteen years after the battle.
A now grown up Megan walks through a train station where she meets with her husband, Oliver. They panic before they find their son wandering around. The boy is revealed to be the Narrator, now twelve years old and named Wayne. His parents tell him that while the school may be scary and dangerous, he is named after one of the bravest students ever, and they send him off on the train. Oliver asks Megan what house she thinks he'll be placed in and she tells him, "I have a pretty good idea." Wayne is seen in the sorting ceremony where a hat is placed on his head. After hearing what house he's been placed in, he looks out to the audience and smiles.
Character Breakdown
Lead characters
Wayne Hopkins; a nerdy wizard boy from New Mexico.
Oliver Rivers; a mathematician wizard from New Jersey.
Megan Jones; daughter of the infamous Xavia Jones who thinks she should be in the Snakes house.
Narrator; The one with all the heavy books.
Cedric; the lead Puff at the magic school.
Mr. Voldy; an evil and dark lord who wants to take over the school and kill Harry.
Mr. Potter; a famous student in the Brave house who kills magical beasts and constantly steals opportunities from the Puffs.
Susie Bones; a Puff who lives in fear of death, due to the fact that her entire family died.
J Finch Fletchley; a flamboyant and happy Puff.
Sally Perks; She goes to school here
Ernie Mac; a very confident and self-obsessed Puff.
Hannah; a shy Puff who gets made fun of by the other houses.
Leanne; a Puff who grew up as an only child and wants to be friends with everybody.
Other characters
A Very Tall Man
Seamus Finnagan
A Certain Potions Teacher
Professor Turban
Ghost History Teach
Professor Locky
Mr. Nick
Sal
2nd Headmaster
Real Mr. Moody
1st Headmaster
Professor McG
Professor Sproutty
Xavia Jones
Professor Lanny
Runes Teach
Ms. Babble
Uncle Dave
Goyle
A Fat Friar
Clumsy Longbottom
Hermeoone #3
Viktor
Mr. Bagman
Zach Smith
Anthony Goldstein
Ginny
Helga
Frenchy
Hermione #1
Blondo Malfoy
Rowena
Rita Scooter
Dragon
Bippy
Colin
Harry
Hermeoone #2
Ric Gryff
Myrtle