The Genesee Center for the Arts at Genesee Community College is holding open auditions for two musicals, scheduled for the spring of 2010.

Auditions for "Chicago" and children's theater "Anansi the Spider and the Middle Passage" are scheduled at 6 p.m. for Monday, Dec. 14 and Tuesday, Dec. 15 in the Stuart Steiner Theatre at the Batavia Campus. These auditions are open to the public and all ages and types of actors are welcome.

Auditions will include singing and dancing combinations and script reading from both shows. Participants should bring sheet music for their audition, a pianist will be provided.

"Chicago" is a Kander and Ebb musical set in Prohibition Era Chicago. The show begins with murder, greed, violence, treachery and corruption. It is set in the Roaring Twenties that were noted for hot jazz and cold-blooded killers. It is the story of a chorus girl named Roxie. She has killed her lover, however she is acquitted thanks to a sleazy lawyer. She dreams of the leading role in a vaudeville show. Roxie teams up with another murderess, Velma Kelly, and together they form an unusual nightclub act which is aimed at keeping them in the spotlight.

"Chicago" is scheduled for April 8-11 at the Genesee Center for the Arts.

"Anansi the Spider and the Middle Passage" is about Anansi, the celebrated spider from African folklore, who tells the story of an African mother and daughter who are kidnapped and sold into slavery. In prison, and later on a slave ship coming to America, the mother calms her daughter by telling her stories of Anansi. With each story, Anansi springs to life along with other characters for action-packed, light-hearted adventures. Taking comfort in Anansi's stories, she is no longer afraid and makes it through the grueling journey on the slave ship. When mother and daughter arrive in America as slaves, they carry with them the folk tales and wisdom of their homeland.

"Anansi the Spider and the Middle Passage" is scheduled for March 10-12 at the Genesee Center for the Arts.

For more information, please contact Maryanne Arena, director of Fine and Performing Arts at Genesee, at 343-0055 x6439.