The Lake Worth Playhouse is casting A Chorus Line, and it wants dancers from the neighborhood. Open auditions run Monday through Wednesday, Nov. 2 to 4, from 7 to 10 p.m. at the theater at 713 Lake Ave. in downtown Lake Worth Beach. Before that, on Oct. 20 and 21, the Playhouse is casting 31 parts in ten brand-new plays by local writers.

A show about an audition, cast by an audition

A Chorus Line is set during one long day of tryouts. A director runs a group of Broadway hopefuls through a dance call and then asks each one to talk about the life that brought them to the line. So there is something fitting about how this production starts: a room full of people from Palm Beach County, in jazz shoes, waiting to be called.

According to the Playhouse's audition page, the show runs Jan. 15 to 31, 2027, for 12 performances. Brittany Jenkins directs, Ed Kolcz is the music director and Kassandra Meiler handles choreography. Callbacks are by invitation on Thursday, Nov. 5, and rehearsals start Monday, Nov. 9, usually weeknights from 7 to 10 p.m. The roles are unpaid, which is how community theater works and why it stays open to anyone willing to give up their evenings.

What to bring

The requirements are specific, and they tell you how seriously the theater takes this one. Come ready to dance, in clothing that fits close and lets you move. Bring jazz shoes and character shoes, and tap shoes if you own them. Prepare about 32 bars of a musical theater song that shows off your voice. It does not have to come from A Chorus Line.

An accompanist will be there, so bring clearly marked sheet music in your key. If you would rather sing to a karaoke or instrumental track, have it downloaded and cued. The Playhouse warns not to count on Wi-Fi or streaming in the room. Headshots and résumés are welcome but not required, and you may be asked to read from the script or do more movement and improv work. People who cannot make the dates can send a video submission through the same page.

The theater is direct about the workload. This is a physically demanding show built on ensemble discipline, and every role except the director, Zach, needs real dance or movement ability. Zach is listed at roughly 35 to 55 and is mostly a non-singing part, a good fit for a strong actor who would rather not sing. The Playhouse also says character ages are flexible and casting is open to performers of every background. The production has mature language and frank talk about sexuality, body image and family, so it suits adult performers and audiences.

Before that: ten new plays, 31 parts

If dancing is not your thing, the earlier call may be. The Playhouse's Square 1 program is holding live reading auditions on Tuesday and Wednesday, Oct. 20 and 21, from 7 to 10 p.m. Nothing needs to be prepared. Scripts are handed out in the lobby and actors read selected scenes. The plays will be read for audiences on Nov. 10 and 11.

The ten scripts are original work, and the role list reads like a sampler of the region's writing. Love in the Time of Hurricanes by Laurie Tanner has parts for actors in their 20s through 60s. Sabrina Marks's Laundry Day includes a role for a performer in her 70s or 80s, which is rare in any casting call. Jonathan White's Purrtergeist calls for four actors, and Grant Balfour's Flight Anglerfish 325 has a character named John Q. Fish. For a first-time actor, a reading is the easiest way onto that stage: one or two rehearsals, scripts in hand and no lines to memorize.

The building is part of the show

Anyone who auditions is walking into one of the oldest buildings in town. The Playhouse's history page says the theater began as the Oakley, a silent movie palace and vaudeville house built by brothers Lucien and Clarence Oakley. It opened on Nov. 3, 1924, with a Wurlitzer pipe organ and a five-piece orchestra. The 1928 hurricane nearly destroyed it, and the Oakleys rebuilt and reopened it in January 1929, only to lose it in the Depression. It changed hands for decades after that.

The Lake Worth Playhouse was founded on Dec. 1, 1953, by a group of residents. Its first shows were staged in the third-floor auditorium of the old City Hall, with no air conditioning. In October 1975 the company bought the Oakley building for $60,000. Today it is the oldest building on the register of the Art Deco Society of Palm Beach County.

That makes the calendar a nice coincidence. The second night of A Chorus Line auditions, Tuesday, Nov. 3, is the building's 102nd birthday.

The rest of the 74th season

The audition pulls you into a busy year. The Playhouse's 74th main stage season opened with Falsettos, which closes Sunday, Oct. 18. Ken Ludwig's holiday whodunit The Game's Afoot follows from Nov. 20 to Dec. 6. After A Chorus Line in January come Neil Simon's Broadway Bound, Feb. 26 to March 14, and Come From Away, April 9 to 25, the musical about the Newfoundland town that took in thousands of stranded travelers after Sept. 11. That is a lot of recent Broadway for a community stage.

Why it matters if you live here

Lake Avenue's restaurants and galleries get most of the attention downtown. The Playhouse is where residents actually get up on stage. The person beside you at the coffee bar could be the one doing high kicks in January. If you have always wanted to try, the next three weeks are your chance: a no-prep reading Oct. 20 or 21, or a full dance call Nov. 2 to 4. If you would rather watch, mark Jan. 15 and see who made the line.