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| (National Park Service) |
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Date: September 2, 2009
The National Park Service is looking for actors and actresses to audition for an educational broadcast to be filmed later this month at Gettysburg National Military Park. The educational broadcast, entitled "Big Deal at Gettysburg: The Value of Historical Places," has an expected audience of 10 million school children nationwide.
Anyone with previous acting experience is invited to audition on Tuesday, September 8, from 6:30 p.m. until 8:30 p.m. in the Ford Education Center in the Gettysburg National Military Park Museum and Visitor Center, 1195 Baltimore Pike, Gettysburg. Candidates should bring resumes and head shots if available. If selected, the actors and actresses will be paid a stipend. The shooting will take place for 6 to 8 days in late September at various locations in and around the Gettysburg battlefield.
The broadcast will follow the story of business executive Elizabeth Grayburn as she visits Gettysburg to finalize a valuable land development deal. Will she succeed in securing key Gettysburg properties for her firm and earning a promotion, or will she leave Gettysburg understanding that historic value sometimes trumps property value? Students will follow her journey, with her teenage son, from the historic Spangler farm to the David Wills House to the Soldiers’ National Cemetery as she rediscovers a battle, and a speech, that shaped a nation.
Auditions include the role of Ellie, a female in her 30’s or 40’s, who is a business executive and a go-getter; a teenaged male who will play Josh, Ellie’s son who is a bright student interested in history; and a male in his 20’s or 30’ to play Ralph, Ellie’s beleaguered assistant.
Gettysburg National Military Park and the Gettysburg Foundation are producing the broadcast, which is the latest in a series– including two that won Telly awards for excellence in children’s television programming. This year’s broadcast is made possible through a generous gift to the Gettysburg Foundation from Bob and Marion Wilson and the Winnick Family Foundation, and is a program of the Ford Motor Company Fund Education Center.
"Big Deal at Gettysburg" is designed so that teachers can show it in three 15-minute segments, with on-line discussion-circle questions and activities for each segment. Teachers will be able to use these tools to bring their social studies, language arts and citizenship lessons to life. The broadcast "Big Deal at Gettysburg" is designed so that teachers can show it in three 15-minute segments, with on-line discussion-circle questions and activities for each segment. Teachers will be able to use these tools to bring their social studies, language arts and citizenship lessons to life. The broadcast and accompanying lessons were designed in accordance with the National Council for the Social Studies curriculum standards and themes.
For questions about the audition call Gettysburg National Military Park’s education specialist Barbara Sanders at 717/ 334-1124 x3151. For information about viewing the educational broadcast in schools go to the website www.gettysburgfoundation.org for further information on how to register.
