Wheel of Wonder Cast Information Page
CONCEPT
Wheel of Wonder is a comedic variety show with a strong audience participation angle.
An outrageous host will engage the audience with partially scripted and partially improvised dialogue, then invite someone up on stage to spin the Wheel of Wonder. Whatever the wheel lands on is the act that will be performed.
Each act will be roughly 5 minutes long and we’ll have 8-9 performers in the first act and 8-9 in the second act after a 15 minute intermission.
Performers may do their act in one or both shows but if booked, will perform in that show. In other words, there will not be more acts on the Wheel of Wonder than we will have time for so all acts will be featured on stage, we just won’t know the order.
Performers may do more than one act per show.
ACTS
We are looking for comedic and/or WOW-worthy acts. They can be offbeat, unsual, and even “adult” (as long as there is no full nudity involved – burlesque okay!). Acts fall in two one of two categories:
Singers
- Sing a comedic or “WOW” worthy song (solo, duet, group)
- Take part in a singing challenge like:
- Cabaret Roulette: The audience chooses what song the singer has to perform
- Cabaret Freaky Friday: Two singers perform a duet but “swap” the parts (this will work best with a male/female duo)
- Lyric Association: Two or more singers call for random words to be given by the audience (“love” “dog” etc.) must sing a bit of a song with that word in the lyrics until there is a best two out of three “winner.”
- In the Style Of: A singer is challenged to sing a song in the style of an artist other than the one that originally sang the song (“New York New York” in the style of Britney Spears)
- Time Travelers: Two or more singers are challenged to name songs from a specific decade (the 80s) with the object of naming the oldest song in that decade. Whoever has the oldest song, performs it.
- Sing For Your Life: A head-to-head singing challenge.
- Other ideas are welcome!
Variety Acts
We are looking for comedic or “WOW” worthy acts of any type. The more offbeat and funny, the better!
- Drag artists
- Burlesque peformers
- Jugglers
- Aerialists/Acrobatics (within reason based on the limitations of the stage)
- Magicians
- Ventriloquists
- Contortionists
- Dancers
- Special Skills/Hidden Talents (like Letterman’s “Stupid Human Tricks” segments) – as long as you can make it funny and/or compelling, it could qualify!
NOT Allowed
- Animal acts
- Fire acts
- Any act that poses a significant risk of injury to the performer, cast, crew, or audience
- Acts that deemed to be offensive (“adult” humor is okay!)
- Acts with full nudity (showing a lot skin is okay!)
- Acts involving persons under 21 years of age
ALL PERFORMERS WILL BE REQUIRED TO SIGN A LIABILITY WAIVER
IMPORTANT
- Everyone must be present for the full-cast rehearsals. We understand that this is a big ask for people with jobs, school, and other commitments, but we already have limited time to put these shows together so we have to maximize what we do have.
- Everyone must be on time for every rehearsal. Being late is not only detrimental to the show, it’s inconsiderate of your fellow cast members and crew who did what they needed to do to be on time.
- Everyone must come prepared. The small amount of time we have to rehearse together must be supplemented by your own work on your own time working on your acts.
- Everyone must pitch in to promote the show. All cast members on paid shows participate in profits, which means the more butts in seats, the more you get paid.
SCHEDULE (subject to change)
| Date | Time | Goal | Required | Conflicts |
| January 29 to February 5 | Varies | 30 minute 1:1 rehearsals with the director and the people in each act to be scheduled based on availability of all participants | All | |
| Tuesday, February 6 | 7-10pm | Full Cast Show Rehearsal | All | No conflicts allowed |
| Wednesday, February 7 | 7-10pm | Tech/Dress | All | No conflicts allowed |
| Friday, December 15 | 5-10pm | Call time 5pm; sound check 5:30pm; doors 6pm; show 7pm | All | No conflicts allowed |
| Saturday, December 16 | 1-6pm | Call time 1pm; sound check 1:30pm; doors 2pm; show 3pm | All | No conflicts allowed |
PAY AND PROFIT PARTICIPATION
Each performer is guaranteed a minimum of $50 per show (NOT per act – if you do more than one act per show, it is still $50).
Each performer will also receive equal shares in 50% of the net profits.
For illustrative purposes only:
- Gross Profits: $1,500
- Expenses: $500
- Net Profits: $1,000
- 50% of Net: $500
- 50% of Net Divided by 10 performers: $50
- Total Performer Compensation (Minimum + Participation): $100
Total performer compensation is therefore dependent on ticket sales, but will be a minimum of $50 per show even if the show loses money.