USTA to Hold U.S. Open Casting Call in June
The USTA has announced that it will host its annual open casting call on Tuesday, June 21 at the Apollo Theater, located at 253 West 125th Street in New York City to select children to perform at the 2011 U.S. Open, set for Aug. 29-Sept. 11. Winners will perform live at Arthur Ashe Stadium during night sessions of the 2011 U.S. Open at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center.
The auditions are free of charge and will be held from 9:00 a.m.-2:00 p.m. EST. Children who are 12 years of age and younger as of Sept. 11, 2011, will be asked to sing “America the Beautiful” acappella before a panel of celebrity judges from the music and entertainment industries. Judges for this year’s talent search will be announced in the near future.
“The casting call is a popular U.S. Open tradition as these young singers continue to captivate the New York crowds,” said Gordon Smith, executive director and chief operating officer of the USTA. “We are excited to bring this annual competition to a new venue in the Apollo, and expect that the judges will have some difficult choices to make as they do every year.”
The USTA will announce the final selections in July. The winners will receive a U.S. Open gift bag and tickets to their performance session in addition to exposure in front of as many as 24,000 fans in Arthur Ashe Stadium.
“The Apollo has been a launching pad for new talent for more than 75 years,” said Jonelle Procope, president and chief executive officer of the Apollo Theater. “It couldn’t be more appropriate that the young singers who will perform at the U.S. Open will be discovered on the same stage where so many of America’s musical legends got their start.”
For more information, click here for the Official Casting Call Rules or visit www.USOpen.org.
