The Earl of Leicester's Players, The King's Men, The Queen's Men-do any of these famous theatrical company names sound familiar? How about The Denver Center Theater Company? Regardless of their notoriety, or the time period in which they exist, theatre companies contain one common element: a set group of members responsible for all aspects of a production including acting, directing, designing, publicizing, and constructing.

This commonality helped guide company directors Ed Schoenradt and Jane Allard in selecting the ideal people to form the Gaslight Theatre Company. Yet, even with these ideas in place, choosing company members proved no easy task for Schoenradt and Allard.

Where to begin? In December 2007, the directors posted an audition call in several major media sources including the online Colorado Theatre Guild, Your.Hub, the Denver Post, Colorado Backstage, Theatre 411, and Denver Actors' Forum.

For interested actors, the audition requirements were simple: show up and cold read. As Allard wrote, "Auditions will allow us to evaluate each person's ability to work as an ensemble. We will select our initial core company based on each person's audition and eagerness to work within the stated framework."

The framework Allard referred to included these expectations for company members:

• Provide season support, both technical and acting; be involved in an integral way with each production.
• Serve on one or more of the company's committees.
• Be dedicated to helping this company achieve its goals.

In exchange, company members receive preferential casting for all roles. However, as Schoenradt stated, "We are not going to try and fit a square peg in a round hole. If we don't have actors within the company who are right for the parts, we will hold open auditions to fill those roles."

If an actor could not commit to company membership, Gaslight Theatre Company offered company associate positions as well. These associates are volunteers willing to help out in one or more of these capacities:

• Serve monthly, at a minimum, on one or more committee, such as:

Play reading

Community outreach (Collaborations, children's productions, workshops)

Fund raising

Publicity

Program/newsletter

Advertising sales

• Work on stage managing, light or sound tech, box office, or set construction.

Next, the directors faced narrowing down the fifty performers who responded to the audition posting to the set of core company members. "The response was overwhelming," Allard said. "We were amazed not only by the number of responses but by the amount of talent. There were so many talented people, we could have easily selected thirty people, but we wanted to keep our company size reasonable and selected nine."

Schoenradt added, "Many times it boiled down to availability, skills in other areas that would benefit the company, and age range."

The nine Gaslight Theatre Company members include: Ed Schoenradt, Jane Schoenradt Allard, Joshua Fisher, Britton Lafield, Mindy Daugherty, Collin (C.P.) Elliott, Jeannette Prentice, Karen Krause and Erika Hoffman.

Associate Company members are Bruce Barton, Greg Christopher, Dan Connell, Val Durfee, Ellen Farnsworth, Nita Froelich, Maru Garcia, Jessica Johnson, Kelly Krause, Jacob Krimbel, Molly Mikan, Debbie Minter, Pat Payne, Deb Pence, Steve Seaholm, Amy Smith, Luke Terry, and Hope Weiss.

Although the first two shows, The Curious Savage and God's Favorite have already been cast, aspiring actors are encouraged to audition for future productions for Gaslight. Audition notices will appear in local publications as well as on the company's website www.gaslighttheatrecompany.com .