The Fayette Area Community Theater (FACT) is holding auditions for the upcoming musical production of “Oakwood” on August 25-27 at Tricky Fish Community Room in downtown Fayette.

“Oakwood” centers around the Oakwood Mansion, a historic antebellum home in Fayette. Located at 101 Leonard Avenue at the east edge of town, the two-story, Federal-style brick house took two years to build, with construction beginning in 1834 and ending in 1836. The house is also called the Abiel Leonard House, named after the man who contracted the home for him and his family. Leonard, a Missouri Supreme Court Justice and Fayette lawyer, lived in the Oakwood house with his wife, Jeanette Reeves Leonard, and their seven children, Mary, Martha, Reeves, Ada, Kate, Abiel, Jr., and Nathaniel. By 1860, the estate encompassed 500 acres, a smokehouse, an ice house, a fruit cellar, and 15 slaves living in three slave quarters. Leonard died in 1863 in the home. In 1982 the house was listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

“Oakwood’s” story was adapted from Ada Claire Darby’s book “The Big Brick House,” which can be acquired at the Howard County Public Library. The musical’s plot follows the Leonard family as the various members navigate pre-Civil War life in rural Missouri. Plot points include the young ladies of the cast encountering a “witch” in the bottoms of Bonne Femme creek, a graduation from Howard Payne College in 1855, a wedding taking place within the Oakwood home, a rescue after a child falls off a wagon, and a scandalous visit by the young ladies to the local tavern without parental consent or a chaperone. Major characters include Judge Leonard, Jeanette Reeves Leonard, two of their daughters, Kate and Ada, aunts Missouri and Eugenia, Uncle Crittenden, matriarch Aunt Fanny, the town ‘crazy lady’ Jinny Pommeltree, and antagonist Squire Gaines. Other parts include various siblings, aunts, uncles, plantation workers, and townspeople.

“There’s a couple of nice little parts,” said director Bridget Hussey. “It’s got quite a diverse cast because we’ve got old and young, male and female, and people of color.”

The musical was written by Hussey’s late mother, Janet Hussey, in 1996, with input from her daughter. John Wiggins and Pam Flaspohler composed the music. When it first premiered in 1998, the show boasted an impressive 41-member cast, and several cast members still live in Fayette today and participate in FACT. The show drew large audiences for its six performances and positive reviews from the community. In this year’s production, Bridget Hussey will direct the show she helped write 25 years ago.

“It’s quaint, it’s simple, so it should be an easy production to do, but interesting,” Hussey said. “I think this will be fun to be in and to watch because it has some personal connections to Fayette.”

This production will be somewhat different than the 1998 showing, as Hussey has rewritten parts of the script and cut some dialogue. Some roles, written with specific actors and actresses in mind in the original showing, have also been cut. However, they may be added again to allow as many people as possible to participate in the show. The score is also receiving some tweaking as Maurice O’Neill is redoing parts of the music.

FACT encourages men, women, teens, and children to audition as all are needed to fill the roles, and some actors may be cast in more than one role. Those who wish to audition should bring a prepared song and be ready to read excerpts of the script. Auditions will occur at Tricky Fish in Fayette from 4 to 6 p.m. on Friday, August 25, from 5 to 7 p.m. on Saturday, August 26, and from 2 to 4 p.m. on Sunday, August 27. The rehearsal schedule is relatively light, with practices occurring only once a week for the first three weeks of the rehearsal calendar. Performances will be at Tricky Fish on November 3, 4, and 5, with times to be determined. Contact Bridget Hussey at (573) 823-9304 for more information, or visit FACT’s Facebook page to view the audition flyer.