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 Casting Call for Sabers and Roses: the Reality TV Show Scheduled for Gettysburg's Remembrance Day Weekend

(11/16/2004) - What happens when you transport a bunch of attractive 20 to 45 year-olds back in time, splitting them into Confederate and Yankee teams to compete for a million dollar grand prize by surviving grueling Civil War-era challenges?

A casting call for the Sabers & Roses reality television show to air in 2005 coinciding with the anniversary of the end of the Civil War is scheduled in the Patriot Point Theatre at Patriot Point (previously the Prince of Peace Museum and the Colt Museum), 241 Steinwehr Avenue, Gettysburg, PA on Saturday, November 20, 2004, Remembrance Day Weekend.

The Sabers and Roses Civil War Reality Show is a unique hybrid of Civil War history, horror and humor that takes the audience back to 1862 when "a mighty war raged between the blue and the gray." Host Johnny Reb, owner of the legendary Landon House mansion in Urbana, Maryland (site of JEB Stuart's Sabers and Roses Ball held immediately before the Battle of Antietam), tells the story of the romantic interlude preceding the bloodiest single day in American history through song and storytelling.

Johnny Reb has been promoting his Civil War reality television show around the country in major cities including Los Angeles (on the Jay Leno Show), New York, Grand Rapids, Nashville, Las Vegas and Austin. The response has been overwhelmingly positive as audiences crave solid historical interpretation of this greatest of American conflicts. The theme of the show is TRUE HISTORY...REAL ROCK...and Johnny holds no punches as he unveils his metaphorical rock and roll show detailing the most romantic event of the 19th century...The Sabers and Roses Ball on September 8, 1862.

"The hook here is that the participants experience what it was like to live during the Civil War...but this isn't Manor House," says Johnny Reb. "It's Rebel versus Yankee in an intense competition of cannon fire, sword play, musket skills, horseback riding, ballroom dancing and 19th century etiquette, forced marches, scarce food and more combined with controversial issues such as states rights and slavery. I wanted to have a casting call in Gettysburg because of its enormous popularity with Civil War buffs and its proximity to the site of the Sabers & Roses ball."

Twenty to forty-five year-olds interested in auditioning for the show can call 717-337-0080 for more information. Auditions will begin after Gettysburg's Remembrance Day Parade on November 20th at approximately 4 PM in the Patriot Point Theater.

The Patriot Point Theater at 241 Steinwehr Avenue is a black box-style theater of approximately 2,000 square feet equipped with full sound, lighting and multimedia capabilities. This remarkably versatile performance space offers great flexibility in staging and audience seating arrangements and will be host to high caliber live musical theater and performances, multimedia presentations, improv comedy shows, lectures, living history presentations, film screenings, cultural and seasonal celebrations, dance recitals, weddings and private events.

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