Announcements

• Starry Night Theatre will hold auditions for “Marvin’s Room” by Scott McPherson from 7 to 9 p.m. Tuesday and Wednesday, Jan. 2 and 3, at the Ghostlight Theatre, 170 Schenck St., North Tonawanda. Five men, ages 14-70, and five women, ages 30-70 are needed. Candidates will be asked to give a cold reading in a group setting. Play dates are Feb. 15-March 4. For more information, call 743-1614 or visit www.starr ynighttheatre.com.

 The Shaw Festival Box Office will open on Tuesday, Jan. 2, to accept fax, online and mail orders from the general public for the 2007 season.

The Shaw Festival’s 2007 season includes “Saint Joan,” “Mack and Mabel,” “Hotel Peccadillo,” “The Circle,” “The Philanderer,” “Summer and Smoke,” “A Month in the Country: After Turgenev,” “The Cassilis Engagement: A Mother’s Comedy,” “Tristan,” “The Kiltartan Comedies,” as well as the Reading Series and a variety of enrichment activities, including workshops and seminars.

The Shaw Festival is located at Niagara-on-the-Lake. For tickets, call 1-800-511-SHAW(7429) or visit www.shawfest.com.

 Assembly Majority Leader Paul A. Tokasz (D-Cheektowaga, Lancaster) recently presented a $50,000 check to the Theatre of Youth (TOY) on Allen Street in Buffalo. The capital grant will be used to make sound and lighting improvements to the Allendale Theatre, the Allentown venue where TOY stages its plays. The improvements will address sound clarity problems and lighting inefficiency by replacing outdated equipment, renovating interior walls and installing acoustic panels.

“Recent initiatives have come to light that truly reinforce the key role TOY plays in our community,” said Tokasz.