In a case of life imitating art, Off-Broadway's gospel musical, Born To Sing will hold open auditions for cast replacements Oct 16, 21 and 26 at the Union Square Theatre in New York. The show itself features a sequence of on stage auditions.

Vy Higginsen, creator and co-producer of Sing, which is the third in the Mama I Want To Sing musical trilogy, noted that with Mama I and II, "we had a history of discovering new faces. We feel it is crucial to encourage and support our young people and to develop this huge pool of untapped talent."

Budding actors and singers can attend the auditions Wednesday, Oct. 16 (7-9:30am), Monday, Oct. 21 (5-9pm) and Saturday, Oct. 26, 9-11am. The unusual audition times were chosen specifically so that working people could be able to attend. (Sing is a non-Equity production.)

Artists such as Tisha Campbell (TV's "Martin") and Desiree Coleman Jackson and Stacy Francis began their careers doing Mama.

Born To Sing currently stars Lisa Fischer, Tanya Blount, Kim Summerson and Kellie D. Evans, along with Charles Stewart and the Reach Ensemble. For tickets and information on Born To Sing, call (212) 505-0700.

-- By David Lefkowitz