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CEDAR CITY (AP) -- With their magic wands in hand, producers from the new NBC-Universal Television held an open casting call in Cedar City, looking for wishes to grant on their new reality show "Three Wishes."
Cedar City is among a handful of cities nationwide where the program is holding casting calls.
Almost 100 hopefuls brought their wishes to producers on Saturday, lining up three hours before the interview process began. Each applicant recorded their stories on a three minute video.
"What we do is take the tapes and applications back with us to Los Angeles and evaluate them," said Josh Figgs, casting producer. "Then we digitize the information and edit it and choose the individuals we like and make presentations to the executive producers."
A wish-worthy list of finalists will be whittled over the next 10 days Figgs said. One community wish and two individual wishes will be selected for the program.
Production is slated to begin in July, with the program tentatively set to air Sept. 23.
Three Wishes will star five-time Grammy Award winner Amy Grant who will lead a team of experts in granting wishes.
"We've compiled some very creative and worthy wishes. The people here have been great," Figgs said.
Among the wishes asked for in Cedar City were a southern Utah nature center, restoration of the 1866 Hunter House at Iron Mission State Park, a diabetes education program, funding for a student project to build homes in Mexico and a school bus.
Dave Christopher hopes his wish will stand out. Afflicted with multiple sclerosis, Christopher wants his wife of 31 years, Susan, to have a day of pampering. As his primary caregiver, Susan Christopher has sacrificed a great deal, her husband said.
"Sometimes I fall and she can't pick me up, but she cares for me the best that she can. I love her, and I don't tell her near enough," Dave Christopher said. "I think my wish would be a big way to show her just how much I care and how grateful am for everything she's done."
(Copyright 2005 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
