Casting and Auditions

Faculty Lead: Adam Yankowy
Rehearsals: September 3 – 18 
Performances: September 19 – 22

Please prepare a contemporary pop/rock song, approximately 1-minute in length, that equally showcases your vocal and acting ability. The selection may be from either a musical or outside a musical. When in doubt, your song should still feel dramatic and/or theatrical by way of telling a story, connecting with an “other,” or a high stakes narrative. BFA Acting students who are required to audition, but have little or no musical theater auditioning experience, may choose to sing “Happy Birthday”. There will not be a Dance Call.

Character Descriptions: 
Cast MUST be Strong Contemporary/Pop Singers.

GREY (17-25, He/Him, Tenor Range) – Friendly, but enigmatic. A singer/songwriter whose good looks have made him easily popular. His fleeting teen romance with Charlie, sends him into a spiral, struggling to embrace his sexuality for years – until finally learning to loving himself. 

CHARLIE (16-24, He/Him, Tenor Range) – A bit of an outsider. Initially shy and introverted. An unexpected friendship with Grey helps him discover his own brand of cool. Smart and winsome, a little boy crazy, albeit endearingly awkward. A rising engineer in his later years.

PETER (22-30, He/Him, Bari-Tenor Range) – Charlie’s older brother. Charismatic, eager, surprisingly sensitive. Enjoys a lot of things: acting, sports, girls, the city. His instant chemistry with Sam begins a long-term relationship that has its ups and downs.

SAM (32-40, She/Her, Mezzo/Belt) – A successful consultant, but feeling pressure to check the other boxes in life and love. A little anxious, a little dry…but learning to embrace the messy.

RIVER (23-31, She/Her, Mezzo/Belt) – An actress. A bit self-centered, but balanced with a great sense of humor. A serial dater, who gets suffocated and bored easily, while still chasing some version of a perfect, stable relationship.

ALEX (21-29, She/Her, Mezzo/Belt) – A curious and kind barista, a good listener, and a champion of River’s journey in finding love. Eventually steps outside her comfort zone to be more active in the exploration of her wants, needs and desires. (This character could identify as She/They)

ENSEMBLE (4-8 people) – A diverse company of triple-threat performers playing various roles, lovers, crushes, family, flings, and friends. They represent the pulse of the city.

• CINDY / JAEL
• MORGAN / KIT
• TINDER JACOB / DASH / BRETT
• MIKE / OHIO BOY

Casting Note:
Each role has designated pronouns that align with the text of the show and are meant to be inclusive of various gender expression & identity if the required vocal demands are met. The creator of this show strongly encourages diversifying casting to ensure LGBTQ+ and BIPOC representation.

Rehearsals: September 3 – 26
Tech: September 27 – October 3
Performances: October 4 – 13

Description: 
At a time when book banning is part of the national conversation, Lawrence and Lee’s inducing classic Inherit the Wind is once again timely as it explores the debate between science and religion. As culture wars rage across the nation, this play examines the role of education.

Character Descriptions:
Inherit the Wind by Lawrence and Lee Is a play about banning books and mixing religion in public education. The 1955 play based on the 1925 Scopes “Monkey” Trial was selected for its eerily resonant themes to today’s culture wars.  The show will be cast in a gender inclusive fashion. There are seven main characters. These main roles will be double cast and divide the performances.

Cates—a southern schoolteacher jailed for teaching about evolution.
Rachel—the teacher’s significant other brought up very religious and now questioning their beliefs
Reverend  Brown—Rachel’s parent and also an ultra-conservative religious zealot.
Brady—a religious and pompous political figure who believes in literal creationism.
Mrs. Brady— Brady’s infantilizing and smothering spouse.
Drummond—an agnostic and crafty lawyer who defends Cates right to teach evolution in the public school.
Hornbeck—a cynical reporter from the north sent to cover the trial

There will be one singer/guitarist who provides music pre-show and at times throughout the action of the show.

Chorus:
Five other actors will play the rest of the dozens of roles in the show at all performances. The roles will depend on the actors’ abilities to play many roles. Actors will need to be versatile and willing to make large and distinct choices.  

Audition Requirements:
For auditions, please choose any one of the monologues of the main characters and prepare an audition that shows that you understand the style of the show by making bold and passionate choices. You do not have to be memorized but do have to make strong decisions about the character. A southern dialect is required for all except Hornbeck and Drummond– do the best you can at this point in your training.  

Audition monologues:
BRADY: (Loudly, to amp up a crowd)
Friends and I can see most of you are my friends from the way you have decked out your beautiful city of Hillsboro. Mrs Brady and I are delighted to be among you! I could only wish one thing that you had not given us quite so warm a welcome! bless you. my friends of Hillsboro, you know why I have come here. not merely to prosecute a lawbreaker, and arrogant youth, who has spoken out against the revealed world, but to defend that which is most precious in the hearts of all of us the Living Truth of the scripture!

HORNBECK: (Trying to make Rachel see that times have changed)
Wake up, Sleeping Beauty. the ordinary people played a dirty trick on Colonel brady. they cease to exist. Time Was when Colonel Brady was the hero of the hinterland. Waterboy for the great unwashed. but they’ve got inside-pumbing in their heads these days. there’s a highway through the Backwoods now; and the Trees of the forest have reluctantly made room for the leafless cousins, the telephone poles.

DRUMMOND: (Objecting to unfair treatment on the court)
Your honor. I object to this commercial announcement. for Reverend Brown’s product. why don’t you announce that there will be an evolutionist meeting? it’s hard enough that everybody coming into this Courthouse has to walk underneath the banner that says “Read your Bible.”y Your honor, I want that sign taken down. or else I want another one up. Just as big, just as big letters saying “Read your Darwin.”

RACHEL: (On the witness stand describing their confusion related to religion)
I used to feel this way when I was a little girl. I used to wake up at night, terrified of the dark. I think sometimes that my bed was on the ceiling, and the whole house was upside down; and if I didn’t hang on to the mattress, I might fall outward into the stars. I wanted to run to my father, and have him tell me I was safe, that everything was all right. but I was always more frightened of him than I was of falling. it’s the same way now.

CATES: (Defending why they taught evolution to his class.) 
You still think I did wrong? You know why I did it. I had the book in my hand, Hunter Civic Biology. I opened it up, and read my sophomore science class chapter 17, Darwin’s Origin of Species. All it says is that man wasn’t just stuck here like a geranium in a flower pot; that living comes from a long miracle, it didn’t just happen in 7 days. It isn’t as simple as that. good or bad, black or white, night or day.

MRS. BRADY: (Worried that Drummond will overwhelm Brady in a courtroom)
Drummond? Henry Drummond, the agnostic? Henry Drummond, oh dear me. Matt – they’re bringing Henry Drummond for the defense. Matt do you think -? M.  Mayor, it’s time for Mr. Brady’s nap. He always likes to nap after a meal. 

REVEREND BROWN: (Damning Cates for teaching evolution)
O Lord of the Tempest and the Thunder! O Lord of righteousness and wrath! We pray that Thou will make a sign unto us! Strike down this sinner, as Thou didst thine enemies of old, in the days of the Pharaohs.! Let him feel the terror of Thy sword! For all eternity, let his soul writhe in anguish and damnation.

Directed and Devised by: Alexandria Davis

Rehearsals: September 3 – September 23 
Performances: September 24 – 29

Description:

To dance is to express oneself through action. It is a conscious empowerment of knowledge, identity, and socialization.

P\A is a protest performance that draws inspiration from the theme of women’s suffrage. A second-line tribute to a woman’s right to her body P\A will challenge the artists and audience to confront their preconceived notions of gender roles and expectations, inviting them to reflect on the historical struggles of women in their fight to be unapologetically authentic in a world that demands they be seen and not heard.

Audition Requirements:
Please note that I am interested in including the voices and experiences of all individuals whose health and wellbeing would be impacted by restrictions to reproductive rights and preventative healthcare (this includes transgender men and individuals who identify as non-binary). 

All those whose schedules allow are asked to audition. I would like students to ponder how they socially identify and design an outfit that allows them to move freely and reflects their approach to how they wish to be social identified. Interested artists must prepare for the interactive process involving imagination and improvisation.

Performance Dates: November 8 – 17

Description
Dark comedy, full-length
For those of you just tuning in, Thanksgiving is already in progress here at Wembly kitchen. The stands are nice and full; it’s quite a crowd that’s gathered. They’re in for a real treat.

Audition Requirements
Please prepare a physically based 1 minute monologue that shows off your movement, character skills and possible comedy.  Emphasis goes to clear diction, physical connectivity and high stakes.  Shows that are close to the style: “Peter and the Starcatcher,” “Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime,” “Comedy of Errors,” (Shakes) “Metamorphosis” (Mary Zimmerman), etc.