FEBRUARY HOUSE Equity Principal Auditions - The Public Theatre Auditions
The Public Theatre
FEBRUARY HOUSE – Equity Principal Auditions
The Public Theater Off-Broadway $544/week minimum.
Music/Lyrics: Gabriel Kahane Dir: Davis McCallum
Co-production with Long Wharf Theatre (New Haven CT, LORT, salary TBA). 1st CT reh: 1/10/12. CT run: 2/15 – 3/18/12. 1st NYC reh: 4/17/12. NYC run: 5/8 – 6/10/12 in Martinson Hall.
Equity Principal Auditions:
Monday October 24, 2011 Actors’ Equity Association Audition Center
10 AM – 5:30 PM 165 West 46th Street, 2nd Floor
Lunch from 1:30 – 2. New York City
Equity Monitor begins sign-up at 8:30 AM.
Please prepare a brief pop or folk song (something that can be sung simply). Bring sheet music in the correct key; accompanist is provided, but may not transpose.
Please bring a picture & resume, stapled back-to-back.
Visionary and flamboyant editor George Davis transforms a dilapidated Brooklyn boarding house into a bohemian commune for the leading creative lights of 1940s New York. The luminaries of 7 Middagh Street form a tumultuous and remarkable makeshift family, and search for love, inspiration and refuge from the looming war in Europe. Inspired by true events.
Seeking (all roles are available unless otherwise specified):
Early 30s. Fiction editor. Flamboyant, mercurial, charismatic, generous. Responsible for assembling the rag-tag inhabitants of 7 Middagh. He is “lovable, impossible, irascible, unbearable, comparable to no one.” Has an insatiable appetite for life, literature and interior decoration. A social sorcerer with an often ironic sensibility, he is the kinetic center around which everyone revolves. High baritone with a strong falsetto.
Man, early 30s. British poet. High-status, mannered, a bit old-fashioned. Has a tendency to lecture – and loves to hear himself talk – but also has a sensitive and observant soul. Despite his wry and sardonic sense of humor, he often finds himself as the sensible adult amongst the chaos of 7 Middagh. Lyric baritone.
Carson McCullers:
Woman, 20s. Southern writer. Has a great depth of feeling and a flair for the dramatic which makes her a brilliant writer, but leaves her prone to intense and dramatic emotional highs and lows. Struggles with alcoholism, which proves destructive to her work and her well-being. Fiercely driven, hard-headed and haunted young woman. Alto with a folksy sound.
Chester Kallman:
Jewish American, 20s. Auden’s lover. Student from Brooklyn. Young, delicate, romantic. An aspiring poet, he feels a little out of place at times amongst the bohemians of 7 Middagh, and wants more than anything to be taken seriously. He’s not above using sex to get what he wants. Baritone with some high notes (F#, G# if possible).
Benjamin “Benjy” Britten:
30s. British composer and musician who moves into 7 Middagh and collaborates with Auden on a new opera, an adaptation of the Paul Bunyan myth. Does his best to adjust to life in the house, but finds himself constantly thwarted by the lack of amenities and unconventional antics of his roommates. Meticulous and more than a little uptight. Baritone.
Gypsy Rose Lee:
20s-30s. The famous burlesque artist, at the height of her career. Brassy, confident, with a dry, sarcastic wit. Moves in to 7 Middagh to write her novel “The G-String Murders”. In performance: sensuous, playful, in command. Offstage: likes to walk around in her underwear and pick her toenails. She’s the only one, in a house full of artists, who knows the first thing about business. Mezzo soprano, with belt to C.
Man, 20s. Carson’s estranged husband. A lost Southern Gentleman. Good-looking, distracted and sometimes depressed by his own failure as a writer, he is stubborn and volatile like his wife. He is critical of the bohemian way of life practiced at 7 Middagh and of the artists’ lack of involvement in The War, and strongly disapproves of their influence on Carson. Bass-baritone.
Erika Mann:
German, 20s-30s. An intellectual and cabaret artist. Aristocratic, outspoken and self-assured. Fleeing war-torn Europe, she comes to live at 7 Middagh to write for Peter Pears:
CAST. Auditioning performers will be considered as possible (emergency) replacements, should any become necessary. British, 30s. A tenor. Benjy’s lover. At first, he is appalled by the conditions at 7 Middagh, but he becomes intrigued by the promise of a bohemian utopia where he and Benjy can live openly and work on their opera. However, like Benjy, he finds that bohemian life has its drawbacks.
Book: Seth Bockley
Casting directors’ note: “We are particularly seeking extremely skilled actors who are also strong, confident singers, as opposed to career vocalists. Actors who sing naturally and with complete honesty are the best fit for the piece. The music should be approached with the intimacy of a Chekhov play rather than from a more traditional musical theater point of view.”
George Davis:
W. H. Auden:
Reeves McCullers:
an anti-war magazine, but soon becomes frustrated with the pacifism that is practiced by her housemates. A strong moral center combined with a wry sense of humor. Mezzo.
