IRON CURTAIN Equity Principal Audition - Prospect Theater Company Auditions

IRON CURTAIN – Equity Principal Auditions

Prospect Theater Company Transition $109/week minimum (based on 15-hour rehearsal week; additional rehearsals are $7.25/hour).

Music: Stephen Weiner

Lyrics: Peter Mills

Book: Susan DiLallo

Dir: Cara Reichel

Choreo: Christine O’Grady

Mus Dir: Remy Kurs

1st reh: On/about 10/10/11. Runs 11/5-11/27.

Equity Principal Auditions:

Tuesday, July 26, 2011 Actors' Equity Association Audition Center

9:30 AM - 5:30 PM 165 West 46th Street, 2nd Floor

Lunch from 1 - 2. New York City

Please prepare a brief, traditional musical theatre song which best represents your vocal ability. No pop/rock, please. Bring sheet music in the correct key; accompanist is provided, but may not transpose.

Please bring a picture & resume, stapled back-to-back.

A New Musical Comedy. Takes place during 1954-55 in NYC, Moscow and Berlin. Two down-on-their-luck American songwriters are kidnapped by the KGB and taken to Moscow, where they are forced to work for the “Ministry of Musical Persuasion”, show-doctoring the worst Communist propaganda musical ever written. In Russia, the team achieves the fame which they were never able to find in America, as their hit musical is made into a movie in East Berlin. Meanwhile, Howard’s girlfriend Shirley journeys across continents, battling incredible obstacles to rescue her one true love. Ultimately, the writers must face the choice of returning to the freedom of American obscurity, or embracing fully their new Soviet selves. Received a developmental workshop at the O’Neill Theatre Center in 2008, and was featured in the 2009 NAMT Festival of New Musicals.

Seeking (all roles are available unless otherwise specified):

Murray Finkel:

American, late 30s - early 40s. Lyricist. Sweet, eager to please, somewhat neurotic, unnecessarily optimistic – and not terribly lucky in love (so far). He’s a good writer when all is said and done, but has a habit of being in the wrong place at the wrong time. Tenor.

Howard Katz:

American, 40s. Murray’s long-term, long-suffering composer. A cynic and a pessimist. Depressed, but funny in his depression. Nothing is ever enough for him … or else it’s too much. With all his faults and dark humor, Howard’s basic goodness and decency shine through. Thus he is able to inspire the love of two totally different women – one of whom is willing to go to the ends of the earth for him. Baritone.

Shirley Dooley:

American, mid - late 30s. Actress who came to NYC from Sweet Springs, OH to follow her dream. Not the brightest crayon in the pack. Beautiful in a wholesome, hayseed kind of way. Loyal and unflappable, she is willing to wait around for Howard if it takes forever ... which it just might. Mezz soprano.

Sergei Schmearnov:

40s-50s. KGB agent and CIA double-agent. Dark, imposing, taciturn, sneaky. You get the feeling he’s smoldering underneath, and capable of anything to further his cause … or save his ass. He’s handsome, dashing, sexy, and just this side of S&M. If you heard he walked around with handcuffs in his back pocket, you wouldn’t be surprised. If you heard he kept them by the side of his bed ... you wouldn’t be surprised by that, either. Russian accent. Baritone/bass.

Hildret Heinz:

East German, early 50s. Theater director. Blonde. Severe. Like her mentor Bertolt Brecht, she has replaced the “d” at the end of her first name with a “t” to make it sound more percussive and martial. But unlike her idol Greta Garbo, she rarely “vants to be alone.” A devout nymphomaniac, whose attentions soon become focused on Howard. German accent. Alto with “stunt soprano” ability and range.

Masha Petrovna Haylukmiyova:

Russian, early 20s. Chorus girl. Wide-eyed and innocent at first. But as we soon discover, she’s a diva in ingénue’s clothing, and undercover KGB who soon seduces Murray. Russian accent. Soprano with strong mix.

Yevgenyi Onanov:

CAST. Auditioning performers will be considered as possible replacements, should any become necessary. Russian, 50s-60s. Bureaucrat: Director of the Ministry of Musical Persuasion. Kind, generous of spirit, somewhat innocent of the politics around him, and truly devoted to musical theater. Russian accent. Baritenor.