DAVID COPPERFIELD - Santa Cruz EPA Day
Jewel Theatre Company
AUDITION DATE
Mon, Oct 08, 2018
5:00 pm - 9:00 pm (PDT)
APPOINTMENTS
Request auditions via email at JTCaudition@gmail.com Questions or to sign up by phone (831) 331-7942.
CONTRACT
SPT Minimum - $300/wk
SEEKING
Actors/Singers who move of all ages, genders, races, and ethnicities. See character description for details.
PREPARATION
Monologue and a song of the actor's choice (please bring sheet music). Accompanist will be provided. Please bring headshot and resume to audition.
LOCATION
Colligan Theater
1010 River St
Santa Cruz, CA 95060
PERSONNEL
Author/Composer - Jeffrey Scharf
Director - Joseph Paul Stachura
Music Director - Max Bennet Parker
Choreographer - Lee Ann Payne
OTHER DATES
First rehearsal approx Oct 28, 2018
First performance Dec 12 / Closing performance Dec 23
OTHER
www.JewelTheatre.net
An Equity Monitor will not be provided. The producer will run all aspects of this audition.
Equity’s contracts prohibit discrimination. Equity is committed to diversity and encourages all its employers to engage in a policy of equal employment opportunity designed to promote a positive model of inclusion. As such, Equity encourages performers of all ethnicities, gender identities, and ages, as well as performers with disabilities, to attend every audition.
Always bring your Equity Membership card to auditions.
BREAKDOWN
David Copperfield: Lead Role, age range 25 to 40 to play 20-35. Very strong singer and actor with command of upper class English dialect. Likeable, reflective, able to convey both present action and narrate past action. Leading man baritone or tenor.
Young David Copperfield: Lead Role, age range 10 to 18 to play 10. Very strong singer and actor/actress with command of upper class English dialect. Likeable, able to get the audience and Betsey to empathize with his plight. Innocent, trusting, dogged. Pre-adolescent voice if a boy.
Aunt Betsey: Lead Role, David's great aunt, age range 40 to 65 to play 45-70. Very strong comedic actress, physical, excellent singer and actor with command of upper class English dialect. Bossy, doesn’t suffer criticism. Ditzy/cracked on the surface but surprisingly shrewd underneath. Larger than life singer, any vocal range.
Peggotty: Lead Role, Clara's Maid & confidant, age range 22 to 39 to play 25-37. Very strong comedic actress, physical, excellent singer and actor with command of lower class English dialect. Age 25-ish at birth scene 35 -55 thereafter. David’s surrogate mother. Character part. Loyal, caring, empathetic, protective, more wordly than Clara – able to see through Murdstone. Mezzo or alto.
Mr. Dick: Supporting Role, Aunt Betsey's cousin and confidant, kind hearted and a little simple. Age range 40 to 65 to play same. Very strong comedic actor, excellent singer and actor with command of upper class English dialect. Easily flustered, speaks when spoken to with great hesitation, obliging, not as “off” in the head as he first appears. Character part, any vocal range.
Mr. Micawber: Supporting Role, David's landlord and confidant, kind hearted and tricky. Age range 40 to 60 to play same. Very strong comedic actor, excellent singer and actor with command of upper class English dialect. Age 35-40 when he meets David; 55-60 by end of show. Hopelessly optimistic, loquacious, loves to pontificate. Comic baritone or tenor.
Mr. Wickfield: Supporting Role, Aunt Betsey's solicitor, 40 to 65 to play 45-65. Very strong dramatic actor, excellent singer and actor with command of upper class English dialect. Should Aunt Betsey’s contemporary. Straight arrow, stiff and formal, must be convincing deteriorating into alcoholism. May or may not sing.
J. Steerforth: Supporting Role, head boy at Salem House, confidant to David, handsome and he knows it, kind hearted but shrewd. Age range 18 to 30 to play same. Very strong dramatic actor, excellent singer and actor with command of upper class English dialect. A golden boy, admired by all but with a hidden dark streak, charismatic, self-confident, conceited, selfish, recognizes his own weaknesses but can’t do anything about them. Youthful baritone or tenor.
Clara Copperfield later Dora: 2 Lead Roles, David's Mother 18 to 39 to play 20-30. Later Dora, David's first love much like his mother. Very strong dramatic actress, physically frail, excellent singer and actor with command of upper class English dialect. Cute. Affectionate and needing affection. Very childlike and unworldly with petulant outbursts as Dora. Lyric soprano.
Dr. Chillip & Daniel Peggotty: 2 Supporting Roles, doctor of David's Mother Clara, comic ability, age range 35 to 65 to play 55-65. Later Daniel Peggotty brother to Peggotty, age range 35 to 65 to play same. Very strong dramatic actor, excellent singer and actor with command of upper and lower class English dialects. Daniel Peggotty: Uneducated and rough on the outside with a heart of gold. Modest to a fault. Determined and unstoppable when roused to action. Likely a baritone, open to others.
Mr. Murdstone & Uriah Heep: 2 Evil Supporting Roles, David's step-father, strong dramatic ability, age range 35 to 45 to play same. Later Uriah Heep scheming clerk to Mr. Wickfield, age range 25 to 40 to play same. Very strong dramatic actor, excellent singer and actor with command of upper and lower class English dialects. Mr. Murdstone: Handsome with a sinister air. Well-spoken in a rapid, clipped manner. Suave, opinionated, decisive, tyrannical, abusive. Puritanical. With a military bearing? Uriah Heep: Weasley, conniving, cadaverous, stoop-shouldered, favors shadows over light, the kind of person you don’t want to know or touch. These two roles may or may not be doubled. If one actor, any vocal range. If two actors, Murdstone a legit, menacing bass/baritone; Heep a tenor.
Miss Murdstone & Mrs. Micawber: 2 Supporting Roles, Mr. Murdstone's evil, sister, age range 35 to 65 to play 45-65. Later Mrs. Micawber wife to Mr. Micawber, age range 35 to 65 to play same, very strong comic and dramatic actor, excellent singer with command of upper and lower class English dialects. Miss Murdstone: A bit older than her brother with the same characteristics only more so. Very severe in dress and manner – looks and acts like every day could be a funeral. Humorless, remorseless, stern. Mrs. Micawber: Possibly the most exaggerated comic character in the show, histrionic, good-hearted, affectionate age 30-35 when we meet her. Character mezzo or alto.
Barkis, Tungay & Prisoner: 3 Supporting Roles, Barkis: comic gentleman caller to Peggotty, age range 35 to 65 to play 45-65. Later Tungay assistant to evil Salem House head master, age range 35 to 65 to play same, then amusing prisoner in debtor's prison. Very strong dramatic and comic actor, excellent singer with command of various lower class English dialects. Barkis: miserly, uncommunicative, shabby, grunts more than he speaks, older than Peggotty, not attractive, portly but sympathetic nonetheless. Tungay: booming voice, pegleg or limp, announces Creakle like a bailiff in a courtroom, low class accent, shabby in dress. Any vocal range.
Mr. Creakle, Mr. Quinion & Prisoner: 3 Supporting Roles, Mr. Creakle: Evil headmaster at Salem House, age range 35 to 65 to play 45-65. Later Mr. Quinion scheming warehouse manager 35 to 65 to play same, then amusing prisoner in debtor's prison. Very strong dramatic and comic actor, excellent singer with command of various lower class English dialects. Mr. Creakle: Age 50-60: speaks with a barely audible rasp, deliberate in his speech and movements until he lashes out, sadistic and unfeeling. Quinion: No nonsense, commanding, physically intimidating, a man you don’t want to cross. Any vocal range.
Little Emily/Older Emily, Clayton at Salem House and Warehouse Kid: 3 Supporting Roles, Little Emily & Older Emily: Strangely beautiful, slightly dramatic niece to Peggotty, age range 18 to 24 to play 12-24. Later Clayton student at Salem House, then amusing warehouse kid. Strong dramatic and comic actor, excellent singer with command of various lower class English dialects. Emily: Same age as David. Enigmatic, hard to read. Attractive to Steerforth, lower class in dress (maybe better than the rest of the family– she makes her own clothes?) with a more upper class bearing, acts as she thinks a lady would, better spoken that other Peggottys, intelligent, a quick learner. Youthful soprano.
Ham Peggotty/Older Ham, Ellis at Salem House & Furniture Mover One: 3 Supporting Roles, Ham: dramatic nephew & gentleman caller to Emily, age range 18 to 28 to play same. Later Ellis amusing Salem House studentthen Furniture Mover One amusing knob. Very strong dramatic and comic actor, excellent singer with command of various lower class English dialects. Ham: Five years older than David and Emily. Very physically fit as an adult, awkward and shy, reticent/unaware of his own virtues. Baritone or tenor.
Agnes/Older Agnes, Banbury at Salem House & Delivery Girl: 3 Supporting Roles, Agnes & Older Agnes: Beautiful real love of David's, 18 to 25 to play 16-25. Later Banbury student at Salem House, then amusing Delivery Girl. Strong dramatic and comic actor, excellent singer with command of various upper and lower class English dialects. Older Agnes: Age – same as David. Attractive but more of a lady than Dora or Clara. Serene, self-composed, responsible, hides her emotions, very attached to her father, wise beyond her years. Mezzo or soprano.
Demple at Salem House, Warehouse Kid & Ruffian One: 3 Supporting roles, 18 to 28 to play same. Strong dramatic and comic actor, excellent singer with command of various lower class English dialects. Any vocal range.
Traddles at Salem House, Warehouse & Ruffian Two: 3 Supporting roles, 18 to 28 to play same. Strong dramatic and comic actor, excellent singer with command of various lower class English dialects. Any vocal range.
Mansfield at Salem House, Warehouse & Furniture Mover Two: 3 Supporting roles, 18 to 28 to play same. Strong dramatic and comic actor, excellent singer with command of various lower class English dialects. Any vocal range.
Children: Ages 10 and up to play schoolboys, warehouse boys, young Agnes, delivery boy/girl. Any vocal range.
Equity’s contracts prohibit discrimination. Equity is committed to diversity and encourages all its employers to engage in a policy of equal employment opportunity designed to promote a positive model of inclusion. As such, Equity encourages performers of all ethnicities, gender identities, and ages, as well as performers with disabilities, to audition.
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