Little Theatre On The Square 2023 Season - Chicago EPA Little Theatre On the Square | Sullivan, IL
Notice: Audition Call Type: EPA
Thursday, February 16, 2023
9:00 AM - 5:00 PM (C)
Lunch 12:30 PM - 1:30 PM
SPT
$742 weekly minimum (SPT 9)
Equity actors for Little Theatre On The Square's 2023 Season (See breakdown).
All ethnicities are encouraged to audition.
Please prepare two short contrasting song selections. Feel free to prepare a selection from one of the shows of our season. Also, bring your headshot and resume stapled together.
Actors' Equity Association - Chicago Member Center
557 W Randolph St
1st Fl
Chicago, IL 60661
Expected to attend:
John Stephens - Executive Producer Therese Kincade - Assoicate Artistic Director Jordan Cyphert - Director/Choreographer Kevin Long - Musical Director
Season runs from February 20th, 2023 - December 17th, 2023.
See Breakdown for specific production dates.
OTHER
All Shows will rehearse and perform in Sullivan, IL at The Little Theatre On The Square. Housing and Transportation provided.
EPA Procedures are in effect for this audition. An Equity Monitor will be provided.
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.
Equity encourages everyone participating in the auditions to wear a two-ply cloth face mask, surgical mask, singer’s mask or respirator (N95, KN95 or KF94). Single-ply face masks, gaiters and bandanas are not recommended. Singer’s masks can be found at www.broadwayreliefproject.com/singersmask.
Equity encourages members to prepare for their audition prior to arriving at the audition venue, to the extent that they can (e.g., get dressed, hair/make-up, etc.) to avoid crowding in bathrooms and dressing rooms.
Holding/Audition room information:
The maximum capacity in the holding room is: 35
The maximum capacity in the audition room is: 45
SH-BOOM! LIFE COULD BE A DREAM
JERSEY BOYS
THE GREAT AMERICAN TRAILER PARK MUSICAL
DRIVING MISS DAISY
MILLION DOLLAR QUARTET
ESCAPE TO MARGARITAVILLE
CHURCH BASEMENT LADIES 2 - A SECOND HELPING
A CHRISTMAS CAROL
Rehearsal: Feb 20
Opens: March 3
Closes: March 12
DENNY VARNEY:CAST (Vocal Range: Tenor C3 - Ab4; Falsetto to D5) Five years after High School Graduation, Denny still lives with his mother. His lack of ambition has been his downfall, but the “Dream of a Lifetime” talent search has put new wind in his sails. Self-absorbed and bossy. Strong comedic timing.
EUGENE JOHNSON: CAST (Vocal Range: Tenor C3 - A4; Falsetto to A5) Denny’s best friend and co conspirator. Works for his dad at the Springfield Sweet Shop during the day and croons in Denny’s basement at night. Lovable nerd. Strong comedic timing.
WALLY PATTON: CAST (Vocal Range: Bass / Baritone F2-G4; Falsetto to D5) A checker at the Piggly-Wiggly Supermarket, Wally is the son of a preacher who truly becomes the heart and soul of the group. When Eugene’s grade-school sweetheart comes into the picture, does Wally have a shot at the girl? Strong comedic timing.
DUKE HENDERSON: CAST (Vocal Range: Bass/Baritone Ab2 - G4; Falsetto to Eb5) Duke is the new guy in the singing group but from the wrong side of the tracks. He works for “Big Stuff Auto”, the new sponsor of the group. He’s added to the group to make it a proper quartet. He’s also in love with Lois, the Boss’s daughter. Duke’s “Bad-Boy” attitude might just break up the group’s chances to win the contest. Strong comedic timing.
LOIS FRANKLIN: (Vocal Range: G3 - F5) Daughter of “Big Eddie” Franklin, owner of “Big Stuff Auto”, and herself a former song leader at Springfield High, she arrives on the scene to help shape the boys into a real singing and dancing group. Can Lois be the super-glue that holds the whole group together? NOTE: Doubles as the off-stage voice of Mrs. Varney, Denny’s mother. Strong comedic timing.
Rehearsal: May 22
Opens: June 8
Closes: June 18
Frankie Valli- a strong tenor with sweet and strong falsetto and be able to sing in the style of Frankie Valli; strong tenor to high A or Bb plus strong falsetto up to treble G; charismatic and charming; comfortable with narrative text, has a gritty side as well as a polished veneer; very comfortable with traditional four-part harmonies.
Nick Massi- a strong bass/baritone voice; very comfortable with traditional four-part harmonies; comfortable with narrative text; a quiet dreamer who longs for life after The Four Seasons.
Bab Gaudio- a strong tenor/baritenor voice; very comfortable with traditional four-part harmonies; comfortable with narrative text; an intelligent, sensitive, and introspective musical prodigy.
Tommy DeVito- a strong tenor/baritenor voice; very comfortable with traditional four-part harmonies; comfortable with narrative text; ability to play guitar a very strong plus; a natural born leader with an appealing, bad-boy quality.
Joe Pesci- young, energetic; a strong singer.
Bob Crewe- intelligent and flamboyant; genius music producer and lyricist; an integral part of creating the magic of The Four Seasons.
Gyp DeCarlo- tough, mafioso type; a strong singer.
Mary Delgado- a strong singer and dancer; Frankie’s wife; tough, seen it all, Italian, Jersey girl; she’s got a killer sense of humor; doubles as a variety of other roles, including member of a 60s style girl group; strong belt useful; high straight tone soprano also useful but not required.
Lorraine and Francie- versatile singer and dancer with flexible vocal registers doubles as a variety of roles (the many girlfriends of The Four Seasons, etc); should fit well together a la 60s band Shangri las and be believable as tough-as-nails Jersey girls; very comfortable with traditional four-part harmonies; has a strong belt.
Rehearsal: June 8
Opens: June 22
Closes: July 2
JEANNIE GARSTECKI – 35–45 Years old - Jeannie has lived in a trailer at Armadillo Acres for 20 years with her husband and high-school sweetheart, Norbert. A faded beauty, she was 17 when she married, 18 when her son was born and 23 when he got kidnapped. That, coupled with a really bad perm, has turned her into an agoraphobic. She hasn’t left her trailer in all these years, and the man she loves is drifting further and further away and she’s determined to get him back, that is if she could manage to get out of the trailer to do it.
NOBERT GARSTECKI – 35–45 Years old - Jeannie’s husband Norbert collects tolls for a living and tries to be as good a husband as one can be to an agoraphobic. A former high-school football star, he has rugged good looks marred by fatigue and the stress of his difficult marriage. He is a simple man who desperately wishes his wife could get out of the trailer, but he’s not equipped with the emotional or intellectual tools to help her do it. He has never loved or slept with a woman other than Jeannie.
PIPPI – 28–35 Years old - Pippi is a striking beauty with a great body and a taste for clothing that shows it off. Up to this point, Pippi’s life has been about surviving. She is a professional stripper who has gotten by on her looks and talents for dancing and petty theft. She means no harm and is ready to stop making bad choices and start making changes, but first she has to get lost in a hick-town trailer park in North Florida so she won’t be found by her last bad choice.
DUKE – 24–28 Years old - Duke is Pippi’s obsessive, possessive and excessive Magic Marker–sniffing boyfriend; “ex”-boyfriend according to Pippi. Not so, according to Duke. Not the brightest guy south of the Mason-Dixon Line, Duke leaves a trail of disaster in his wake wherever he goes. His road trip to Starke is no exception and his arrival at the trailer park is full of surprises — even for a group of people who have had their share of excitement.
BETTY – 38–50-Something - Betty attended high school with Norbert and Jeannie Garstecki and has lived at Armadillo Acres for just as long. She now runs the leasing office and makes it her business to know everything about everybody who passes through the trailer park. Though a self-proclaimed “bad
ass,” Betty is really a mother hen to the denizens of the trailer park. Of all “The Girls,” Betty is the most grounded, earthy and dry.
LINOLEUM “LIN” – 30s - So-named because her mother gave birth to her on the kitchen floor, Linoleum has a husband on death row at the Florida State Prison. His fate is an electric chair that doesn’t work properly unless most of the town’s electricity is turned off. So Lin watches everyone’s lights and appliances very closely in the hopes that she can keep the chair on the fritz. Sometimes self-absorbed and sometimes just a smart-ass, she hints at a wild, rock-and-roll past and is the fieriest of “The Girls.”
DONNA “PICKLES” – 17 Years old - A newlywed, Donna is called “Pickles” because she is perpetually hysterically pregnant — that is, she’s so convinced she should be pregnant she’s exhibiting symptoms. Her husband is a lot fancier than she is, as he is from the big city of Jacksonville. His parents haven’t been very supportive of his marital choice, so Pickles is desperate to give her husband a family of his own — even if she has to fake it. The dimmest of “The Girls,” Pickles is airy, sweet and blissfully ignorant.
Rehearsal: June 22
Opens: July 6
Closes: July 16
Daisy Werthan: CAST (70+) Daisy is an independent, prickly former schoolteacher who resents having her independence curtailed by her son’s concerns. She grew up with less affluence than she currently has and is uncomfortable with the change and very particular about her things and spending money. Though she initially views Hoke as a symbol of the limitations she does not want to accept, she eventually begins to trust him and they become very close. Daisy starts the play 72 and is 97 when it ends.
Boolie Werthan: Male, 40+, Ethnicity: White / European Descent. Daisy’s son, also born and raised in Atlanta. He is 40 years old in the first scene of the play in 1948, and 65 years old at the show’s end in 1973. He grew up through World War I, and was a young man during the Great Depression. He observed his parents’ dedication to their work and took over the family business, increasing its success. He is dutiful to his mother, despite her prickly personality. Though he clearly cares for Daisy, it’s not in the way that she would find most fitting.
Hoke Colburn: 40+, Ethnicity: Black / African Descent. An African-American man, native to Georgia. He is 60 years old in 1948 at the beginning of the play, and 85 years old in 1973 at the end. Before meeting Daisy, he had neither traveled nor learned to read. He has a daughter and granddaughter. Although he is 12 years younger than Daisy, he has also witnessed the same pivotal events in
American history. He was a young man in 1913 when Leo Frank was lynched, but as a child he had already witnessed the lynching of his friend’s father (which was a common occurrence in the state of Georgia in the late 1800s). He grew up in the thick of the Jim Crow era, experiencing for almost his whole life segregation, discrimination, injustice and racism.
Rehearsal: July 6
Opens: July 20
Closes: July 30
ELVIS – 20s; male; singer/guitar player, Elvis in his 20s at the beginning of his career. Be familiar with his music and able to play guitar; should sound and look somewhat like Elvis without being an “impersonator.” Please prepare an Elvis Presley song (or a song in that style or from the era) and accompany yourself on the guitar. In the production, Elvis sings: “Memories Are Made Of This,” “That’s All Right,” “Long Tall Sally,” “Peace In The Valley,” “Party,” and “Hound Dog.”
JERRY LEE LEWIS – 20s-early 30s; male; singer/pianist; he was rock ‘n’ roll’s legendary piano prodigy and celebrated “Last Man Standing.” A superb piano player, able to play like Jerry Lee Lewis; fun, energetic; comic skills a plus. Please prepare a Jerry Lee Lewis song (or song in that style or from the era) and accompany yourself on the piano. In the production, Jerry Lee Lewis sings: “Real Wild Child,” “Great Balls Of Fire,” and “Whole Lotta Shakin’ Goin’ On.”
CARL PERKINS – mid 20s; male; singer/guitar player (lead guitar); he was the American pioneer of rockabilly music and best known for his song “Blue Suede Shoes.” An excellent lead guitarist. Please prepare a Carl Perkins or Elvis Presley song (or song in that style from that era) and accompany yourself on the guitar. An amp will be provided. In the production, Carl Perkins sings: “Matchbox,” “Who Do You Love?,” “My Babe,” and “See You Later, Alligator.”
JOHNNY CASH – late 20s-late 30s; male; singer/guitar player, Johnny Cash at the dawn of his epic career. Be familiar with his music and able to play guitar; tall; should sound and look somewhat like Johnny without being an “impersonator.” Please prepare a Johnny Cash song (or song in that style from that era) and accompany yourself on the guitar. In the production, Johnny Cash sings: “Folsom Prison Blues,” “Sixteen Tons,” “I Walk The Line,” and “Riders In The Sky.”
SAM PHILLIPS – mid-30s-40s; “Father of Rock ‘n’ Roll” and founder of Sun Records who discovered Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis, Carl Perkins, and many others including Roy Orbison and B.B. King; a towering and charismatic figure in American music; for the auditions, actors will be asked to prepare sides from the show.
DYANNE – 20s-early 30s; Any Ethnicity. Excellent singer; she was an aspiring singer and Elvis’s girlfriend; ahead of her time and assertive, she’s a great singer with a wide range; sings solos and back-up throughout the show; sings “Fever” in her alto range and covers the high soprano part of “Riders In The Sky” (Johnny Cash song); for the auditions, actors will be asked to prepare a song from the era. In the production, Dyanne sings “Fever” and “I Hear You Knockin’.
Rehearsal: July 20
Opens: August 3
Closes: August 13
Tully: Male, 27-39 - Any Ethnicity - Charming, handsome, and funny, and, at first glance, callow. Tully is a smooth-talking, self-deprecating playboy, reminiscent of a young Harrison Ford. He knows who he is and what he wants, which is to romance vacationing women, show them a good time on the island, and wave goodbye to the romance after an eventful week. He’s completely content with the life he’s chosen as the singer/bartender at a tropical resort, until he meets Rachel, a vacationer who upends his heart. Great singer. Guitar skills are useful.
Rachel: Female, 27-33 - Any Ethnicity - Intense, super smart, and a loyal friend. Has a constant eye on the future. Fully committed to her job and helping the world. Willing to put in as many hours of hard work as it takes and expects everyone else to do that same. Suspicious of fools and operators, Rachel is not easily distracted from her life plan. Usually manages to suppress the part of her that enjoys a good time. Great singer.
Brick: Male, 30-39 - Any Ethnicity - Oafish with a big heart and a good friend to Tully. The Lenny to Tully’s George. Not the brightest bulb, but sensitive and thoughtful. Willing to put himself out there emotionally, able to admit when he’s scared, and appreciates his life as an island bartender. Great singer.
Tammy: Female, 30-39 - Any Ethnicity – Larger than Life, cheerful, and always ready for a good time, Tammy is a loyal friend to Rachel. Sees the best in people and has a zest for life that is often squelched by her fiance, Chad. Her low self-esteem manifests itself as denial in her own life. Great singer.
Marley: Female, 40-49 - Black / African Descent - No-nonsense and assertive with an island accent. She runs the resort and keeps everyone in check, but clearly cares about her employees, her customers, and J.D., an older island denizen. Great singer.
J.D.: Male, 60-79 - Any Ethnicity - A funny, endearing older man who always has a parrot on his shoulder. He’s losing his vision and his hearing, but won’t acknowledge it. A good-natured drunkard, he’s always writing his memoirs on bar napkins and, as it turns out, he’s lived a full life. Sings some.
Rehearsal: August 3
Opens: August 17
Closes: August 27
The Pastor – Of indeterminate age. He has been the Pastor at this church for some time and has a wife “half his age”. The ladies have a great deal of respect for the Pastor and tolerate his wife. He is a nice man, if perhaps not a terribly dynamic preacher. He lives a life of service and humility. Low – B flat, a major 9th below middle C. High – G flat above middle C.
Mrs. Elroy Engelson (Karin) – In her mid to late 40s. Karin is Beverly’s mother and is the most fashionable of the ladies and the best cook in the kitchen. She married young, and has always strived to be a good wife and mother. Although she appears happy, had she been born in another time, her life might have turned out quite differently. The middle voice. Low – A flat below middle C, and High – D, a major 9th above middle C. Should have a comfortable belt.
Beverly Signe (Engelson) Hauge – In her early to mid 20s. Signe is a newlywed. After graduating from the “U”, she left home a year ago to move to “the City” with her new husband, Harry. She grew up in this kitchen and has a great deal of affection for the women of the basement. Although she is strong willed, she has a good head on her shoulders and a genuine love for the community. Low – A below middle C. High – G flat above middle C.
The Widow Snustad (Vivian) - CAST In her late 60s. Her husband died very early in their marriage; she is the matriarch of the kitchen and holds tightly to tradition with both hands; the other women get a kick out of her and secretly enjoy watching her squirm a little when she is challenged. Vocally hers is the highest voice of the ladies. Low: A flat below middle C, no lower than a B flat below middle C. High: E, a major 10th above middle C.
Mrs. Gilmer Gilmerson (Mavis) - CAST In her 50s, she is an able-bodied farm wife. Mavis is extremely good-natured, and often tries to dispel any tension in the kitchen by changing the subject or telling a joke; she knows the lineage of every family in town, and is always willing to pitch in and fix someone’s tractor, peel a potato, or scrub the lutefisk pot; she believes hard work is good for the soul. The lowest of the voices. Low: A flat below middle C. High: D, a major 9th above middle C.
Rehearsal: November 25
Opens: December 8
Closes: December 17
Scrooge – 45-64, Male – A3-G5 - A man who lost his father to creditors as a kid and has grown up heeding his father's advice to save his money. Until he realizes how terrible he's become, he is grumpy, unsympathetic man and has no time for anyone or anything.
Mr. Cratchit – 30-40, Male – A3-E5 - A father and husband who cares deeply for his family, particularly his youngest son. He works hard to provide for them but is mistreated by his employer, Scrooge.
Mrs. Cratchit – 30-40, Female – A3-E5 - Tiny Tim's mother and Mr. Cratchit's wife. She is a loving mother who tries to provide the best for her children with what she's got.
Tiny Tim – 9-12, Male – A3-E5 - Mr. and Mrs. Cratchit's youngest son. He is crippled and sick, but is the definition of loving Christmas spirit. He constantly reminds his family that as long as they all have each other, they will be happy.
Fred – 25-35, Male – A3-F5 - Scrooge's nephew and only living relative. He is a pleasant young man who believes in the good a joyful Christmas spirit can make in the world.
Ghost Of Christmas Present – 35-45, Male – A3-G5 - A jovial, larger-than-life ghost who comes back to show Scrooge all the joy, love, and celebration he his missing out on while those around him celebrate Christmas. Doubles as Sandwichboard Man.
Ghost Of Christmas Past – 40-60, Male, A3-G5 - An ever cheerful, sprightly ghost who comes back with the history book of Scrooge's past to show him the events that led to his current state. Doubles as Lamplighter.
Blind Old Hag / Ghost Of Christmas Future – 50-65, Female – A3-G5 - A beautiful, and terrifying wrath, the Ghost of Christmas Future is strong and silent as she shows Scrooge what will happen to him and those around him if he continue down the path he is currently treading.
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