OH FREEDOM! The Story of the Underground Railroad - Los Angeles EPA
City of Rancho Cucamonga/Main Street Theatre Company
AUDITION DATE
Mon, Nov 13, 2017
3:00 pm - 7:00 pm (PDT)
APPOINTMENTS
EPA rules in effect. In-person sign-up begins at 2:00PM on 11/13/17.
CONTRACT
TYA Minimum - $499.75/wk
SEEKING
Looking for 4 Versatile Actors who sing, who will be portraying multiple characters, many based on historical figures who were involved in some way in the Underground Railroad.
PREPARATION
Please prepare a 1 minute monologue, and also be prepared to sing a few bars of a song, a cappella. (The play is interwoven with songs from the period, which will be sung a cappella and in harmony)
LOCATION
Actors' Equity Association LA Audition Center
5636 Tujunga Ave
North Hollywood, CA 91601
PERSONNEL
Producer: Murry Hepner
Director: Saundra McClain
Musical Director/Vocal Coach: Janice Rodgers Wainwright
Written by Peter Manos
OTHER DATES
First Rehearsal: January 9, 2018
First Performance: January 26, 2018
Closing: February 11, 2018
OTHER
All performances are matinees (weekday mornings for school groups, weekends for families). Travel stipend is available for cast members who live between 50-65 miles from the theatre. All performances are at the 550 seat Lewis Family Playhouse. This show is geared for families with children aged 10 and up.
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.
BREAKDOWN
Looking for 4 Versatile Actors who sing, who will be portraying multiple characters, many based on historical figures who were involved in some way in the Underground Railroad.
Through narration, monologues, vignettes, and songs from the period, Oh Freedom! depicts the greatest collaboration against racism in America prior to the Civil Rights movement. The “docu-drama” style is not a museum piece. Far from it --we hope the play will engage the young audience to make connections between history and their own lives. All actors must be able to sing in harmony, a capella.
PLAYER 1: AFRICAN AMERICAN WOMAN (25 - 50). (Alto). To play Harriet Tubman, Slave Woman, Railway Clerk, Narrator, and others. Harriet Tubman (1822-1913) was arguably the greatest conductor on the Underground Railroad, and later was a spy and guide for the Union Army during the Civil War.
PLAYER 2: WHITE MALE (30 - 40). (Tenor) To play John Rankin, “Peg Leg Joe”, Narrator, and others. John Rankin (1795-1886) helped many runaways make their way to freedom by keeping a light on in his house high on a hill, for them to look for when they crossed the Ohio River, which separated slave-holding Kentucky from free Ohio. Peg Leg Joe (active in the 1850’s) was a one-legged sailor who may have been a legendary figure based on many people. It is said he went to Plantations and taught slaves the “Follow the Drinking Gourd” song, so they would know how to escape north.
PLAYER 3: WHITE WOMAN. (25 - 35) (Soprano) To play Harriet Beecher Stow, Female Passenger, Narrator, and others. Harriet Beecher Stowe (1811-1896) Her 1852 novel, Uncle Tom’s Cabin, turned many people against slavery. She was a friend of John Rankin’s, and many runaways who passed through his house inspired the characters in her book.
PLAYER 4: AFRICAN AMERICAN MAN (20 - 30) (Baritone) To play William Still, Oludah Equiano, Harry “Box” Brown, Narrator, and others, William Still (1821-1902) ran an office for the Underground Railroad in Philadelphia, and kept records so that he could reunite runaways with their families. In 1872, he wrote one of the most important books about the Underground Railroad. Oludah Equiano was seized from his village in Africa, and survived passage on a slave ship to America. He wrote about his experience in 1789. Harry “Box” Brown (1816 – after 1899), was a Virginia slave who escaped by mailing himself in a crate to Philadelphia.
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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