Audition for Parallel 45 Theatre - Parallel 45 Theatre

Casting Notice: Summer 2023



SUMMER FESTIVAL 2023: P45 will kick off the summer with the pop-soul musical Twelfth Night by Shaina Taub and Kwame Kwei-Armah. Originally produced at the Delacorte Theatre in NYC, this family-friendly beach party is a rousing contemporary musical adaptation of Shakespeare’s classic romantic comedy about mistaken identity and self-discovery. Professional actors and community members of all ages will come together to celebrate the magic of live theatre together. Next in the summer lineup will be Clare Barron’s evisceratingly funny Dance Nation, winner of the 2017 Susan Smith Blackburn Prize and runner up for the 2019 Pulitzer Prize. Somewhere in America, an army of pre-teen competitive dancers plots to take over the world. And if their new routine is good enough, they’ll claw their way to the top at Nationals in Tampa Bay. A comedy about ambition, growing up, and how to find our souls in the heat of it all. This production is intended for ages 17+ and “will probably hit you hard... It’s a brave, visceral, excitingly off-kilter barbaric yawp of a play." - New York Magazine. We will close our summer with the gem of every summer: a full run of our middle and high school Youthquake Company program’s original musical, Appily Ever After!



CASTING:

The 2023 P45 Company will include 10 non-equity contracts. Parallel 45 Theatre’s Apprentice Program will bring 4 early-career professional actors to work with the company.



ACTORS EQUITY ASSOCIATION We will not be seeking to fill any equity contracts in 2023.



NON-UNION COMPENSATION $1000 - $3500 depending on number of roles and commensurate with experience plus travel stipend and housing in Northwest Michigan College dormitory. Many contracts will include 2+ shows.



Dates for the 2023 season are as follows: actor arrival: June 10, first rehearsal June 11, first preview is July 6, season closes July 26. All professional contracts either include housing or require residence in Traverse City, Michigan for the duration of the season. Rehearsals take place Sun-Fri 9am-6pm with evening commitments for performances and tech.



CREATIVE LEADERSHIP Directors Matthew Gutschick (Twelfth Night), Katherine Carter (Dance Nation), Daniel Lendzian (Youthquake), Music Director Rick Church (Twelfth Night); Artistic Director, Kit McKay; Choreographer (Twelfth Night); Asia Pyron; Producing Director: Nick Viox; Development Director, Debbie Hershey; Education Director: Stacia Sexton



PROFESSIONAL NON-EQUITY CONTRACTS: Many actors will play 2+ roles in 2 shows. Doubling will depend on actor availability and interest. All genders, races, ages and abilities will be considered for roles in both shows.



APPRENTICE COMPANY INFORMATION The P45 apprentice program is geared toward trained, pre-professional performers seeking to leave the classroom for a summer and deepen their craft through practice both in acting tracks onstage as well as understudy and swing tracks offstage. Apprentices will enjoy the benefits of working alongside professional actors, designers, directors, technicians and administrators for a 7-week summer contract in beautiful northern Michigan. Apprentice actors will likely have an onstage role as well as an understudy track in the musical; and an understudy track in the non-musical without an onstage role.



Apprentices receive $1000 stipend for the summer, housing, and a $200 travel reimbursement. Apprentices must be graduating high school in the spring of 2023 and be at least 17 years of age at the time of contract start.



CASTING BREAKDOWN Parallel 45 seeks to redefine how stories are told and who gets to tell them. We invite gender non-conforming, genderqueer, transgender, and non-binary actors of all ages, ethnicities and identities to submit for the roles they most identify with despite descriptions encountered in the traditional character breakdown. We list ethnicity when specific to the character, but are otherwise enthusiastically seeking actors of diverse backgrounds. Please know that characters will not always be played to type and the storytelling will be approached allegorically and metaphorically. Music can/will be altered for the correct actor and we are eagerly considering all ages, abilities, gender-identification, races for all roles.



Parallel 45 holds collaboration as a fundamental value. A successful performer at P45 is an actor, singer, dancer, dramaturg, producer, educator, and director. Thinking analytically on your feet, using/discovering dramaturgy as fuel for action, feeling empowered to contribute, exhibiting a willingness to generate material, and mentoring apprentices and interns through example are important factors in the process.



Twelfth Night: All actors should be comfortable with the pop, gospel, and spoken-word style of the music.



Feste: (mezzo soprano) Since Feste is a busking musician, it is dramaturgically important that they play the accordion- even in a reduced capacity.



Maria (mezzo soprano) lady-in-waiting



Viola (mezzo soprano with strong low notes) a young woman



Olivia (mezzo soprano) countess of Illyria



Malvolio (tenor, high notes of A & Ab) Servant to Olivia



Toby (baritone/bass) Uncle to Oliva



Sebastian (tenor pop sound) male twin to Viola



Orsino (bari-tenor pop sound) A duke in Illyria



Antiona (any range) friend to Sebastian



Andrew (bari-tenor) friend to Toby



Fabian (any range)



Chorus: Various Illyrians of all ages



Dance Nation: All characters except Dance Teacher Pat and The Moms are between the ages of 11 and 14 years old. However, they should be played by adult actors and should range from 12 to 75+.



Dance Teacher Pat: (male, aged 30+) the head of the dance studio



Amina: the star dancer



Connie: (female, South Asian descent) A talented dancer who thinks she should play the role of Ghandi.



Zuzu: always second best



Moms/Vanessa: Means well. Grown up Wendy (Vanessa could have been a phenomenon)



Maeve: (female actor aged 70+) the oldest and least talented dance on the team



Sofia: knows whats up



Luke: (male actor aged 50+) the only male dance on the competition team



Ashlee: future president of a post-apocalyptic USA



AUDITION INFORMATION

Video Auditions ​: Please email casting@parallel45.org with a headshot, resume. We will email you the video link for submitting audition materials.



Safety of Artists

Parallel 45 Theatre is committed to the safety and well-being of our staff, artists, volunteers, donors, and audience. This commitment is the compass that navigates the creation and execution of these procedures as we plan for our safe return to the full breadth of work within our mission while our community continues to recover from a global pandemic. It is with this in mind that we require all company members to be fully vaccinated for COVID 19.



ABOUT P45

Every summer, Parallel 45 produces a festival of plays and musicals in the Civic Center Park in Traverse City, Michigan. Artists from across the country and around the world convene on P45’s state-of-the-art stage to perform adventurous, boundary-pushing works for all ages--rotating daily. Local food vendors, a well-stocked bar, and live music allow our community to gather in celebration of the theatre and the beauty of northwest Michigan. During the shoulder seasons, Parallel 45 operates a robust theatre education program and produces a contemporary play reading series.



MISSION

Parallel 45 Theatre produces cutting-edge interpretations of plays & musicals, giving familiar stories new life – and fresh relevance – for our northwest Michigan audience. By producing a summer theatre festival of reinvented classics, new works and imaginative adaptations, we seek to entertain, encourage critical thought, and inspire conversation in our community.



HISTORY

Since 2010, Parallel 45 Theatre has brought more than 200 artists — from as far away as Berlin and as close as Traverse City—to create groundbreaking shows for our community. For twelve seasons, we have offered the kind of adventurous professional work you might see in New York, Chicago, or Los Angeles—right here in northwest Michigan. In 2017, Parallel 45 Theatre’s production of Alice in Wonderland was nominated for a Wilde Award, which honors the best productions, performances and technical work produced or presented by professional theaters across the state.



WHY

With play, joy, and intellectual rigor, we attack the notion that there is one correct way to look at the world. P45 complements an industry of theatre artists desperate for new voices, new material, and new stories by taking a strong look at our canon, breaking toxic values embedded within, and imagining a new path forward. We believe that a flourishing and fulfilling cultural experience, to which people from every walk of life are invited—and within which they can themselves reflected—is essential to our democracy and our quality of life in small town America. For this reason, we look to the theatre as our public forum, our town square, a place where ideas can be exchanged with more dignity, respect, and efficacy than in other areas of our society. Our greatest asset is our joyful, open, intellectually curious audience, always ready to explore.



CORE VALUES

Home. Northern Michigan boasts unparalleled natural beauty, an inspired food and drink scene, innovative business and tech, and globally-recognized arts & cultural organizations. The P45 Summer Theatre Festival is proud to be a foundational piece of northern Michigan’s success story.



Professionalism. Expert theatre artists from all across the country and around the world are invited to P45’s summer festival to join in the celebration of northern Michigan and contribute to its thriving arts culture. Experience cutting-edge theatre without leaving paradise.



Reinvention. Parallel 45 believes that you can look at the past, but you shouldn’t stare. P45 Theatre Festival takes an exacting look at our canon, breaking toxic values embedded within, and imagines a new path forward. Familiar stories for the adventurous mind.



Amplification. We honor our mission by deliberately including and championing writers, artists, technicians, and staff who are Black, Indigenous, and People of Color; as well as Trans people and people with disabilities. For more information, see our diversity, inclusion, accessibility policy and our commitment to BIPOC artists at parallel45.org.




Salary: 500 weekly