ACT ONE - Piedmont Players Theatre Inc. Non Equity Auditions

Piedmont Players Theatre Holds Auditions at the Meroney Theater

OPEN AUDITIONS FOR: Actors (available roles listed below)

WHEN: Monday, December 5 & Tuesday, December 6, 2016. Auditions will begin at 7pm.

(if necessary, callbacks will be held on Dec 7)

WHERE: Meroney Theater (3rd Floor), 213 S. Main St., Salisbury, NC

SHOW DATES: Jan 26-Feb 4, 2017

Piedmont Players Theatre is holding Auditions Monday, December 5 and Tuesday, December 6 at 7PM. Performers of all ethnic and racial backgrounds are encouraged to audition. Auditions will consist of cold reading from the script.

ABOUT THE SHOW

Growing up in an impoverished family in the Bronx, Moss Hart dreamed of being part of the glamorous world of the theatre. Forced to drop out of school at age thirteen, Hart’s famous memoir Act One is a classic Hortatio Alger story that plots Hart’s unlikely collaboration with the legendary playwright George S. Kaufman. Tony Award-winning writer and director James Lapine has adapted Act One for the stage, creating a funny, heartbreaking, and suspenseful play that celebrates the making of a playwright and a Broadway legend!

For more information call
704-633-5471 or email
md@piedmontplayers.com.

AVAILABLE ROLES

Moss Hart: the renowned American playwright and director. We see Moss from his late teens to mid-20s, smart, charming, resilient, scrappy, curious and tenacious, a Jewish kid from the streets of NY. He is single-minded in his ambition to have a life and career in the theater, which was an escape and solace from his hard scrabble life of poverty. Born in 1904 to Jewish immigrant parents and raised in the Bronx, he worked his way up in the world of the theater from an office boy to a playwright. Although he was always under pressure, because his family depended on him financially, he managed to remain optimistic with a sense of humor.

Hart: Moss Hart in his 50s, looking back on his life, he serves as a de facto narrator of the piece. Smart, wise, wry, no longer as much a kid of the streets, he’s an experienced artist, with a sensitive heart who can see his younger self through clear, yet generous eyes.

Father: Moss Hart’s father. English-born, Jewish immigrant, working class, he speaks with a Cockney accent. An unemployed cigar maker, he lived a life filled with frustration and failure as he desperately tried to provide for his family by renting out rooms in his apartment. In a constant state of daily warfare with Aunt Kate and with anybody else he thought was not giving him the respect he deserved.

George S. Kaufman: American playwright, theatre director, producer, drama critic, and humorist. Obsessively fastidious. Educated, brilliant and somewhat removed. A superior artist and craftsman, intimidating in his quiet self-confidence. Not fond of sentimentality, cantankerous, unconcerned by being liked, a private man who reveals himself to few people.

Lillie: Moss Hart’s mother. English-born, Jewish immigrant, working class, she speaks with a Cockney accent. A woman of decent instincts and exemplary behavior, even though her life is a struggle. With her husband, supports the family by taking in boarders. Much of her life consists of keeping peace between her sister, Kate, and her husband.

Aunt Kate: Moss's aunt, English born, Jewish immigrant. Lillie’s older sister. A larger than life figure to Moss, she behaves like a lady of leisure, putting on airs and disdaining work of any kind. An incurable romantic, extremely intelligent, opinionated, and a vivid storyteller, she recreates her evenings spent at the theater for a rapt and captive audience consisting of her nephew, Moss and her sister, Lillie. Overly dramatic, she feels herself above her circumstances.

Belle: Augustus Pitou’s secretary and George Steinberg’s aunt, she’s a tough bird who doesn’t put up with guff.

Mrs. Henry Harris: Theatrical investor and owner of the Hudson Theatre, which she inherited when her husband went down with the Titanic. Rich, possibly portly, always dressed to the nines, colorful, good humored. Up for an adventure, endlessly optimistic, but ultimately and unexpectedly quite shrewd.

Frieda Fishbein: A literary agent. Highly respected in the community, so whatever plays she recommended for production were read with promptness and great enthusiasm. A bit of a character, she’s tough and realistic, but very supportive of her client, Moss.

Beatrice Kaufman: George S. Kaufman’s wife. Not conventionally beautiful, but had an individual style and a uniqueness that lent a radiance to everything she did or said. Very smart, insightful, highly perceptive, elegant and witty.

Phyllis: Works at Clara Hirsch Home for Working Girls where Aunt Kate ends up living after being thrown out of the Hart home. Warm, straightforward, pleasant.

Maid: Works in the Kaufman household. Good at her job.

Ingenue: Actress in The Beloved Bandit and in a show-mance with one of the actors in the show.

Actress: An actress waiting to audition for a play.

Augustus Pitou: A New York theatrical Producer who books touring shows. Known as the “King of One Night Stands.” Shrewd businessman, always looking for a way to put on a show for a quick buck. Smart, funny, and cheap.

Priestly Morrison: The director of The Beloved Bandit. Experienced and charming, he tries to maintain patience and unflagging good humor in even difficult situations.

Pianist: Excellent pianist of period standards at a party. Should be able to read music.

Joseph Regan: The Irish star of The Beloved Bandit.

George Steinberg: A New Yorker. Moss’ neighbor in the Bronx who works as an office boy for theatrical producer Augustus Pitou and helps get Moss a job.

Piedmont Players Theatre Inc.

213 S. Main St

Salisbury, NC 28144

(704) 633-5471

www.piedmontplayers.com