AUDITIONS FOR BUS STOP
Saturday - June 23, 2010
11am - 3pm
AUDITION INFO -
ROLES - 5 MALE, 3 FEMALE
Contact:
Fuzz@spotlighters.org
No Appointments. First come / First heard.
Please prepare a 2-3 minute monologue. Bring headshot and resume.
Actors will be asked to present a side reading in character accent.
SOME actors may be asked to read sides from Bus Stop with other actors.
Call backs (if needed) will be scheduled after all auditions are completed.
THE PLAY: The first play presented by Audrey Herman and the Spotlighters, opening on Oct 12, 1962; we revisit William Inge's masterpiece.
In the middle of a howling snowstorm, a bus out of Kansas City pulls up at a cheerful roadside diner. All roads are blocked, and the weary travelers are going to have to hole up until morning. Cherie, a nightclub chanteuse in a sparkling gown has been pursued, made love to and finally kidnaped by a twenty-one-year-old cowboy with a ranch of his own and the romantic methods of a headstrong bull.
As a counterpoint to the main romance, the proprietor of the cafe and the bus driver at last find time to develop a friendship of their own; a middle-age scholar comes to terms with himself; and a young girl who works in the café also gets her first taste of romance.
THE SETTING: It is the mid-1950s. The action takes place at a street-corner diner that also serves as the bus stop, in this small town, about 30 miles west of Kansas City.
THE CAST:
Grace Hoylard — Owner of the diner, a "grass widow". She is fortyish, and pretty in a fading, hard-bitten way. She has a passionate side to her nature, loving a good fight and the attentions of a good man. (late 30's to early 50's, mid-western accent)
Elma Duckworth - An intelligent, but naive and impressionable high school girl. She is Grace's waitress. (17-19 years old)
Will Masters — The local sheriff. Tough as nails and brusque in manner, but goodhearted and a staunch Christian, described as a "deacon of his church". A highly "moral" man in the general sense of the word. (mid to late 40's, physically fit, mid-western accent. Stage Combat/Fight Experience)
Dr. Gerald Lyman — A college philosophy professor who is articulate and charming but cannot hold a position, partially due to his resistance to any kind of authority, and partially due to his unfortunate taste for young women. He also has an obvious drinking problem. (late 30's to early 50's)
Cherie — A pretty young woman who comes from a difficult "hill folk" background, and has left her innocence far behind. She is an aspiring nightclub singer, but has never worked in any establishment above the level of "cheap dive". (early to mid 20's, must be able to sing, physically fit, deep Louisana accent)
Bo Decker — A brash young cowboy with boorish manners that hide a naivete almost as profound as Elma's. He has convinced himself that Cherie will be his bride, though Cherie wants nothing to do with him. (mid 20's to mid 30's; physically fit, western country accent, and acts before he thinks. Stage Combat/Fight Experience)
Virgil Blessing — An older, wiser cowboy who has become a father figure to Bo (who was orphaned at the age of ten) as well as Bo's head ranch hand. (late 20's to early 40's, must be able to play guitar, physically fit, western country accent, thinks before he acts)
Carl — The bus driver, who has an ongoing "just passing through" relationship with Grace. As referenced repeatedly, this is purely sexual in nature. (late 30's to early 50's)
NON-Paid / NON-Union
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