Monthly Archives: May 2022

CenterStage Players will be holding auditions for ALL FOUR SHOWS of our 2022-23 season at once. You may audition for multiple shows if desired. Auditions are scheduled for June 21st and 22nd. Please reserve a timeslot by signing up at:
https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10c094da8af29a1f85-centerstage
Walk-ins will be accommodated if possible if we have openings in the schedule. Please bring a recent headshot and performance resume with you to auditions.

SHOWS AND ROLES

THE LARAMIE PROJECT: 10 YEARS LATER (Some roles have been pre-cast for returning actors who appeared in the original CSP production of ‘The Laramie Project’ in 2012)
Performance Dates: September 30, October 1-2 & 7-9

Ten years after their initial production of The Laramie Project, five members of Tectonic returned to Laramie to try to understand the long-term effect of the murder. They found a town wrestling with its legacy and its place in history. In addition to revisiting the folks whose words riveted us in the original play, this time around, the company also spoke with the two murderers, McKinney and Henderson, as well as Matthew’s mother, Judy Shepard. The Laramie Project: 10 Years Later is a bold new work, which asks the question, “How does society write its own history?”

This ensemble piece has ~75 characters. We are seeking 5-15 performers to each play 2-5 different characters ranging in age from their late teens to their 70’s. Performers do NOT need to be the suggested ages. All ethnicities, body types and genders are encouraged to audition.

THE DIARY OF ANNE FRANK (No roles have been pre-cast)
Performance Dates: November 11-13 & 18-20

The Diary of Anne Frank is one of the most famous and haunting stories to emerge from the 20th Century. The memoirs of this young Jewish girl, forced to hide for nearly two years to escape Nazi persecution, are an essential part of how we remember one of the darkest periods of our human history. Wendy Kesselman’s adaptation of the original, Pulitzer Prize award-winning script by Goodrich and Hackett draws from previously unpublished parts of Anne Frank’s real-life diary, allowing the audience to experience Anne in a way that breathes life into this passionate, complex young woman, allowing us to share her relatable experience of adolescence as a familiarly modern teenager.

For nearly two years, Anne, her father, mother, and sister, joined with the Van Daan family, to hide in a secret annex space above her father’s former office in Amsterdam, as the Nazis deported the Jews of Holland to their deaths. In her secret attic, Anne comes of age: she laughs, plays, fights with her mother, and falls in love for the first time. In spite of her oppressive circumstances and the horrors that surround her, Anne’s spirit transcends, as she voices her belief, “in spite of everything, that people are truly good at heart.” Anne’s dynamism, her luminous spirit, and her story of resilience continue to resonate deeply, making her story as vital today as when her diary first was published.

• ANNE FRANK (13-15) – Anne is extraordinary in her hope, passion, and belief in the good in the world. At the start of the show she is innocent, precocious and speaks her mind. As she matures she becomes introspective, compassionate, and hopeful for a more accepting future.
• OTTO FRANK (50-55) – Anne’s father, very much the patriarch of the Annex. He leads with love and strength in all he does. Unlike young Anne, Otto is even tempered and strives for peace in every situation. He has the resilience of a younger man but the experience to recognize the world around him.
• EDITH FRANK (40-45) – Anne’s mother. Reserved and soft spoken. Constantly worried about her family and their fate. Closer with her older daughter, she longs for a deeper connection with Anne.
• MARGOT FRANK (16-18) – Anne’s older sister. Quiet like her mother. More mature and intellectual than her sister. Margot feels along and unsure of her place in the Annex. She is reserved.
• MR. VAN DAAN (40-50) – The head of the Van Daans. Struggling to find his place. He is intelligent and pragmatic if a bit harsh. Wishes to make his wife happy on his terms. Wants to teach his son to be more outgoing and to toughen him up during their time in the Annex.
• MRS. VAN DAAN (40-50) – Not ready to give up her lifestyle. She tries to view the Annex as simply a new locale, rather than a necessity for survival. She can be a flirt and Anne even goes as far to call her frivolous. She clings to her fur coat like one clings to their identify.
• PETER VAN DAAN (16-18) – The Van Daan’s only son. At the beginning he is annoyed with Anne, but later confesses to admiring her spirit. They become good friends during their time in hiding. He is trying to find his place, not only in the annex, but in himself.
• MIEP GIES (30-35) – A kind, Dutch secretary from the office of Otto Frank. She helps hide the Franks, Van Daans, and Mr. Dussel. Miep is their connection to the outside world as she keeps them informed and stocked with food, books, and the occasional treat. She is kind and worried but determined to protect them.
• MR. KRALER (40-45) – Otto Frank’s business partner. He helps to hide the members of the annex. Like Miep, he never questions his obligations to the Franks and to doing what is right. A dignified man, at a loss for the world around him.
• MR. DUSSEL (50-55) – A fussy dentist. He is the only one in the annex without family, having left behind his live-in girlfriend who is Christian. More than anyone in the annex, he puts himself first at every turn.

MACBETH (No roles have been pre-cast – some roles may be doubled)
Performance Dates: January 27-29, February 3-5

Heroic Macbeth has just won two victorious battles for Scotland, when he encounters three weird sisters who tell him this is only the beginning of his path to glory. They foresee that Macbeth will become the Thane of Cawdor, and then, ultimately, the King of all Scotland. At first, the honest and upright Macbeth ignores the predictions, but when he is bestowed with the first of those two titles, he starts to yearn for the second. Drunk on his own success, Macbeth feels invincible, and–with the encouragement of his ambitious wife–he takes the realization of his predicted fate into his own hands. After murdering his friend and sovereign, King Duncan, Macbeth disappears further down the path toward destruction and despair, even as he is tortured by questions of conscience. He has always been a masterful warrior, but applying the rules of war to life at home becomes much more complex. Shakespeare’s Macbeth reveals to us the danger of ambition, crafting a terrifying parable in which great people are destroyed by the power of their own success.

• DUNCAN – The good-natured, honest and trustworthy King of Scotland; he is also politically naive, in part because he trusts Macbeth, who ends up murdering him. Macbeth is his cousin and one of his most trusted generals.
• MACBETH – One of Duncan’s most courageous generals. His driving ambition to become King of Scotland, and the encouragement of his wife corrupt him and cause him to murder Duncan.
• LADY MACBETH – As ambitious as her husband, she taunts Macbeth’s courage to ensure that he will murder Duncan and become king. Her power of language is famous.
• BANQUO – A general in Duncan’s army, he is Macbeth’s closest friend. When Macbeth fears Banquo suspects him of murdering Duncan, he arranges to have Banquo murdered.
• MACDUFF – A Scottish general who strongly suspects Macbeth of murdering Duncan. Macduff swears vengeance.
• MALCOM – Duncan’s elder son, named as their heir to the throne of Scotland; he flees to England after his father’s assassination. DONALBAIN – Duncan’s younger son; he flees to Ireland after his father is murdered.
• LENNOX – One of Duncan’s nobles, he functions largely as an observer in the play. He accompanies Macbeth to the dead king’s chamber and, suspicious of what he sees, he grows increasingly sarcastic and fearful for the fate of Scotland.
• ROSS – A cousin of Macduff, he acts as a messenger in the play, bringing good news of Macbeth’s victory and bad news about Macduff’s family.
• OLD SIWARD – Earl of Northumberland; an English ally of Malcolm and Macduff.
• YOUNG SIWARD – Siward’s son; slain by Macbeth in hand-to-hand combat
• SEYTON – Macbeth’s lieutenant / assistant late in the play
• HECATE – Sometimes referred to as the queen of the witches, she presides over all nocturnal horrors; it is who she directs the supernatural happenings and appearances of the mystical apparitions.
• THE THREE WITCHES – Supernatural agents of fate who prophecy that Macbeth will become the king of Scotland; they also predict his fall.
• PORTER – The keeper of Macbeth’s castle who drunkenly imagines that he’s gatekeeper to Hell.

MOMUS & APHRODITE (No roles have been pre-cast)
Performance Dates: March 24-26, 31, April 1-2

In this new play written by a local playwright, Momus, God of Satire, Blame and Criticism, travels with Aphrodite, Goddess of Love, Passion and Beauty, to Athens, Ohio in search of a man willing to die out of love for her. Hilarity ensues. Does love conquer all? More importantly, can two Greek gods actually find happiness in Athens, Ohio?

• APHRODITE –
• MOMUS –
• HERC –
• BARTENDER –
• JIM –
• SALLY –
• ENSEMBLE (GREEK CHORUS) –

NOTE: Character ages are for reference only. We will focus on the talent of the performers to cast this show.