Auditions Announced for HARVEY at Dayton Playhouse

Mon-Tue, Sept. 19-20 at 7pm

Dayton Playhouse
1301 E Siebenthaler Ave
Dayton, OH 45414

Auditions will consist of cold readings from the script.

Please bring a list of your conflicts – rehearsals will be weeknights from 7-9 PM, the number of days will be determined by which character you are portraying.

Mary Chase’s Pulitzer Prize-winning play is the story of Elwood P. Dowd, a polite and friendly man with a very strange best friend—a six-foot, three-and-one-half-inch invisible rabbit named Harvey.

Anyone of any race should feel welcome to audition for any role, despite how the roles have been portrayed in the past. Any race will be considered for any role.

• Myrtle Mae Simmons (Age 18+) Myrtle is Veta’s Daughter. Both Veta and Myrtle are about the business of finding Myrtle a man to marry – Myrtle is extremely self -centered.
• Veta Louise Simmons (Age 30+) Elwood’s younger sister, Veta has returned to the family home after the death of her mother and is intent on landing a suitable husband for her daughter Myrtle Mae. She is very concerned about fitting into society and all the social proprieties that that involves. She also loves her older brother Elwood very much.
• Elwood P. Dowd (Age 35+) Elwood P. Dowd is the central character of the play, a charming eccentric whose best friend is Harvey. Elwood is well mannered, very friendly, and has “old-school gentleman charm”. Elwood is Veta’s older brother.
• Harvey (age unknown) Harvey is Elwood’s companion. This role has been precast.
• Ethel Chauvenet (Age 40+) Mrs. Chauvenet is an old friend of the family. She is an elite member of the town’s social circle that Veta desperately wants Myrtle to break into. May double as Betty Chumley.
• Ruth Kelly (Age 24-35) Nurse Kelly is a sympathetic character, a woman who has a love/hate relationship with Dr. Sanderson. She is kind and looks for the best in people.
• Wilson (Age 20-35) Wilson is the muscle of Chumley’s Rest, a devoted orderly responsible for handling the patients who will not cooperate voluntarily.
• Dr. Lyman Sanderson (Age 25-35) Dr. Sanderson is a young and highly qualified psychiatrist, handpicked by Dr. Chumley. His talent is only surpassed by his vanity. He is as infatuated with Nurse Kelly, though he struggles not to let on.
• Judge Omar Gaffney (Age 45+) the judge is an old family friend of the Dowd’s and the family’s lawyer. He is fiercely protective of the family and surprisingly understanding of Harvey.
• Dr. William B. Chumley (Age 50+) Dr. Chumley is an esteemed psychiatrist and the head of Chumley’s Rest with years of experience. He is a difficult, exacting man who will go to any length to protect the reputation of his sanitarium.
• Betty Chumley (Age 40+) Dr. Chumley’s kind and talkative wife. May double as Mrs. Chauvenet.
• E. J. Lofgren (Open age/gender) E.J. Lofgren is a cab driver whose monologue about sanitarium passengers is crucial to the climax of the play. This role has a single scene near the very end and would have a limited rehearsal schedule.

Production dates: Nov. 11-20.