Tag Archives: Dayton Playhouse

Our next auditions are for CAROUSEL, directed by Brian Sharp. The Director’s audition notes are as follows:

This iconic American classic features some of the most powerful music ever written for the stage, including “If I Loved You”, “Mister Snow”, “June is Bustin’ Out All Over” and the iconic “You’ll Never Walk Alone.” Carousel was Rodgers and Hammerstein’s second collaboration, and was adapted from Ferenc Molnar’s 1909 play Lilliom. They transferred the Budapest setting of Lilliom to the New England coastline, where Carousel takes place. The story tells of charming, roguish carnival barker, Billy Bigelow, and mill worker Julie Jordan, both loners, who meet and fall in love. Their marriage ends up costing both their jobs, and things go downhill from there. Billy’s desperation makes him violent against those he loves most, and drives him to commit crimes in order to provide for his family. When Billy falls in with con-man Jigger Craigin, he ends up getting caught in the midst of an armed robbery and takes his own life. Billy is allowed to return to earth for one day fifteen years later, and he encounters the daughter he never knew. Louise is a lonely, friendless teenager, her father’s reputation having haunted her throughout her young life. How Billy instills in both the child and her mother a sense of hope and dignity is a dramatic testimony to love’s transcendence. The Director is setting this show in the 1930s.

Director – Brian Sharp
Assistant Director – Shawn Hooks
Music Director – Ron Kindell
Choreographer – Paige Hanshaw
Scenic Designer – Chris Newman

Auditions will be held Monday and Tuesday July 20 and 21, 2015 at 7pm at The Dayton Playhouse.

The Director has asked that you come prepared with a song showing your vocal range. You will need to be prepared to sing approximately 32 bars. There will be cold readings from the script.

Please come dressed for a dance audition (in group setting). Be prepared to list ALL conflicts between July 22 and September 11. There WILL BE rehearsals on Labor Day weekend.

Performance dates are Sept. 11-27

Character breakdown and vocal ranges are available here.:

Our next Auditions will be for FutureFest 2015.  These will occur on June 1 & 2, 2015 at 7:00 pm.  Callbacks, if needed, will be on June 3, 2015 at 7:00 pm.

Auditions on Monday, June 1, 2015 will be for the three FULLY STAGED plays:
Hail the Conquering Hero
The Consul, the Tramp, and America’s Sweetheart
Smoke

Auditions on Tuesday, June 2, 2015 will be for two STAGED READING plays:
Book of Hours
Return to Goodnight

Anyone interested in being considered for the role in Blue Over You should contact the director, Saul Caplan, directly at saulcap@woh.rr.com.

FutureFest 2015 Finalist Plays
Cast Breakdown: 13 male, 8 female,
1 androgynous figure, 1 sexually ambiguous

Hail the Conquering Hero – by Rich Amada
Directed by Fran Pesch

CAST OF CHARACTERS
3M, 3F, (2 voices)

• TOM AZURIC: Middle-aged man; an on-air radio personality with a dry wit.
• GINNY AZURIC: Middle-aged woman; an independent businesswoman with a sharp wit of her own.
• KIMBERLY AZURIC: College-aged daughter of Tom and Ginny; very much a “chip of the old block” as regards her father.
• MARILYN FROLING: Middle-aged younger sister of Tom; boisterous and quick to speak her mind.
• WALLY FROLING: Middle-aged husband of Marilyn; good natured and easy going.
• BUD PEEL: Man in his late 30s; corporate jungle fighter type who only pays attention to people when he is interested, which he often is not.
• MOM*: Older woman and mother of Tom; appears only in shadows as an image from the past. (* Written with the intention that the role could be played by the actor playing Marilyn.)
• SYLVIA SANCHEZ**: Hispanic city councilwoman; voice heard only. (** Written with the intention that the role could be played by the actor playing Kimberly.)

SYNOPSIS
Tom Azuric is a radio humorist who has toiled for years in various stations around the country until he has finally made it to the biggest U.S. radio market of them all – New York City. However, judging from his demeanor, his family can sense that something is terribly wrong. Despite his professional success, Tom, it seems, has failed to fulfill a promise to his deceased mother, leaving him feeling terribly inadequate. That feeling, coupled with the pressure his boss is putting on him to engage in some sleazy politics, is pushing Tom to the breaking point.

Book of Hours – by Thomas Klocke
Directed by Brennan Paulin

CAST OF CHARACTERS
4M, 1 androgynous, 1 sexually ambiguous

• ZAK (Isaac): Hustler, young and beautiful, male. Tattooed with a back panel and rope tattoos around his arms. A dragon winds its way up his leg. His chest has no tattoos. One nipple is pierced and he wears a little ring in it.
• FUGITIVE GREEN: Hustler, young and beautiful, male, and a poet. (The term ‘fugitive green’ is applied to the green color in medieval tapestries which fades over time, faster than the other colors. This makes many tapestries take on a blue tone.)
• ILLUMINATOR: An artisan, a 14th century manuscript illuminator, male.
• ANGEL: An androgynous figure and International Style’s spy. Often sits, incorporated into the elaborate manuscript table, back to the tilted table top which holds the pages. The sides of the table have carved wings on them. When Angel sits, the wings appear to be attached to the angel’s back.
• INTERNATIONAL STYLE: An investigator for the aristocracy. An overseer of artisans and monitor of the legality of activities by the underclasses. Sexually ambiguous.
• IZZIE (Ishmael): A public defender lawyer and Zak’s half brother.

SYNOPSIS
Margins, decorative marginalia, marginalized people.  Every connotation of the word is broached when one 14th century Manuscript Illuminator stands his ground for artistic integrity against the heavy handed censorship of the Church which commissioned the handmade BOOK OF HOURS devotional.  To tell the story, the play crosses centuries and oceans, from the Biblical times of Abraham and his sons to contemporary gay street hustlers just trying to survive in the margins of an uncaring city.

Return to Goodnight – by Jared Robert Strange
Directed by Debra Kent

CAST OF CHARACTERS
1M, 1F

• IRENE DECKARD: mid-50s, an executive at DigiCom, a telecommunications company in Los Angeles.
• CASPER KELLY: late-50s, a writer and poet living in Austin, Texas. He and Irene were married until Casper came out of the closet.

SYNOPSIS
Irene Deckard has lost her father, but she may also lose her mind fulfilling his final wishes, which involve bringing his remains from Montana all the way down to Goodnight, Texas, and in the company of her gay ex-husband Casper, no less. It’s all part of a promise they made to her father a long time ago, a promise that will bring them together for the first time in thirty years to face old demons, discover new truths, and maybe – just maybe – rekindle their long-dead friendship.

The Consul, the Tramp, and America’s Sweetheart – by John Morogiello
Directed by Jim Lockwood

CHARACTERS
2M, 2F

• MISS HOLLOMBE: early twenties, Personal Secretary to Mary Pickford.
• GEORG GYSSLING: 46, the Nazi Consul to the American Film Industry. German accent.
• MARY PICKFORD: 47, retired silent film actress known as “America’s Sweetheart.” Currently the co-founder and chief executive of United Artists. Originally from Toronto.
• CHARLES CHAPLIN: 50, silent film comedian and director, the most famous man in the world. British.

SYNOPSIS
On the eve of World War II, Georg Gyssling, the nazi consul to Hollywood, confronts Mary Pickford, the silent film star and co-founder of United Artists, to stop production on Charlie Chaplin’s controversial first talkie, The Great Dictator. Gyssling succeeds until war is declared and the movie is needed to buck up the allies.

Blue Over You – by Dan Noonan
Directed by Saul Caplan

CAST OF CHARACTERS
1M

• FRANCIS: He is a fiftyish high school drama teacher.

SYNOPSIS
Where’s Mitzi? What happened to Mitzi?! Francis, an enchanting high school drama teacher, comes home to discover that his wife, Mitzi, is missing. Did she leave because of his infantile behavior, has she run off with the hunky maintenance man, or is something much darker at work here? Join this song-and-dance man as he tries to find Mitzi and woo her back.

Smoke – by Gloria Bond Clunie
Directed by Geoff Burkman

CHARACTERS
2M, 2F

• ORA RAKESTRAW: late thirties, smart, pretty in a solid way
• WALLACE JOHNSON: early forties; strong, smart, charismatic, mysterious
• “MAMA” LIZ SOMMERVILLE: mid-seventies, wise
• SHERIFF ORVILLE HAYES: early sixties

SYNOPSIS
In the drama SMOKE, country store owner Ora Rakestraw wants no parts of the mysterious Wallace Johnson when he descends upon her tiny southern town to organize tobacco workers.  It’s the 1960’s— and though Kennedy orders the Surgeon General to investigate smoking— tobacco is king in Carolina.   The Marlboro Man, Lucky Strikes, and Camels are Kool because they put food on the table for her customers.  As promises are made and secrets revealed, love collides with small town politics in one hot, tumultuous summer!