Tag Archives: Fairfield Footlighters

NIGHT WATCH
Directed by Kevin Noll
Monday and Tuesday, Sept 28 & 29 at 6:30
Auditions will be held in the Classroom on the 2nd floor of the Arts Center

AUDITION REQUIREMENTS:

•   Cold readings from the script.
•   Bring your calendar to auditions and be prepared to list all conflicts.
•   All roles are available. Color-blind casting, although Helga the cook is German.

IMPORTANT DATES:

• Performances:
  November 13-14 & 20-21 at 8PM, November 15 & 22 at 2PM

About the Play
Unable to sleep, Elaine Wheeler paces the living room of her Manhattan townhouse, troubled by unsettling memories and vague fears. Her husband tries to comfort her, but when he steps away for a moment Elaine screams as she sees (or believes she sees) the body of a dead man in the window across the way. The police are called, but find nothing except an empty chair. Elaine’s terror grows as shortly thereafter, she sees still another body—this time a woman’s—but by now the police are skeptical and pay no heed to her frantic pleas. Her husband, claiming that Elaine may be on the verge of a breakdown, calls in a lady psychiatrist, who agrees with his suggestion that Elaine should commit herself to a sanitarium for treatment. From this point on, the plot moves quickly and grippingly as those involved—Elaine’s old friend and house guest Blanche; the inquisitive and rather sinister man who lives next door; and the nosy German maid Helga—all contribute to the deepening suspense and mystery of the play as it draws towards its riveting and chilling climax.

Role Breakdowns

•  John Wheeler – (30s)  Elaine’s husband, a Wall Street trader and real estate investor, very well off.
•  Elaine Wheeler – (30s) Attractive, an avid art collector. Suffering from insomnia. Recently recovered from a nervous breakdown.
•  Helga – (30s – 50s) Wheeler’s German cook. Fond of Elaine, tolerates John. (Note: A German accent needed for performance)
•  Officer Vanelli – (20s) A young beat-cop who used to work as a guard at an art museum. A little cocky.
•  Curtis Appleby – (40s-60s) The Wheelers’ neighbor. Eccentric to flamboyant busybody, publishes a neighborhood paper.
•  Blanche Cooke – (30s) Elaine’s best friend, living with the Wheelers.
•  Lieutenant Walker – (40s-60s) A no-nonsense homicide detective. Has pretty much seen it all, and more than he would like.
•  Dr. Tracy Lake – (40s-50s)  A psychiatrist brought in to treat Elaine. Matter-of-fact, but sympathetic to her patients.
•  Sam Hoke (40s-60s) Owner of a delicatessen near the Wheelers residence. Gruff, a bit shabby in appearance. (Note: only appears at the end of Act I)

Note: Color-blind casting

BUS STOP

Directed by Bekka Eaton Reardon

Monday and Tuesday, August 3 & 4 at 6:30
Auditions will be held in the Classroom on the 2nd floor of the Arts Center

AUDITION REQUIREMENTS:

• Cold readings from the script.
• Bring your calendar to auditions and be prepared to list all conflicts.
• All roles are available. Color-blind casting.

IMPORTANT DATES:

• Performances:
  September 25-26 & October 2-3 at 8PM, September 27 & October 4 at 2PM

About the Play
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 and a seedy fur-trimmed jacket, is the passenger with most to worry about. She’s been pursued, made love to and finally kidnapped by a twenty-one-year-old cowboy with a ranch of his own and the romantic methods of an unusually headstrong bull. The belligerent cowhand is right behind her, ready to sling her over his shoulder and carry her, alive and kicking, all the way to Montana. Even as she’s ducking out from under his clumsy but confident embraces, and screeching at him fiercely to shut him up, she pauses to furrow her forehead and muse, “Somehow deep inside of me I got a funny feeling I’m gonna end up in Montana …” 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 cafe also gets her first taste of romance.

Role Breakdowns

• Elma Duckworth — high school-er, waitress, guileless and open, trusting, good worker, sweet
• Grace Hoylard — (30s-60s, dependent upon male opposite casting of Carl) diner owner, seasoned, worldly-wise won’t truck with much nonsense
• Will Masters — (30s-50s) the sheriff, large, capable, a good man and a good sheriff
• Cherie — (20s) a chanteuse, innocent at heart, but has seen a bit much of the world for her age, speaks her mind, not educated, but not unintelligent, from the Ozarks
• Dr. Gerald Lyman — (40s-50s) a former college professor, drinker, bit of a letch, life has beaten him down quite a bit
• Carl — (30s-60s, dependent upon female opposite casting of Grace) bus driver, friendly, hefty, loud and hearty, loves his independence
• Virgil Blessing — (40s-50s) Bo’s surrogate parent, guitar player, kind, quiet, a ranch hand-cowboy
• Bo Decker — (20s) big-hearted, enthusiastic – like a puppy not grown into his legs yet, self-confident to a fault, totally inexperienced in the ways of the world, he’s rarely been off of the ranch he was raised on, rancher, cowboy

Note: Color-blind casting