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Breakdown
SEEKING:
ONE FEMALE PRINCIPAL ROLE FOR:
ANNABEL LEE, ELIZA POE, MUDDY CLEMM, LOUISE GABRIELLA, ET AL:
Female. Soprano with belt, soaring high notes are helpful. To play the following characters, ages Late 20s to early 30s:
Annabel Lee
A 19th century thespian who specializes in tragic and dramatic roles – she is known for her emotional depth, her empathy for the suffering of others, her warmth, and for the clarity and precision of her performances. The Meryl Streep of her age.
Eliza Poe
Believable ingenue, with character depth. Soprano with belt, soaring high notes are helpful. Should have an attractive, shapely figure, a winning smile and a flirtatious wink. It must not be a stretch that anyone who saw her would fall in love with her. Selfish, coy, flirtatious, seductive – a narcissist who feeds off the adulation of her fans. Comes alive when performing but off stage struggles with depression. Longs to be remembered for her talent.
Muddy Clemm
Edgar Allan Poe’s aunt and surrogate mother. Matronly and maternal, she fusses over Edgar. She is neither well-educated nor naturally intelligent, but has a heart of gold – a real “when life give you lemons, make lemonade” kind of gal, she faces the endless misfortunes of life with a smile on her face and skip in her step.
Louise Gabriella
The second wife of Edgar Allan Poe’s step-father, the selfish, screeching, stiletto-strutting step-mother whom we love to hate. She banishes Edgar from her home and replaces him with her own son.
ONE FEMALE SWING
Seeking one female swing who will cover the following roles
[LENORE, ELMIRA ROYSTER, ET AL.]
[MARIE ROGET, FANNY ALLAN, SISSY CLEMM, ROSALIE POE, ET AL.]
1) LENORE, ELMIRA ROYSTER, ET AL.
Female. Low rich alto. To play ages Late 20s to early 30s.
Lenore
A 19th century actress with a flare for the dramatic. There’s a bit of Nora Desmond about her. An old school thespian with a rich, deep voice and big open vowels. She loves the sound of her own voice and enjoys steering the play toward tragic or unfortunate events.
Elmira Royster
Edgar Allan Poe’s childhood sweetheart and soulmate. A “goth” chick who revels in all things dark and macabre. Petite with alabaster skin.
2) MARIE ROGET, FANNY ALLAN, SISSY CLEMM, ROSALIE POE, ET AL.
Female. Soprano. Legit. To play ages Late 20s to early 30s.
Marie Roget
A 19th century character actress, a transformer, known for her impressive range. Small of frame, but larger than life on stage, she’s never subtle, her choices veering toward being “over the top” and running the risk of becoming parodies of themselves.
Fanny Allan
Edgar Allan Poe’s stepmother, she raises Edgar after his mother dies. Tender and loving yet emotionally fragile and psychologically unstable. Though disappointed in her marriage and unfulfilled in her life, she continues to try to be all that is expected of a good little wife and a loving mother. She is a tiny bird, always fluttering around Edgar, but never touching down.
Sissy Clemm
Edgar Allan Poe’s thirteen year old cousin and wife. Sweet and generous to the point of selflessness, a true innocent. Physically and vocally she remains stuck as a little girl, a baby doll for Edgar to play with. And though she loves Edgar with all her heart she is powerless to save him.
Rosalie Poe
Edgar Allan Poe’s youngest sister. Rosalie loves her older brothers with all of her heart but lacks either their talent or their intelligence. She is simple, unattractive, and guileless.
TWO (2) MALE SWINGS
Seeking two male swings who will cover a combination of the following roles:
[A. GORDON PYM, HENRY POE, ENSEMBLE, ET AL]
[RODERICK USHER, RUFUS GRISWOLD, ENSEMBLE, ET AL]
[WILLIAM WILSON, DAVID POE, JOCK ALLAN, ENSEMBLE, ET AL]
[EDGAR ALLAN POE]
1) A. GORDON PYM, HENRY POE, ENSEMBLE, ET AL
Male. Musical Theatre / Pop Tenor. To play Late 20s to early 30s.
A. Gordon Pym
A 19th century actor – the leading man in the ensemble. He’s vain, like any leading man, but not without emotional depth. His looks, in fact, betray him as he only wants to be cast in the more complex character roles or as the villains that he will never get to play. He has a warm, likeable voice and a physical confidence and charm on stage.
Henry Poe
Henry is Edgar Allan Poe’s elder brother – all heart, open, loveable, ever-ready to dive in. He longs for adventure and dreams of a better life. He’s a hopeless optimist, despite having an underlying sense that things probably won’t work out. Everything about him suggests he should be successful – tall, dark and handsome, charming and affable, but he has about him the smell of someone who will not succeed – a certain underlying weakness of character. He adores his younger brother and sister and is very protective of them.
2) RODERICK USHER, RUFUS GRISWOLD, ENSEMBLE, ET AL
Male. Baritenor – rich, soulful, very expressive, cabaret singer – a la Jacques Brel. To play Late 20s to early 30s.
Roderick Usher
A 19th century actor – known for playing complex villains. He is soulful, enigmatic, mysterious, emotionally remote.
Rufus Griswold
A literary editor who is probably in love with Edgar Allan Poe. He is tight and pinched and he envies Poe’s talent as much as he admires it. He is a jealous, controlling and ultimately bitter and vindictive man. He is a gossip who enjoys the company of wealthy, female socialites and they enjoy his. He also enjoys the sense of power he gets from being able to make or break a man’s reputation.
3) WILLIAM WILSON, DAVID POE, JOCK ALLAN, ENSEMBLE, ET AL]
Male. Baritone – mature sound, could have a rougher edge vocally. To play ages Early to mid-30s.
William Wilson
A 19th century actor/manager. The leader as well as the eldest in the ensemble. An authoritative voice and a commanding presence. He has a physical ease, even grace, and a voice like a well-worn shoe – both of which speak to his years on the stage. There is an anger that simmers just beneath the surface of his charming veneer.
David Poe
Edgar Allan Poe’s father, a failed actor and a drunk. Cynical and irresponsible, humiliated in equal parts by his own failure and his wife’s success on stage. He’s a disappointed dreamer, a sloppy, speech-slurring, sad-sack of a man.
Jock Allan
Edgar Allan Poe’s step-father, a self-made businessman who is both demanding and unforgiving. A savvy, smug and self-important Scot who longs for a son whom he can train to become a mini-version of himself. Though he is generally miserly, he is capable of lavish generosity toward Edgar, and he alternates between being downright miserable and deeply sentimental. He is also blind in one eye.
4) EDGAR ALLAN POE
Male. A rock tenor. To play ages Mid-20s to early 30s.
Edgar
The tortured artist with a broken heart and a bottled rage. Ruled by his fears and emotions he has a volatile, explosive personality. He lives in a perpetual state of extremes, always completely lost in the present moment. He is stuck in an adolescent or even childlike state emotionally. Needy and vulnerable he craves love and approval, fame and fortune. He is proud to the point of arrogance yet filled with profound self-doubt and generally fails to live up to his own high expectations of himself. Though his life is full of disappointment, loss and personal tragedy, he has his brother’s capacity for boundless optimism and continues to believe life will miraculously get better, though he does little to change anything. He is young and famous – the rock-star of his age – and if he lived today would be just that – a tortured rock star, plagued by addiction, who died at the h
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