THE DREYFUS AFFAIR - NYC EPA
Ensemble for the Romantic Century
AUDITION DATE
Mar 06, 2017
9:30 am - 5:30 pm (EST)
Lunch 1 to 2
CONTRACT
LOA-NYC
$525/week
SEEKING
Equity actors for various roles. NOTE: Several of the roles below will potentially require actors who can sing in an operatic style. Actors may be asked to sing for callbacks.
PREPARATION
Please prepare a character driven monologue that ranges between the time periods of Chekhov and Miller. Bring picture and resume.
LOCATION
Pearl Studios NYC (500)
500 8th Avenue
New York, NY 10018-6504
12th floor
PERSONNEL
General Manager: Aaron Grant
Executive Artistic Director: Eve Wolf
Co- Artistic Director: Max Baros
Director: Donald T. Sanders
Writer: Eve Wolf
Music By: Rameau, Halevy, Franck, Ravel, and Ligeti
Musicologist: James Melo
Casting: Stephanie Klapper Casting
Casting Representatives: Stephanie Klapper, Alexa Magnotto, Ari Rudess
OTHER DATES
1st rehearsal: April 10th, 2017
Opening: April 27th, 2017
Closing: May 7th, 2017
Venue: BAM Fisher Theater
OTHER
EPA Procedures are in effect for this audition.
An Equity monitor will be provided.
Equity’s contracts prohibit discrimination. Equity is committed to diversity and encourages all its employers to engage in a policy of equal employment opportunity designed to promote a positive model of inclusion. As such, Equity encourages performers of all ethnicities, gender identities, and ages, as well as performers with disabilities, to attend every audition.
Always bring your Equity Membership card to auditions.
BREAKDOWN
When the Jewish captain Alfred Dreyfus was accused of treason in 1894 and imprisoned, French society erupted into a fireball of anti-Semitism and political partisanship that called into question the very nature of French identity. This tragic private drama played out in a very public arena; not only the press but also artists, writers, and musicians became entangled in a controversy which lasted almost two decades and continues to resonate to this day.
A poignant script based on Dreyfus’s letters and diaries and other contemporary sources — such as Zola’s article J’Accuse — is interwoven with music of transcendent pathos, including Franck’s Piano Quintet in F minor, Ravel’s Deux mélodies hébraïques, and arias from Halévy’s La Juive, capturing the human and sociopolitical drama of this turbulent period.
The format of the play is made from dialogue, the actual words, correspondence and writings of the characters.
Seeking:
Note: actors of all ethnicities encouraged to attend for all roles
ALFRED DREYFUS
(Male, 34-early 40’s) Attractive, highly intelligent, highly sensitive member of prominent Alsatian Jewish family of 19th century mill owners. A tragic figure who will survive. A career French Army Cavalry officer living in Paris with his wife and two young children. Well educated and representative of the elegance and comme ils faut of 1890's belle epoch France. Ability to sing in an operatic tenor a plus.
LUCIE DREYFUS NÉE HADAMARD
(Female, Late 20’s- early 30’s) Alfred's lovely, strong willed, attractive, and special wife. Very cultured, well-educated and well brought up daughter of generations old Parisian Jewish family of jewelers and diamond merchants. Mother of two children Pierre and Jeanne and steadfast defender of her husband Alfred throughout his ordeal. She and Alfred are very much in love. Operatic sopranos with classical backgrounds a plus.
MATTHIEU DREYFUS
(Male, 38-50) Powerful older brother of Alfred. They are very close and dedicated to each other. Like Alfred, distinguished, sophisticated, highly educated, intense, brilliant, and articulate. An astute businessman and friend to important figures in French political, intellectual and cultural life. Lives in Paris and with other older siblings runs the highly successful business enterprises of the Dreyfus family. He dedicates himself and all his and the family's resources to proving Alfred's innocence and vindication. Ideally could be an operatic tenor if possible.
EMILE ZOLA
(Male, 50’s) Famous and distinguished French novelist of the French 19th century. Passionate, imposing, eloquent, dramatic. Legendary defender of the French Republic liberal democratic qualities of Liberty, Justice and Equality. Author of the famous J'Accuse accusing the French right wing of intentional misbehavior and prejudice in framing and prosecuting Alfred Dreyfus. Ability to sing in an operatic tenor a plus, but not essential.
MAXIMILIEN VON SCHWARTZKOPPEN
(Male, mid 20’s-late 30’s) He is the German Military Attache in Paris. Aristocratic, debonair. Career German military officer, man about town. Singing a plus but not a requirement.
COUNT MARIE CHARLES FERDINAND WALSIN-ESTERHAZY
(Male, mid 40’s) Career French Army officer. He is a sleazy, down at his heals French aristocrat, broke from gambling and womanizing who sells French military secrets to the Germans to support his habits. The real culprit and traitor in the story. Singing a plus but not a requirement.
MADAME BASTIAN
(Female, 40’s-60’s) Cleaning lady. She is an undercover French agent planted in the German Embassy. She also plays various other French Citizens throughout the show. Singing a plus but not a requirement.
COMMANDANT HUBERT-JOSEPH HENRY
(Male, mid 40’s-mid 50’s) Career French Army officer. A member of the Army's Statistical Section and director of its vast subterranean network of undercover agents. Responsible with Paty de Clam for framing Alfred Dreyfus. Right wing conservative monarchist. Singing a plus but not a requirement.
LIEUTENANT-COLONEL MERCER DU PATY DE CLAM
(Male, mid 50’s-60’s) French Army officer, a cohort of Henry in the Statistical Section of Army Intelligence. A disturbing monocle wearing French aristocratic right wing monarchist with extravagant military bearing, fanatical behavior and known for part-time transvestism. With Henry the perpetrator of the Alfred Dreyfus frame up. Singing a plus but not a requirement.
Equity’s contracts prohibit discrimination. Equity is committed to diversity and encourages all its employers to engage in a policy of equal employment opportunity designed to promote a positive model of inclusion. As such, Equity encourages performers of all ethnicities, gender identities, and ages, as well as performers with disabilities, to audition.
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