Non-Equity OPEN-CALL AUDITIONS for ROCK SINGERS for MADAME INFAMY
New York Musical Theatre Festival
Director: Carlos Armestro
Music and Lyrics: Cardozie Jones & Sean Willis
Choreographed by: Elisabetta Spuria
Monday June 16, 2014
10AM - 5PM: Male and Female Rock Singers
AT: Pearl Studios, 500 Eighth Avenue, 4th Fl
Please prepare a Rock song (no more than 32 bars in length). (Please have a second song prepared, as well, in case you are asked for it). Bring sheet music; accompanist will be provided. Please bring picture & resume, stapled together. Some may be given Sides to Read.
This NYMF production will begin rehearsals June 23, 2014 in NYC and performances will run from July 23 thru July 27. Salary: $100/wk for Non-AEA Actors.
SEEKING THE FOLLOWING ROLES:
MARIE ANTOINETTE: (Female, Caucasian, May be Mid 20’s – Late 30’s to play a 20 year span of time) A Classically Beautiful Woman; Has an Obvious Sense of ELEGANCE; A sense of trying to be more than she is allowed to be, in her station in life and the time she is living; She is thrown into a World for which she is unprepared – made to rule as a Queen when she is too young to know what to do; Not oblivious; Not insensitive to the needs of her people; She is someone trying to find her own way & grasps it too late; Must be a Great Singer -- Mezzo-soprano belt/mix, able to sing a combination of Pop Rock/R&B/Jazz style well enough to carry a lead role with several solos.
SALLY HEMINGS: (Female, African-American, May be Early 20’s – Mid 30’s to play a 20 year span of time) Similar to MARIE (above), but more Earthy and Grounded; Has a Sexy Quality –Though a Slave at Monticello, she becomes the Mistress to THOMAS JEFFERSON after his Wife dies; Her Innocence is belied by Power; Not Elegant but knows how to Create Elegance; A Slave in Virginia, she proves able to hold her own in Paris Society; Must be a Great Singer -- Mezzo-soprano belt/mix, able to sing a combination of Pop Rock/R&B/Jazz style well enough to carry a lead role with several solos.
MADAME TUSSAUD: (Female, Caucasian, May be Mid 20’s – Late 30’s to play a 20 year span of time) An Insurgent Spirit; Very Much her own Woman; Has Maturity and a BAWDINESS to her; She propels herself forward as a Liberated and Independent Woman to be what Women are not in this time period; Think if CHRISTINA HENDRICKS from MAD MEN lived in the 19th Century... TUSSAUD is the famous Artist who makes Wax Figures of the Celebrities of her day, and her name lives on, even to this day, around the World; Must be a Great Singer -- Mezzo-soprano belt/mix, able to sing a combination of Pop Rock/R&B/Jazz style well enough to carry a lead role with several solos.
THOMAS JEFFERSON: (Male, Caucasian, May be Late 20’s – Mid 30’s to play a 20 year span of time) Attractive & Sexy; A Strikingly Handsome Guy; Might even be a Hunk; But he is a Politician first; In Severe Conflict with himself on the Issue of Slavery; Has Great Sincerity, and the Projection of a StatesMan; A Confident Man, Torn between his Love of SALLY and his devotion to his Daughter and Family; Capable of being a Different Man with Different People – for example, with SALLY, he is a Romantic and a Lover, but with his daughter MARTHA, he is more Paternal; plays by the Rules & succumbs to the Societal Rules of Virginia in that Time Period... Must be a Great Singer -- Bari-tenor, able to sing a combination of Pop Rock/R&B/Jazz style well enough to carry a lead role with several solos.
JAMES HEMINGS: (Male, African-American, May be Late 20’s – Mid 30’s to play a 20 year span of time) SALLY’s Brother; A Dreamer and a Free Spirit; A Hard Working Slave at JEFFERSON’s Monticello in Virginia, and also an Excellent Chef, he develops into a very elegant and somewhat sophisticated individual during their time in Paris, but then has to adjust back to being a Slave when they return to Monticello, which of course, he finds impossible and which leads to his suicide; Highly Idealistic; Really Believes in a Future Better than what he has; Very Persuasive; He Loves his sister, SALLY, but they are at odds, regarding the subject of Liberation; Must be a Great Singer – Tenor, able to sing a combination of Pop Rock/R&B/Jazz style well enough to carry a lead role with several solos.
COMTESSE: (Female, May be Asian, Latina, Middle Eastern, or Any Ethnicity EXCEPT African-American, May be Mid-30’s – Early 40’s to play a 20 year span of time) MARIE’s Head Lady-In-Waiting; Devoted to her Queen, she teaches MARIE the ways of France and helps her to lose her Austrian Ways – she even teaches her ways to have sex with LOUIS and to Create an Heir; Though Severe and Prim & Proper, she will talk about Sex when it is her duty -- although even this happens in a prim and proper, if frank, way; Her Extreme Elegance sometimes gets in the way of her Humanity; Actress also plays: MARIE THERESE: An Uber-Force; Empress of Austria-Hungary; The Mother of MARIE ANTOINETTE who was the Youngest of her 16 Children; She runs the Empire even more than her husband; Has a Sense of Stateliness; Actress may play other French Nobility Figures as Well; Must be a Great Singer – Alto/Mezzo, able to sing a combination of Pop Rock/R&B/Jazz style.
LOUIS XVI: (Male, Plays Caucasian, May be Mid 20’s – Late 30’s to play a 20 year span of time) A Little Nebbishy Guy; May be Small to Medium Height, but in any case, no taller than MARIE; The Dauphin, and soon the King, and in both cases, he has to take on the airs necessary to Live the Station he is supposed to have in Life, but he doesn’t know how (this includes his sexual obligations to impregnate his wife and give France an Heir); He manages to deliver, but it always seems forced; Uncomfortable in his own skin; Feels out of place; Must be a Great Singer – Tenor, able to sing a combination of Pop Rock/R&B/Jazz style.
MERCY: (Male, May be Asian, Latino, Middle Eastern, or Any Ethnicity EXCEPT African-American, May be Late 20’s – Late 30’s to play a 20 year span of time) Fabulous; Flamboyant; Delicious; Ambassador and Advisor to KING LOUIS XVI and QUEEN MARIE ANTOINETTE; A Very Sexual Being and Knows a Lot about Sex, which he is only too willing to share; Loves to Give Advice; Can be catty at times; Must be a Great Singer – Tenor, able to sing a combination of Pop Rock/R&B/Jazz style.
BETTY HEMINGS: (Female, African-American, May be Mid 30’s – Early 40’s to play a 20 year span of time) SALLY’s Mother; The Matriarch of her family; A Mother Figure, living and raising her children in American Slavery; Very Idealistic and Faithful, her family has a Lot of Intelligence that has never been given an Opportunity to be explored; She herself is not strong enough to stand up to Power, but she has raised Children who can; Must be a Great Singer – Alto, able to sing a combination of Pop Rock/R&B/Jazz style.
CRITTA HEMINGS: (Female, African-American, May be Mid 20’s – Early 30’s to play a 20 year span of time) SALLY’s Older Sister; Sweet; Innocent; More Innocent than SALLY, She is the One who Eggs SALLY on to go to France; The Encourager; Ultimately does receive her Freedom, but tragically, it is at the Expense of her Family; Alto, Must be able to sing a combination of Pop Rock/R&B/Jazz style.
MARTHA JEFFERSON: (Female, Plays Caucasian, May be Mid 20’s – Early 30’s to play a 20 year span of time) A Most Severe Woman; Intelligent, Practical, and Not afraid to speak Bluntly; The Daughter of THOMAS JEFFERSON, Her Relationship with her Father is Loving, but they are Always at Odds regarding the Estate, the Slaves, and all Matters of Monticello; Has an Element of Jealousy, and some Meanness; When her Mother dies, MARTHA finds that SALLY has moved into the role that by right would be hers; There is Humanity about her, but any conflicted feelings about her behavior are overridden as the circumstances of her World overtake her; She starts out as someone who is Never Petty, but she becomes someone who is; Alto or Mezzo (doesn't have a song, so she's an ensemble singer), Must be able to sing a combination of Pop Rock/R&B/Jazz style.
CHARLOTTE & Others: (Female, May be Asian, Latina, Middle Eastern, or Any Ethnicity EXCEPT African-American, May be Mid-20’s – Late 30’s to play a 20 year span of time) A NobleWoman of France; MATRONLY; GOOD-HEARTED; She knows the ways of the Court and Follows them without Question; Alto, Must be able to sing a combination of Pop Rock/R&B/Jazz style.
MALE ENSEMBLE #1: (Male; African-American) One Actor who plays 5 to 6 Roles in the setting of France and Also the Setting of Virginia; Must be able to Dance, as well as sing a combination of Pop Rock/R&B/Jazz style.
MALE ENSEMBLE #2: (Male; May be Asian, Latino, Middle Eastern, or Any Ethnicity EXCEPT African-American) One Actor who plays multiple Roles in the setting of France and Also the Setting of Virginia; Must be able to Dance, as well as sing a combination of Pop Rock/R&B/Jazz style.
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