Aurora Fox Arts Center 2018-2019 Season - Aurora Appointments
Aurora Fox Arts Center
CONTRACT
SPT Minimum - $255/wk
SEEKING
Actors for all available roles in Aurora Fox's Season 34.
INSTRUCTIONS
Deadline: Mon, May 21, 2018
SUBMIT TO
Aurora Fox Arts Center
Attention: Production Manager
PO Box 9
Aurora, CO 80040
PERSONNEL
Helen R. Murray - Executive Producer
OTHER DATES
See breakdown.
OTHER
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 submit.
BREAKDOWN
SONGS FOR A NEW WORLD
By Jason Robert Brown
Directed by Helen R. Murray
Rehearsals begin August 20
Performances Thursday-Sunday
September 14-October 14, 2018
It's all about one moment. It's about passing the point of no return and having to make a choice, take a stand or accept your decision. These are the uplifting stories and songs for a new world. The first musical from Tony Award winning composer, Jason Robert Brown (“The Last Five Years,” “Parade,” “Bridges of Madison County”), this moving collection of powerful songs takes us from the deck of a 1492 Spanish sailing ship, to a ledge fifty-seven stories above Fifth Avenue, through a fascinating array of characters that, when faced with a life changing moment, can only choose to step boldly into the future.
While staying true to the material and content, this production will explore the themes of inclusivity, diversity, and acceptance beyond what is readily on the page and we are encouraging of non-traditional casting.
Man #1: mid-20s to early 30s; tenor. Youthful, energetic optimist with a strong, powerhouse upper register. Vocal range: D3-C5.
Man #2: early 30s to mid-50’s; baritone. Worldly-wise and immensely charismatic with leading-man charm. Vocal range: F2-Ab4.
Woman #1: mid-20s to mid 30s; contemporary soprano/belt. Youthful in spirit, insightful, with a clear but powerful voice. Vocal range: G3-F5.
Woman #2: mid-30s to mid 50s; belter. Strong character actress with impeccable sense of storytelling and comedic timing; dialects a plus. Vocal range: F3-F5.
SECOND CITY’S, TWIST YOUR DICKENS
By Peter Gwinn and Bobby Mort
Directed by Matthew R. Wilson
Rehearsals begin October 29
Performances Thursday-Sunday
November 23-December 23, 2018
A madcap send-up of the holiday classic, “Twist Your Dickens” finds Scrooge, Tiny Tim and those know-it-all ghosts hopelessly mixed up in zany holiday sketches. This adult comedy is never the same show twice and was deemed by the Chicago Sun-Times as a fresh and bountiful feast of funny. Second City alums and veteran Colbert Report writers Peter Gwinn and Bobby Mort dreamt up this irreverently funny new take on “A Christmas Carol.”
Actors must play multiple characters and have excellent comic timing. Must be able to improvise. Singing ability is helpful. Dialects, ability to play a musical instrument are helpful. Actors of color strongly encouraged to submit.
Scrooge- Male, 18-64
Cratchit and Others- Male, 18-64
Heckler/Christmas Past/Others-Male or Female, 18-64
Marley/George Bailey/Others- Male, 18-64
Christmas Present/Baggins/Santa- Male, 18-64
Smedley/Belle/Tiny Tim/Others- Female, 18-64
Girl Scout/Girl/Mrs. Cratchit/Others- Female, 18-64
HOODED, OR BEING BLACK FOR DUMMIES
By Tearrance Arvelle Chisholm
Directed By Betty Hart
Rehearsals begin December 26
Performances Thursday-Sunday
January 18-February 10, 2019
“Hooded…” is a timely and irreverent examination of two very different 14-year-old black boys growing up in America. Meeting in a holding cell, Marquis, a book smart prep-school kid from suburban Maryland meets Tru, a street savvy Baltimorean. Tru thinks Marquis has lost his “blackness” and pens a manual entitled “Being Black for Dummies” to help him navigate a world of cheerleaders, Black Lives Matter, 2Pac, Nietzsche, Apollo and Dionysus—each vying for Marquis’ future.
Note about casting: While Tru and Marquis are 14 years old, we are looking to cast actors in their early 20’s who could feasibly still play that age. The roles in this play may at times seem cartoonish, but the director is looking for honesty and truth in the portrayal.
Marquis/New Black Kid (14-25, Black, M)- Adopted by a white, upper-class family, Marquis goes to prep school. A lover of Nietzsche. Arrested for Trayvoning.
Tru (14-25, Black, M)- from a black Baltimore family and possessing an extremely developed sense of self-identity for his young age. A lover of 2Pac. Frequently arrested for “bein’ black at the wrong place at the wrong time.” Rap skills a plus.
Officer Borzoi/Apollo (35+, Black, M)- Imposing officer who polices the audience and controls the flow of the evening. Also plays the god Apollo.
Clementine (14, White, F)- Smart, sensitive, and truly well-intentioned, Clementine has an outsider feel. A lover of selfies.
Meadow (14, White, F)- Wants desperately to be an “alpha” in the group, self-absorbed and playing at social maturity, but deep down still has that high school vulnerability.
Debra/Prairie (35+, White, F)- Lawyer, mother to Marquis, protective, dominant, super well-intentioned while making uniformed generalizations. Also plays Prairie, a white prep-schooler.
Hunter (14, White, M)- A passionate and ignorant teen trouble-maker. Attempting to assert the utmost masculinity and coolness, but clearly still a virgin.
Fielder/Dionysus/Headmaster Burns/Concerned Citizen (35+, White, M)- Multiple roles, including a white teen prep schooler, the god Dionysus, and the headmaster of Achievement prep. Flexible playing age, comedic chops, and shapeshifting.
LIFE SUCKS
By Aaron Posner
Directed by Helen R. Murray
Rehearsals begin January 28
Performances Thursday-Sunday
February 22-March 17, 2019
This brash and revelatory reworking of “Uncle Vanya” finds a group of old friends, ex-lovers, estranged in-laws and lifelong enemies gathering to grapple with life’s thorniest questions… and each other. What could possibly go wrong? Called “sassy yet heartfelt” by The Washington Post and “altogether wise, profoundly humane and hilarious” by the Chicago Sun Times, this is not any Chekov you know. Never has unhappiness been so much fun.
From the playwright:
The Acting Style - Aggressively honest. Achingly transparent. Always reaching and striving for the best way to express whatever fucked-up, painful, wonderful thing needs to be expressed at the moment. Heartfelt, but never sentimental; odd (quirky, even), but never cute or clever or cloying; fast and front-footed, but never rushed; full of endless AMAZEMENT and WONDER; and always, always, always tipping toward more love, more hope, more passion and more perseverance.
The Actor/Audience Relationship - The characters are always the characters. They are never the actors. The characters are fully invested in the realities of their world and the web of relationships in which they are so deeply entangled… but they also know they are in a play! They know the audience is right there and that reality never leaves them. They don’t need to acknowledge the audience all the time, but they are always there to be included and engaged if the actor so desires.
Vanya- (Male, 45, Any ethnicity) A ruminator, a kvetch, a smart, sweet, passionate, insightful, wound-tight failure
Sonia- (Female 25-30, Any ethnicity) Kind, caring, quirky. serious self-esteem issues.
Ella- (Female 35-40, Any ethnicity), Searching, frustrated, hopeful, sad. Rampantly desirable
Babs- (Female, 55-65) vibrant, artistic, outspoken, enlightened. a great soul and scrappy wit
The Professor– (Male, 55-65, Any ethnicity), Big mind, big ego, big vocabulary, small-ish soul. Selfish. Well meaning
Dr. Aster– (Male, 50-60, Any ethnicity), Broken, beautiful, dissatisfied, savvy and sad. He cares deeply and oddly
Pickles– (Female, 40-ish, Any ethnicity) An odd, sweet, loyal duck. Very literal. A relentlessly positive utopian lesbian
CAROLINE, OR CHANGE
By Tony Kushner and Jeanine Tesori
Directed by Kenny Moten
Rehearsals begin March 11
Thursday-Sunday
April 5-May 5, 2018
Set in the heat of the Civil Rights Movement, the Tony-nominated “Caroline, Or Change” follows a black maid working for a middle-class Jewish family in Louisiana. When a small amount of money goes missing, buried tensions threaten to rip two families—and the struggling Caroline—apart. Loosely based on Kushner’s provocative and personal story, Caroline features a virtuosic score that blends blues, gospel, and traditional Jewish melodies into a magical, show-stopping musical masterpiece.
This is a sung through musical that, while rooted in history, plays with magical and surrealistic theatrical devices. These characters are full-blooded people who are all feeling completely justified in their actions. Actors are encouraged to commit to strong storytelling in their singing. This is not a musical to be performed AT and audience, but rather a tale to be SHARED with them.
Caroline Thibodeaux – (Female, 35 to 55, Black) Vocal Range: E3 - E5. Works as a maid to the Gellman family. She is a divorcee with four children and resistant to change in the world. Bitter, tired, devoted.
Rose Stopnick Gellman – (Female, 35-45, White) Vocal Range: G3 - E5. Jewish. An old friend of the Gellman's and Stuart's new wife. She has recently moved to the South.
Dotty Moffett/The Radio 1 ( Female, 30-40, Black) Vocal Range: F3 - D5. Caroline's high-spirited friend and fellow maid. She is going back to college and living in a new age; she is routinely admonished by Caroline for her behavior. The Radio (played by 3 women) is part narrator, part friend, and part subconscious to Caroline and her story.
Emmie Thibodeaux (Female 15-20, Black) Vocal Range: F3 - F5. Caroline's only daughter and the second of four children. Observant, rebellious, outspoken.
Washing Machine/The Moon (Female, Age 20-45, Black)- Vocal Range: G3 - E5. Part narrator, part friend, and part subconscious to Caroline and her story.
The Radio 2 & 3 (Female, Age 20-45, Black)- Vocal Range - G3 - F5
Grandma Gellman (Female, 50-70, White) Vocal Range: G3 - E5. Stuart’s mother and Noah's grandmother. She is concerned for her son's melancholy and an admirer of his new wife..
The Dryer/The Bus – (Male, 20-50, Black Vocal Range: E3 - C6
Part narrator, part friend, and part subconscious to Caroline and her story.
Stuart Gellman – (Male, 30-40, White) Vocal Range: B3 - G5. Jewish. Noah’s father and Rose's new husband. He is also Caroline's employer. He has trouble connecting to his son and new wife.
Grandpa Gellman - (Male, 50-70, White) Vocal Range: G3 - E5. Jewish. Stuart’s father and Noah's grandfather. He is aloof to the changes occurring in the South.
Mr. Stopnick – (Male, 60-75 Vocal Range: F3 - E5. Jewish. Rose’s father from New York City. A politically progressive man with dissenting opinions.
Noah Gellman (Male, 7-11, White) Vocal Range: G3 - E5. Jewish. The son of Caroline's employer, Stuart Gellman. Shy, forgetful, and looks to Caroline for comfort and distraction. Could be played by a boy or a girl.
Jackie Thibodeaux (Male, 9-12, Black) Vocal Range: A3 - D5. Caroline's son. Though he is older than Joe, he is more sweet and naïve. Could be played as a girl or boy.
Joe Thibodeaux (Male, 7-10, Black) Vocal Range: B3 - D5. Caroline's son. Though he is the baby of the family, he is outspoken and skeptical. Could be played as a girl or boy.
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 submit.
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