AVA: THE SECRET CONVERSATIONS Equity Principal Actors - Pemberley Productions LLC Auditions

AVA: THE SECRET CONVERSATIONS - Chicago EPA

Pemberley Productions LLC | New York, NY

AUDITION DATE

Monday, June 9, 2025
9:00 AM - 5:00 PM (C)
Lunch 1:00 PM - 2:00 PM

CONTRACT

CAT
$1,122.15 weekly minimum (CAT 6) + 10% agency commission
Off Broadway rates will be used in NYC

SEEKING

Equity actors for roles in AVA: THE SECRET CONVERSATIONS (See breakdown).
All Equity stage managerial positions have been filled.
This production is intended to play in NYC before and Toronto after its Chicago run.

PREPARATION

Please prepare a brief contemporary monologue and bring your headshot and resume stapled together.

LOCATION

Actors' Equity Association - Chicago Member Center
557 W Randolph St
1st Fl
Chicago, IL 60661

PERSONNEL

Producer: Karl Sydow
Produced with the support of: Ava Gardner Trust
General Management: Pemberley Productions LLC
Director: Moritz von Stuelpnagel
Associate Director: Taylor Haven Holt
Playwright: Elizabeth McGovern
Based on the Book by: Peter Evans and Ava Gardner
Casting: Stephanie Klapper Casting

EXPECTED TO ATTEND:

Producer, Pemberley Productions: Doreen Sayegh

OTHER DATES

See breakdown for production dates.

OTHER

https://avagardnerplay.com/

https://www.pemberleyproductions.com/

Venues:
NY Location: New York City Center, Stage 1
Chicago Location: Studebaker Theater
Toronto Location: CAA Theatre

EPA Procedures are in effect for this audition.
An Equity Monitor will be provided.
Notice: Audition Call Type: EPA

EQUITY

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

AVA: THE SECRET CONVERSATIONS

Intended Production Dates:

NY Location: New York City Center, Stage 1
1st Rehearsal in NYC: July 1, 2025
1st Preview in NYC: July 29, 2025
Gala Opening in NYC: August 3, 2025
Press Opening in NYC: August 7, 2025
NYC Closing: September 14, 2025

Chicago Location: Studebaker Theater
First Call in Chicago: September 23, 2025
Opening in Chicago: September 25, 2025
Closing in Chicago: October 12, 2025

Toronto Location: CAA Theatre
First Call in Toronto: November 2nd, 2025
Opening in Toronto: November 5, 2025
Closing in Toronto: November 23, 2025
Possible Toronto Extension: November 25 - November 30, 2025

SYNOPSIS:

Academy Award, Golden Globe and Emmy Award-nominated actor Elizabeth McGovern stars as Hollywood's original femme fatale Ava Gardner in a critically acclaimed new play lauded by Entertainment Weekly as “mesmerizing and electric!” The Golden Age of Cinema’s Ava Gardner sat for a series of real-life interviews with writer Peter Evans in an attempt to glean the juicy details about her life story, her marriages to Mickey Rooney, Artie Shaw, and Frank Sinatra, and her turbulent relationship to Howard Hughes. Initially barred from publication, Evans’ stories of a bygone era were published twenty-five years later with permission from Gardner’s estate and are now reimagined on stage. This production will begin in New York, Off-Broadway, followed by two brief stops in Chicago and Toronto.
**Actors should worry less about strict impersonations and focus instead on bringing the characters' energy forward.

SEEKING:

ED and UNDERSTUDY THE TRACK OF PETER/MICKEY/ARTIE/FRANK

(Man, 30s-40s, White, Latinx, Middle Eastern) ED is a Los Angeles literary agent, doing his best to prevent Peter from becoming his own worst enemy. He genuinely believes this memoir could be a success for all involved. Warm hearted, but fast-paced and aggressive, capable of tough love. He keeps Peter on his toes. American accent. Although he is an Offstage Voice, he is very much a presence. Doubles at every performance he comes on stage at the end as the stagehand.
UNDERSTUDY - PETER EVANS, an ambitious British writer, with a marriage that's lacked excitement in the last few years. He's spent his adult life trying to be dependable but has always felt his career ought to have been more than it is. He genuinely adores the Golden Age of Hollywood and wants to do right by both Ava and his agent, but his own paternalistic bias betrays him. British, intellectual, and haughty. British RP accent.
UNDERSTUDY - MICKEY ROONEY is depicted as he was around age 21, an aggressively buoyant comic star.
ARTIE SHAW has the air of a hard-headed intellectual and band leader.
UNDERSTUDY - FRANK SINATRA is seen in his mid-career slump, when he was for a time persona non grata. He buried his resentment in alcohol and love for Ava.

ALREADY CAST:

AVA GARDNER: Elizabeth McGovern. Around 65, the iconic movie star.
PETER/MICKEY/ARTIE/FRANK: Peter Evans, an ambitious British writer, with a marriage that's lacked excitement in the last few years. He's spent his adult life trying to be dependable, but has always felt his career ought to have been more than it is. He genuinely adores the Golden Age of Hollywood, and wants to do right by both Ava and his agent, but his own paternalistic bias betrays him. British, intellectual, and haughty. British RP accent. Mickey Rooney is depicted as he was around age 21, an aggressively buoyant comic star. Artie Shaw has the air of a hard-headed intellectual and band leader. Frank Sinatra is seen in his mid-career slump, when he was for a time persona non grata. He buried his resentment in alcohol and love for Ava.