BUNTY BERMAN PRESENTS Equity Principal Auditions - The New Group Auditions

BUNTY BERMAN PRESENTS – Equity Principal Auditions

The New Group (NYC) ANTC; $501/week minimum

Associate Artistic Director: Ian Morgan

Artistic Associate: Matthew Klein

Book and Lyrics: Ayub Khan Din

Music: Ayub Khan Din and Paul Bogaev

Director: Scott Elliott

Choreographer: Josh Prince

Casting: Judy Henderson

First rehearsal, February 24, 2013, First preview, April 10, 2013, Closing June 1, 2013

Seeking:

Bunty Berman

Male. 50. Needs to be able to play South Asian but open to all ethnicities. Mr. Show Business! A Bollywood producer/director who’s charming, resilient, resourceful, and going broke after a series of flops for his studios. He’s loyal to the point it ensures his dream’s survival. A self-made man who came from the humblest beginnings, and built this studio with his best friend and the leading man of his greatest films, Raj Dahwan. Boss to Nizwar and Dolly. Must sing.

Raj Dahwan

Male. 49. Needs to be able to play South Asian but open to all ethnicities. Made his way to Bombay to be part of a new business set to boom: cinema! He was convinced by Bunty Berman he had what it took to be a star and went on to be the greatest Hero in Indian film. However, fat, over the hill and over the top, Raj is now a laughing stock facing forced exile but this Hero doesn’t want to go quietly into the night…even if he should. Must sing.

Nizwar

Male. 38. Needs to be able to play South Asian but open to all ethnicities. Bunty’s right hand man and frequent collaborator, a screen writer with a Communist streak in him a mile long. He’s generally a voice of reason for Bunty but an admitted coward with big ideal but questions whether he has the guts to realize them. A loyal and devoted employee. Must sing.

Saleem.

Male. 21. Needs to be able to play South Asian but open to all ethnicities. A spot boy, a general dogsbody/servant, usually attached to the stars of the movies. An orphan from the streets who believes he can one day become a star. Earnest, a romantic, and filled with integrity, but empty of the belief in himself to reach for his dreams. Until he comes under the mentorship of Raj and gets to show Shambervi there’s more to him than just tea. Must sing.

Shambervi

Female. 20. Needs to be able to play South Asian but open to all ethnicities. Smart, ambitious, and knows how the system works: a Heroine only has a small window of opportunity to make her mark and ensure a career for herself. She’s got all the talent in the world but is being dragged down by Raj’s decay. She’s not looking for love but is thunderstruck by the handsome Saleem when he consoles her over the studio’s woes. Her own woman in a time when it wasn’t so popular or accepted to be one. Must sing.

Dolly

Female. 38. Needs to be able to play South Asian but open to all ethnicities. Bunty’s long suffering secretary who has a deep affection for her boss. Dolly handles the day to day operations of the studio and puts more sweat into making it run smoothly than anybody. She’s level-headed, strong willed, the voice of reason with more of a spine than Nizwar but is no less loyal to Bunty. Must sing.

Shankar Dass

Male. 55. Needs to be able to play South Asian but open to all ethnicities. One of Bombay’s most successful gangsters. He came up the hard way, crawling and murdering his way to the top. A hard man who has recently become obsessed with a torch song singer, the enigmatic Sandra de Souza, who he hired to be his own night club’s headliner in hopes of winning her but finds his attempts always spurned. The rebuffs to a man who is used to getting everything his own way is driving madder by the day. Fueling his rage is the suspicion his son, Chandra, is having an affair with her.

Chandra Dass/Sandra de Souza

Male. 29. Needs to be able to play South Asian but open to all ethnicities. Grew up hating his father because of the way Shankar treated Chandra’s mother. And Chandra’s got the cunning and the drive to take his dad’s top spot. But more than just that, he has plans to become the biggest star in India under his persona, the stage siren Sandra de Souza! He intends to make his father’s lust for Sandra a weapon and the platform of Bunty Berman’s studio as the perfect launching pad to achieve his dreams as Sandra. Must sing.

Mohan Batt

Male. 30s-40s. Needs to be able to play South Asian but open to all ethnicities. One of Shankar’s henchmen. Loyal to his boss as long as he doesn’t have a better offer on the table. Brother of Mitlal.

Motilal Batt

Male. 30s-40s. Needs to be able to play South Asian but open to all ethnicities. One of Shankar’s henchmen. Loyal to his boss as long as he doesn’t have a better offer on the table. Brother of Mohan.