EINSTEIN'S DREAMS - NYC EPA
Prospect Theater Company
AUDITION DATES
Thu, Apr 11, 2019
9:30 am - 5:30 pm (EDT)
Lunch 1 to 2
Tue, Apr 16, 2019
9:30 am - 5:30 pm (EDT)
Lunch 1 to 2
Thu, Apr 18, 2019
9:30 am - 5:30 pm (EDT)
Lunch 1 to 2
CONTRACT
Off Broadway Tier 3; $662/week min
SEEKING
Equity actor/singers for various roles. See breakdown.
Also seeking an Equity Stage Manager and Assistant Stage Manager. See separate notice on Casting Call for info.
PREPARATION
Actors should come prepared to sing a brief selection from the legit musical theater repertoire. Bring picture and resume.
LOCATION
Actors' Equity New York Audition Center
165 W 46th St
16th Fl
New York, NY 10036
PERSONNEL
Bookwriter / Lyricist: Joanne Sydney Lessner
Composer / Lyricist: Joshua Rosenblum
Director: Cara Reichel
Casting Associate: Matt Hehnly
Managing Director / Producer Contact: Melissa Huber
Present at EPA Audition: Cara Reichel, Matt Hehnly & Peter Mills. Authors may attend.
OTHER DATES
Rehearsals will begin October 7, 2019. Location TBD in a midtown Manhattan Studio. Performances will take place Nov. 5 – Dec. 15, 2019 at 59E59 Theaters (Theatre A, 59 East 59th Street, NYC.)
OTHER
EPA Procedures are in effect for 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
Project Overview / Synopsis:
Prospect Theater Company seeks actors to participate in the NYC premiere production of Einstein’s Dreams, with book and lyrics by Joanne Sydney Lessner and music and lyrics by Joshua Rosenblum, adapted from the novel by Alan Lightman. An emotional and intellectual coming of age story for one of the 20th Century's greatest thinkers, the show explores the concepts behind the Theory of Relativity, making these ideas accessible, humanizing science.
The play is primarily set during 1905, at the Swiss patent office. Trapped in a job beneath his capabilities, and struggling to make ends meet to support his wife and child, the young Einstein escapes into his dreams. Einstein confides to his friend Besso that he keeps dreaming about a mysterious woman, Josette – and that in each dream, time seems to work in a different way: ending altogether, or splitting into three potential futures... As he pursues the true nature of time, dreams become more vital than real life. Eventually, Einstein realizes that Josette is the embodiment of Time itself, and pens his famous Theory of Relativity.
SEEKING:
A diverse ensemble of actor-singers with strong musicianship, who move well, to play:
ALBERT EINSTEIN – High Baritone, low G to high F (optional G#). Late 20s/early 30s. The genius in his youth, more at home in his head than in the world. Intensely focused, capable of flights of romantic imagination, idealistic and impassioned in the throes of scientific discovery. Trapped in a job beneath his capabilities, and struggling to make ends meet to support his wife and child, his dreams are a welcome escape. His marriage has grown strained, and this is partly why he is so entranced with the woman who haunts his dreams.
JOSETTE – Soprano with Belt, low A to high G, (optional Bb). Late 20s-late 30s. A mysterious, beguiling woman who appears to Einstein in his dreams over consecutive nights, guiding him in his exploration of the nature of time. She holds the key to his research, but because she is elusive and mercurial, it takes him awhile to fully understand who she is: Time personified.
MICHELE BESSO – Baritone, low G to high Eb. Late 20s/early 30s. Einstein’s closest friend and confidante. A talented physicist in his own right, Besso understands the importance of balancing intellectual pursuits with human relationships, and grounds Einstein in reality. He is quick to deflect with a joke, but his wry sense of humor is a mask for his deeper feelings.
PETER KLAUSEN – Baritone, C to high F. 40s/50s. Einstein’s boss in the patent office. Formal, officious, and emotionally detached, he has no patience for dreamers and frequently claims others’ accomplishments as his own. Doubles in the dream world as an impatient businessman, and Franklin D. Roosevelt.
MARTA / MILEVA – Mezzo-soprano, low G to F. 30s. Marta is the patent office typist. Warm and maternal, she is infatuated with Einstein, quick to anticipate his needs, and disappointed when he fails to notice her. Doubles in the dream world as a mother, longing to keep her child safe from the progress of time, and as Mileva, Einstein’s wife.
ANNA – Soprano, B to F#. 20s/30s. Besso’s feisty wife. She has known Einstein since they were children. Smart and self-confident, she grasps the basics of relativity before her husband. Doubles in the dreams as a dutiful daughter, and a beleaguered bride.
HILDA – Mezzo/Belt – low B to D. 40s/50s. Klausen’s loyal, long-suffering secretary. She has squandered the best years of her life playing by the rules. She addresses this in one of the dreams, urging Einstein not to wish his life away. Doubles as a comically forgetful woman.
JOHANNES – Tenor, C# to high G. 20s/30s. The newest hire in the patent office. Puppyish and eager to please, he doubles in Einstein’s dreams as a beleaguered groom and a forgetful clerk. A quirky, character tenor.
JOSIE – Alto Belt – low Bb to C. Seeking an actor age 18+ to play age 12. A preternaturally self-possessed and intelligent girl, with a firm grasp of metaphysics. We ultimately discover her identity as Josette’s younger self.
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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