FARMERS ALLEY THEATRE 2021-22 SEASON Submission - Farmers Alley Theatre Auditions

FARMERS ALLEY THEATRE 2021-22 SEASON - EQUITY VIDEO SUBMISSIONS REVISED 08/23/2021

Farmers Alley Theatre

CONTRACT

SPT $364 weekly actor minimum (SPT 3)

SEEKING

Equity actors for roles in 2021-22 season (see breakdown).

Performers of all ethnic and racial background are encouraged to submit.

NOTE: ALL EMPLOYEES OF FARMERS ALLEY THEATRE MUST BE FULLY VACCINATED IN ORDER TO BE EMPLOYED. This policy includes actors, directors, designers, stage managers, crew members, administrators, volunteers, etc.

Housing and travel provided for out-of-town talent.

All productions will rehearse in person and perform live at Farmers Alley Theatre in Kalamazoo, MI.

INSTRUCTIONS

SEE PREPARATION IN BREAKDOWN.

Deadline: Fri, Oct 1, 2021

SUBMIT TO

submissions@farmersalleytheatre.com

PERSONNEL

Viewing auditions:
Jeremy Koch, Artistic Director
Kathy Mulay, Director of “Murder for Two” and “Bright Star”
D. Terry Williams, Director of “Lifespan of a Fact”
Jerry Dixon, Director of “Songs For a New World”
Dee Dee Batteast, Director of “The Revolutionists”

OTHER DATES

See production dates in breakdown.

Performances are usually Thursday thru Sunday with occasional weekday performances and sponsor shows.

All show titles and dates are available at: www.farmersalleytheatre.com/auditions

OTHER

Actors will be contacted by Artistic Director, Jeremy Koch, regarding callbacks.

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

PREPARATION INSTRUCTIONS:

FOR ALL AUDITIONS: Please slate your name at the top of the video, tell us what you’re going to perform, and add that to all the performance footage together into one video. You can send a YouTube or Vimeo or similar link or just send the video as an attachment. Be sure to attach headshot and resume.

FOR SINGER/ACTORS: Please prepare one monologue of approximately 1 – 2 minutes in length and two contrasting songs of approximately 1 – 2 minutes in length that are appropriate for the shows in our season. You may sing from those shows, but it is not required. Since this is not a live audition, and we normally provide an accompanist, we have provided some instrumental music tracks on our website at www.farmersalleytheatre.com/auditions for auditioners to sing along with. Those four music tracks are as follows:

Soprano: Another Life from The Bridges of Madison County (Music track for one verse)
Alto: I Didn't Plan It from Waitress
Tenor: Out There from Hunchback
Bass/Baritone: Something's Coming from West Side Story

Please note, these are just suggestions and a way for us to help each performer with their audition. Feel free to use these music tracks or sing along with your own accompanist or use tracks of your own.

FOR NON-SINGING ACTORS: Please prepare two contrasting monologues of approximately 1 – 2 minutes in length that are appropriate for the shows in our season. You may perform material from the shows in our season, but it is not required.

Artistic director states: Farmers Alley Theatre is an award winning, professional theatre based in Kalamazoo, Michigan. We are Southwest Michigan's first and only year-round Equity Theatre Company. Several notable Broadway performers have traveled to work in our intimate 99-seat theatre including Barbara Marineau (War Paint, Beauty and the Beast), Ann Sanders (Frozen, King and I, Allegiance), Teri Bibb (Phantom of the Opera), Michelle Duffy (Heathers, Leap of Faith), Trey Ellett (Amelie, Rent), Paul Castree (veteran of 10 Broadway shows), Bobby Conte Thornton (A Bronx Tale, Company), Hannah Elless (Godspell, Bright Star), Ryan Vasquez (Hamilton, Wicked, Waitress), and Scott Coulter (nationally renowned cabaret singer & director) to name a few. Visit our web site to learn more about us at www.farmersalleytheatre.com


FARMERS ALLEY’S 14TH SEASON INFO AND CHARACTER BREAKDOWNS

SONGS FOR A NEW WORLD
Jason Robert Brown, music-lyrics
Director: Jerry Dixon
Music Director: Cole P. Abod
Rehearsals start: 9/20/21
Opening Night: 10/8/21
Closing Night: 10/24/21
Potential holdover through: 10/31/21

Male-identifying Person 1: 21 – 35, Tenor; range: D3-C5; Youthful, energetic optimist with a stunning upper register. Must display a combination of power, vulnerability and positivity. A very strong singer with strong stage presence, and ability to harmonize and blend exceptionally well. Ethnicity: Black / African Descent.

Male-identifying Person 2: 30 - 49, vocal range: Low F to High A flat. Baritone, range F2-Ab4; Worldly wise, subtle. Plays a variety of different characters and therefore a versatile and dynamic performer; a very strong singer with high tenor capability, strong stage presence, and ability to harmonize and blend exceptionally well. Any ethnicity.

Female-identifying Person 1: 25 – 39, vocal range: Low G- High F. Soprano/belt, G3-F5; Youthful ingénue type with a light but powerful voice. Able to convey extreme joy, fragility, and quiet strength. A very strong singer with strong stage presence, and ability to harmonize and blend exceptionally well. Any ethnicity.

Female-identifying Person 2: 30 – 49, vocal range: Belter, F3-F5. Character actress with excellent dramatic sensibility and comedic timing; able to perform with dialects (New York Jewish, German). A very strong singer with strong stage presence, and ability to harmonize and blend exceptionally well. Any ethnicity.

MURDER FOR TWO: HOLIDAY EDITION
Joe Kinosian, book & music; Kellen Blair, book & lyrics
Director: Kathy Mulay
Rehearsals start: 11/8/21
Opening Night: 11/19/21
Closing Night: 12/12/21
Potential holdover through: 12/19/21

ACTOR 1/MARCUS MOSCOWICZ: (This role is cast.) Any gender, 25 – 39; young, eager police officer determined to make his mark on the crime-solving world, charming, earnest, sympathetic, happy and hopeful, strait-laced and totally by-the-book, nevertheless he greets most challenges with a warm smile, chipper (not grizzled), his good-natured demeanor prevails despite this very challenging case. Any ethnicity.

ACTOR 2/THE SUSPECTS (This role is cast.) Any gender, 25 – 39; a sharp and versatile performer able to transform from role to role on a dime, a vivid, believable, and extraordinarily chameleon-like performer-musician. Must have a wide vocal range. Any ethnicity.

THE LIFESPAN OF A FACT
By Jeremy Kareken & David Murrell and Gordon Farrell, based on the book by John D'Agata & Jim Fingal
Director: D. Terry Williams
Rehearsals start: 1/24/22
Opening Night: 2/11/22
Closing Night: 2/27/22
Potential holdover through: 3/6/22

JIM: (This role is cast.) Male identifying, 21-35, a fact checker. Very smart, earnest, well-intentioned and tireless. He does things to the letter of the law and is driven by rules, protocols, and facts. He has a confidence that he draws from knowledge and facts. Any ethnicity.

JOHN: (This role is cast.) Male identifying, 35-55, one of the world's greatest living essayists. Highly intelligent and wants things the way he wants them. He doesn't suffer fools and value beauty and creativity above all else. Any ethnicity.

EMILY: Female identifying, 40-59, Editor-in-Chief at a prestigious Manhattan magazine. Her great ambition is to achieve cultural relevance and commercial success. She's relentless in her professional pursuits, it’s all or nothing. Any ethnicity.

THE REVOLUTIONISTS
By Lauren Gunderson
Director: Dee Dee Batteast
Rehearsals start: 2/28/22
Opening Night: 3/19/22
Closing Night: 4/4/22
Potential holdover through: 4/11/22

OLYMPE DE GOUGES, 25 – 39. Female identifying. Badass activist, playwright, and feminist. Theatre nerd, excitable, passionate, a showman. Widowed and never remarried to ensure her personal freedom. Any ethnicity.

MARIE ANTOINETTE, 25 – 39. Female identifying. Less badass actor but fascinating former queen of France. Bubbly, graceful, opinionated, totally unaware, unintentionally rude, and oddly prescient. Never had a real friend. Also plays FRATERNITÉ. Any ethnicity.

CHARLOTTE CORDAY, 21 - 31. Female identifying. Badass country girl and assassin. Very serious, hardened by righteousness, never been kissed. Has a pocket watch she keeps checking. Also plays FRATERNITÉ. Any ethnicity.

MARIANNE ANGELLE, 25 - 39, black. Female identifying. A badass black woman in Paris. She is from the Caribbean, a free woman, a spy working with her husband, Vincent. Tough, classy, vigilant, the sanest one of them all. Ethnicity: Black / African Descent.

LADY DAY AT EMERSON’S BAR AND GRILL
Play written by Lanie Robertson. Music by various composers.
Director: Shanesia Davis
Music Director: Abdul Hamid Royal
Rehearsals start: 4/18/22
Opening Night: 4/29/22
Closing Night: 5/15/22
Potential holdover through: 5/22/22

BILLIE HOLIDAY: (This role is cast.) - Female identifying, 35-49, the great jazz singer, Billie Holiday, in the last months of her life as she sings at a small bar in Philadelphia. Throughout the concert, Billie wildly careens from a full-octane passionate performance to utter desperation and loneliness--a performance that is likely inspired by heroin and alcohol. She is passionate, profane, demanding, and sometimes cruel. Billie honestly recalls major moments and influences from her life with great humor and delight--oftentimes in contrast to the harsh experiences that she re-counts. Billie’s stories leap her in and out of song in a patchwork of experiences and music, exposing both her genius and her despair. Ethnicity: Black / African Descent.

JIMMY POWERS: (This role is cast.) - Male identifying, 25+, Billie’s accompanist and lover, Jimmy tries to support Billie through her performance and follows her lead no matter what detours she may make. Billie reports that he cares for offstage as well as onstage, making sure she has everything she needs--from fulfilling her contractual obligations to having a fix of heroin. Jimmy knows Billie is the true star of the evening. He will do what he can to make sure that she gives a satisfactory performance tonight and for as many nights as he can make possible, even if that requires supplying a fix. Though largely vocally silent, Jimmy speaks through his piano clearly and eloquently. Role requires an actor with strong piano and music skills. Ethnicity: Black / African Descent.

BRIGHT STAR
Edie Brickell & Steve Martin, music; Edie Brickell, lyrics; Steve Martin, book
Director: Kathy Mulay
Music Director: Cole P. Abod
Rehearsals start: 5/23/22
Opening Night: 6/17/22
Closing Night: 7/3/22
Potential holdover through: 7/10/22

Alice Murphy (This role is cast.): Female identifying; will play character at age 38-an editor of a southern literary magazine; intelligent, attractive, professional-but with an air of melancholy. Note: The same actress will also play Young Alice at age 16 - rebellious, high spirited, sexually forward, adventurous-looking to break out of small-town life and experience the world. Very strong singer and comfortable in folk and bluegrass styles. Vocal range: belter with strong mix. Ethnicity: White / European Descent

Jimmy Ray Dobbs (This role is cast.): Male identifying; will play Jimmy Ray in his early 20s-Mayor Dobbs’ son and young Alice’s beau; handsome, boyishly charming, well built; is being positioned by his father into a position of wealth and power; unlike his father, he has a sense of personal responsibility and morality. Note: The same actor will also play an adult Jimmy Ray at age 40. Vocal range: High Baritone. Ethnicity: White / European Descent.

Billy Cane (This role is cast.): Male identifying, 20s; a soldier returning home from WWII; an aspiring young writer; fresh, open, optimistic and charming and a little naïve. Vocal range: Tenor. Ethnicity: White / European Descent

Margo Crawford (This role is cast.): Female identifying, 20s; a small-town grade schoolteacher; a sweet natured, genuine, wholesome, pretty-a childhood friend of Billy’s who now harbors romantic feelings. Vocal range: belter with strong mix. Ethnicity: White / European Descent

Mayor Josiah Dobbs: Male identifying, 40-59; the Mayor of Zebulon; a corrupt and powerful man looking to protect his family and their name by any means necessary-controlling, greedy and capable of great cruelty. Vocal range: Bass-baritone. Ethnicity: White / European Descent

Daddy Murphy: Male identifying, 40-59; Alice’s father; authoritative and a stern disciplinarian; devoutly religious, hardworking, a poor but proud farmer. Ethnicity: White / European Descent

Mama Murphy: Female identifying, 40-59; Alice’s mother; a caretaker to her family and her rural community; a warm, loving, sensible woman with great inner strength. Ethnicity: White / European Descent

Daddy Cane (This role is cast.): Male identifying, 50-65; Billy’s father; a widower; spry, good looking; kindhearted, if a bit lonely. Ethnicity: White / European Descent

Daryl Ames: Male identifying, 20-35; an assistant at a literary magazine, officious with a sardonic and dry manner; idiosyncratic; Vocal range: high baritone. Any ethnicity.

Lucy Grant: Female identifying, 20s; an assistant at a literary magazine, attractive, quirky, eager with an offbeat sense of humor. Vocal range: big warm belt with strong mix. Any ethnicity.

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.