Folksbiene National Yiddish Theatre
AUDITION DATE
Wed, Sep 04, 2019
10:00 am - 6:00 pm (EDT)
Lunch 1:30 to 2:30
CONTRACT
Special Agreement Salary: $525.00/week for AEA Members ($400.00/week for Non Union)
SEEKING
Equity actor/singers for various roles.
All should be excellent actors, singers with strong music reading skills and be able to dance or move well.
PREPARATION
Please be prepared to sing a song from the Golden Age of musical theater. Show off voice and range. An accompanist will be provided. Please bring sheet music in your proper key and bring a headshot and resume, stapled together.
LOCATION
Pearl Studios NYC (500)
500 8th Ave
New York, NY 10018-6504
Studio 1211 (holding room) Studio 1210 (audition room). Check lobby upon arrival for any changes.
PERSONNEL
Producer: National Yiddish Theatre Folksbiene In Association With Ken Davenport
Music By: Barry Manilow
Book And Lyrics By: Bruce Sussman
Director/Choreographer: Warren Carlyle
Musical Supervisor: Patrick Vaccariello
Artistic Director, National Yiddish Theatre: Zalmen Mlotek
Casting: Jamibeth Margolis, CSA
In attendance at EPA:
Casting Director: Jamibeth Margolis, CSA
Other Team Members TBA
OTHER DATES
Rehearsals begin on January 6, 2020
Show opens on February 11, 2020 and closes on March 29, 2020
Venue: Off Broadway’s Safra Hall at the Museum Of Jewish Heritage, 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
Synopsis: Harmony tells the true story of The Comedian Harmonists, a group of six talented young men, Jewish and gentile, who came together in 1920s Germany and took the world by storm with their signature blend of sophisticated close harmonies and uproarious stage antics. Together they sold millions of records, starred in a dozen films and packed the houses of the most prestigious concert halls around the globe, until the world they knew changed forever. Their incredible story inspired music industry legends Barry Manilow and Bruce Sussman to create a spectacular new musical with an original score that celebrates this extraordinary group of friends and ensures their quest for true harmony in the most discordant chapter of human history will never be forgotten.
Seeking:
Note: The eight principal characters are all 28 to 35 years old at the onset of the show.
RABBI – “Rabbi” Josef Roman Cykowski, our narrator. Wise, truthful, self-deprecating. A sharp wit. Finds it easy to be funny. A peacemaker. A conflict avoider. A devout Jew. A Polish émigré, his speech is colored with Yiddish inflection but no accent. An inveterate nosher. He struggles with his memory. He is bearing a burden of some kind. High Baritone-Tenor with a high F#.
HARRY – Harry Frommerman, the founder of The Comedian Harmonists. A self-taught genius with an inexplicable talent. A passion and vision rare in his world – or ours. He talks fast, thinks fast, moves fast, eats fast. His substantial personality is housed with a slight frame. There is a disheveled look about him. A Jew who is completely assimilated into the fabric of German society. Baritone with high F natural and A flat falsetto.
BOBBY – Robert Biberti, the uniquely talented bass of the group. Chooses his words carefully. Shrewd. Smart. Opinionated. Sensible. He is tempted by dreamers, but experience has taught him not to be seduced. He speaks the truth as he sees it, often to the displeasure of others. His explosions are few, but volcanic. Finds intimacy near impossible. Always reading a newspaper, not only to put distance between himself and others, but also to keep up on the tumultuous world around him, in which he’s keenly interested. A proud German. He probably sees himself much as he sees his country—the victim of overpowering circumstance. On stage, he’s a true comic. It’s the one place where he allows the child in him to play. Bass with a low A flat and high C sharp.
ERICH – Erich Collin, the well-bred, sophisticated second tenor of the group. He wears a monocle. His vocabulary and range knowledge is immense—some would say, pretentious. A man of manners. An enigma to many. We have much to learn about him—as he does about himself. High Baritone – Tenor with a high F natural.
CHOPIN – Erwin “Chopin” Bootz, a virtuoso pianist and singer. Devilishly handsome. Some might find him slick. From the school of hard knocks. A street kid who made a name for himself. Exudes sex. He is earthy and direct. He tends to always choose the expedient solution. High Baritone- Tenor with a high F#.
LESH – Ari Leshnikoff, a charmingly innocent first tenor of incomparable ability and talent. Exuberant, expressive, animated, and possessing a near-childlike enthusiasm for life. He is completely agog at the success that befalls him. He is without pretense. If he feels it, you see it. In many ways, the beating heart of the group. A Bulgarian émigré. A passion for redheads. A chain smoker. First Tenor with a High A and strong Falsetto.
MARY – Mary Hegel, Rabbi’s fiancée and eventual wife, a beautiful blond with a profound devotion to her moral code. Sensible. Thoughtful. Supportive, but free-thinking and independent. An uncanny ability to know what someone is feeling and get to the heart of the matter. Self-assured, she possesses the clearest and most balanced vision among those around her, uncolored by Harry’s optimism or, conversely, by Bobby’s caution. She’s the one who “sees.” A Gentile who marries her ultimate soul-mate, who happens to be a Jew. Soprano with high F sharp.
RUTH – Ruth Stern, a gorgeous, dark-haired woman of great passion for many causes, and equally great emotional volatility. A Jew. She is terrifically courageous—almost to a fault. Her sexuality is as passionate as her eventual husband’s—Chopin. One of the two “mixed” marriages. Mezzo, belter, C natural in belt, D natural in head.
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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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