Hope Repertory Theatre 2026 Season Equity Principal Actors - Hope Repertory Theatre Auditions

Hope Repertory Theatre 2026 Season - Holland, MI EPA

AUDITION DATE

LOCATION

Monday, April 13, 2026 — DeWitt Student & Cultural Center
141 E 12th St, DeWitt Theatre — 12:00 PM - 7:00 PM (E), Holland, MI 49423-3607

No scheduled break. Visitor parking on the street and in the lot across the street.

APPOINTMENTS

PERSONNEL

To schedule an audition appointment, please contact Mandy Scott at: 616-395-7600, M–F 9am–4pm or email
theatre@hope.edu. Audition appointments will be accepted until Friday, April 10th, 2026, at 4pm.

CONTRACT

Independent Theatre Contract — $668 weekly minimum. Expected to attend: See breakdown for production-specific dates.

Artistic Director: Michelle Bombe
Associate Music Director: Kellen Woolheiser

SEEKING

OTHER DATES

Equity actors for roles in Hope Repertory Theatre's 2026 Season. See breakdown for production-specific dates.

OTHER

PREPARATION:

Please prepare a short song in the style of Oklahoma or Next to Normal and bring sheet music for the accompanist. An Equity Monitor will not be provided. The producer will run all aspects of this audition.

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. 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.

Additional information:
https://hope.edu/offices/hope-summer-repertory-theatre/

Breakdown

ALWAYS....PATSY CLINE

Director: Kelsey Mesa
First Rehearsal: May 26
Opening: June 11
Closing: July 3

SEEKING:

Patsy Cline

Female-presenting, 20s–30s. A gifted vocalist with a rich, powerful mezzo-soprano/alto belt and strong mix; must comfortably carry the score and embody Patsy’s warmth, wit, and quiet strength. Captures the essence and vocal style of the iconic country star without impersonation. Confident, charismatic, grounded, with emotional depth and ease in storytelling through song.

Louise Seger

Female-presenting, 40s–60s. Excellent comic timing and dramatic range. Big-hearted, brash, and charmingly direct; serves as narrator and emotional anchor of the piece. Must sustain high energy, connect easily with an audience, and create a deeply authentic portrayal of a devoted fan whose friendship changes both women’s lives. Strong Texas accent. Singing ability helpful but role is primarily text driven.

OKLAHOMA!

Director/Choreographer: Tommy Rapley
First Rehearsal: May 26
Opening: June 26
Closing: Aug 1

SEEKING:

Curley McLain

Male-presenting (20s). Baritone C3–F#4. Cowboy, leading man, charming but full of himself. He is in love with Laurey but won’t admit it.

Jud Fry

Male-presenting (20–35). Baritone D3–C#4. Aunt Eller’s farm hand, seen by most as a surly outsider, but he’s misunderstood. He has feelings for Laurey.

Laurey

THIS ROLE HAS BEEN CAST. Female-presenting (20s). Soprano C4–A5. Spunky and romantic but headstrong. She is in love with Curly but won’t admit it. A strong singer and a strong dancer with good ballet technique.

Will Parker

THIS ROLE HAS BEEN CAST. Male-presenting (20–30). Tenor D#3–F4. Cowboy, energetic, impulsive, not the brightest, loves Ado Annie. Strong dancer.

Aunt Eller Murphy

THIS ROLE HAS BEEN CAST. Female-presenting, about 50. Voice range: mezzo-soprano G3–F5. Laurey's aunt, a respected community leader.

Ado Annie Carnes

THIS ROLE HAS BEEN CAST. Female-presenting, late teens. Voice range: mezzo-soprano C4–A5. A flirtatious, gullible young woman.

Andrew Carnes

THIS ROLE HAS BEEN CAST. Male-presenting, about 50. Voice range: baritone F3–F4. Ado Annie's father, eager to have her marry.

Ali Hakim

THIS ROLE HAS BEEN CAST. Male-presenting, late 20s. Voice range: baritone F3–D5. A peddler, enamored of Ado Annie.

Gertie Cummings

THIS ROLE HAS BEEN CAST. Female-presenting, late teen. Voice range: any. A local farm girl, fond of Curly, marries Ali Hakim.

OUR TOWN

Director: Brad Dell
First Rehearsal: June 23
Opening: July 10
Closing: Aug 1

All roles have been cast.

Stage Manager

THIS ROLE HAS BEEN CAST. The host of the play and the dramatic equivalent of an omniscient narrator, moving the story along its action. Although referred to only as Stage Manager and not by a name, they occasionally assume other roles, such as an old woman, a druggist, and a minister. Interacting with both the world of the audience and the world of the play’s characters, they occupy a godlike position of authority.

Dr. Gibbs

THIS ROLE HAS BEEN CAST. (Male-presenting) The town doctor. Dr. Gibbs is also a Civil War expert. His delivery of twins just before the play opens establishes the themes of birth, life, and daily activity. He and his family are neighbors to the Webbs, and he gently but firmly corrects George when needed. (Content Disclosure: he shares a chaste kiss with Mrs. Gibbs).

Mrs. Gibbs

THIS ROLE HAS BEEN CAST. (Female-presenting) Dr. Gibbs’s wife. Mrs. Gibbs’s desire to visit Paris—a wish that is never fulfilled—suggests the importance of seizing the opportunities life presents, rather than waiting for things to happen. (Content Disclosure: she shares a chaste kiss with Dr. Gibbs; she is dead in Act 3).

George Gibbs

THIS ROLE HAS BEEN CAST. (Male-presenting) Dr. and Mrs. Gibbs’s son, 16 at the start of the play. An earnest, upstanding young man, George is a high school baseball star who plans to attend the State Agricultural School after high school. His courtship of Emily Webb and eventual marriage to her is central to the play’s limited narrative action. (Content Disclosure: simulated kiss with Emily on wedding day; must weep in front of Emily’s grave in Act 3.)

Rebecca Gibbs

THIS ROLE HAS BEEN CAST. (Female-presenting) Dr. and Mrs. Gibbs’s daughter and George’s younger sister, 12 at the start of the play. Filled with wonder, her remarks about the location of Grover’s Corners in the universe articulate an important theme in the play.

Mrs. Webb

THIS ROLE HAS BEEN CAST. (Female-presenting) Mr. Webb’s wife. At first a no-nonsense woman who does not cry on the morning of her daughter’s marriage, Mrs. Webb later shows her innocent and caring nature, worrying during the wedding that she has not taught her daughter enough about marriage.

Mr. Webb

THIS ROLE HAS BEEN CAST. (Male-presenting) Mrs. Webb’s husband and the publisher and editor of the Grover’s Corners Sentinel. Mr. Webb’s report to the audience in Act I is both informative and interactive, as his question-and-answer session draws the audience physically into the action of the play. He dotes on his daughter, Emily. (Content Disclosure: Emily kisses him on the cheek in affection.)

Emily Webb

THIS ROLE HAS BEEN CAST. (Female-presenting) Mr. and Mrs. Webb’s daughter and Wally’s older sister. Emily, 16 at the start of the play, is George’s schoolmate and next-door neighbor, then his fiancée, and later his wife. She is an excellent student and a conscientious daughter. After dying in childbirth, Emily joins the group of dead souls in the local cemetery and attempts to return to the world of the living. Her realization that human life is precious because it is fleeting is perhaps the central message of the play. (Content Disclosure: kisses dad on cheek; simulated kiss with George on wedding day; she is dead in Act 3.)

Wally Webb

THIS ROLE HAS BEEN CAST. (Male-presenting) Emily’s younger brother. (Content Disclosure: he is dead in Act 3.)

Sam Craig

THIS ROLE HAS BEEN CAST. (Male-presenting) Emily Webb’s cousin, who has left Grover’s Corners to travel west, but returns for her funeral in Act III. Though originally from the town, Sam has the air of an outsider.

Simon Stimson

THIS ROLE HAS BEEN CAST. (Male-presenting) The organist and choir director of the Congregational Church who is the subject of town gossip because of his alcoholism. Simon’s memories of the past are negative. (Content Disclosure: Simon is visibly drunk in Act 1. He takes his life between Acts 2 and 3).

Constable Warren

THIS ROLE HAS BEEN CAST. (Male-presenting) The town law enforcement officer. We hear that he saves a man from freezing to death.

Joe Crowell / Si Crowell

THIS ROLE HAS BEEN CAST. (Male-presenting) Joe Crowell is a paperboy in Act 1 and in the flashback in Act 3. We learn that in between he became a scholar at Massachusetts Tech and was killed in France during World War I. Si Crowell (male-presenting) is Joe’s younger brother, who takes Joe’s job as paperboy in Act II to indicate the passage of time.

Woman In Audience / Mrs. Soames

THIS ROLE HAS BEEN CAST. (Female-presenting) “Random” audience member who asks a question about culture in Grover’s Corners. Mrs. Soames (female-presenting) is a local busybody who clucks over Simon’s alcoholism and idealizes George and Emily’s marriage. She is a spirit in the last act.

Joe Stoddard

THIS ROLE HAS BEEN CAST. (Male-presenting) The town undertaker. Joe prepares Emily’s grave and remarks on how sad it is to bury young people. This statement emphasizes a theme that grows ever more apparent throughout the play and receives its most explicit discussion in Act III: the transience of human life.

NEXT TO NORMAL

Director: Daina Robins
First Rehearsal: July 7
Opening: July 23
Closing: July 31

SEEKING:

DR. MADDEN

Male-presenting, 30s–50s. Diana’s psychiatrist. Quite assured in his practice and considered somewhat of a rock star. Note: The individual cast as Dr. Madden will also double as Diana’s psychopharmacologist, Dr. Fine. This individual will also double as various voices, doctors, nurses, etc., in conjunction with the rest of the cast when called for.

DIANA

Female-presenting, 40s–50s. Mother to Gabe and Natalie, wife to Dan. Often appears delusional. She is determined to make her family perfect but is tortured by a traumatic event.

DAN

Male-presenting, 40s–50s. Father to Gabe and Natalie, Diana’s husband. Though a constant in Diana’s tumultuous life, he has grown tired and weary of her antics and often feels caught.

GABE

THIS ROLE HAS BEEN CAST. Male-presenting, 18–21. Diana & Dan's son. Dashing, athletic, and bright. He is a playful man and everything a mother could imagine.

NATALIE

THIS ROLE HAS BEEN CAST. Female-presenting, 16–18. Diana & Dan's troubled daughter. An accomplished pianist and hardworking student, her struggles are exacerbated by her mother's behavior. She greatly admires Henry. Vocal range: G5–G3.

HENRY

THIS ROLE HAS BEEN CAST. Male-presenting, 16–18. Natalie's classmate. The all-around musician, philosopher, and slacker. He has an intoxicating capacity for sympathy and romance. Vocal range: B4–G#2.