Classic Stage Company | New York, NY
REVISED
The role of ADOLPHE has now been cast.
Seeking understudies for all roles.
Thursday, August 14, 2025
10:00 AM - 6:00 PM (E)
BREAK: 1:30PM - 2:30PM
Off Broadway
$1049 weekly minimum (Cat. 5)
Equity actors for roles in MARCEL ON THE TRAIN (see breakdown).
As Marcel on the Train chronicles the story of Jews escaping Nazi occupied France, artists who identify as culturally and/or ethnically Jewish are encouraged to audition.
All roles require strong actors with comedic impulses, comfortable with physicality. As this is a show about Marcel Marceau, there are movement sequences that involve mime and light puppetry.
Please prepare a short monologue of your own choice and bring a headshot/resume, stapled.
Classic Stage Company
136 E 13th St
New York, NY 10003-5306
Producing Artistic Director: Jill Rafson
Director: Marshall Pailet
Playwrights: Ethan Slater and Marshall Pailet
Casting Director: Geoff Josselson Casting
Expected to attend:
Geoff Josselson (Casting Director) or Felicia Rudolph (Casting Director) from Geoff Josselson Casting.
First Rehearsal - Monday, January 12, 2026
Tech Starts - Wednesday/Thursday, January 28/29
First Preview - Thursday, February 5
Opening Night - Thursday, February 12
Scheduled Closing - Sunday, March 15
Closing with Extension - Sunday, March 22
EPA Procedures are in effect for this 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.
Notice: Audition Call Type: EPA
NOTE: All roles have been cast, seeking UNDERSTUDIES for all roles.
[MARCEL] THIS ROLE IS CAST (Ethan Slater)
Male, 20s-30s. Before he became Bip, Marcel Marceau was just Marcel Mangel: a 20 year old Jewish kid trying to figure out what to do with his life. A painter, an artist, and a bit of a clown, Marcel is tasked with the safety of Jewish orphans as they take the perilous train ride out of Nazi occupied France. And though he is technically the adult in a room of children, as the children are eager to point out, he is often the most childlike. Marcel initially has full confidence in his mission of optimism, but as the journey wears on he begins to lose his sense of self. It is only through embracing the darkness, and the silence, that he is able to become the person to lead them all to safety. Extremely physical role - with long stretches of movement and mime.
[BERTHE] THIS ROLE IS CAST
Female, 30s-40s, but plays herself at 12 for most of the show. In the past: a Jewish orphan being smuggled out of Nazi occupied France. Deeply intelligent and a contrarian by nature, Berthe is genetically compelled to reveal every one of Marcel’s glasses to be half-empty. But beneath her performative gloominess she possesses a profound need to be proven wrong, to expose the childlike appreciation for life that lies covered up. She is deceptively upbeat for such a pessimist. In the future: a boring existence with absolutely nothing special about it. If she even has a future.
[HENRI] THIS ROLE IS CAST
Male, 30s, but plays himself at 12 for most of the show. In the past: a Jewish orphan being smuggled out of Nazi occupied France. You know that kid whose mouth works faster than his brain? That’s this kid. Impulsive and adaptable, some might call him the clown of the group, but in truth Henri is a survivor - he will say, do, or believe anything to get himself through the night. In the future: the recipient of a major prize in Philosophy - is Henri a generational talent or completely full of shit? The world will never know. (He’s full of shit.)
[ETIENNETTE] THIS ROLE IS CAST
Female, 50s-60s, but plays herself at 10 for most of the show. In the past: the youngest Jewish orphan being smuggled out of Nazi occupied France. Sensitive and shy, Etiennette is silent - likely a byproduct of psychogenic mutism, or an inability to speak in the wake of trauma. But what she lacks in speech she makes up for in physical expression, as she quickly fashions herself the star pupil of her makeshift scout leader. In the future: Etiennette is once again auditioning for Marceau’s world-famous mime school, desperate to get an audience with the master of mime himself. The auditioner applauds her devotion, if not her talent…
[ADOLPHE] THIS ROLE IS CAST
Male, 40s-60s, but plays himself at 12 for most of the show. In the past: Adolphe is one of the older Jewish orphans being smuggled out of Nazi occupied France. Principled and proud, Adolphe fashions himself a leader, but, being a child, his instincts towards leadership fail to align with his experience or knowledge, which are limited to be generous. If he’s a comic character, he doesn’t know it, as he takes his charge seriously seriously. In the future: Adolphe is a low-level officer for the French army, taken prisoner in the Chad-Libyan war of 1984. The principled child grew up to be a principled company man, a truster of systems right up until the moment his own army’s bombs fall on the prison.
[THE MAN] THIS ROLE IS CAST
Male, 40s - 50s. Dynamic and transformative, doubles various roles including: Charles, Marcel’s father; the Nazi; and Georges, leader of the resistance.
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