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Breakdown
PROOF
By David Auburn. Dir: Emily Mann
CD: Laura Stanczyk.
1st reh: 8/9/13. Runs 9/6-10/6, with possible extension to 10/13. Berlind Theatre.
Catherine
20s. A brilliant mathematician who abandoned her education to care for her father & his mental illness. Fragile, but not delicate. Mistrustful, cynical & lonely, she struggles to reach out to others.
Robert
50s-60s. Catherine & Claire’s father. Tough but encouraging, loving, earnest, & droll. His battle to reclaim his mind from schizophrenia leaves him frustrated & a little willful.
Claire
Late 20s-Early 30s. A currency analyst. She has distanced herself from her mathematician family to become pragmatic, successful & polished. She can be patronizing & controlling, but at heart, she is trying to protect her loved ones.
Hal
Late 20s-Early 30s. Any ethnicity. Robert’s former graduate student. Hal is an enthusiastic, dedicated, but unexceptional mathematician (& he knows it). Charming, affable, & nerdy-cool.
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THE WHITE SNAKE
Adapted by/Dir: Mary Zimmerman.
New production, based on an ancient Chinese fable. Seeking Asian-American actors & actors of any ethnicity. The ensemble will play many roles. Some roles may already be cast.
1st reh: 9/24/13. Runs 10/15-11/3. Matthews Theatre.
Brother-in-Law/Ensemble
Male, 20s-30s. The brother-in-law to Xu Xian.
Xu Xian/Ensemble Male
20s-30s. An assistant pharmacist. Humble.
Green Snake
Female, 20s-30s. A mischievous & plucky snake & companion to the White Snake. Loyal.
Sister/Ensemble
Female, 20s-30s. Xian’s sister.
White Snake
Female, 20s-30s. A shape-shifting serpent who comes to live in the human world, using magic to appear as a human. Curious, studious, attentive.
Fai Hai/Ensemble Male
40s-60s. A Buddhist monk. Self-righteous, corrupt, & intolerant, he is the head of a Buddhist monastery.
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A CHRISTMAS CAROL
By Charles Dickens, adaptation: David Thompson
Dir: Michael Unger. Choreography by Rob Ashford.
1st reh: 11/15/13. Runs 12/6-12/29/13. Matthews Theatre.
Ebenezer Scrooge:
50s-mid 60s. Quintessential curmudgeon, must have superb comic & dramatic range. Beneath the crusty exterior is a man seeking a connection. Involves flying. London Accent. Not posh, not cockney.
Bob Cratchit:
30s. Scrooge’s clerk, Cratchit has been worked to the bone. Once a lively man, he now worries about putting food on the table, but is still filled with hope & humor, despite his difficult existence. Any ethnicity.
Jacob Marley:
Late 20s-Late 30s. Scrooge’s partner, an ambitious, practical man, with no sentimentality. Marley is a product of industrial England, he places money & financial stability above all else. Must move well. Any ethnicity.
Fred:
20s. High Baritone. Scrooge's nephew. An optimistic & kind young man. Witty & able to trade barbs with his Uncle. Should be an attractive leading man with a slightly goofy edge. Also plays the undertaker, a leering, creepy, grasping example of the underworld in Victorian England–cockney accent. Funny.
Young Scrooge:
Early 20s. Scrooge before he is corrupted, a conflicted youth torn between the need for financial security & the desire to connect with other human beings. At this point, he still possesses a sense of fun & humor &, most importantly, he is still redeemable.
Fan / Solicitor 2:
20s. Fan is young & fragile. Scrooge’s devoted sister & Fred’s mother. Solicitor 2 is a giddy but determined young woman, who loves to tease, is good hearted & well-intentioned.
Mrs. Fezziwig / Solicitor 1 / Laundress: 30s-40s.
Mrs. Fezziwig: Ditzy & gabby, warm, convinced she & her daughter are great beauties. A good hearted meddler. In love with her husband & entirely convinced of the goodness of those around her & the bounty of the world. Solicitor 1: A strong woman who works for right. Quick with a joke though hard on those she considers stingy; Laundress: cockney, making what she can out of the despair of others; competitive, funny.
Mrs. Dilber:
30s-early 40s. Scrooge’s dithering servant. Working class British. Quirky, funny & resigned. Comedienne with heart. A character woman.
Mrs. Cratchit:
30s. Caring but fiery, she will defend her family at any price. She is the glue that holds her family together. Nurturing, warm, the salt of the earth. Working class London accent.
Lily/Belle:
20s-early 30s. Lily: Fred’s wife is a kind, graceful young woman. Lily always sees the best in people. She is tenacious & refuses to give up on Scrooge because she realizes how much family means to Fred. Belle: Scrooge’s fiancée who leaves him because of his obsession with money. A woman ahead of her time, Belle is fiercely idealistic. There is a sadness about her; she holds people to high standards & has been disappointed. Must sing & move extremely well. Dancer preferred. Chest mix to a D.
Mr. Fezziwig/Old Joe:
50s. Character man. Fezziwig: Young Scrooge’s boss, generous, expansive. Fezziwig is a kind hearted & jolly man, but not a fool. Has integrity. Old Joe: Cockney Pawnshop dealer who trades in stolen goods. Witty & devious, Joe is a distant relative of Dickens’ Fagin with a bawdy sense of humor.
Christmas Present:
30s. Female. African American. Infectious spirit & warmth. Must have a real presence & sense of humor, wit, & mischief. Though maternal & earthy, she is powerful & has an implicit understanding of right & wrong.
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FENCES
By August Wilson. Dir: Phylicia Rashad.
Co-production with Long Wharf Theater.
1st reh: 1/7/14. Runs 1/10-2/9/14, with extension to 2/16. Berlind Theatre.
All characters are African-American
Troy Maxson:
50s. A large man who wants to match the power & strength his physical size suggests, but who has been blocked by the white community all his life. A martyr, a breadwinner, & a rough poet. Proud, exhausted, & angry, he refuses to acknowledge a changing world.
Jim Bono:
50s. Troy’s closet friend. They met in prison. A loyal follower of few demands. He tries to imitate the strength Troy shows & the honest, hard work he preaches. Frank & moral.
Rose 40s.
Troy’s wife. Maternal, practical, patient, & forgiving. Rose almost always pushes her own priorities aside for others’. Powerful underneath. Determined to hold her family together.
Lyons
30s. Troy’s son from a previous marriage. A musician. Obsessed with his image, a little too proud to be a self-sufficient adult. Wants a father.
Gabriel
40s. Troy’s brother, his brain was damaged as a soldier in WWII. He believes with every fiber of his being that he is the Angel Gabriel. A singer & storyteller who is eager to please.
Cory:
Late teens. Troy’s son by Rose, recruited to play college football. Bright & responsible, he believes he has a chance for success & happiness in life. He desperately wants his father to be proud of him, but he does not wish to become like him. Has a violent, resentful side. He puts his goals before his family.
Raynell:
age 7-8. Troy’s daughter by another woman.
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THE FIGARO PLAYS
By Pierre Beaumarchais.
Adapted/Dir: Stephen Wadsworth.
The Figaro Plays are new adaptations of THE MARRIAGE OF FIGARO & THE BARBER OF SEVILLE, which will be performed in repertory. The roles in this production will be played by an ensemble of actors; the characters listed below may be combined.
1st reh: 2/4/14. Runs 4/1-5/4/14. Matthews Theatre.
Figaro
20s-40s. Barber at Seville who becomes valet & steward to the Count, & then a gentleman in his own right. A high-spirited, nimble chameleon who can turn any situation to his benefit, he is a low-class scamp who paints himself a gentlemanly hero. A romantic at heart.
Count Almaviva
20s-40s. A nobleman who becomes Lieutenant Governor of Andalusia. Loves to be in love. Obsessed with the chase, bored by the capture. Sophisticated, selfish, temperamental, & manipulative.
Rosine (The Countess)
20s-40s. A young woman of noble family who becomes the wife of Count Almaviva. Delicate, curious, & extremely impulsive. Her feelings control her, but after years of an unsatisfactory marriage, she learns to disguise them.
Bartholo
50s-60s. A doctor, Rosine’s guardian before she marries. Repellant, sharp, & observant. Aggressively jealous. No scruples.
Don Bazile
40s-60s. Musician & music teacher to Rosine (The Countess). Slippery & self-important. A social mercenary whose loyalty goes to the highest bidder. He likes to create turmoil between people.
Suzanne
20s-40s. Personal maid to the Countess, engaged to Figaro. Shrewd, funny, prickly & proud. A match for Figaro in wits & strength. World-wise.
Chérubin
20s. Page to the Count. Overwhelmed & dizzied by the existence of women as only a teenage boy can be. Sometimes cringing, sometimes brazen. A bit of a pest.
Marceline
40s-60s. Keeper of the Count’s household. Strident, bitter, clever old maid who wants someone to love. She can be both pompous & truly dignified.
Don Guzman Brid’oison
50s-60s. A district justice. A childish, stammering fool who has purchased his position.
Antonio
50s-60s. Head-gardener at the chateau, uncle to Suzanne. A drunk.
Old Youthful
60s-80s. Bartholo’s resentful, ill-used, ancient servant.
Wakeful
20s. A servant of Bartholo, usually half-asleep. Incompetent.
Notary
Any age. A bureaucrat who walks into an organizational nightmare.
Ensemble
Any age. The remainder of other roles from the Beaumarchais plays.
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