Milwaukee Chamber Theatre 2026-27 Season Equity Principal Actors - Milwaukee Chamber Theatre Auditions

MILWAUKEE CHAMBER THEATRE 2026-27 SEASON - MILWAUKEE, WI EPA

Milwaukee Chamber Theatre | Milwaukee, WI

Notice: Audition Call Type: EPA

AUDITION DATE

LOCATION

Thursday, May 28, 2026
Broadway Theatre Center (Milwaukee Chamber and Skylight Music Theatre)
9:00 AM - 5:00 PM (C)
158 N Broadway
Milwaukee, WI 53202-6037
BREAK: 1:00PM - 2:00PM

PERSONNEL

• Artistic Producer: Josie Trettin
• Executive Artistic Director: Brent Hazelton

To schedule an appointment please fill out the form at the following link:
Appointment Form

OTHER DATES

See breakdown for production-specific dates.

CONTRACT

SPT
$784 weekly minimum (SPT 8) - Increasing to $807 on January 4th, 2027.

SEEKING

An Equity Monitor will not be provided. The producer will run all aspects of this audition.

PREPARATION

You will have a six-minute slot. Please prepare two contrasting monologues – no Shakespeare please! We like him, we just don’t regularly produce him. You may also perform a song if you are so inclined, but we will NOT have accompaniment provided, so it will either be a cappella or self-accompaniment with an instrument (no piano will be available). Always bring your Equity Membership card to auditions.

BREAKDOWN

MAYBE WE’LL FLY

by Marie Kohler
Director: Elizabeth Margolius

Dates:
First Rehearsal: Tuesday, August 18, 2026
Designer Run: Saturday, September 12, 2026
Load-in: Saturday, September 12 and Sunday, September 13, 2026
Focus: Monday, September 14, 2026
Tech: Tuesday, September 15, 2026
Preview: Friday, September 18, 2026
Opening: Saturday, September 19, 2026
Closing and Strike: Sunday, October 11, 2026

Show Description:
From renowned Milwaukee artists — award-winning playwright Marie Kohler (BOSWELL, MIDNIGHT AND MOLL FLANDERS) and Tony-nominated composer Josh Schmidt (The End, THE ADDING MACHINE, THE MINISTER’S WIFE) — comes this wildly theatrical and richly poetic world premiere play with music exploring the life and work of legendary Wisconsin outsider artist Mary Nohl. Propelled by an evocative score for solo cello as well as a contemporary approach to movement from award-winning director Elizabeth Margolius, MAYBE WE’LL FLY will captivate and inspire as it celebrates outsiders everywhere.

SEEKING:

Spring (CAST):

10 to 14 years old; any ethnicity; girl. Young Performer. We meet her during early creative life on the beach of Lake Michigan in front of the modest lakeside family home she adores. She’s the younger sibling of a brother with whom she feels she needs to vie for attention. The family is prosperous middle-class, but not materialistic. Father is patriarchal and economical (to the extreme) and emotionally distant. Mother is emotionally unavailable – spending time in her room alone, mourning the traumatic death of her first-born infant. She was once a musician but has succumbed to a depressed existence. Spring’s friends are mostly outside: Beach, Heron and Lake. She loves to collect treasures on the beach and at the Dump and making statues out of them. A strong singer and comfortable with movement. Vocal notes: Child-like sound but exhibits pitch control. Comfortable with shifting meters and can sing against solo accompaniment (cello). Ability to sing in harmony with others. Range: -a below middle c —> 2 d’s above middle C.

Summer (CAST):

Artist in her 20s – 30s. Artist in the process of figuring out how to reconcile her passion and creativity with the realities of adult life in an era unconducive to women with independent dreams. Conformity is boring! Her former childlike wonder comes in direct conflict with different losses. She first studies at Art School, at which she does not feel entirely comfortable, then begins a ceramics business with her father’s financial help – it ultimately fails. What’s next for her? She's unmarried, with no taste to return to teaching or commercial art. A strong singer and comfortable with movement. Vocally: lyrical and polished and technically solid sound of the group. Comfortable with shifting meters and can sing against solo accompaniment (cello). May utilize pop and Broadway sensibilities, but this is NOT either of those, nor should the sound be ripe with vibrato or overtly operatic. Ability to sing in harmony with others. Range: -a below middle c —> 2 d’s above middle C without strain.

Autumn (CAST):

40 to 50 years old; all ethnicities; woman. Artist whose experiences as a young woman have fortified her and inform the way she combatively interacts with the outside world. She has returned to her childhood home and has financial independence from parent’s inheritance. She has a new freedom in this stage of her life and is able to return to her early creative impulses without having to answer to anyone else, at least until the outside world attempts to creep back in to control her. Must be a strong singer and comfortable with movement. Vocally: May introduce more of a character edge (typifying age) but NONETHELESS comfortable with shifting meters and can sing against solo accompaniment (cello). May utilize pop and Broadway sensibilities but this is NOT either of those, nor should the sound be ripe with vibrato or overtly operatic. Ability to sing in harmony with others. Range: -e below middle c —> 2 d’s above middle C.

Winter (CAST):

60 to 80 years old; all ethnicities; woman. The artist has retreated within herself and her home. She has few friends and no family. She can no longer work “big” and is worried about the preservation of her art in the future. She needs her younger selves to help her sift through the past and use that information to journey forward. She has reached out to an old friend for answers about her life questions at the start of the play… but she ultimately discovers they can only be answered by various aspects of herself… a strong singer and comfortable with movement. Vocally: A more mature voice. May introduce more of a character edge (typifying age) but NONETHELESS comfortable with shifting meters and can sing against solo accompaniment (cello). May utilize pop and Broadway sensibilities but this is NOT either of those, nor should the sound be ripe with vibrato or overtly operatic. Ability to sing in harmony with others. Range: -e below middle c —> 2 d’s above middle C.

UNDERSTUDY TRACKS OPEN

THE GIFT OF THE MAGI

A musical inspired by the short story By O. HENRY
Music by Josh Schmidt
Lyrics by James DeVita and Josh Schmidt
Book by James DeVita
Director to be announced

Dates:
First Rehearsal: Tuesday, October 19, 2026
Designer Run: Saturday, November 7, 2026
Load-in: Saturday, November 7 and Sunday, November 8, 2026
Focus: Monday, November 9, 2026
Tech: Tuesday, November 10, 2026
Preview: Friday, November 13, 2026
Opening: Saturday, November 14, 2026
Closing and Strike: Sunday, December 6, 2026
Potential Extension Closing and Strike: Sunday, December 13

Show Description:
Hailed as “a Christmas delight” (The Isthmus), James DeVita and Josh Schmidt’s original musical based on O. Henry’s classic tale of love and generosity rings in the holidays in its Milwaukee debut. Newlyweds Della and Jim—accompanied by a beautiful live violin and cello score—search turn-of-the-20th-Century New York with full hearts and empty pockets for the perfect gift for one another.

SEEKING:

O. Henry:

40-50s plus actor, all ethnicities, all genders. The quintessential storyteller. Inhabits all other characters in the play (other than Jim and Della). A gifted storyteller with a subtle point-of-view; they are not so much a cynic (at times), as a realist. But, as often happens with writers and storytellers, the endings of their stories can sometimes surprise themselves as much as anyone else.

Jim (CAST):

20s – 30s, all ethnicities, man. Jim is a kind and good-natured young man who takes his duty to provide for his wife very seriously. This is made difficult by a recent drop in his already meager income. He is a devoted and loving husband, which leads him to sacrifice his one treasure (a gold watch he inherited from his father) to buy Della a Christmas gift. A strong singer.

Della (CAST):

20s – 30s, all ethnicities, woman. Della is a virtuous, selfless young housewife who is deeply in love with her hardworking husband, Jim. Despite her best efforts, she has only been able to save a small amount for Jim’s Christmas gift. She sacrifices her one prideful possession, her long, beautiful hair to use the funds to secure a more expensive gift. A strong singer.

UNDERSTUDY TRACKS OPEN

SONGS WITHOUT WORDS (Or, The Mendelssohn Play)

By Jennifer Vosters
Directed by Brent Hazelton

DATES:
First Rehearsal: Tuesday, January 11, 2027
Designer Run: Saturday, January 16, 2027
Load-in: Saturday, January 16 and Sunday, January 17, 2027
Focus: Monday, January 18, 2027
Tech begins: Tuesday, January 19, 2027
Preview: Friday, January 22, 2027
Opening: Saturday, January 23, 2027
Closing and Strike: Sunday, February 7, 2027
Potential Extension Closing and Strike: Sunday, February 14, 2027

Show Description:
Musical genius siblings Fanny and Felix Mendelssohn were each other’s chief supporters, deepest inspirations, and best friends—but an unforgiving world allowed only one to be great. Featuring a tour de force solo performance from Jennifer Vosters (A DOLL’S HOUSE) and presented for the first time with live music in this full-length world premiere, SONGS WITHOUT WORDS wrestles enduring questions of gender and genius, family and fame, and siblinghood and the power of art.

SEEKING:

Fanny Hensel, née Mendelssohn (PRECAST): any gender, race, ethnicity, ability, or age. Fanny Hensel, née Mendelssohn-Bartholdy (1805-1847). The host. The elder sister. A genius. Her age ranges from early 20s to 41. Doubles with FELIX.

FELIX: Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy (1809-1847). The entertainment. The younger brother. A genius. His age ranges from 17 to 38. That actor can be of any gender, race, ethnicity, ability, or age. Doubles with FANNY.

UNDERSTUDY TRACK OPEN

SKELETON CREW

By Dominique Morisseau
Directed by Dimonte Henning

Dates:
First Rehearsal: Tuesday, February 23, 2027
Designer Run: Saturday, March 13, 2027
Load-in: Saturday, March 13 and Sunday, March 14, 2027
Focus: Monday, March 15, 2027
Tech begins: Tuesday, March 16, 2027
Preview: Friday, March 19, 2027
Opening: Saturday, March 20, 2027

Show Description:
One of Detroit’s last auto stamping plants stands on shaky ground, and a close-knit crew of four factory workers must face a future without the steadiest employment they’ve ever known. Milwaukee’s own Dimonte Henning—Director of MCT smash hits THE MOUNTAINTOP and CLYDE’S—brings to life this poetic, powerful, and profoundly American play described by The Financial Times as “not so much state-of-the-nation as state-of-the-world.”

SEEKING:

Faye: Black woman, mid-to-late fifties. Working-class woman. Tough and a lifetime of dirt beneath her nails. Somewhere, deep compassion.

Shanita: Black woman, mid-to-late twenties. Working-class young woman. Pretty but not ruled by it. Hard-working. By-the-books. Believes in the work she does. Also, pregnant. Somewhere, a beautiful dreamer.

Reggie (CAST): Black man, late thirties. White-collar man. Studious. Dedicated. Compassionate. The Foreman. Somewhere, a fire brims.

Dez: Black man, mid-to-late twenties. Working-class young man. Young hustler, playful, street-savvy, and flirtatious. Somewhere, deeply sensitive.

UNDERSTUDY TRACKS OPEN

LIBERATION

By Bess Wohl
Director to be announced

DATES:
First Rehearsal: Tuesday, April 13, 2027
Designer Run: Saturday, May 1, 2027
Load-in and Focus: Tuesday, May 4 and first half of Wednesday, May 5, 2027
Tech begins: second half of Wednesday, May 5, 2027
Preview: Friday, May 7, 2027
Opening: Saturday, May 8, 2027
Closing: Sunday, May 23, 2027

Show Description:
1970. Ohio. Six women determined to shake up their lives and change the world form a consciousness-raising group in a community center gym. Fifty years later, one of their daughters tries to understand where things fell apart. Fresh from a celebrated 2025 Broadway run, this provocative, funny, refreshingly irreverent, and intensely relevant powerhouse of a production poses vital questions about what we inherit, what we forget, and what we’re still fighting to understand.

SEEKING:

Lizzie: Woman. Flexible age. White. Vulnerable and honest. Lizzie is trying to understand her mother, who Lizzie knew as a very traditional stay-at-home mom, but was also a radical feminist who ran a liberation group in the 1970s. Lizzie serves as both the audience’s narrator and plays her mother in the seventies. NOTE: This role includes full onstage nudity.

Margie: Woman. 50s-60s. White. The oldest member of the group. Margie has been married for most of her life to a very uninvolved husband. She carries all the emotional and domestic labor in the relationship and is just beginning to understand how deeply angry that makes her. NOTE: This role includes full onstage nudity.

Susan (CAST): Woman. Early 20s. White. Kooky and delightful. A radical feminist who pushes the boundaries of what feminism could be. Super over men. Lives out of her car. Has a relationship with Celeste. NOTE: This role includes full onstage nudity.

Celeste: Woman. Late 30s. Black. An intellectual. She has returned from Ohio to take care of her mother. Celeste is worn down from caretaking. Queer but not out. Has a relationship with Susan. NOTE: This role includes full onstage nudity.

Isidora: Woman. Late 30s-40. White. A Sicilian woman who represents an immigrant point of view. She’s all about actionable steps. Fuel to the fire and full of contradictions. NOTE: This role includes full onstage nudity.

Dora: Woman. Mid 20s. White. Somewhat naive, comes into the group relatively unsuspecting. She is engaged to be married and working a demanding job where she is continually undervalued. Dora has been raised to believe that being pretty and compliant are her best assets. Deep inside, she wants to be seen as more. NOTE: This role includes full onstage nudity.

Joanne: Woman. Early 30s. Black. The mother of four boys. A realist and vocal about how she feels. The audience sees her journey through being an activist and a housewife. She does not have time for the antics of the rest of the group.

Bill: Man. Late 20s-early 30s. White. Lizzie’s father. A lawyer. Charming. Knows what he wants but is respectful about it.

UNDERSTUDY TRACKS OPEN.