Aurora Civic Center Authority
**CANCELLED**
AUDITION DATE
Fri, Mar 20, 2020
10:00 am - 6:00 pm (CDT)
1:30 PM - 2:30 PM Lunch Break
APPOINTMENTS
Equity members may sign up for an appointment through the Member Portal beginning 3/13/2020 @ 12:00pm
CONTRACT
LOA $600 per week minimum, agreement pending AEA Approval.
COST
SEEKING
Seeking strong actors and singers of all genders, ethnicities, ages and types for upcoming productions of A Streetcar Named Desire, Rabbit Hole, Hand to God.
PREPARATION
Please bring ONE copy of Headshot/Resume
Please prepare two contrasting, one-minute monologues.
LOCATION
Actors' Equity Association - Chicago Member Center
557 W Randolph St
1st Fl
Chicago, IL 60661
Dial 011 for entry
PERSONNEL
April Cleveland- Director of A Streetcar Named Desire
Trent Stork, CSA- Casting Director, Paramount Theatre and Director of Hand to God
Jim Corti- Artistic Director, Paramount Theatre
Kaylee Billman-Galuhn- Company Manager
OTHER DATES
See Breakdown
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
PARAMOUNT THEATRE BOLD SERIES 2020-2021
Paramount Theatre is proud to announce the addition of the BOLD Series! The series consists of three plays and one musical presented in their newly renovated, 165-seat thrust space, the Copley Theatre.
The following is a breakdown of the three plays. The breakdown for the musical will come in the following months.
A note about casting (adopted from language with consent originally created by Kevin Kantor and Emily Traquin of actors Theatre of Louisville):
Most characters we encounter currently are on the binary and are written with he/him or she/her pronouns and you will see that in the following character descriptions. However limiting the descriptions are, our casting seeks to be inclusive as possible and we invite gender non-conforming, genderqueer, transgender, and non-binary actors to submit for the roles they most identify with. We will also list race/ethnicity when specific to the character but are otherwise seeking all races and ethnicities. Please let us know if you have any questions, concerns, or if there are any accommodations we can provide.
PLEASE NOTE THAT THESE AUDITIONS ARE NOT AT THE EQUITY OFFICE. They will instead be held at Stage 773 (1225 W. Belmont Ave, Chicago) in The Thrust Theatre
A Streetcar Named Desire Directed by April Cleveland
First Rehearsal: Monday, September 7, 2020 Tech: Thursday, October 1, 2020 First Preview: Wednesday, October 7, 2020 Press Opening: Wednesday, October 14, 2020 Company Opening: Thursday, October 15, 2020 Closing: Sunday, November 22, 2020
BLANCHE 30-40 Stella’s older sister. Charming, clever, well-educated, demanding. Blanche constructs alternative realities and she never stops fighting to get her sister on her side— to adopt her worldview. Almost every aspect of Blanche’s life has unraveled, but she refuses to break—a cross between extravagant hope and relentless denial. Despite the horrors of her actual circumstances, Blanche continues to identify as a woman of wealth and dignity—projecting an identity she can live with. She spins ornate falsehoods about herself and her history, forcing others to see her the way she’d like to be seen. Desiring magic not realism, Blanche lies obsessively to make the world into a place more beautiful than it is, a place that could love and accept her. When she arrives at her sister Stella’s home, she struggles to make the apartment her own, invading her sister’s life and forcing her and her husband to accept her as the person she wishes she were. Like any gifted storyteller, she is charismatic; like any committed liar, she is running as fast as she can from reality; and like many who have suffered deeply, she is propelled by a chasm of pain that threatens to swallow her whole. A fighter, a survivor, and a woman of contradictions. Piano skills a plus.
STELLA 25—early 30s. Blanche’s younger sister by five years. When her father died, Stella knew intuitively that her old life as a rich aristocrat was over. Rather than waiting for the remains to crumble, Stella struck out on her own as a teenager to make her own way. Upbeat and resourceful, we meet Stella as a wife and expecting mother, much poorer than she used to be, but she doesn’t have any complaints. But just like her sister, Stella too lives a life of illusions and lies. While her marriage seems cheerful enough on the surface, her husband drinks too much and beats her. Stella refuses to acknowledge her dire circumstances and insists instead that life with Stanley is safe and acceptable—better, even, than what she left behind in her father’s house. When Blanche arrives, Stella must overcome Blanche’s disapproval of her marriage. Stella strives to contain Blanche and her extravagant stories about their shared past. With both her sister and her husband under one roof, Stella must choose between these incompatible forces. Over and over, she chooses her husband. She is passionate, quick to forgive, obliging. Although Blanche finds Stella’s living conditions intolerable and unsafe, Stella would sooner have coke, find a silver lining, and get over it, than change her life. Piano skills a plus.
STANLEY Late 20s-40s. Stella’s husband. Clever, observant, attentive, passionate. Leader in the army, leader in the bowling alley, leader at the poker table. A boss with an appetite: for work, for sport, for love, for friendship. Stanley will protect his territories at all costs. His apartment, his wife, his friends, his poker game—all hard-won possessions that he has wrought with his bare hands from a resistant world. When Blanche arrives, Stanley rapidly recognizes the threat she poses: a remnant of Stella’s old life, a symbol of her class superiority, someone who may take her away from him. Acting to safeguard his territory—a wife that he loves passionately, an apartment he sweats for—Stanley struggles to out Blanche as the liar she is. Trained to defuse landmines, Stanley is a thorough, relentless, and shrewd investigator. He works carefully and methodically to uncover Blanche’s secrets, expose her, and expel her from his home. He has a primal, physical connection to his territory, and sometimes he explodes with rage, but in general his anger is a tool, something to be deployed with precision. He wants to protect his wife and restore stability to his household. Child, man, and god all at once, Stanley uses his hands, his intellect, and his gut to carry out the mission. Any instrument skills a plus.
MITCH Late 20s-40s. Tall, around 200 pounds. Stanley’s age. Mitch and Stanley served in the army together, and now they work at the same factory. Mitch is lonely, and he has a deep capacity for pain and for love. He seeks communion with others. He thinks a lot about his body and trying to improve himself. He needs his friends and he loves the hell out of his dying mother. Like Blanche, Mitch is looking for a savior. He and Blanche are mutually dependent on each other. But Mitch—like every character—is a complicated figure: he can be gentle, vulnerable, and sweet, but as the play unfolds, he reveals violent, angry, confrontational traits. Stanley exerts substantial influence over Mitch. Any instrument skills a plus.
EUNICE 30s-50s. Married to Steve. Stella’s friend, landlady, and upstairs neighbor. Eunice is sociable, spirited, curious, and loyal. When it comes to Stella and Blanche, Eunice is on team Stella. Eunice, like Stanley, is territorial. Though gentler than Stanley, she too sniffs out Blanche as a potential threat. Eunice and Steve’s relationship (passion with a side of violence) mirrors Stella’s relationship with Stanley. Any instrument skills a plus.
STEVE 30s-50s. Married to Eunice. Stanley’s friend, poker buddy, landlord and upstairs neighbor. Lustful, playful, reactive. Any instrument skills a plus.
DOCTOR/YOUNG COLLECTOR 16+ to Play Teens—should look as young as possible. Seeking an excellent cellist, violin, or viola player. The Doctor/Young Collector will be on stage throughout the show, orchestrating the mood and tone of the play through underscoring. Scoring will be generated in rehearsal and alongside scene work—this musician/actor is skilled at content creation, improvisation, and, more than anything, game to experiment, collaborate, and make adjustments throughout the process.
Rabbit Hole Directed by TBD
First Rehearsal: Monday, December 14, 2020 Tech: Thursday, January 7, 2021 First Preview: Wednesday, January 13, 2021 Press Opening: Wednesday, January 20, 2021 Company Opening: Thursday, January 21, 2021 Closing: Sunday, February 28, 2021
BECCA 30s-40s. A self-proclaimed army of one. A grieving mother trying to stay afloat.
HOWIE 30s-40s Values the past. Values memory. A father trying to reconcile his crumbling marriage.
IZZY Late 20s- Early 30s. Free spirit who blazes a path into the future. Becca’s Sister.
NAT 50s-60s. A sceptic, unafraid to say how she feels. Unapologetically forward but loving. Mother to Becca and Izzy.
JASON 17. A young man who believes he lives in an emotional class well above his own. Well-intentioned seeker of forgiveness.
Hand to God Directed by Trent Stork
First Rehearsal: Monday, February 22, 2021 Tech: Thursday, March 18, 2021 First Preview: Wednesday, March 24, 2021 Press Opening: Wednesday, March 31, 2021 Company Opening: Thursday, April 1, 2021 Closing: Sunday, May 9, 2021 Possible Extension To: Sunday, May 16, 2021
JASON/TYRONE 20s to Play 15-17. In attempt to stave off grief, evokes (or manifests) Tyrone- his therapy puppet who just so happens to be Satan. Both hilarious and heart breaking, the actor playing Jason/Tyrone should have excellent comedic skills and be able to flip seamlessly between young man and demon puppet.
MARGERY 40s. Queen of the emotional push away whose own grief over the death of her husband appears in a sexual form. Leader of a puppet therapy group in a small ministry in Cypress, Texas. Delicately clinging onto what is left of her life and relationship with her son, Jason.
TIMMY 20s to Play 15-17. Everyone’s favorite jerk. Knows exactly the right buttons to push.
JESSICA 20s to Play 15-17. Emotionally intelligent, brave, who never backs down from a bully. Jason’s unlikely friend and crush. Uniquely able to get through to Jason.
PASTOR GREG 30s-50s. Well-intentioned dope. Tries his best to be helpful despite his romantic disillusions. Self-assured but ill equipped to conquer the madness afoot in his ministry.
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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