PURLIE Equity Principal Actors - American Theater Group Auditions

PURLIE - NYC EPA

American Theater Group | East Brunswick, NJ

AUDITION DATE

Thursday, December 12, 2024
9:30 AM - 5:30 PM (E)
BREAK: 1:00 PM - 2:00 PM

CONTRACT

SPT
$512 weekly minimum (SPT 5) + health/pension/travel

SEEKING

Equity actors for roles in PURLIE (see breakdown). Some roles will be understudied.

PREPARATION

Please bring a picture/resume. Please prepare a brief singing selection (about a minute long) in the style of the score - traditional Broadway with Jazz/Gospel/R&B influences. We will provide an accompanist.

LOCATION

Actors' Equity New York Audition Center
165 W 46th St
16th Fl
New York, NY 10036

PERSONNEL

Producer: American Theater Group (James Vagias, Producing Artistic Director)
Music: Gary Geld
Lyrics: Peter Udell
Book: Ossie Davis, Peter Udell and Philip Rose
Based on Purlie Victorious by Ossie Davis;
Director/Choreographer: Kenny Ingram
Music Director: Danté L. Harrell

EXPECTED TO ATTEND:

Casting Director: Michael Cassara, CSA

OTHER DATES

First rehearsal: 2/10 or 2/17/2025 (TBD)
First preview: 3/6/2025
Closes: 3/23

OTHER

Rehearsals and performances will take place at Hamilton Stage, in Rahway, NJ (about 40 minutes from Penn Station via NJT). 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

BREAKDOWN

PURLIE

SYNOPSIS

Purlie is the 1970 musical adaptation of Ossie Davis's comedic play Purlie Victorious about a raveling preacher who returns to his hometown in Georgia and concocts a scheme to reclaim his church. Nominated for five Tony Awards, including Best Musical, Best Direction and Best Choreography, the original Broadway production received Tony Awards for Best Performance by a Leading Actor (Cleavon Little as Purlie) and Best Performance by a Featured Actress (Melba Moore as Lutiebelle.

SEEKING:

[PURLIE VICTORIOUS JUDSON] Black. 30s to early 40s, male. A charismatic con man (think Harold Hill). He must dominate the stage as soon as he sets foot on it. Like any good preacher, he sometimes sings when he talks and talks when he sings.

[LUTIEBELLE GUSSIE MAE JENKINS] Black. 18+ to play early 20s, female. From the backwoods of Alabama, she has been a servant in a white household. Naive, innocent, good-hearted - she met Purlie in Alabama as a preacher and accompanied him back to the plantation to assist him with his scheme. Purlie is planning to have her impersonate dead cousin Bee. Lutiebelle helps Purlie with his plans but she has plans herself: to make Purlie her husband. The audience falls in love with her immediately. Sings “I Got Love.”

[MISSY JUDSON] Black, female, late 30s/early 40s. Aunt Missy is Purlie’s sister-in-law. Kind-hearted (but firm) matriarch of the Judson family. Married to Purlie’s brother Gitlow Judson.

[GITLOW JUDSON] Black, male, late 30s/early 40s. Purlie’s brother who does little to lessen the sibling rivalry. He accepts the realities of plantation life. Appointed “Deputy for the Colored” by the owner of the plantation.

[OL’ CAP’ N COTCHIPEE] White, male, 50s+. The Plantation Owner who is Purlie's antagonist. A white southerner who is not with the movement and can't understand why “the old ways” need changing. His symbol of authority is a bullwhip.

[IDELLA LANDY/CHURCH SOLOIST] Black, female, 40s-60s+. [IDELLA LANDY] is Charlie’s nurse and confidant since birth. Self-assured and wise. Doubles as [CHURCH SOLOIST], the lead singer of the church choir, who opens the show with a rousing raise-the-roof gospel solo.

[CHARLIE COTCHIPEE] White, male, 20s. Ol’ Cap’n’s son. A (not particularly talented) aspiring folk singer for justice. He represents the New South and has more in common with Purlie than his father. Plays guitar, at least a bit.

[ENSEMBLE ROLES] Black, any gender identity, 18+. Strong singer/dancer/actors.