AWAKE AND SING! Equity Principal Actors - Manhattan Theatre Club Auditions
Manhattan Theatre Club
AWAKE AND SING! - NYC EPA
Notice: Audition
Call Type: EPA
REVISED
Link to sides added to
PREPARATION
.AUDITION DATE
Thursday, June 25, 2026
9:30 AM - 5:30 PM (E)
BREAK: 1:00 PM - 2:00 PM
CONTRACT
CONTRACT
LORT Non-Rep
$2141 weekly minimum (LORT A+) increasing to $2244 after December 28th.
SEEKING
Equity actors for roles in AWAKE AND SING!
All roles will be understudied.
PREPARATION
Actors should prepare EITHER a two-minute contemporary monologue, OR one of the provided sides. Sides can be found at the following link:
Prepare Sides
LOCATION
Actors' Equity New York Audition Center
165 W 46th St
16th Fl
New York, NY 10036
PERSONNEL
Playwright: Clifford Odets
Director: Tyne Rafaeli
EXPECTED TO ATTEND:
Casting Director: David Caparelliotis
Casting Director: Kelly Gillespie
Casting Assistant: Malaika Fernandes
OTHER DATES
- 1st Rehearsal: Tue, November 10
- Tech: Tue, December 8
- 1st Preview: Tue, December 15
- Opening: o/a Thu, January 7, 2027
- Clear Through: Sun, March 14
OTHER
EPA Procedures are in effect for this audition. An Equity Monitor will be provided. Equity’s
CONTRACT
s 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
AWAKE AND SING!
SYNOPSIS
Starring Tony Award® winner Danny Burstein, Tony®/Emmy Award nominee Jessica Hecht, and Tony Award® nominee Jeremy Shamos, this bold new production of Clifford Odets’ timeless masterpiece tells a story about aspiration, family and how to live with dignity in America. It’s the 1930s, and the Bronx is a furnace. New ideas clash with the old amidst the poverty and shattered promises of the Great Depression. And three generations of the Berger family, trapped inside their cramped tenement, struggle to hold different visions of an American dream and the Jewish experience. Directed by Tyne Rafaeli, this classic battle between hope and disillusionment returns to Broadway, speaking thrillingly to the crises of the present moment.
SEEKING:
- BESSIE BERGER [CAST: Jessica Hecht]: 50s. Jewish. The matriarch of the Berger family. The grind of poverty has worn away any softness she might have once had. Her concern for her children's future and adherence to social norms manifest in a rigidity of thought and sharpness of character. Demanding. Feels that mother knows best.
- HENNIE BERGER: Late 20s. Jewish. Myron and Bessie’s daughter. A young woman of great will, charisma, and intelligence whose spark is gradually being dimmed by the ugliness of poverty and lack of opportunity for change in her life. Independent and stir-crazy at times. At other times, listless and hopeless. At a crossroads.
- MOE AXELROD: Mid 30s-40s. Jewish. A war veteran and a close family friend. Cynical and outspoken. Enjoys a confrontation. A wounded man who inhabits the tenement like a caged animal. His serious affection for Hennie is expressed with antagonism.
- RALPH BERGER: 20s. Jewish. Myron and Bessie’s son. Idealistic and yearning. He is outgrowing his place in this family, but their economic situation keeps him under his parents’ roof. He knows there must be a better way to live and is striving to figure it out. Greatly influenced by his grandfather’s moral certainty. Eager to start his own life.
- JACOB: 70s-80s. Jewish. Bessie’s father and a passionate Marxist. He lives with the Bergers, who are dismissive of his idealism in their quest for financial security. Rabbinical, opinionated, strong moral center. Particularly close with Ralph and invested in his happiness, his character and his future.
- MYRON BERGER [CAST: Jeremy Shamos]: 50s. Jewish. Bessie’s husband. Has abdicated control of the family to his more forceful wife. Kind enough, but not in the business of making waves. A former night-school law student whose career never took off. Life has worn him down, but unlike his wife, he’s basically made peace with it.
- UNCLE MORTY [CAST: Danny Burstein]: 50s. Jewish. Bessie’s brother. Wealthy and successful. Unapologetic in his embrace of capitalism. Enjoys his status in the family.
- SAM FEINSCHRIEBER: 30s. Jewish. An immigrant who courts Hennie, and eventually marries her. Responsible and meek. Doing his best to make a life with a woman who resents him, in a country that is indifferent to him.
- SCHLOSSER: 60s. Jewish. Working class. The janitor in the building the Bergers live in. Has worked there a long time. A hard worker. Rheumatic. Exhausted.
