The Acting Company
AUDITION DATE
Wed, Feb 19, 2020
9:30 am - 5:30 pm (EST)
Lunch 1:30 to 2:30
CONTRACT
LOA $662/week
SEEKING
Equity actors.
PREPARATION
Please prepare a single classical monologue, and bring a headshot and resume stapled together.
LOCATION
Actors Temple Theatre
339 W 47th St
New York, NY 10036-2402
PERSONNEL
MY ANTONIA is written by Meg Miroshnik, based on the Willa Cather, and directed by Devin Brain. A DOLL'S HOUSE will be a new adaptation by Emily Dendinger, directed by Ian Belknap.
Casting director Laura Schutzel of Tara Rubin casting will be present.
OTHER DATES
First rehearsal May 4. first public performance June 27, opening July 11, closing August 8 at the Lucille Lortel Theater.
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
The following 2 shows are in repertory
First rehearsal May 4. first public performance June 27, opening July 11, closing August 8 at the Lucille Lortel Theater.
MY ANTONIA
is written by Meg Miroshnik, based on the Willa Cather, and directed by Devin Brain.
An ensemble based production that spans about 50 years in the lives of the characters and a Nebraska town. Performers will be onstage for the bulk of the show and ability to sing, play instruments, and devise are of particular interest. Each letter represents a base character who will then play a number of named and unnamed characters as well as prairie dogs, crowds, Christmas trees, sunsets, etc. The goal is to put together an ensemble that not only represents the diverse population of contemporary America but has a particular interest in telling the story of immigration across time.
A: Narrator
fiercely intelligent, a woman raised in a man’s world and refusing to bow to its demands. A writer creating a world at the intersection of her memories and her imagination, she is able to bring to life long passages of descriptive prose, conjuring worlds with language. A and B are alter-egos of each other, both connected and separate.
B: Jim Burden
White, male privilege incarnate and yet not a terrible person. Over the course of the play we see Jim as both 10 and 50. He is intelligent and shy, arrogant and generous, faithful and charming. He is the quiet boy next door who tags along with the older kids on their adventures and grows up to be the quiet lawyer next door dreaming of the barefoot days of his youth. He is A’s counterpart / alter ego, connected and yet separate.
C: Antonia Shimerda
The namesake of the story, an immigrant woman who we see at 13 and at 55, as a brave young girl defending and translating for her family as they land in a strange new world, as a bold teenager determined to enjoy youth and beauty, as a young mother defending her choices, and as a matriarch overseeing a new generation. Fierce, proud, tender, caring, she survives tragedy and loss, and builds a joyous life on their foundations.
D: Jake Marpole, Russian Peter, etc
This track is ideal for a clown comfortable in their body, able to play a 14 year old wannabe cowboy, a dying Russian man running from his past, a kindly grandfather, a budding young gentleman, and a hardworking husband. Facility with accents, rapid transformations of character age / type, and willingness to play are all essential.
E: Mr. Shimerda, Ole Bensen, Leo Cuzak, etc
This track is ideal for an actor with a deep sense of gravitas and a smile in the face of despair. They will play a melancholy musician transported from the great cities of Europe to the frontier, a farmer obsessed with his farm hand, a tramp finally done with walking, and a boy with the gleam of mischief in his eye. Facility with accents, rapid transformations of character age / type, and willingness to play are all essential. Ability to play the violin / fiddle highly desired.
F: Tiny Soderbell, Emmaline Burden, Bride, etc
This track is ideal for a bold and flexible actor comfortable with the full gamut of humanity, they will play a brothel owner who loses two toes to frostbite, a young debutante at her first dance, a kindly grandmother so solid in her ways that she can’t quite make the leap to understanding, and a young woman overseeing a brood of siblings - plus everything in between. Facility with accents, rapid transformations of character age / type, and willingness to play are all essential.
G: Mrs. Shimerda, Mrs. Cutter, Nina Muzak, etc
This track is ideal for a relentless actor able to make large choices and comfortable playing nasty characters with great humanity. They will play a bitter immigrant mother bowed under the weight of poverty and tragedy, a religious matron gathering her flock to the lord, the enraged wife of a cruel and assaultive man, a young woman on her way to her first dance, and a widow telling stories by the fire. Facility with accents, rapid transformations of character age / type, and willingness to play are all essential.
H: Otto Fuchs, Marek Shimerda, etc
This track is ideal for an actor musician with a real gift for comedic characterization. A wise and ridiculous German cowboy escaping his past through song, a young autistic boy in a new land, a dashing young suitor, and a wastrel Conductor who leaves his wife. Ability to play a variety of instruments is essential, as is a facility with accents, rapid transformation of character age / type, and willingness to play.
I: Conductor, Ambrosch Shimerda, Pavel, Wick Cutter, etc
This track is ideal for an actor interested in laughingly exploring the humanity within a wide breadth of dark figures. A dying Russian fleeing his darkest deeds, an angry young immigrant raging against what he doesn’t have, a cruel and assaultive man who plots the desecration and destruction of others, a pious father keeping his flock of children in line, and a young boy protecting his home. Facility with accents, rapid transformations of character age / type, and willingness to play are all essential.
J: Lena Lingaard, Yulka Shimerda, Nina Harling, etc
Tthis track is ideal of an actor confident in their body and how much space they can take up in a room, direct and frank with a smile that makes one blush. A beautiful immigrant determined to never marry even as she enjoys every moment of her life, a little sister eager to tag along behind the older children, a shy and erudite young townswoman, and a bold and mischievous daughter. Facility with accents, rapid transformations of character age / type, and willingness to play are all essential.
___________________________
A DOLL'S HOUSE
will be a new adaptation by Emily Dendinger, directed by Ian Belknap.
1) Torvald Helmer
Early 30s, a lawyer at an American Bank, charming & likeable, with gravitas. A selfishness burrowed deep inside of his psyche. Peevish, especially when conventions are broken. An immigrant to America who has assimilated to American culture.
2) Nora
20s, a song in hear heart and a twinkle in her eye; dutiful yet bucks the norm. Fantastical, yet practical. Has an indominable spirit that can solve any problem. An immigrant to America
3) Kristine
Early 30s, widowed, calculating, kind, nurturing. An immigrant to America.
4) Nils Krogstad
Early 30s, a junior lawyer at the same Bank as Torvald; a ‘what’s in it for me’ person, who underneath that ladder climbing is haunted by a loneliness and shame. An immigrant who has assimilated to American culture.
5) Dr. Rank
30-34; full of physical pain from syphilis that his father contracted and passed to him; full of emotional pain from unrequited love. A doctor who cannot cure.
6) Anne-Marie
The daughter of Nora’s nurse; now her confident; brought to America but speaks little English. She’s maternal, the primary parent to Nora and Torvald’s children. Musical and is married to Lars.
7) Lars
Musical and plays multiple instruments, Norwegian; salt-of-the earth, paternal figure to the Nora and Torvald’s children.
8) Emmy
9, Torvald and Nora’s daughter
9) Bob
9, Torvald and Nora’s son
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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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