THE FIRST DEEP BREATH - HEADSHOT/RESUME SUBMISSIONS
Geffen Playhouse
LORT Non-Rep$1008 weekly minimum (LORT B)
Equity actors for understudy roles in THE FIRST DEEP BREATH (see breakdown).
Please email your headshot/resume.
Deadline: Wed, Dec 21, 2022
aea.epa.geffen@gmail.commailto:aea.epa.geffen@gmail.com">aea.epa.geffen@gmail.com
Playwright - Lee Edward Colston II
Director - Steve Broadnax III
Casting Director - Phyllis Schuringa
First rehearsal - January 24, 2023
Opening - February 9, 2023
Closing - March 5, 2023, but could extend until March 12, 2023
There will be in-person callbacks in January.
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 submit.
All roles have been cast. Seeking understudies:
Pastor Albert Melvin Jones III, African-American, late fifties, Ruth's husband, head pastor of Mother Bethel Baptist Church and the Patriarch of the Jones family. A volcanic man whose love & passion for his family is often swallowed by deep heartbreak, longing and grief. He has never fully recovered from the tragic death of his eldest daughter. His words from the pulpit are a fiery Baptist sermon with the size and ferocity of Shakespeare, but with family, his words become sledgehammers and break others more than they mend. He is loneliness cloaked in a deep sense of responsibility, trying to remove the shame he feels from his failures as a father and husband by forging a new family legacy-- and he'll scorch anyone who threatens to get in the way of that-- even God.
Ruth Jones, African-American, late fifties, Albert's wife. The First Lady of Mother Bethel Baptist and the matriarch of the Jones family. Sometimes, she be real sweet. Other times, her mouth is a flame thrower. A God fearing woman struggling to hold on to herself. Her mind and memories are being devoured by Alzheimer's disease. There are days when she is comforted by being surrounded by her loving family and others when she sees her family as terrifying strangers she no longer recognizes. She is a woman imprisoned within her own mind desperately longing for something familiar.
Dee-Dee (Denise Jones), African-American, mid twenties, Albert & Ruth's second twin daughter. The surviving younger identical twin daughter of the Jones family. A sweet young woman with a gospel singing voice that can shake heaven. She is the glue that holds her family together and the fire extinguisher that keeps them from burning themselves to the ground. Her love for her family is half the size of her heartbreak and exhaustion. She carries the full weight of her family's sins & secrets on her shoulders and it is crushing her. She is the strong friend everybody forgets to check on; everybody except for the love of her life-- her boyfriend and refuge, Leslie.
Abdul-Malik (Albert Melvin Jones IV), African-American, thirties, Albert & Ruth's eldest son. The eldest child/son of the Jones family. A deeply sensitive man who radiates masculinity and the toughness of the streets. Recently released from prison, Abdul-Malik is street smart and fiercely private with a swagger as fresh as a new pair of Jordan’s. His heart is cavernous and full of dreams with secrets that occasionally climb out of his throat and saturate his words with a mixture of longing, hurt, charm, and when provoked, acid. Everything he remembers about his family has changed and he is scrambling to find his new place in the Jones household. He longs desperately to be embraced by a family he barely recognizes but, his crimes hang like a scarlet letter around his neck that his father will not let him forget. He is a man searching for freedom and forgiveness-- both from himself and those he loves most.
AJ (Alexander Michael Jones), African-American, mid-teens, Albert & Ruth's youngest son. The baby of the Jones family. AJ radiates boundless hope and optimism but often carries the weight of his older brother's absence from the family. He is a boy forced to grow up too soon. With the absence of Abdul-Malik, he has built a strong fraternal bond with Tyree, his older brother's best friend. He is a boy searching to get free of his rage and his family's trauma and define himself on his own terms. His numerous college acceptances and scholarships only hide the fact the he is terrified to reject his father's aspirations for him and pursue his own ambitions while quietly rebuilding his broken heart.
Tyree Fisher, African-American or Latino, thirties, Abdul-Malik's long time friend, neighbor & friend of the family. Best friend to Abdul-Malik and play big brother to AJ, Tyree is the unofficial third son of the Jones family. The only thing Tyree doesn't share with the Jones family is DNA. Tyree is wise well beyond his years and often the container for other people's secrets and sometimes, their tears. His spirit is sage-like yet grounded in his deep sense of loyalty. He is a poet who often finds the words to heal everyone else's broken heart but his own.
Leslie Carter, African-American, thirties, Dee-Dee's fiancé & friend of the family. A God fearing man who wears his empathy & compassion on his sleeve. He loves Dee-Dee more than himself, more than life-- more than breath and he lets her know it, often. He hides his own grief behind his acts of service. Fractured by a recent tragedy, Leslie has a secret opportunity to rebuild the life he desires with the woman he loves, as long as she says yes.
Pearl Thomas, African-American, fifties, Ruth's younger sister & caretaker. She is the Original Auntie who always keeps it real. You just know her macaroni & cheese, potato salad AND her sweet potato pies are always on point. She's the auntie who slips you a balled up $20 bill in your hand along with a loving that's just between me and you wink. Her tongue is sharp and she wields it like a sword. She can speak life into you and snatch it out of you just as quickly. Her love for sister and her family often eclipses her love for herself. She sacrifices too much and often. She carries all the responsibilities of a family matriarch with none of the benefits. She is a woman who suffers in silence. Quite simply, she is searching for the boundless love she gives to everyone else.
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 submit.
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