YOU CAN'T TAKE IT WITH YOU Equity Principal Audition - Williamstown Theatre Festival Auditions

YOU CAN’T TAKE IT WITH YOU

- Equity Principal Auditions

Pre-Broadway:

Williamstown Theatre Festival, Williamstown MA

CORST, $836/week minimum.

Williamstown Artistic Dir: Jenny Gersten

Williamstown Producer: Stephen M. Kaus

Broadway:

Elizabeth Ireland McCann

Production Contract, $1,653/week minimum.

Authors: George S. Kaufman and Moss Hart

Dir: Christopher Ashley

Casting: Binder Casting

1st reh: 5/31/11 (in NYC). 1st Williamstown reh: 6/21. Williamstown run: 7/2-7/23.

1st Broadway preview: On/about 7/29. Broadway opening: On/about 8/14.

Equity Principal Auditions:

Thursday, February 24, 2011 Ripley-Grier Studios

Friday, February 25, 2011 520 Eighth Avenue, 16th Floor

Monday, February 28, 2011 New York City

10 AM - 6 PM all three days.

Lunch from 1:30 – 2:30.

Please prepare a brief monologue (preferably 1 – 2 minutes). Suggested authors: Kaufman & Hart, Neil Simon, S. N. Behrman, Wendy Wasserstein, Lindsay & Crouse, Alfred Uhry.

Please bring a picture & resume, stapled back-to-back.

Pulitzer Prize-winning comedy. Original production of the play opened in 1936 and played for 837 performances. Last revived with great success on Broadway in 1983.

The play is set in 1936. At first the Sycamores seem mad, but it is not long before you realize that if they are mad, then the rest of the world is madder.

Seeking (all roles are available (i.e. not yet offered and accepted)):

Note from casting personnel: “All the actors in the play must have light comedy experience and have the ability to make these characters both not only comic but endearingly truthful.”

Males:

Grandpa Vanderhof:

Late 60s - mid 70s. Paul’s father-in-law, Penny’s father, Alice and Essie’s grandfather. Warm, happy man whom the years have treated kindly. His face is youthful, despite the lines that seam it; his eyes are very much alive. Made his peace with the world long, long ago, and his whole attitude and manner are quietly persuasive of this. Exudes a gentle authority, the patience of a philosopher, a wry wit and a twinkle in his eye. As does everyone in this play, he loves his family deeply. Treats everyone he comes in contact with equally – be they a man on the street or a king on the throne. Has never paid his income tax, because he doesn't believe in it, as he feels that the government wouldn't know what to do with the money if he paid it. He lives his life by the philosophy “Don't do anything that you're not going to enjoy doing”.

Paul Sycamore:

Very late 40s – mid 50s. Essie and Alice’s father, Penny’s husband, Grandpa’s son-in-law. Has a kind of youthful charm. His quiet charm and mild manner are distinctly engaging. Delights in manufacturing fireworks in the basement with the help of his assistant, Mr. De Pinna. Loves his daughter Alice very much.

Ed Carmichael:

Mid 30s. Essie’s husband, Paul and Penny’s son-in-law. Extremely good-natured and innocent. Xylophone player. Distributes Essie's candies. Amateur printer who prints anything that sounds good to him. Places little quotes in the boxes of Essie’s candy – which gets him into trouble when the government thinks he is printing anti-American propaganda. Just loves the way the words sound. Playing the xylophone is certainly a plus, but definitely not necessary.

Tony Kirby:

Mid 20s. Fiancé of Alice, Mr. and Mrs. Kirby’s son. Vice-president of Kirby and Co. Very handsome, intelligent, charming and romantic. Not long out of Yale. Fits all the physical requirements of a boss’s son; his face has something of the idealist in it. Hopelessly in love with Alice. His own family is very proper, and has many issues none of them will admit. Tony sees the Sycamores as the really perfect family.

Boris Koklenkhov:

Russian, 40s – 60. Escaped to America shortly before the Russian revolution. Essie’s ballet instructor; knows she's not good at dancing, but knows that she enjoys it, so he keeps working with her. An honorary member of the Sycamore family, and always welcome. Very, very Russian; has a larger-than-life personality, and is not afraid to tell anybody what he thinks or feels about them. Embraces life to the fullest.

Mr. Kirby:

Late 50s – early 60s. Mrs. Kirby’s husband, Tony’s father. Very proper, pompous man. President of Kirby and Co. His hobby is raising expensive orchids. He is also a member of the Harvard Society, the Union Club, the National Geographic Society, and the Racquet Club. Through the course of the play, he realizes that he despises his job, accepts and understands Grandpa’s philosophy of life and accepts the fact that Tony and Alice are a perfect match.

Mr. De Pinna:

Mid 40s – mid 50s. Iceman who delivered ice to the house one day and never left. He simply was accepted, and joined the family. Bald-headed man with a serious manner. Loves helping Ed build his fireworks. Moonlights as a model in Mrs. Sycamore’s paintings. Could be short and round, but not necessarily.

Donald:

African American, mid 30s. Rheba’s boyfriend. Affable, good-natured and enjoys the wonderful madness of the Sycamore family.

Henderson:

Mid 30s. IRS employee. Comes to collect the tax money Grandpa owes; can't understand why Grandpa won't pay income tax. Very official and officious. Actor in this role will cover the Ed and Tony.

G-Man # 1:

Mid 30s. Stalwart, upright, with a powerful presence. Represents the Department of Justice. Actor in this role will cover the other two G-Men.

G-Man # 2:

Mid 30s, African American. Stalwart, upright, with a powerful presence. Represents the Department of Justice. Actor in this role will cover Donald.

G-Man # 3:

Mid - late 40s. Stalwart, upright, with a powerful prescence. Represents the Department of Justice. Actor in this role will cover Boris, DePinna and Henderson.

Females:

Penny Vanderhof Sycamore:

Very late 40s – mid 50s. Essie and Alice’s mother, Paul’s wife, Grandpa’s daughter. Comfortable-looking, gentle and homey; warm and caring. One would not suspect that under that placid exterior there surges the Divine Urge – but it does, it does. One day, a typewriter arrived at the house, and for the past eight years, she’s become a playwright. The first two years didn’t really count, because she was learning to type. At times she may seem a bit vague, but that’s only because she is completely happy in her own world. Has a blithe, light touch; fervent optimism; boundless energy; feminine charm. The mother of her brood and loves and cares for them fiercely.

Alice Sycamore:

Early - mid 20s. Grandpa’s granddaughter and Penny’s daughter – but there is something that sets her apart from the rest of the family. For one thing, she is in daily contact with the world; in addition, she seems to have escaped the tinge of mild insanity that pervades the rest of them. But she is a Sycamore for all that, and her devotion and love for them are plainly apparent. She is lovely, fresh as paint and head-over-heels in love with Tony, her boss’s son. Exudes warmth and romance, but with a grounded awareness of the real world.

Essie Carmichael:

Late 20s. Penny’s eldest daughter. Has a curious air of the pixie about her. Obsessed with becoming a ballet dancer – she has been studying for years, but actually isn’t very good (but it doesn’t matter, because she thinks she’s wonderful). Also is an avid maker of home-made candy, so between her candy and her ballet, she couldn’t be happier. Has a wonderful innocence and naïveté. Very much in love with her husband, Ed. Does the entire play either in ballet slippers or en pointe. Casting personnel are not necessarily looking for a dancer, but someone who could have aptitude to learn, or a dancer.

Rheba:

African American woman, mid 30s. The Sycamore’s maid, and an equal part of the family. Game for anything, with a wry sense of humor. Absolutely adores being a part of the Sycamore family. In love with Donald, who is on relief after the war.

Mrs. Kirby:

Late 50s – early 60s. Handsome woman. Classic snobbish, upper-class society matron. Tony’s mother. Completely resistant to any change in her insulated, upper-crust sensibility. On the surface, she never displays anything less than frosty good manners. Very prim and proper. Stays up with the fads of the times. Her hobby is spiritualism.

Gay Wellington:

30s – 50s. Penny meets this actress on a bus, and asks her to read her plays. What Penny and everyone else soon realizes is that Gay is a hopeless drunk who can barely stand and utter a word, let alone read a play. In fact, within in the first five minutes of her entrance, she passes out … and comes to at the most embarrassing moments possible.

Grand Duchess Olga Katrina:

60s – early 70s. One of the Grand Duchesses of Russia, before the revolution. Since then, she has been forced to flee to America, where she has found work as a waitress in Childs Restaurant (but once a duchess, always a duchess). “Star” cameo possible.

Casting personnel state, “We encourage performers of all ethnicities to attend.”