Lakewood Theatre Company Hosts Auditions For CITY OF ANGELS

Lakewood Theatre Company will be having open auditions on SATURDAY, JAN. 21 and SUNDAY, JAN. 22, 2012 for the musical, City of Angels. The production is directed by Wade Willis and the musical director is Alan D. Lytle. Call 503-635-3901 to reserve an audition slot.

The director is seeking: 7 men, ages 20-60 and 5 women, ages 20-50s for singing roles. The director is also seeking 5 men ages 20-60 for minimal and/or non-singing roles. All performers receive remuneration.

Audition Location: Lakewood Theatre Company at Lakewood Center for the Arts, 368 S. State Street in Lake Oswego.

Materials Needed: Please bring a resume, a current 8X10 glossy photo. To audition for a singing role prepare two contrasting songs (one up-tempo and one ballad) lasting 3 minutes combined. An accompanist is provided. Please bring music in the correct key for your voice and please, no taped or a cappella music. To audition for a non-singing role (men only): prepare a monologue lasting approximately one minute.

Performance Schedule: City of Angels opens May 4, 2012 and continues through June 10, 2012. Performances are Thurs-Sat at 7:30 PM, Sundays at 7:00 PM (May 6, 13 & 20), Sunday matinees at 2:00 PM (May 13, 27 and June 3, 10). Lakewood Theatre Company features an intimate 220-seat theatre located at Lakewood Center for the Arts, 368 S. State Street in Lake Oswego.

About the Play: City of Angels is the rarest of musical comedies: intricate lyrics filled with puns and crackling rhymes, sizzling music written in the contemporary jazz idiom, and a script that couples sidesplitting comedy with neo-noir intensity. Set in the glamorous, seductive Hollywood of the 40s, the world of film studios and flimsy negligees, the show chronicles the misadventures of Stine, a novelist attempting for the first time to adapt one of his texts to the screen at the behest of movie producer/director, Buddy Fidler. The "script" features Stine's hardboiled hero, a private investigator named Stone. The show follows Stine's screenplay (the "reel" world where he manipulates projected versions of the various women in his life) as well as his "real" world adventures in love and business, culminating in a collision of two worlds. City of Angels features music by Cy Coleman, lyrics by David Zippel and book by Larry Gelbart. The production is directed by Wade Willis. The musical director is Alan D. Lytle.

Additional Information: City of Angels

Role Breakdowns
All roles are open and all receive remuneration. All actors with the exceptions of those playing Stine and Stone play at least two characters (one in the "real world" and one in the "reel world"). In addition to the doubling prescribed in the script, those in supporting and ensemble roles will most likely be assigned additional characters, so versatility is a must. Actors must be able to convincingly portray the age ranges listed.

… Stone (baritone/bass, age: 30-45): the quintessential film noir detective; Sam Spade, Mike Hammer, and Philip Marlowe rolled into one. Sexy, dark, witty, and cool. Every woman wants him, and every man (especially Stine) wants to be him.
… Stine (baritone with strong top, age: 28-40): a novelist struggling to stay true to his work while it is being bastardized by Hollywood. Juggling the needs of his wife, his mistress, his producer, and his protagonist pushes him to the breaking point. The audience must root for this Everyman.
… Buddy Fidler/Irwin S. Irving (baritone, 35-60): a charming but cunning Hollywood producer who loves his wife but adores his mistress. Understands that Hollywood filmmaking is about sex, flash, and money, not about "art." Evolves from an amusing contrast to Stine's attempts at integrity to the villain you love to hate.
… Lt. Munoz/Pancho Vargas (bari/tenor, 30 - 50): Munoz acts as foil to Stone, a straight-laced cop who resents the private eye's freewheeling ways. The quasi-Latino (his race is a running joke) Munoz plays by the rules but doesn't miss an opportunity to give Stone a hard time, with the ultimate goal of "disposing" of the outlaw Stone.
… Oolie/Donna (mezzo/belter, 25-40): the jaded, wisecracking "girl Friday." Ironically, the sardonic Oolie is the only woman in Stone's life with whom he doesn't have a sexual relationship, while the slightly softer-edged Donna is lovelorn and tortured by her "road to nowhere" relationship with Stine.
… Gabby/Bobbi (mezzo with strong low notes, 30-40): this character pairing is probably the most challenging, as elusive, sultry lounge singer Bobbi is clearly Stine's fantasy projection of what he would like his practical (read: cynical) wife Gabby to be.
… Alaura Kingsley/Carla Haywood (mezzo/soprano, 30-45): Alaura is the ultimate femme fatale; dressed in white with legs that go on forever, she shows up in Stone's office and turns his world upside down. She'll kiss you as soon as kill you. Carla is the movie star who "plays" her, and is also wife to producer Buddy. A real "acting" role.
… Mallory Kingsley/Avril Raines (mezzo/belter, 16-23): a teenaged sex kitten, Mallory's disappearance is the beginning of Stone's entanglement with the dysfunctional Kingsley family. She is the embodiment of young sexuality, a statutory risk that Stone can't resist once she's in his bed. Avril is the starlet who "plays" her. (Note: the actress playing this role must be open to partial onstage nudity.)
… Jimmy Powers (true tenor, 25-45): a classic crooner, smooth and suave in voice and presence (though hiding a set of false teeth). Starts as a charming vocalist, ends up as a smarmy scene-stealer who drives both Stone and Stine crazy.
… The Angel City Four (2 Men, 2 Women, any age): a seamless, virtuosic vocal jazz quartet, SATB, who serve as Greek chorus, "street people", Hollywood characters, etc. All members of the quartet will have multiple other speaking and singing roles. Must have impeccable pitch, highly trained musical ear, and superb physical expression. The true lynchpin of the entire show.
… Ensemble: 5-6 actors to play multiple supporting characters in both "worlds" of the show; these are not necessarily singing roles, so we encourage actors unaccustomed to musical theater to audition.
o Peter Kingsley/Gerald Pierce/others (age 20-35)
o Luther Kingsley/Werner Krieger/others (age 40+)
o Dr. Sebastian Mandril/Gilbert/others (age 30+)
o Big Six/Studio Cop 1/others (any age, the taller the better)
o Sonny/Studio Cop 2/others (any age, the shorter the better)

Auditions are by appointment on Saturday Jan. 21 & Sunday Jan. 22, 2012. Callbacks (if needed) will be Jan 23 and/or 24. Call Lakewood Theatre Company at 503-635-3901 to schedule an appointment.

About Lakewood Theatre Company

59 Years of Live Theatre: Founded as a not-for-profit organization in 1952, Lakewood Theatre Company is a professional theatre dedicated to the study and presentation of drama in all its forms; the training and development of actors; and the creation, maintenance and operation of a theatre in which to present plays and other forms of entertainment. Lakewood Theatre Company is the oldest continually operated, not-for-profit theatre company in the Portland Metropolitan area. It annually provides more than 400 theatre artists the opportunity to learn and display their craft and attracts more than 40,000 people to its shows.

www.lakewood-center.org

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