Audition Notice for The Fantasticks

By Tom Jones and Harvey Schmidt

Directed by Eleanore Tapscott

Music Direction by Paige Austin

Choreography by Jason Ellis

Produced by Sharon Field and Rance Willis

Performance Dates: January 12-February 2, 2019

Performance Times: Tuesday-Saturday evenings (8 pm); Sunday matinees (3 pm)

Audition Dates

Saturday, October 27, 2:00 pm-5:00 pm.

Sunday, October 28, 7:00 pm to 10:00 pm.

Callbacks

Tuesday, October 30 by invitation only. Candidates will be given a call time.

Rehearsals

Rehearsals will start immediately after casting and are planned for weeknights (7-10 pm), except Mondays, and Saturday afternoons (1-4 pm). The schedule will be finalized after the show is cast and actors’ conflicts have been accounted for. Tech rehearsals start Saturday, January 5. Double-tech is Sunday, January 6, and attendance is mandatory.

Show Summary

Hailed as the longest running musical in the world, The Fantasticks is a funny and romantic musical about a boy, a girl, and their two parents who try to keep them apart. The narrator, El Gallo, asks the audience to use their imagination and follow him into a world of moonlight and magic. The boy and the girl fall in love, grow apart and finally find their way back to each other after realizing the truth in El Gallo’s words that, “without a hurt, the heart is hollow.”

For the Audition  

For roles other than Henry, Mortimer, and the Mute: Please prepare a brief, appropriate song, 16-32 bars (standard, legit musical theatre; no pop/rock). Bring sheet music in the correct key; accompanist is provided but may not transpose. Please, no songs from The Fantasticks.

For all roles: Please prepare a 1-2-minute comedic (preferably classical) monologue and be prepared to do a short improv.

For the role of Mortimer: Please prepare a short “death” pantomime of your own creation.

For the Mute: Please prepare a short comic pantomime of your own creation.

We prefer you sign up for an audition slot in advance, however, walk-ins will be taken upon availability.
Please sign up to audition here: Sign Up Sheet

Print out the audition form on the LTA website, complete it, and bring it with you. If you have a headshot and acting resume, please bring them with you. All those auditioning will be asked to have their picture taken by the LTA photographer.

Please also wear clothes and shoes suitable for dance/movement and be ready to provide an accurate list of all tentative and known conflicts between November 1, 2018 and February 12, 2019. A conflict will not necessarily preclude you from being cast, as the director will work around actors’ conflicts to the best of her ability. Since there will be no double casting, conflicts during the last two weeks of rehearsal or during performances may affect casting decisions.

Role Summary

Casting 6 men (ages 20s-50s+), 3 women (ages late teens-40s+).  All ethnicities are welcome. Ages are approximate. Actors (particularly those playing Luisa and Matt) should be able to play these ages. Some ages may be altered, based on the actors who audition, at the discretion of the director.

Character Descriptions

The Narrator (El Gallo): A rakish, handsome, sophisticated bandit and narrator of the show. He is warm, cordial, and inviting to the audience, but has his own darker moments. He aids the performers in orchestrating the story. Must be able to move well. Male, 30-40, Baritone.

The Girl (Luisa): A button-maker’s young and pretty daughter, she is a romantic idealist who falls in love with Matt. She is naive, yet honest and tender. Dance ability a plus. Female, 18-20s. Soprano.

The Boy (Matt): An innocent, young man who is searching for love and adventure. A bright guy, but naive and even foolish at times, approaching situations with a false bravado. Ability to move well. Male, 18-20s. Baritenor.

The Boy’s Parent (Hucklebee): A former boisterous navy woman and meticulous gardener who fakes a fight with Bellomy in hopes of getting their children to fall in love. Traditionally male but being cast as female, 40s-50s. Mezzo.

The Girl’s Parent (Bellomy): A fastidious button-maker and also a picky gardener who fakes a fight with Hucklebee in hopes of getting their children together. Male, 40-50s. Baritone.

The Actor (Henry): An aging, over-the-top Thespian who specializes in reciting Shakespeare, he is a commedia clown; his world is the stage and he knows no other reality. Male, 50s-70s.

The Man Who Dies (Mortimer): Henry’s goofy sidekick and another former actor who specializes in stage deaths. Male, 30s-50. Physical comedy skills a plus. Must be able to move well.

The Mute: Speechless presence who watches, acts as the wall, and deals with props; the “invisible” stage assistant. Should be able to easily assist in the story or fade into the background unnoticed. Nonspeaking. Must be able to move extremely well. Male or Female, 20s-40s. Looking to cast two actors: 1 male and 1 female.

To download an audition form, click HERE.

Audition Notice for You Can’t Take It With You

Director Stephen Jarrett along with producers Jamie Blake and Eileen Doherty are pleased to announce auditions for You Can’t Take It With You written by Moss Hart & George S. Kaufman.

Audition Dates:
Saturday, December 8 starting at 2:00 p.m.
Sunday, Sunday, December 9 starting at 7:30 p.m.

Callbacks:

Tuesday, December 11, 2018

Performance Dates:
February 23 – March 19, 2019

Show Summary:

Off-beat, quirky, and downright hilarious, this Pulitzer Prize-winning comedy has stood the test time.  It follows two families whose lives are thrown together when their children become engaged. This idealistic take on life, family, and love reinforces the idea that you can only live life to the fullest by doing whatever makes you happy.

Auditions will consist of a prepared a monologue 1-2 minutes long and readings from the script.

CHARACTER DESCRIPTIONS: YOU CAN’T TAKE IT WITH YOU

Penny Sycamore

50s. A round little woman, comfortable-looking, gentle, homey. One would not expect that under that placid exterior surge the divine, artistic urge – but it does, it does!

Martin “Grandpa” Vanderhof

70s. Penny’s father. Spry, bright-eyed and very much alive. He quit the rat race and made his peace with the world years ago, and his whole attitude and manner are quietly persuasive of this. His philosophy is to do only that which pleases most; his activities include going to commencements and the circus, throwing darts and collecting interesting people. He is he sun about whom the family rotates.

Paul Sycamore

50s. Husband of Penny, father of Essie and Alice. His quiet charm and mild manner are distinctly engaging. He manufactures fireworks in the basement.

Essie Carmichael

20s, Penny’s and Paul’s elder daughter. Born to dance, which she does throughout the play. Badly. Cheerful, energetic, somewhat goofy. Ballet training a distinct plus.

Ed Carmichael

30s and young for his age. Essie’s husband. His enthusiasms include playing the xylophone, small-press printing and Marxism. He defines “amateur” in every way. He and Essie are thinking of having a baby, if Grandpa says it is okay.

Alice Sycamore

Early 20s. Penny and Paul’s younger daughter. A lovely girl. Her devotion and love for her family are plainly apparent, but something sets her apart from them. For one thing, as the receptionist for Kirby & Co, she is in daily contact with the world; for another, she seems to have escaped the tinge of mild insanity that pervades the rest of the clan. Head-over-heels in love with Tony Kirby.

Mr. De Pinna

Indeterminate middle age, maybe older. Paul’s assistant, sidekick and acolyte. Five years ago, he came to deliver the ice, and just stayed on. Friendly and earnest, he inhabits some odd, unknowable world that is all his own.

Rheba

20s-40s. African-American. Nominally the Sycamore’s cook, she is a full family member. A loving, no-nonsense truth-teller.

Donald

20s-40s. African-American. Rheba’s boyfriend and member of the Sycamore clan.

Boris Kolenkhov

Middle aged. Essie’s ballet teacher. The playwrights describe him as “enormous, hairy, loud and very, very Russian.” A booming laugh and intensely strong opinions. The role requires a plausible Russian accent and some dance training or experience. He need not be as large as described, but the effect should be similar.

Mr. Anthony W. Kirby

50s. President, Wall St. firm, Kirby & Co. Member of Harvard Society, Union Club, Racquet Club, National Geographic Society. A very rich, very uptight, very miserable but doesn’t know it. In the back of his closet, however, from his college days, is a saxophone.

Mrs. Kirby

50s. Wife of Mr. Kirby. The female of the species. Very, very, very proper. Her hobby is Spiritualism. There is no saxophone in the back of her closet.

Anthony W. Kirby, Jr.

20s. Vice President, Kirby & Co. Just out of Yale. A charming kid, madly in love with Alice. Jimmy Stewart played him in the movie.

Gay Wellington

A dipsomaniac actress..

The Grand Duchess Olga Katrina

50s – 70s. Refugee of the Russian Revolution, the real aristocratic deal, presently a waitress at Child’s. Warmly imperious. Makes blintzes like you wouldn’t believe. Credible Russian accent.

Henderson

From the IRS. Utterly devoid of humor. (One short, memorably funny scene)

The Man. From the government. With an attitude and, a gun.

Two Other Men

Just like him.

To download an audition form, click HERE.

Future Audition Dates

You Can’t Take It With You
December 8-9, 2018

The Savannah Disputation
March 2-3, 2019

Ken Ludwig’s A Fox on the Fairway
March 30-31, 2019

Audition notices will be posted as they become available.

Audition dates are subject to change. Check back for updates.