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.

Audition Notice for The Savannah Disputation

written by Evan Smith

directed by Will Jarred

produced by Lynn O’ Connell and Eileen Doherty

Audition Dates

Saturday, March 2^nd, 2:00 pm

Sunday, March 3^rd,, 7:00 pm

Call-Backs Tuesday, March 5^th, 7:00 pm.

Synopsis

The Savannah Disputation is the story of two elderly sisters who drop all niceties of southern charm when a young door-to-door evangelist comes knocking.  This theological comedy blends the playwright’s trademark sharpness of wit and depth of character while telling a story in which a crisis of faith arises when seemingly similar beliefs are discovered to be worlds apart.

For the Audition

Please prepare a one- to two-minute contemporary monologue for the initial audition. Those asked to return for call-backs will be asked to read selected scenes from the script.

All characters will use accents: Coastal/Lowland Southern English typical of Savannah for the 3 female characters. The male character may have an Eastern New England accent, typical of Boston. Feel free to audition using a character-appropriate accent if you are able.

Please bring a headshot and résumé, if possible, and be ready to list all conflicts during the rehearsal and performance period of March, April and May. Three to five rehearsals per week will be scheduled on weeknights and midday weekends from March 6^th through April 24^th.  Performances run April 26 – May 19.

Character Descriptions

Both Mary and Margaret, the two sisters, should be able to convincingly play older women without the assistance of heavy makeup.

Mary: (Female, 75-85) Brash, crochety, straight-forward.  Think Bea Arthur from the Golden Girls, but with a southern twang. Devout Roman Catholic in words, but not necessarily in deeds.

Margaret: (Female, 75-85) The more genteel of the two sisters, soft spoken with a level of vulnerability and naivete that belies her age.  Think Betty White.

Melissa:  (Female, 30-40) Earnest, energetic.  Full figured.  Among fundamentalist evangelicals, she is something of a misfit.

Father Murphy (Male, 40+)  Not your typical plump prince of the of the Church – appears more like a computer geek in street clothes. Highly intelligent, respectful, patient.  NOTE:  This part could be played by an African-American male.

To download an audition form, click HERE.

Future Audition Dates

Ken Ludwig’s A Fox on the Fairway
March 23-24, 2019

Audition notices will be posted as they become available.

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