Posts Tagged ‘auditions’

From left: Joe Gruca, Courtney Marietta, and Derric Neal star in AVT's production of BEYOND A REASONABLE DOUBT, on stage June 4-13 in Quartz Hill.

AVT June 2010 Update

 

 AVT Podcast #11 - June 2010 Update [11:01m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (138)

In this episode:

* BEYOND A REASONABLE DOUBT opens Friday, June 4th for a six-show run through June 13th! Two lawyers duel over the nature of justice… and face a shared past that may undo them both. Tickets available online via secure credit card, or a limited number of physical tickets are available via cash/check at Sagebrush Cafe in Quartz Hill.

* Interview with Karen Gruca, production stage manager for BEYOND A REASONABLE DOUBT.

* Auditions have been announced for THE INTERROGATION OF NATHAN HALE, which will open in September. Please see our website, under the “Happening Now” box at right for a link to more information.

* Our first Musicians Night was held in the garage blackbox on Saturday, April 24th. Check out our blog for photos and podcast sound clips. We had a great time and have future Musicians Nights lined up! Stay tuned for further updates.

* Updates for playwrights – $300 bounty continues, several playwrights are wrighting furiously as we speak. Next Playwrights Expo will be July 24th. Short scripts for staged reading and limited production due June 26th. AVT is moving towards a phased set of event types to help bring locally written work from concept to full production.

* As a 501(c)3 nonprofit company, we depend on your support – ticket revenues recover only about 65% of what it takes to operate AVT. The generosity of our Patrons is what allows us to continue producing unique, original, and experimental drama. Please consider making a tax-deductible donation easily by credit card on our website today.

AVT announces auditions for THE INTERROGATION OF NATHAN HALE, by David Stanley Ford, on Saturday, June 19th from 9am to 1230pm.  The format will be cold reading.

There will be 6 shows during the run (Sept 17-26, 2010).  Two rehearsals per week of 2-3 hours each will be scheduled starting in July, time which does not include memorization and character work expected of all actors.

You must contact the stage manager in advance with your phone number and email if you intend to audition: juliana@avthespians.org.

It is the morning of September 22, 1776. Nathan Hale is waiting to be hanged as a spy. A British captain, John Montresor, invites him to spend his remaining time in the captain’s tent.  Hale, a rifleman and spy for the American Revolution, was captured and executed by the British almost exactly 233 years before our opening night.  What is freedom? What is courage? What is the value of a life? This is a play that seeks to understand the values of our nation—their flaws, as well as their wondrous virtues.  Mr. Ford has taken the circumstances of Hale’s last hours and used them to probe our country, using both points of view -that of cynic and idealist – to try to understand who we are.

There are two male roles available:

Captain John Montresor.  A character in his forties or fifties, Montresor is a jaded, darkly humorous, disillusioned officer in His Royal Majesty’s Expeditionary Forces.  He uses cynical sarcasm and needling wit to “play with his food” – simultaneously interrogating and taunting American rebel prisoners before their imminent hangings.  Montresor personifies the counter-argument to the romanticized ideal of our county’s birth.

Nathan Hale. A young and idealistic rifleman in his twenties.  Hale is full of fire and passion for the revolution, and embodies the traditionally American characteristics of daring, can-do spirit, and determined optimism, even in the face of execution.  His spirit is inspirational, despite a glaring streak of naiveté that makes him prime fodder for Montresor’s mind games.

Producing Director: Nalin A. Ratnayake
Artistic Director: Kara McCollum
Stage Manager: Juliana Katzman

Produced by special arrangement with THE DRAMATIC PUBLISHING COMPANY of Woodstock, Illinois.

There have been a few requests for more information pertaining to auditions for “Beyond a Reasonable Doubt”.  I am happy to oblige with some interpretation of the work and characters.

Basics: there are two main roles, Ruth Ballard and Kenneth Hayes, both early to mid-thirties.  A smaller male role for a Guard is also available.  The setting will be the interview room of a women’s prison in the mid-1980’s.  There are 2 acts of about 45-50 min each.  Ruth and Ken are onstage almost 100% of the time, so the line load is heavy. There are no roles suitable for youth.

Rehearsals will be determined after casting by agreement, as we have a small cast to work with.  Expect 2-4 hours total per week in rehearsal, not including memorization and character work expected of every actor on their own time.

Synopsis: Two dynamic lawyers are locked in a clash of wills and morality. Ruth Ballard is an embittered radical, now in jail, accused of participating in a bank robbery and the subsequent killing of a police officer.  She chooses to represent herself as attorney. Kenneth Hayes is the assistant district attorney assigned to prosecute her. Once, they were classmates, and more,  in law school—now they are two lawyers with very different views on the nature of justice. Their conflicts, legal and personal, probe the nature of our criminal justice system and the  dichotomy between logic and compassion.

Kenneth Hayes: Born into a poor family, Ken has pulled himself up by his bootstraps to get where he is today.  He is searingly intelligent and methodical, and has been taught by a life of hard work and study that there is no excuse for cheating the system or opposing law and order.  Ken would believe that there is no fundamental difference between stealing because one has need and stealing with criminal intent. The law is the law.  He is not a malicious person; rather he simply believes strongly that one must draw a hard line and have an equal standard, or society simply cannot practically function.

Ruth Ballard: Ruth is an in-your-face, assertive woman and a strong activist for social justice.  She is easily as intelligent as Ken, but much less calculating.  Her strength lies instead in her indomitable passion for what she believes is right.  In contrast to Ken’s carefully constructed and sometimes subtle methods, Ruth makes no apologies for her intentions and prefers to argue on principle, rather than via procedure.  Her view on the law is that ignoring the human element inherent in each and every case coldy avoids what is essentially pertinent to every case – intent and motivation.  These, in her view, are what determines ethical culpability – not an action in and of itself.  Ruth has a criminal record of minor offenses associated with her various advocacy movements.

Note: At one point in the play, the script does call for Ruth to briefly strip down to bra and panties (in a non-sexual context).  The actual blocking may be somewhat more conservative than this, but if the concept bothers you, you are advised not to audition for the role of Ruth.

Guard: While having far fewer lines than Ruth and Ken, Marty the prison guard is by no means a two-dimensional character.  He knows of what this woman is accused… she is a cop-killer.   Ruth and Ken were personally involved with each other in law school.  But this case is personal to Marty too; he likely knew the officer killed in the crime under trial, and the struggle between his emotional anger and his sense of duty to the rules of his profession is apparent in every scene.

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Open auditions will be held Saturday, March 20th.  The format will be cold reading.  Please contact the Stage Manager (karen@avthespians.org) if you intend to audition or if you have further questions regarding audtions.

It was a marathon run yesterday with a full day of auditions for our production of “Crime and Punishment”.  After several surprises and some deliberation, we have decided on the following cast:

Raskolnikov – Kevin Hogan

Porfiry / Marmeladov / Koch – M. Steven Felty

Sonia - Anna Delrosario

Alyona / Lizaveta / Mother – Kara McCollum

Karen and I were very pleased with the turnout.  Every single candidate impressed us for different reasons, and we had multiple good options for every single role… a director’s dream, and a difficult decision.

Congratulations to the cast, and a big thank you to all who auditioned!  I appreciate your willingness to be a part of something new, and your enthusiasm for our project.

AVT is pleased to announce auditions for Fyodor Dostoyevsky’s “Crime and Punishment”, a drama by Marilyn Campbell and Curt Columbus, and produced by special arrangement with Dramatic Publishing.

Please contact the Production Stage Manager, Karen Gruca (karen@avthespians.org) to schedule an appointment for Saturday, August 15th.  The format will be cold reading.

Rehearsals will be at most weekly, beginning in mid to late September. There will be three performances, two on Saturday January 16th, and one on Sunday January 17th.

We are looking for:

• One male for the lead, Rodion Raskolnikov.  Lots of lines, on stage almost continuously for 90 min.  The character is dark (metaphorically), disturbing, fidgety, and psychologically off-balance.  Primary desired quality is intense depth of character.
• One male to play Porfiry Petrovich (a detective), as well as minor roles Marmeladov (a drunk) and Koch (town citizen).  We need a versatile actor to play multiple, very different characters.
• One female to play Sonia (a prostitute), as well as minor roles Alyona (a miserly pawnbroker), Lizaveta (an innocent victim), and Mother (a saintly figure).  We need a versatile actress to play multiple, very different characters, with little time in between switching roles.

Due to the subject matter and a few instances of profanity and violence, this play is not deemed suitable for youth actors.

This new, award-winning adaptation of Dostoyevsky’s literary masterpiece Crime and Punishment is set in 1860’s St. Petersburg, where Rodion Romanovich Raskolnikov relives the thoughts, ideas and feelings that drove him to his horrible crime. This “conversation on the nature of evil” becomes a dark journey into the mind of a killer and his search for redemption. Raskolnikov speaks directly to the audience at times, putting his case to them, so that the audience becomes another character in the telling. This is an intense psychological and spiritual journey which seeks to unveil hidden dimensions of the human condition, and the power of faith to heal even the gravest and most disturbing wounds of the soul.

AVT is pleased to announce that we have acquired the rights to our next production: Crime and Punishment, by Fyodor Dostoyevsky, adapted to the stage by Marilyn Campbell and Curt Columbus, and produced by special arrangement with Dramatic Publishing.

This new, award-winning adaptation of Dostoyevsky’s literary masterpiece Crime and Punishment is set in 1860’s St. Petersburg, where Rodion Romanovich Raskolnikov relives the thoughts, ideas and feelings that drove him to his horrible crime. This “conversation on the nature of evil” becomes a dark journey into the mind of a killer and his search for redemption. Raskolnikov speaks directly to the audience at times, putting his case to them, so that the audience becomes another character in the telling. This is an intense psychological and spiritual journey which seeks to unveil hidden dimensions of the human condition, and the power of faith to heal even the gravest and most disturbing wounds of the soul.

I am very pleased to be able to produce and direct this play, as it has been one of my favorite books for a long time.  There will be three shows, two on Saturday January 16th, and one on Sunday January 17th.

Look for an audition notice on the AVT Forums sometime in early August, and rehearsals will begin around early September.  We will be looking for one male for a darkly disturbing lead, and another male and female to play several supporting roles for which demonstrated versatility at playing multiple very distinct characters will be the key factor.

Would you like to help support this production?  Check out the Patronage page to see how you can be a part of our unique arts movement on your local community.

Praise for the theatrical version of Crime and Punishment:

2002-2003 Joseph Jefferson Award for Best New Adaptation

“Who would have thought that the novel no high school student has ever finished reading would make such engrossing theater?” —New York Times

“Stunningly lean, taut and emotionally searing… a work of theatre that never feels like a condensation of a seminal 500-page novel, but rather has the swift, sharp impact of a blow from an ax.” —Hedy Weiss, Chicago Sun-Times

“Only occasionally can the production of a classic make us see the work differently…this adaptation and production remind us how thrilling a classic can be. On opening night you feel the audience holding its breath throughout the performance. Go: it will leave you breathless, too.” —AISLESAY Chicago

“Crime and Punishment, in a feat that rivals the construction of the Hoover Dam, has been distilled into a taut 90-minute play.” —New York Times

“Raskolnikov’s journey may be, in essence, a 90-minute exercise in logic, but here it’s a remarkably absorbing one.”
—New York Times