MICHIGAN STAGE 2024 SEASON AUDITIONS - Michigan Stage

SUBMISSION GUIDELINES

Deadline: February 18th, 2024

Submit a recent headshot, resume, and performance reel (if possible) and we will contact you to set up an audition appointment. Audition Appointments will be held at Ripley Grier Studios on FEB 21 and 22 with callbacks on the 22nd. Please send submissions to lane@michiganstage.org.





PERSONNEL

Tim Pare, Artistic Director, Co-Director Guys and Dolls

Rachel Gary, Co-Director/Choreographer Guys and Dolls

Andy Morton, Director Peerless

Lane Madison, Artistic Associate





OTHER DATES

First rehearsal (date):

Lost in Yonkers - 06/18/2024

Peerless - 06/27/2024

Guys and Dolls - 07/09/2024

First paid preview:

Lost in Yonkers - 07/11/2024

Peerless - 07/18/2024

Guys and Dolls - 07/25/2024

Opening:

Lost in Yonkers - 07/12/2024

Peerless - 07/19/2024

Guys and Dolls - 07/26/2024



Expected Closing:

Lost in Yonkers - 07/20/2024

Peerless - 07/27/2024

Guys and Dolls - 08/03/2024





OTHER

MichiganStage.org





An Equity Monitor will not be provided. The Artistic Director will run all aspects of this audition.

Equity’s contracts prohibit discrimination. Equity is committed to diversity and encourages all its employers to engage in a policy of equal employment opportunity designed to promote a positive model of inclusion. As such, Equity encourages performers of all ethnicities, gender identities, and ages, as well as performers with disabilities, to attend every audition.

Always bring your Equity Membership card to auditions.





SEEKING

Actors for all roles in Michigan Stage’s 2024 Summer Season (see breakdown).





PREPARATION

If called in for an appointment, you’ll be asked to prepare a brief song in the style of Guys and Dolls and/or a monologue selection appropriate for Peerless or Lost in Yonkers. Sides will be available for callbacks. You may sing from the shows. Please bring sheet music in your key. An accompanist will be provided. Please bring a picture and resume, stapled together.





BREAKDOWN

MICHIGAN STAGE 2024 SUMMER SEASON

We are a 501(c) 3 Professional non-profit theater arts organization offering year-round programming in Oakland county and surrounding Metro-Detroit communities. Our mission is to produce accessible, often mobile, theater which celebrates artists, audiences and collaborators equitably, while inspiring the communities we serve to explore new cultures and opportunities; Expanding the boundaries of where theater can take us.

Our inaugural 2024 professional theatre season is a huge milestone for Michigan Stage, and we are so excited to bring these productions to life with high-quality talent. We believe in inclusive casting and encourage all backgrounds to apply. See breakdown below.

LOST IN YONKERS by Neil Simon

Grandma Kurnitz: Old and stern. Callous. Blunt to comic effect. Mother to Louie, Eddie, Bella, and Gert, and grandmother to Jay and Arty. Immigrated from Germany in WWI, and lost two of her kids. Hardened by life’s struggles. Takes extra strict measures to protect her family, which has maybe pushed them all away.





Bella: Mid 30s. Warm-hearted. Hospitable. Kind. Though her mind is not up to speed with her peers, she still wishes for a big family of her own someday. Bella is a daughter of Grandma Kurnitz, aunt to Jay and Arty, and sister to Gert, Louie, and Eddie. Her mother shields her from the outside world.





Jay: 15 and a half. More sullen and angry than apprehensive. Son of Eddie. Often tries to act older than he is and be a good role model for Arty, though teasing his little brother always comes first.





Arty: 13 and a half. Stubborn, but witty. Nervous but curious.Making jokes is his coping mechanism. Looks up to his brother, Jay, but remains steadfast in his own thinking. Grows up quite a lot throughout the play.





Louis: Late 30s. Smooth talking. Erratic. Generous. Claims to be a businessman, but is possibly involved with the mafia. Louie is the oldest son of Grandma Kurnitz, uncle to Jay and Arty, and brother to Bella, Gert, and Eddie. He credits his mother for his strength and resilience. Acts as a father figure to the boys while Eddie is gone.





Gert: Patient. Family moderator. Gert is one of Grandma Kurnitz’s daughters, aunt to Jay and Arty, and sister to Bella, Louie, and Eddie. She has a breathing condition which causes her to suck in her breath in the middle of her sentences, developed as a child in fear of her mother. Gertrude acts as the referee between siblings, particularly for Bella and Louie, and closest sibling to Bella.





Eddie: 41. Loving. Sensitive. One of Grandma Kurnitz’s sons, father to Jay and Arty, and brother to Louie, Bella, and Gert. Recently lost his wife to cancer, and in paying for her to have treatment, he now finds himself with a massive amount of debt. Holds a lot of resentment toward Grandma.





GUYS AND DOLLS by Frank Loesser, Abe Burrows and Jo Swerling

Nathan Detroit: (F5-D4) 35 to 45. A good-hearted gambler and craps game organizer who never hit the bigtime. Loves Adelaide but struggles to change. A schemer with unwitting talents.



Miss Adelaide: (E5 to A3) 25 to 35. Nathan's fiancé and a lead performer at the Hot Box nightclub. She loves Nathan more than anything in the world and desperately wants to marry him, so much in fact, she has already told her mom they married years ago, and have children. Passionate, outspoken, stubborn, glamorous.



Sarah Brown: (G5-B3) 20 to 30. Bright-eyed, strong-willed. Sergeant of the local Mission. Fully believes salvation of the soul to be the only cause worth pursuing. Aspires/Hopes to succeed by converting gambling sinners to saints. Falls unexpectedly in love with Sky along the way. Prudish and steadfast in her beliefs, but eventually learns to let go.



Sky Masterson: (E5 to B3) 35 to 45. A high-stakes gambler whose luck never seems to run out. A wild card who surprises himself. Falls in love with the unlikeliest of women. Suave, smart, handsome.



Arvide Abernathy: (F5-D4) 50 to 65. The bass drum and cymbal player in the Mission band. Sarah's loving grandfather. Wise and sweet. Wants nothing but the best for Sarah.



Harry the Horse: (G5 to F3) 35 to 55. A crook and gambler. A tough guy who views dollar signs as his bottom line. Brings Big Jule into Nathan's craps game and backs his cheating, but is also a man of his word in the gambling community.



Nicely Nicely Johnson: (B5-DF) 30 to 45. Just like his name suggests, he is the nicest and cheeriest of the gambling crooks. High-spirited and a bit naïve, but sincere and genuine. Nathan's loyal friend and lackey.



Big Jule: (G5 to F3) 30 to 50. A big time craps player from Chicago who uses a gun and his own pair of rigged dice to bully his way into never losing. A cheat. Tough looking. A bit of an oaf.



Lt. Brannigan: 40 to 55. A New York police officer who is on to Nathan's illegal craps games and is dead-set on catching him. A tough, no-nonsense character.



Benny Southstreet: (G5 to D4) 30 to 45. Nathan's right-hand man and a gambler himself. Smart, slick, always moving and shaking, but with what he thinks are Nathan's best interest at heart.



Ensemble: Male and Female; various ages. Should sing and dance well. Sightseers, Mission Band (Agatha, Calvin, Martha), Crap Shooters (Liver Lips Louie, Angie The Ox, Rusty Charlie), Hot Box Girls, Waiters, Cuban Dancers, General Matilda Cartwright



Swings: Female and male identifying to cover all ensemble roles.



PEERLESS by Jiehae Park

M: Twin to L, Asian

L: Twin to M, Asian

D: Male, looks (really) white, one-sixteenth Native American

BF: M’s Boyfriend, Black

Dirty Girl: aka Caroline aka That Weird Girl In High School You Know The One

D’s Brother: Doubles with D

Preppy Girl: Doubles with Dirty Girl


Salary: $450 - $550 / week