Auditions for Stephen Sondheim's Assassins
Posted: Mar 24, 2019
Western Reserve Playhouse auditions for
“Assassins”
By Stephen Sondheim and Book by John Weidman
Directed by Dawn Sniadak-Yamokoski – Musical Direction by Bryan Bird and Dave Stebbins
Synopsis:
A multiple Tony Award-winning theatrical tour-de-force, Assassin’s combines Sondheim’s signature blend of intelligently stunning lyrics and beautiful music with a panoramic story of our nation’s culture of celebrity and the violent means some will use to obtain it, embodied by America’s four successful and five would-be presidential assassins. Bold, original, disturbing and alarmingly funny, Assassins is perhaps the most controversial musical ever written.
Assassins lays bare the lives of nine individuals who assassinated or tried to assassinate the President of the United States, in a one-act historical “revusical” that explores the dark side of the American experience. From John Wilkes Booth to Lee Harvey Oswald, writers, Stephen Sondheim and John Weidman, bend the rules of time and space, taking us on a nightmarish roller coaster ride in which assassins and would-be assassins from different historical periods meet, interact and inspire each other to harrowing acts in the name of the American Dream.
Auditions: July 28 & 29, 2019 from 6:30PM-9PM; Callbacks if needed July 30, 2019 from 6:30-8:00PM
Location: Western Reserve Playhouse 3326 Everett Road, Bath, Ohio 44286
Sign Up:
https://www.signupgenius.com/go/508054EADA92AA5F85-auditions3
Audition Requirements: One song that shows off your story telling. Please do not sing from the show.
All parts are available at this time and there are no Equity contracts at this time. All ethnicities will be considered.
Rehearsals will start September 15, 2019 and run Sunday-Thursday from 6:30-9:30PM.
Roles Available:
CASTING THE FOLLOWING ROLES:
ENSEMBLE: (F & M, 20s – 50s) All vocal ranges. An Ensemble of 5-6 people that play such characters as Emma Goldman; Presidents Garfield and Ford; Union soldiers and the Secret Service; and have important solo and group parts in the songs “How I Saved Roosevelt”, “The Ballad of Czolgosz”, and “Something Just Broke”. Must be strong singers and actors.
BALLADEER(S) (M & F, 20-70) Tenor/Alto C3 – G4. A folk singer and the narrator of the show. The “good” voice of America. Part may be split between two actors, a man and a woman. The male actor will also play Lee Harvey Oswald. (Ability to play the guitar a plus, but not required.)
JOHN WILKES BOOTH/PROPRIETOR: (M, 25 – 40) Tenor, F2 – G4. Assassinated President Abraham Lincoln during a performance at Ford’s Theater. Foreman and inspirational celebrity to the other assassins. Will also play the part of the Proprietor, the “dark” voice of America. (Requires a Southern Accent.)
SARA JANE MOORE (F, 40- 50) Alto, F3 – Eb5. Attempted to assassinate President Gerald Ford at the St. Francis Hotel in San Francisco, CA, on September 22, 1975. A frazzled housewife with little sense.
CHARLES GUITEAU (M, 40s-50s) Tenor, A2 – Ab4. Assassinated President James Garfield in the waiting room of the Baltimore and Potomac Railroad Station, Washington, D.C., on July 2, 1881. Dashing but mad.
LYNETTE “SQUEAKY” FROMME (F, 25 – 35) Soprano, A3 – G5. Attempted to assassinate President Gerald Ford at the Capitol Park in Sacramento, CA on September 5, 1975. A pixie hippie in love with Charles Manson.
LEON CZOLGOSZ (M, 25 – 35) Baritone, G#2 – G4. Assassinated President William McKinley at the Pan American Exposition in Buffalo, N.Y. on September 6, 1901. A young poverty-worn radical. (Role requires a Polish Accent.)
GIUSEPPE ZANGARA (M, 25 – 35) Tenor, B2 – A4. Attempted to assassinate President-elect Franklin D. Roosevelt as he greeted well-wishers in Bayfront Park, Miami, FL on February 15, 1933. An angry, heavily-accented Italian immigrant. (Role requires an Italian Accent and to speak some phrases in Italian.)
SAMUEL BYCK (M, 40s-50s) Baritone, D3 – G4. Attempted to assassinate President Richard Nixon by hijacking a commercial jetliner. Hysterically irate schlep in a Santa Claus suit.
JOHN HINCKLEY (M, 20-35) Tenor, A2 – G4. Attempted to assassinate President Ronald Reagan as he left the Washington Hilton in Washington, D.C. on March 30, 1981. A love-obsessed and depressed college student. (Ability to play the guitar a plus, but not required.)
If you have any questions please feel free to email the director at dawnwrp@gmail.com
