Auditions

Speakeasy holds auditions by appointment for upcoming projects.

2023-2024 SEASON

We are seeking actors for our 2023-2024 Season.

Equity Principal Auditions (EPAs) will be held in May 2023. Inquiries from non-union actors may be considered on a case-by-case basis. For more information, email auditions@speakeasystage.com.

Reviewing auditions will be: Producing Artistic Director Paul Daigneault, Community & Artistic Programs Manager Alex Lonati, Artistic Fellows Alex Leondedis and Paulina Martz, representatives from the co-producing organizations, and the directors of the shows.

POTUS: OR, BEHIND EVERY GREAT DUMBASS ARE SEVEN WOMEN TRYING TO KEEP HIM ALIVE
By Selina Fellinger
Directed by Paula Plum
Rehearsals start 8/21/23
Production runs 9/15/23 – 10/7/23

THE BAND’S VISIT (co-production with the Huntington Theatre)
Music and Lyrics by David Yazbek, Book by Itamar Moses
Directed by Paul Daigneault, Choreographed by Daniel Pelzig, and Music Directed by José Delgado
Rehearsals start 10/6/23
Production runs 11/10/23 – 12/10/23

A CASE FOR THE EXISTENCE OF GOD
By Samuel D. Hunter
Directed by Melinda Lopez
Rehearsals start 1/2/24
Production runs 1/26/24 – 2/17/24

COST OF LIVING
By Martyna Majok
Directed by Alex Lonati
Rehearsals start 2/12/24
Production runs 3/8/24 – 3/30/24

A STRANGE LOOP (co-production with Front Porch Arts Collective)
Book, Music, and Lyrics By Michael R. Jackson
Directed by Maurice Parent
Rehearsals start 4/1/24
Production runs 4/26/24 – 5/25/24

Production Details:
Union Contract: NEAT 6 Agreement – Rehearsals $546
EMC points will be available for non-union actors

Auditions – Equity Principal Auditions (EPAs)
Equity Principal Auditions will be held on:
Wednesday, May 10 from 10am-6pm (Musicals)
Wednesday, May 17 from 10am-6pm (Plays)
Friday, May 19 from 10am-2:30pm (Musicals)

To Request an Appointment:

To request an appointment, please email your full name, Equity status, contact information, and the shows for which you would like to be considered, along with your headshot and resume attached as one PDF document titled “LAST NAME, FIRST NAME (2023).” Please also include your availability during the audition window. Please email this
to auditions@speakeasystage.com.

Auditions will be held in person. Auditions should be no longer than 5 minutes. Actors may read one or more scenes from the season’s plays, perform one or two monologues, or prepare a combination of scene(s) and monologues(s) from other sources of their preference.

For musicals, performers may also prepare a brief song of their choice. SpeakEasy
suggests two 16-bar selections, one up-tempo and one ballad. An accompanist, readers, and material from the scripts will be available at the auditions.

Audition slots are guaranteed only for AEA actors. Non-union performers will be added to a waitlist.

To Note:

The Company shall conduct all auditions/interviews in a manner that promotes fair consideration to persons of all races, ethnicities, national origins, genders, sexual orientations, ages, and ability statuses. SpeakEasy Stage Company is an Equal Opportunity Employer.

For these auditions, no nudity or any form of sexual contact will be required as part of an actor’s audition. We will not ask prospective participants to perform violence or sexual contact as part of an audition without disclosing this expectation in the audition notice or invitation. SpeakEasy Stage Company seeks to foster an environment of communication, safety, respect, accountability, and the health, safety, and well- being of institutions and its participants.

Non-Equity Actors will be reviewed at the discretion of the artistic team.

Please contact auditions@speakeasystage.com with any questions.

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CASTING BREAKDOWN BY PRODUCTION

POTUS

Actors can be cis or trans. Age is flexible. Beauty is subjective. So long as they’re fast, fierce, and hilarious.

HARRIET: (Any Ethnicity, 40’s-60’s) His chief of staff. Ultra-competent, Harriet has been doing most of the presidential work for years. She signs his documents, cleans up his messes, and dreads every word that comes out of his mouth.

JEAN: (Any Ethnicity, 40’s-60’s) His press secretary. Maybe not always in-the-loop, but just as hands-on in the presidential clean-up.

STEPHANIE: (Any Ethnicity, 20’s-30’s) His secretary. Barely competent, Stephanie is more concerned with losing her job than doing it. Gradually – through the help of some hallucinogens – she reveals another side of herself.

DUSTY: (Any Ethnicity, 20’s-30’s) His dalliance. A gorgeous, not-as-naive as she appears, farm-girl who thinks POTUS has invited her to the Oval Office to celebrate some…personal news.

BERNADETTE: (White, 30’s-60’s) His sister. Just-out-of-jail, POTUS’ lesbian sister (with a love connection in the White House) is banking on a pardon from her brother but incapable of letting go of her drug-dealing past.

CHRIS: (Black, 30’s-50’s) A journalist. Her friendly relationship with the women in the White House isn’t going to stop her from making her big break.

MARGARET: (Black, 40’s-70’s) His wife. The First Lady. She’ll be walking the tightrope of appearance and reality while checking the polls on her new “down-to-earth” Croc heels.

THE BAND’s VISIT

TEWFIQ – Egyptian, 50-59, B2-C4. Conductor of the Alexandria Ceremonial Police Orchestra; a shy, formal man, carrying a buried burden of sadness. 

SIMON – Egyptian, 40-49, D3-D4. Assistant conductor and the clarinetist in the Alexandria Ceremonial Police Orchestra; He once wanted to be a composer. Quiet and reserved. 

HALED – Egyptian, 20-29, D3-F#4. The trumpet player in the Alexandria Ceremonial Police Orchestra; he is handsome, smooth, a bit of a flirt, loves jazz; trumpet skills are a plus but not required. 

CAMAL – Egyptian, 20-39, A2-E4. The violinist in the Alexandria Ceremonial Police Orchestra.  The youngest in the band, he’s trying to prove himself and spends a lot of time jostling with the Telephone Guy to contact the Egyptian embassy and get help.

DINA – Israeli, 30-49, D3-C5. Owner of a cafe in Bet Hatikvah – she is beautiful, world-weary, passionate, with a dry wit.

ITZIK – Israeli, 25-39, C3-G4. A young father, Itzik is a devoted family man with lots of patience. He is trying to learn from his wife, and adjust to life with a newborn. 

PAPI – Israeli, 20-29, D3-Ab4. An employee in Dina’s cafe; he is disheveled, nervous around girls.

IRIS/ISRAELI SOLDIER 2/ SAMMY’S WIFE – Israeli, 25-39, G3-E5. Itzik’s wife.  Itzik’s headstrong and long-suffering wife who’s resigned herself to life with Itzik

AVRUM/CASHIER – Israeli, 50-59, D3-Eb4. He is a widow who grieves for his wife. They met in a music club so for him music forever after is a source of love and positive associations.

ZELGER/STARING CAFETERIA MAN – Israeli, 20-29, B2-Eb4. Papi’s friend. Brash and charismatic, he sets Papi up for a night on the town

ANNA/ISRAELI SOLDIER 1/ STARING CAFETERIA WOMAN – Israeli, 20-29, G3-G5. Zelger’s girlfriend. Extroverted, and a friend of Julia who brings her along for a blind date with Papi.

JULIA/TICKET GIRL/OLD WOMAN – Israeli, 20-29, G3-E5. Anna’s cousin. Papi’s blind date, shy and upset at Papi’s lack of attention and affection

SAMMY/JANITOR/GUARD – Israeli, 30-39, C3-Bb4. A married man, and Dina’s ex-lover who she unexpectedly meets when dining out with Tewfiq.

TELEPHONE GUY/TRAVELER/BUCKET GUY/DJ – Israeli, 20-29, C3-Bb4. A young man waiting at a telephone; very romantic.

A CASE FOR THE EXISTENCE OF GOD

*KEITH (Black, Mid-to-late thirties) – A single father and a mortgage broker living in Idaho. A gay man struggling to keep his adoptive foster daughter. Shares a similar sadness with Ryan.

*RYAN (White, Mid-to-late thirties) – A single father and a factory worker living in Idaho. A man working through his recent divorce and applying for a loan to buy his family’s property back. Shares a similar sadness with Keith.

*NOTE: These roles have been cast. Auditioning performers will be considered as possible (emergency) replacements, should any become necessary.

Cost of LIVING

EDDIE: (Any Ethnicity, Mid-Late 40’s) – An unemployed truck driver. He is a man who understands that self-pity and moping are privileges for people who, in their lives, have friends and family who unconditionally love them and will listen to their shit. Anything he tells you, he hopes will be entertaining or funny or interesting because he knows you’re not obligated to stay and listen to him. When he slips into sadness, he bounces back fast. He would have made a great uncle.

ANI: (Any Ethnicity, Late 30s – Early 40s) – Ani is a woman whose world has not extended very far beyond North Jersey and just you try to say something to her and watch what happens. She has her own ways and she is fine with those ways and those that do not agree don’t need to stick around – as many haven’t. She can seem brusque or intense to some people. A cat that resists being pet – until it wants to be. She is in a wheelchair. Severe incomplete spinal cord injury. Quadriplegic. Though some of the fingers of one hand are partially functioning. Ani’s full name can be Ania Lucja Skowronska-Torres or Ani Luz Hernandez-Torres or Ani Li-Torres or Ānanda Singh-Torres, amongst many
options. Ani’s full name should be chosen to suit the actress playing her.

JESS: (Any Ethnicity, Mid 20’s) – First generation child of an immigrant. Does not come from wealth, nor does she try to seem it. Has a hard time keeping her feelings and opinions to herself. Which has gotten her in trouble. Still, she can’t help it. Or doesn’t want to. She will put up a fight when she needs – and sometimes even when she doesn’t or perhaps shouldn’t. Can take care of herself. Though perhaps wishes this was not always the case.

JOHN: (Any Ethnicity, Mid 20’s) – John is beautiful. He has cerebral palsy. A kind of halted way of speaking. Otherwise, he is determinedly polished. Comes from wealth and wears it, undeniably.

For COST OF LIVING only:
Video submissions will also be accepted from non-local artists. Please email your audition, a PDF of your headshot and resume, and an answer to the question “why does this play resonate with you?” to auditions@speakeasystage.com by May 17, 2023.

A STRANGE LOOP

USHER (Black, 20’s, Range: Eb3 – D6) Overweight to obese cisgender queer, male who carries a self-conscious but femme energy. Extremely self-aware and extremely insecure with a warm but deeply ironic sense of humor. He wears his intelligence on his sleeve and his darkness shows in his writing, not in his personal expression. An usher by night, musical theater writer by day.

THOUGHT #1: (Black, Any age, Range: B2 – C7) Several characters including but not limited to an elderly woman tourist and Usher’s niece’s ratchet mother.

THOUGHT #2: (Black, Any age, Range: B2 – C6) Several characters including but not limited to Usher’s Doctor and the first incarnation of Usher’s mother.

THOUGHT #3: (Black, Any age, Range: B2 – C#6) Several characters including but not limited to Usher’s agent and Todrick.

THOUGHT #4: (Black, Any age, Range: G2 – A5) Several characters including but not limited to the final incarnation of Usher’s mother.

THOUGHT #5: (Black, Any age. Range: G2 – G5) Several characters including but not limited to Joshlet and Usher’s Dad.

THOUGHT #6: (Black, Any age, Range: E2 – G5) Several characters including but not limited to Inwood Daddy.