The Bijou Theatre in Downtown Bridgeport is proud to announce open call auditions for the final production of the season, Richard Greenberg's Take Me Out, directed by Rich Mancini. Performances are May 13-22 at The Bijou Theatre, 275 Fairfield Ave, Bridgeport. Auditions will be held Sunday, February 21 from 6pm-9pm and Monday, February 22 from 7pm-10pm at The Bijou Theatre, 275 Fairfield Avenue, Bridgeport. Callbacks, if necessary, will take placeSunday, February 28.
“Darren Lemming, the star center fielder of the world champion New York Empires, is young, rich, famous, talented, handsome and so convinced of his popularity that when he casually announces he’s gay, he assumes the news will be readily accepted by everyone. It isn’t. Friends, fans and teammates react with ambivalence, and when the slipping Empires call up the young phenom Shane Mungitt to close their games, the ambivalence turns to violence. Angry, lonely, guilt-ridden and confused, Darren finds some unlikely solace in the form of friendship with his new business manager, Mason Marzac—a brilliant but repressed guy, who, as everyone around him copes with disenchantment, blooms in the ecstatic discovery of baseball.”
Auditioning actors must be ages 16 and up. All roles are open. Non-equity, no pay. All types and ethnicities are encouraged to audition. All actors should bring a current headshot (or recent photo) and a one-page acting resume or list of theatre/performing experience. Please prepare a short contemporary monologue.
Take Me Out calls for a cast of 11 men, the first 9 of which (as follows) are Major League baseball players, who should read somewhat athletic, ranging from their 20s to mid-30s. Much of the action takes place in the locker room and showers of a ballpark, and some scenes will require nudity.
CHARACTER BREAKDOWNS:
Darren Lemming (the play’s central character) is the center fielder for the NY Empires, an excellent player on a team that has won the World Series twice in a row. Darren is biracial, with a white father and a black mother, and was raised in a stable middle-class environment. He is an extremely talented, wealthy, well-respected and highly popular player at the top of his game. After a talk about authenticity with his friend and competitor Davey Battle, Darren holds a press conference at which he announces that he is gay.
Davey Battle (African-American), Darren’s best friend, is a star player for another team that is not as good as the Empires – which, as Davey points out, allows him to stand out more. Davey encourages Darren to keep no secrets, to live his life publicly, which leads to Darren’s announcement about his sexual orientation… which in turn leads to a surprising reaction from Davey.
Kippy Sunderstrom, Darren’s closest friend on the Empires, often serves as the play’s narrator, speaking directly to the audience. His conversations with Darren – who describes him as “the most intelligent man in Major League Baseball” – are philosophical, and often bitingly funny. Kippy, who is of Swedish descent, maintains that he only seems intelligent because he is not as large as Swedes usually are.
Shane Mungitt, a relief pitcher with great stuff who has recently joined the Empires, displays ignorance as well as racist and homophobic tendencies, and is troubled by psychological problems from his childhood – after his father shot Shane’s mother and himself, the boy was trapped with their bodies for three days, then spent the rest of his childhood in orphanages. The only thing he knows is throwing a baseball. When the inarticulate Shane’s derogatory public statements get him into trouble, his rage leads to tragedy.
Jason Chenier is a catcher who has been with the Empires for just three weeks. After Darren announces that he is gay, Jason feels that he can approach him. In Act 2, when Kippy talks to his teammates about their “stray homosexual impulses,” Jason mistakenly believes that Kippy is talking to him in particular.
Takeshi Kawabata (Japanese), star pitcher for the Empires, started his first season on the team brilliantly, but during the second half of this season, his game now tends to go to pieces sometime around the seventh inning. Thought to only speak Japanese, Kawabata speaks directly to the audience at the start of Act III, showing himself to be quite aware of what is going on around him and willfully ignoring it.
Toddy Koovitz, a member of the Empires, appears somewhat dim and given to mispronouncing words. He becomes belligerent after Darren’s announcement that Darren is gay; he feels uncomfortable about being nude in the locker room with Darren and resents the fact that he is made to feel this way.
Martinez (Latino) is one of the Spanish-speaking players on the Empires. He always appears with his friend Rodriguez, and their conversations together are a mystery to the other team members.
Rodriguez (Latino), another Hispanic player on the Empires, is never onstage without his friend Martinez.
Mason Marzac (30s-40s) is an investment counselor who is assigned to handle Darren’s money. Mason, who is struggling with his own sexuality, admits to having been uninterested in baseball until Darren announced that he was gay. His business association with Darren, along with his personal interest in and burgeoning friendship with him, causes Mason to develop a fascination with baseball, which he expresses in a series of monologues. By play’s end he has fallen in love with the game and become an avid fan.
Skipper (40s-60s), the manager of the Empires. He is known for his personal skills, his ability to be tough when he needs to be and gentle when it is called for. Although Darren is loved by his public and his teammates, he is particularly important to Skipper, who, as Kippy points out, “thinks he invented Darren.”
For more information, call the box office at
203-332-3228. Inquiries to
info@thebijoutheatre.com.
The Bijou Performing Arts Center is a 501(c)3?non-profit organization dedicated to providing visual and performing arts programs and events for the community. Private donations, grants, tuition fees & ticket sales fund the Bijou Arts Center, which is located?at 275 Fairfield Avenue in Downtown Bridgeport. The Bijou Theatre, one of the oldest buildings in the country used as a movie house, reopened its doors in 2011. In addition to continuing its historic character of showing movies, the Theatre offers a full repertoire of live music, comedy, theater and dance, which can be enjoyed in either theater seating or cabaret style. The Bijou Theatre is a multi–functional venue with integrity and an open-minded philosophy- a symposium for film, theatre, art, comedy and music. The Theatre is available for private rentals, holiday parties, corporate events, and much more. ?For further information, call
(203) 332-3228 or visit
thebijoutheatre.com.?
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