Paramount Arts Center - Bold Series 2024-25 Season - Chicago EPA
Aurora Civic Center Authority | Aurora, IL
Notice: Audition Call Type: EPA
Friday, March 1, 2024
9:00 AM - 5:00 PM (C)
BREAK: 1:00PM - 2:00PM
LOA
$689 weekly minimum (LOA ref. COST)
Equity actors for roles in Paramount Theatre's 2024-25 Bold Series (see breakdown).
Please prepare 1 two-minute or 2 one-minute contemporary comedic monologue(s) that showcase your personality and comedic timing. Please bring one copy of your headshot and resume stapled together.
Actors' Equity Association - Chicago Member Center
557 W Randolph St
1st Fl
Chicago, IL 60661
Keira Fromm (she/her) – Director of An Act of God
Jim Corti (he/him) –Artistic Director for Paramount Theatre
EXPECTED TO ATTEND:
Nate Cohen (he/him) – Director of Peter and the Starcatcher
Trent Stork (they/them) –Artistic Producer & Casting Director for Paramount Theatre Elena Gerk (she/her) – Artistic & Casting Associate for Paramount Theatre
PETER AND THE STARCATCHER First Rehearsal: June 24, 2024
Tech Begins: July 17, 2024
First Preview: July 24, 2024
Opening Night: August 1 and 2, 2024 Closing Night: September 1, 2024
AN ACT OF GOD
First Rehearsal: September 2, 2024 Tech Begins: September 25, 2024
First Preview: October 2, 2024
Opening Night: October 10 and 11, 2024 Closing Night: November 10, 2024
OTHER
EPA Procedures are in effect for this audition. An Equity Monitor will be provided.
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.
Nate Cohen (he/him) – Director
Trent Stork (they/them) –Artistic Producer & Casting Director for Paramount Theatre Jim Corti (he/him) –Artistic Director for Paramount Theatre
Elena Gerk (she/her) – Artistic & Casting Associate for Paramount Theatre
CASTING NOTE:
-All actors in the show have baseline Narrator tracks they are playing, who then assume the roles of the characters listed below. Because of this, while the genders of the characters is important, the gender of the performers playing those characters only matters in a few cases, which are designated below. All other role tracks are open to actors of any gender identity/expression. We invite gender non-conforming, genderqueer, transgender and non-binary actors to submit for the roles they most identify with. We are seeking actors of all races and ethnicities for all roles.
-All performers save for the actors playing Molly, Peter, and Black Stache will at times play ensemble roles like Pirates, Sailors, etc. This show is deeply rooted in communal storytelling and event, so most performers will be onstage for the majority of the show, whether they are in-scene or helping to build the world around the characters!
- Some doubling is possible and is listed below. We will make final decisions about how that will work after auditions have concluded but are aiming to cast between 12 and 15 performers. If there are any questions about this feel free to reach out!
Paramount Theatre Bold Series
SYNOPSIS:
A young orphan and his mates are shipped off from Victorian England to a distant island ruled by an evil King. On board, they know nothing of the mysterious trunk in the captain’s cabin, which contains a precious, otherworldly cargo. While at sea, the boys are discovered by a precocious young girl named Molly, a Starcatcher-in-training who realizes that the trunk’s precious cargo is a celestial substance so powerful that it must never fall into the wrong hands. When the ship is taken over by pirates their fearsome leader Black Stache is determined to claim the trunk and its treasure for his own.
FROM THE DIRECTOR:
I believe in the power of stories. In the power of our imaginations. More than anything else, this show is about reclaiming that potential for ourselves. Our goal is to create a world that challenges the imagination of our audience and reminds us of the power of story. Shadow-play, puppets, quick changes, mermaid dances, sword fights, pirate dialects, twinkle lights, ropes and planks and starstuff. I want us to remember what it felt like to believe that we could fly, and the only reason we haven’t yet was because we just haven’t quite figured out how. – Nate
Molly Aster (Female): a true leader at a time when girls weren’t often allowed to lead. Will risk everything for the sake of Doing Right. Curious, intelligent, beginning to feel things she doesn’t understand – because, after all, she’s a thirteen-year-old kid.
Boy (Peter) (Male): A boy who doesn’t miss much. Nameless, homeless, and friendless at the beginning of the play and a hero by the end. A survivor. More than anything in the world, he wants a home and a family. If he could grow up, he’d fall for Molly in a big way. But it’ll never happen.
Black Stache: Long after everyone else got out of the pirate business, Black Stache continues to terrorize the seven seas in search of a hero worthy of his villainy. Heartless and hirsute, suspiciously well read, partial to the poetical and theatrical, and given to a ferocity from which no good shall ever spring. Also still getting his sea legs under him a bit, which is ironic.
Prentiss: Ambitious, hyper-articulate, logical; yearns to be a leader, even as he knows in his heart that he never shall be one. A bit of a blowhard with just the teeny-tiniest touch of cowardice. An orphan.
Ted: Obsessed with food: the eating of, the fighting over, the dreaming about. A natural actor, an easy wit, perhaps a future poet. An orphan.
Lord Leonard Aster (Male): The very model of a Victorian English gentleman, loyal subject to the Queen, devoted father, faithful friend. Also, and not irrelevant to our story, Lord Aster is a Starcatcher – dedicated to protecting the Earth and all who dwell thereon from the awesome power of starstuff.
Mrs. Bumbrake (Male): Molly’s nanny. British to the bone. Still has enough of her girlish charm to turn Paramount Arts Center - Bold Series 2024-25 Season - Chicago EPA Page 3 of 6
a sailor’s head and leaven his dreams.
Captain Robert Falcon Scott: Captain of Britain’s fastest frigate, the Wasp. Years later, he will lead an expeditionary team to the South Pole, freeze to death, and become the iconic British hero, Scott of the Antarctic.
Grempkin (may be doubled with Fighting Prawn): The mean and malodorous schoolmaster of St. Norbert’s Orphanage for Lost Boys. Keeps the boys from ever even seeing the sun.
Bill Slank (may be doubled with Hawking Clam): The Neverland’s vicious captain. A greedy bastard who’d sell his own mother for a ship to command. Probably afraid of the dark but would sooner throw you over-board than admit it.
Alf: A salty old sea dog. Something about him appeals to the feminine sensibility – might be his bowlegs, his saucy gait, or his kind heart.
Mack (may be doubled with Sanchez and/or The Musician): A very bad sailor who wants to be anywhere but under the thumb of Bill Slank. Can’t tell left from right.
Smee: First mate to Black Stache. Single-mindedly dedicated to his captain’s every whim. His motto: “’Tis good to be busy.”
Snchez (may be doubled with Mack and/or The Musician): A hardworking Pirate having an identity crisis.
Fighting Prawn (may be doubled with Grempkin): King of the Mollusks. Kidnapped by British sailors and brought in chains to England, where he learned Italian wines and mastered Italian cuisine.
Hawking Clam (may be doubled with Slank): Son of Fighting Prawn. One day, he will ascend the Clam throne as head of the Royal Clam Clan. Desperate to please his father.
Teacher (may be doubled with Mrs. Bumbrake or others): Formerly a salmon, now an ancient, knowledgeable mermaid.
NOTES ON VIOLENCE AND INTIMACY:
Intimacy: There are three moments of intimacy in the show. Two are kisses between Molly and Peter. The first is short and quick, the second slightly longer, but still relatively brief. The characters are 13- year-olds and experiencing love for the first time, it’s tender and sweet rather than sexual. The other moment is a brief moment between Alf and Mrs. Bumbrake that would probably best be described as comedic heavy petting. None of the intimacy involves any undressing. If there are any questions, please reach out!
Violence: There are several large fight scenes in the show. All of the violence is intended to be fun/entertaining/exciting. They are not meant to be gory or particularly violent feeling. These fights will likely involve a variety of props, but we are not anticipating using real swords at this time.
-Melee between The Wasp and The Neverland: A massive brawl on the deck of the Neverland in the midst of a hurricane. Will likely involve the entire cast.
-Duel between Slank and Stache: The brawl above ends with a one-on-one verbal and physical duel between the captains of the two crews.
- Fight between Stache/Smee and Peter/Molly/Ted/Prentiss - The climax of the show involves another brawl like fight between the pirates and our child heroes. Think headlocks and jumping on backs and chucking pineapples much more than anything gruesome.
-Stache accidentally cuts off his hand - Again, meant to be more comedic than gruesome. Terrible for the character, but a delightful hammy moment for the performer.
Bold Series
SYNOPSIS: AN ACT OF GOD is a comedic evening with God, in which the mysteries of the Bible will be revealed and the greatest questions that plague humankind will be answered.
Kiera Fromm (she/her) – Director
Trent Stork (they/them) –Artistic Producer & Casting Director for Paramount Theatre Jim Corti (he/him) –Artistic Director for Paramount Theatre
Elena Gerk (she/her) – Artistic & Casting Associate for Paramount Theatre
GOD: Ageless (but looks 30s-40s). All-knowing, all-powerful, and funny as hell. High status, full of confidence & verve, capable of both tremendous love and cruelty.
MICHAEL: 20s-40s. An angel of God’s. Intelligent, curious, impulsive, and as irreverent as an angel of God’s can be.
GABRIEL: 30s-50s. An angel of God’s. A team player, does everything by the books, pragmatic, no nonsense.
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