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AUDITIONS:
Tuesday, December 11, 2012 at 8:00pm (by appointment)
Thursday, December 13, 2012 at 7:00pm (by appointment)
PERFORMANCE DATES:
Saturday, February 16, 2013 at 8:00pm
Sunday, February 17, 2013 at 2:00pm
Friday, February 22, 2013 at 8:00pm
Saturday, February 23, 2013 at 8:00pm
Sunday, February 24, 2013 at 2:00pm
All roles are open to audition. We are seeking 4 men and 4 women for this production. All auditioning will be asked to read selected scenes from the script – sides are available. Rehearsals will be held on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday evenings. Not all cast members will be called for every rehearsal and the schedule is subject to change with advance notification. There will be one pickup rehearsal on Wednesday, February 20th. If you are unable to make all the performances and the midweek rehearsal, we will be unable to cast you in this production.
AUDITIONS BY APPOINTMENT ONLY
Please send an email to
auditions@warnertheatre.org to schedule your appointment. An audition confirmation e-mail will be sent with full details on what will be expected at your audition. Audition appointments by e-mail are preferred, but if you do not have access to e-mail call the Warner Theatre Audition Line at
860-489-7180 ext.151. Please be specific as to the date you would like to schedule your appointment.
AVAILABLE ROLES
George Hay,a traveling actor.
Charlotte,George's wife and actress in his company.
Rosalind, George & Charlotte's daughter, who left the stage to lead a "normal" life.
Howard,a TV weatherman and Rosalind's fiancé.
Paul,stage manager for George's company, and Rosalind's ex-fiancé.
Ethel,Charlotte's nearly-deaf mother.
Richard, a lawyer who is courting Charlotte.
Eileen,an actress in George's company.
ABOUT THE SHOW:
In the madcap comedy tradition ofLend Me A Tenor, the hilariousMoon Over Buffalocenters on George and Charlotte Hay, fading stars of the 1950's. At the moment, they’re playingPrivate LivesandCyrano De Bergeracin rep in Buffalo, New York with 5 actors. On the brink of a disastrous split-up caused by George’s dalliance with a young ingénue, they receive word that they might just have one last shot at stardom: Frank Capra is coming to town to see their matinee, and if likes what he sees, he might cast them in his movie remake ofThe Scarlet Pimpernel. Unfortunately for George and Charlotte, everything that could go wrong does go wrong, abetted by a visit from their daughter’s clueless fiancé and hilarious uncertainty about which play they’re actually performing, caused by Charlotte’s deaf old stage-manager mother who hates every bone in George’s body
Moon Over Buffalorelies heavily on situation comedy for its humor, as well as some sexual innuendo and a little slapstick. The actor who plays George, in particular, must be able to deliver a highly physical performance; George engages in a mock fencing match with Charlotte, a wrestling match with Howard, and a stunt fall into the orchestra pit. The action and dialogue are fast-paced, as the characters are constantly bickering or frantically trying to resolve some confusion.
Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.
George and Charlotte Hay, traveling actors, are performingCyrano de BergeracandPrivate Livesin a repertory theatre in Buffalo. Charlotte has grandiose dreams of becoming a Hollywood film star; George, on the other hand, is quite satisfied as a stage actor, and sees live theatre as being superior to film.
George receives a phone call from Frank Capra, a very famous film director, who says that he needs replacements for the two stars of his current film, and that he plans to see one of George's shows and consider George and Charlotte for the parts. Charlotte, however, doesn't believe George when he gives the news; she has just learned that George has had an affair with one of their actors, Eileen, and that Eileen is pregnant with George's child. To further complicate issues, one of the actors in George's company walks out. Soon after, Charlotte leaves George and the company to be with Richard, the successful and charismatic lawyer. George, despondent, gives up hope and reverts to alcoholism to drown his misery.
When Charlotte hears the news about Capra losing his actors, she returns to the theatre, only to find that George has left. Charlotte and Rosalind, her daughter who has recently come to visit, contact all the bars in the city, looking for him. They can't find him, but Charlotte does meet Howard, Roz's new fiancé, whom Charlotte's hard-of-hearing mother mistakenly introduces as Frank Capra. Thinking that Howard is the famous director, Charlotte gives him the "red carpet" treatment, for which Howard is grateful, but confused. And when George returns, he believes that Howard is actually Eileen's brother, seeking revenge for George's affair with Eileen. In what he thinks is self-defense, George ties up the innocent Howard and locks him in a closet.
When Charlotte and Roz finally meet George again, they try to get him prepared for the afternoon's showing of Private Lives, which Capra intends to see. George, in his drunken stupor, decides he would rather do Cyrano, and dresses appropriately. The resulting show is a disaster, as George is several minutes late to arrive onstage and in the wrong costume and character. In the end, Howard, still bound in ropes, hops onstage and calls out for help; then George falls into the orchestra pit, twisting his leg and presumably breaking a few instruments.
After the show, a sober George offers his apology to Howard. Howard is not satisfied, though; his encounter with Roz's parents frightened him away from staying engaged to Roz. He announces that he and Eileen have decided to get engaged instead, and eagerly plan to start a family right away. Howard isn't aware that Eileen is already carrying George's child, but Eileen seems satisfied to keep him in the dark. Paul, now that Roz is now single, takes the opportunity to (almost literally) sweep her off her feet, and they get engaged again on the spot. Charlotte forgives — or at least forgets — George's infidelity and decides to stay with him instead of Richard. Finally, in a deus ex machina-like plot twist, Capra himself calls to say that he missed the afternoon performance and will instead see the show in the evening, thus allowing George and Charlotte another chance at Hollywood stardom.
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