The English Theatre of Hamburg
Established 1976
CASTING BREAKDOWN FOR:
Moon Over The Brewery by Bruce Graham Summary
This touching, yet funny play is set in a Pennsylvania coal town, and has beautiful roles for four talented actors. Single mom, Miriam Waslyk (mid to late 30s), works as a waitress, but it is her painting that matters most to her. She would like some male companionship, but, so far, her precocious daughter, Amanda (13), has driven away anyone that might come between her and her mother, leaving Miriam torn between love for her daughter and happiness with a good man. Growing up as an only child has been difficult for Amanda, and now she has to deal with her mom’s new boyfriend, Warren Zimmerman (44), a kind and understanding local postman. At such critical times, Amanda always talks to her handsome imaginary friend Randolph (30), who appears only to her (and the audience), and is very adept at helping Amanda chase away her mother’s suitors. But this time, Amanda and Randolph have met their match in Warren who beats them at their own game. Surprisingly resourceful, Warren is able to wean Amanda away from dependence on her IQ of 160 and from her charming, imaginary friend, Randolph.
Production details
Please send submissions to Casting Director, Gordon Griffin, 20 Canfield Gardens, London NW6 3LA. No calls please. And please do not send any submissions either by snail mail or email to The English Theatre of Hamburg. They will not be considered. Also do not submit anyone who is not absolutely certain they can be away from home for 12 weeks.
Production dates Travel to Hamburg: 8 April, 2012
Rehearsals begin (in Hamburg) 9 April, 2012
Previews: 30 April, 1, 2 May, 2012
Opening Night: 3 May, 2012
Final Performance: 30 June, 2012
Location Hamburg, Germany
Closing date 30/06/2012
Sent 10/02/2012
Director Robert Rumpf
Producer The English Theatre of Hamburg
Pay category Paid (Equity minimum)
Casting will take place from 5 to 15 March, 2012 in London
Please do NOT submit clients if they are unlikely to be prepared to work abroad from 9 April to 30 June, 2012.
Applicants must be holders of an EC passport. The weekly net fee paid for rehearsal and performance periods amounts to Euro 260,-- The gross salary will vary depending on deductions for tax and social insurances. Payment is made in cash in Hamburg beginning the first Friday of employment. At the end of the run actors will receive a statement of earnings including all deductions. The theatre provides transportation to Hamburg and back to England as well as accommodation in Hamburg.
CHARACTERS:
Amanda Waslyk (Female)
Amanda is a 13 year old girl who will have to be played by a young adult. She has been raised by a single mother in a small mining town in Pennsylvania. With her IQ of 160 she finds that school is too easy and her classmates act like “kids.” She is so bright that she handles the family finances instead of her mother, Miriam, and gets upset when Miriam overspends. She does not want her mother to marry and sees any man who is interested in Miriam as a potential intruder who would break up her cozy family. Randolph, an imaginary figure that she has invented, helps her intimidate any man who gets near her mother. Amanda and Randolph have been successful three times in driving away Miriam’s suitors. Now a new man, Warren, has come into her mother’s life. Miriam has deep feelings for him. She does not want to live alone when Amanda gets older and moves away to college, and she craves the companionship of a man. When Warren is invited to dinner, Amanda, with Randolph’s help, tries to outwit and embarrass him so he will not return. But Warren, a kind, patient man, finds a way past Amanda’s tricks, and wins her over. Chances are good that Randolph will be banished forever and that Amanda, Miriam and Warren will be a happy family.
Playing age 13
Ethnicity White
Randolph (Male)
Randolph, a handsome and delightful imaginary character, is around 30 years old. He exists in the mind of Amanda, a 13 year old girl and appears only to her (and the audience, of course). The highly intelligent Amanda brought Randolph into existence to help her get rid of her single mom’s suitors. So far they have been successful three times. Randolph comes up with ideas and tricks that scare away men who are interested in Amanda’s mother. He considers himself perfect and he wears the costume of the lead character in whatever book Amanda happens to be currently reading. He wears them well and has a stunning, almost magical presence. Since this character connives with Amanda and gets unpleasant when she does not follow his advice, the actor who plays him must be charming and likeable to emphasize the light and fun loving side of Randolph.
Playing age 30
Ethnicity White
Miriam Waslyk (Female)
Miriam (mid to late thirties), is a lovely woman who many men find attractive. She works as a waitress in the small coal-mining town in order to make enough money to raise her brilliant but difficult daughter of 13. Amanda, her daughter, has the high IQ of the father she’s never seen and, therefore, considers herself superior to the people around her. Miriam, on the other hand, is outgoing and enjoys the company of others. She is also artistic, unlike her daughter, and loves to paint pictures of the moon with different landscapes in the foreground. She has also completed the intricate sewing of a beautifully colored quilt that she has become attached to. Amanda wants to sell it because, unlike her mother, she is always concerned about the finances of the family. Warren, the local mailman, eats lunch every day at the restaurant where Miriam works and the two meet and fall in love. Miriam’s dilemma is that she would like to marry Warren, but she knows that her daughter will do everything in her power to intimidate him and scare him away. She loves her difficult daughter dearly, but she also wants male companionship and needs for someone to be there for her when Amanda grows up and moves away. She’s lost three suitors due to the antics of Amanda and her imaginary friend, Randolph, but Warren is not so easily scared away.
Playing age 35—39
Ethnicity White
Warren Zimmerman (Male)
Warren, a 44 year old mailman, falls in love with Miriam, a single mom with a difficult teen-aged daughter called Amanda. The precocious girl is dead against her mother having a boyfriend, let alone ever getting married. Warren’s task is to win over the daughter so he can marry the mother. At first Amanda succeeds, with the help of her imaginary friend Randolph, in embarrassing and irritating Warren, but he is wise and has a good sense of what causes Amanda to behave so badly. When Warren comes to visit, Amanda and Randolph get him to play the Encyclopedia Game, a game that is impossible for someone to win who has not memorized volumes A to F as the brilliant Amanda has done. She and Randolph hope to humiliate Warren and scare him away, but Warren comes up with a game of his own that involves looking at photos of people in the community and guessing which one did what famous thing. Amanda fails to guess correctly, but in the process of trying she becomes interested in the people who live around her, people about whom she never gave a thought. Warren succeeds in getting Amanda to see how enjoyable it is to think of someone other than herself and she comes to like him despite Randolph’s vehement objections. Randolph is banished and Warren becomes the new man in Amanda and Miriam’s life.
Playing age 40—45
Ethnicity White
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