Auditions for Tony Award winner A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder July 8 at Pentacle Theatre

 

What: Open auditions for the Tony Award winner for Best Musical, A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder, with music by Steven Lutvak, lyrics by Lutvak and Robert L. Freedman, and book by Freedman. Directed at Pentacle Theatre by Loriann Schmidt.

When: 1 p.m.–5 p.m., Saturday, July 8.

Where: Pentacle Theatre, 324 52nd Avenue NW, off Highway 22 about 6 miles west of downtown Salem.

Casting call: Casting five lead actors and 6–10 ensemble actors. Ensemble actors play a variety of roles, including featured solos. For a full list of roles, genders, ages and vocal ranges, visit pentacletheatre.org/auditions.

Things to know:

• Lobby doors open at 12:30 p.m. Open auditions for all roles begin promptly at 1 p.m. Please be on time and plan to stay through 5 p.m.
• Plan to arrive early to fill out an audition form. We encourage you to download the form at pentacletheatre.org/auditions and complete it in advance. Please write clearly, especially your contact information. Headshots and resumes are not required, but always appreciated.
• Bring your calendar and provide a complete list of your conflicts through Oct. 21. If you have a conflict on the audition date, please contact the director (below).
• Please prepare to perform an audition song from a Broadway musical other than A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder that best fits and showcases your vocal range and reflects the roles you are interested in being considered for. Limit your selection up to 3 minutes in length.
• Please bring your own digital backing track; no accompanist will be provided. Pentacle will provide a Bluetooth speaker, or you may bring your own.
• No A Cappella or duet/ensemble singing, please.
• Be ready to learn and perform a basic dance routine. Please come dressed to move and wear comfortable shoes.
• Pentacle Theatre affirms, promotes and celebrates the participation of all, without regard to race, color, sex, ability, affectional or sexual orientation, gender identity, ethnicity, national origin, age, religion or socioeconomic status.

Callbacks: 1 p.m. Sunday, July 9, if needed.

Rehearsals:

• Generally, 6:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m., Mondays through Thursdays, beginning July 12, at the Pentacle Theatre rehearsal studio, 197 Liberty St. S. in downtown Salem.
• The director will set weekend rehearsals and work sessions as needed. Please keep this in mind when providing your list of conflicts.
• Rehearsals will be scheduled to make the best use of everyone’s time, especially for the ensemble. Leads should expect to be at all rehearsals. Rehearsals will focus first on music preparation, then on blocking and movement.
• If you have questions about rehearsals, please contact the director.

Show dates: Sept. 29 – Oct. 21.

Cast members may be required to make special appearances for marketing purposes in the weeks before the show opens.

 

The story:

When the low-born Monty Navarro finds out he’s eighth in line for an Earldom in the lofty D’Ysquith family, he figures his chances of outliving his predecessors are slight and takes a more ghoulish path. Can he knock off his unsuspecting relatives without being caught and become the ninth Earl of Highhurst? And what of love? Because murder isn’t the only thing on Monty’s mind.

A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder is a comically homicidal romp filled with unforgettable music, non-stop laughs and a scene-stealing role for one actor playing all eight of the doomed heirs who meet their ends in the most creative and side-splitting ways. A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder was the most-nominated show of Broadway’s 2014 season and won four Tony Awards.

— Source: Musical Theater International

 

Suitability: A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder is suitable for general audiences.

 

The characters: Casting five lead actors and 6–10 ensemble actors.

• The D’Ysquith Family — Age 30s to 50s, must be able to play a variety of genders — Vocal range F#2 (bottom) / G#4 (top). This actor plays the eight doomed heirs of the D’Ysquith family. All D’Ysquith family heirs are farces of British high society in the early 20th century. The actor in this role should have strong physical comedy skills and accent abilities that help differentiate the multiple characters. Must have stamina to carry the different characters throughout the show and make quick costume changes.
• Monty Navarro — Age 20s to 30s, presents as male — Vocal range top: Bb3 (bottom) / Bb5 (top). Monty learns his mother was a disinherited member of the D’Ysquith royal family and he is ninth in line for the Earldom of Highhurst. He is a leading man and often the straight man in the show, requiring strong physical comedy skills.
• Sibella Hallward — Age 20s to 30s, presents as female — Vocal range Gb3 (bottom) / Gb5 (top). The girl Monty loves. Sibella has true affection for Monty but also for social status. Sibella is smart, funny and stylish, and as far as relationships are concerned, she wants to have her cake and eat it too.
• Phoebe D’Ysquith — Age 20s to 30s, presents as female — Vocal range: G#3 (bottom) / high sustained C#6 with an optional Eb (top). Monty’s cousin. Phoebe was raised high-class with idealistic fantasies of love. She foils Sibella in her interest in love over status and trys to find the true virtue in people. Though she is smart and earnest, she can also be naive. Must be a true soprano with a legit, possibly operatic sound.
• Miss Shingle — Age 40s to 60s, presents as female —Vocal range Eb3 (bottom) / E5 (top). Monty’s unexpected visitor. Sneaky and mysterious, Miss Shingle has an obvious sense of justice. She comes to tell Monty the secret of his D’Ysquith lineage with a pivotal song in Act 1 that sets up the story of the show. Looking to cast a character actress with a vocal style to match.
• Ensemble — various ages, genders and vocal ranges. Ensemble actors play a variety of roles including featured characters with solos and lines. Must be able to portray a variety of character-distinguishing traits.

 

Information: If you have questions, or a conflict on the audition date, please contact director Loriann Schmidt at 503-881-4154 or [email protected].