December 6 – 9
Thank you for your interest in auditioning for a GREAT show!
If you’ve auditioned for us before, welcome back! If this is your first time auditioning at GREAT, we’re thrilled to have you. We are in our 26th season and are excited to add new people, new talent, and new voices to our company as well as welcome returning volunteers to our stages. Whether you’re a seasoned performer or you’ve never been on stage before, we encourage you to audition!
Silent Sky is a new play based on the life and work of 20th century astronomer Henrietta Leavitt. If you’ve been scanning the skies for a script with wonderfully developed characters, this may be the audition for you. This play will have a relatively small cast, lending a lot of character work and focus on storytelling to the rehearsal process. Join us in telling the story of the women who redefined our understanding of the cosmos!
More information about Silent Sky auditions will be posted two weeks before auditions, and the initial audition will consist of reading for all. Monologues will be posted online, along with more information about how to prepare so you can be your most confident!
KEY DATES
Information Session: Wednesday, November 29 at 7:00p on Zoom
Auditions are nerve-wracking whether it’s your first or seventy-sixth, so join us for an optional Zoom meeting on Wednesday, November 29 at 7:00p to ask questions and learn about this specific production and audition process from the creative team. Meet the director, choreographer, and music director and hear about the vision of this show and how to best prepare. Our hope is the info session with ease some of the unknowns so you walk into auditions feeling comfortable and confident!
SIGN UP FOR THE INFO SESSION HERE!
Auditions:
Wednesday, December 6 from 6:00p-9:00p
Saturday, December 9 from 10:00a-1:00p
Call-backs: Wednesday, December 13 from 6:00p-9:00p
Rehearsals: Monday, Tuesday and Thursday evenings from 6:00-9:00pm and a few Saturday rehearsals. Not everyone is called for every rehearsal.
Tech/Dress rehearsals:
Monday, March 4 from 5:00p-10:00p
Tuesday, March 5 from 5:00p-10:00p
Wednesday, March 6 from 5:00p-10:00p
Thursday, March 7 from 5:00p-10:00p
Performances:
Friday, March 8 at 7:30p
Saturday, March 9 at 7:30p
Sunday, March 10 at 2:00p
Thursday, March 14 at 10:00am
Friday, March 15 at 7:30p
Saturday, March 16 at 2:00p (hold) & 7:30p
Sunday, March 17 at 2:00p
PRODUCTION TEAM
Director: Kendra Norton Dando
Scenic and Lighting Designer: Alice Endo
Costume Designer: Dana Svensson
Sound Designer: Steve Sanders
Prop Designer: Bonnie Bologna
Stage Manager: Anita Reber
WHAT TO PREPARE FOR AUDITIONS
Choosing your monologue is an important part of the audition preparation. A polished monologue gives you the opportunity to showcase your acting skills and demonstrate your connection to specific characters. Here are some suggestions to get you started.
- Familiarize yourself with the show (Googling Silent Sky will give you some good info – articles, play study guides, interviews with the playwright). Read the script, watch YouTube clips, and read all of the audition information that is provided…including all monologues provided (this will give you a sense for the tone of the show and each character).
- Think through it: Which role(s) do I see myself in? Which role(s) do I think the directors will see me in? Consider all the possibilities – and don’t limit yourself! Be open to discovery and trying something new.
- Choose monologues that capture the essence of the characters that you would like to be considered for, but understand that the audition team will consider you for all roles unless you state you are not interested in specific parts.
- Preparing two contrasting monologues allows you to showcase your range and depth as a performer.
- Make strong choices based on your understanding of the character. What do you know about them from the character descriptions? What is important in this specific monologue—who is the character speaking to and why are they saying this?
- Rehearse, rehearse, and rehearse some more! Get comfortable with the character and your piece. Memorization is preferred, but not required. Bring your script if it will allow you to better show the character.
Character List and Descriptions
Casting: We are committed to casting a group of actors ranging in age from 16+ that will reflect the people of our community. We will be casting roles to include all ethnicities, all gender expressions, and all bodies.
Understudies: GREAT continues to develop the understudy process to meet the needs of each particular show. For Silent Sky, understudies will have multiple rehearsals where they are in for the show, as well as an Understudy Performance for friends and family. There is no guarantee of additional performance time.
Theatrical Intimacy:
Theatrical intimacy is any action on stage where the given circumstances of the scene or the overall production calls for touch, both physical and imaginative, or moments between actors of simulated sexuality or sexual violence.
GREAT has been learning from Intimacy Directors & Coordinators (IDC) to improve processes and incorporate safer practices for theatrical intimacy in our rehearsals. All scenes with physical intimacy follow a specific set of staging and rehearsal protocols rooted in consent and safety for the actors.
Many roles in Silent Sky will require some level of physical intimacy/touch as multiple characters demonstrate physical comfort/affection with one another (such as an embrace or close proximity). Characters who engage in specific moments of physical intimacy and kissing are noted in character descriptions.
- HENRIETTA LEAVITT (Actual historical figure) – brilliant, meticulous, excited, passionate about the stars and universe; Astronomer who changed how we look at and measure the stars; Hard of Hearing and uses a period hearing-aid (unless she turns it off to avoid annoying distractions) . Presenting gender: Female. Presenting age range: 30s. This role requires onstage physical intimacy/kiss.
- MARGARET LEAVITT – Henrietta’s sister, homebody, creative, sweet who sings and (ideally) plays piano. Presenting gender: Female. Presenting age range: 30s. This role requires singing “For the Beauty of the Earth.”
- ANNIE CANNON (Actual historical figure) – the leader, terse and sure of herself, a firebrand, funny and sharp-witted; the first to catalog stars by letter; joins the suffrage movement. Presenting gender: Female. Presenting age range: 40s.
- WILLIAMINA FLEMING (Actual historical figure) – smart as a whip, gutsy, fierce, fun; first to hold the title of “curator” in astronomy; Scottish (yes to Scottish dialect). Presenting gender: Female. Presenting age range: 50s.
- PETER SHAW – smart, sweet, awkward; the head astronomer’s apprentice and supervisor of the women at the observatory…and the man. Presenting gender: Male. Presenting age range: 30s/40s. This role requires onstage physical intimacy/kiss.