Curtains

Book by RUPERT HOLMES Music by JOHN KANDER Lyrics by FRED EBB; Directed by Lindsay Franklin

In this brassy parody of a whodunit show, Lieutenant Cioffi arrives to try to uncover the mystery of a murder during Boston theater company's opening night production of Robbin' Hood. With their leading lady dead and the rest of the cast being held in the theater for questioning, the cast and crew take this opportunity to revamp their dying show and maybe, just maybe, rekindle an old flame and light a new one along the way.

Auditions

• Sunday, April 22, 2018 at 7:00 PM
• Monday, April 23, 2018 at 7:00 PM
• Thursday, April 26, 2018 at 7:00 PM - By invitation only

You only need to attend one of the above audition sessions in order to be considered. No appointments are necessary. You should plan to spend about 2-3 hours at the theater for auditions (perhaps a little more or less, depending on turnout). The theater will be open starting at 6:30 pm so that you can get settled and fill our your forms. This way we can hopefully get started as close to 7 pm as possible!

Auditions will consist of singing a 30-45 second selection of a song of your choice. We prefer that you not sing a song from the show, but something in a similar style is encouraged. Please bring sheet music with you; we will have an accompanist there for auditions and callbacks. We will also be doing cold readings from the script and a general dance/movement portion of the audition. There are two characters who require accents for the show- Cioffi (Boston) and Belling (British). We ask that if you are auditioning for either of those roles that you please attempt an accent. Please dress comfortably.

This year we will be reserving Thursday night for possible callbacks. These will be by invitation only and may include actors being asked to learn all or part of a song from the show, additional readings, and/or learning a more involved dance for specific roles/featured dancers. We will give more details about callbacks to those who are needed.

If you have any questions about auditions, you may e-mail the director at Lindsay.franklin99@gmail.com.

Cast requirements:
Number of Female Roles: 6-20 (ages 13-19)
Number of Male Roles: 7-20 (ages 13-19)

Character Descriptions:

LIEUTENANT FRANK CIOFFI-Sweetly endearing local Boston detective who idolizes the world of musical theatre and has reveled in the thrill of performing in community theatre. Requires deft and charming comedy, good singing, solid dancing in one extended "Fred and Ginger" number. (Baritone) (Boston accent)

NIKI HARRIS-Pretty, almost too innocent ingénue, a local performer in a small role hoping ?Robbin? Hood? will be the Boston production that at last takes her to Broadway. Love interest for Lieutenant Cioffi, apparently reciprocated. Requires a legit soprano and strong dancing in an extended "Fred and Ginger" number. (Soprano)

GEORGIA HENDRICKS-Female half of our show-within-a-show's songwriting team on the lyric-writing side. Ends up taking on the leading lady role. Must sing and dance extremely well. (Mezzo-Soprano)

CARMEN BERNSTEIN -Brash and brassy Broadway producer. Terrific comedic actress with a belt. (Alto)

AARON FOX -The composer of the show-within-the-show. His songwriting partner, Georgia, is also his wife, from whom he?s separated but for whom he still pines. He?s a handsome, intense, somewhat tortured artist-type. Requires a strong vocalist with comedy. (Baritone)

SIDNEY BERNSTEIN -The always-angry, sleazy, philandering producer of the out-of-town flop. Sidney is rough around the edges and completely self-serving. Requires a cartoon-like character actor who is funny on arrival. No singing required.

CHRISTOPHER BELLING-English director. Very camp. Very droll. Noel Coward meets Addison DeWitt meets Clifton Webb. Requires a superb comic actor. (Baritone) (British accent)

BAMBI "BERNÉT" -Performer in the chorus, daughter of Carmen, step-daughter of Sidney. Genuinely brassy and artificially blonde. Hungry to work her way out of the chorus; many think she was only hired because of her mother. She surprises everyone, however, when she shows genuine dancing and singing talent when at last called upon. Requires great dancing, strong "street-smart dumb blonde" comedy, and singing. (Soprano)

OSCAR SHAPIRO -from the garment district and sole investor in "Robbin' Hood." A likeably gruff man who knows nothing about theatre and frets over every dime of his that?s spent. Requires good ?rough around the edges? comedy and singing. (Baritone)

BOBBY PEPPER -The Gene Kelly of "Robbin' Hood," its choreographer and male star, and a handsome rival to Aaron for Georgia?s affection. Requires strong dancing, singing, comedy. (Baritone)

DARYL GRADY -Caustic and smug theatre critic for the local Boston newspaper. Patronizingly pompous, enjoys using his power to make or break shows during their Boston tryouts. Does not require strong singing or dancing.

JOHNNY HARMON * -Stage Manager of the show-within-the-show, and both drill sergeant and mother hen to the cast. Barks orders but has a pleasant side as well, he keeps the company in line and on their toes throughout the rehearsal process. Comic actor who can sing.

JESSICA CRANSHAW -Faded Hollywood star, a grand diva with no right to be one, and a plague to the show-with-the-show and to her cast. An absolutely dreadful singer and inept actress who stars in the show-within-a-show and gets murdered on its opening night in Boston. Must be skillful enough to sing hilariously out-of-tune and ineptly, and adroit enough to dance perfectly out of step with the rest of the cast. Appears only in the first minutes of the musical; on Broadway, this performer then adopted a different look and became part of the ensemble.

RANDY DEXTER -a member of the singing & dancing ensemble featured in "Kansasland," pleasant but with a sensitive side.

HARV FREMONT -a member of the singing & dancing ensemble who bears a bouquet.

ROBERTA WOOSTER -a member of the singing & dancing ensemble who speaks from experience.

ENSEMBLE *Note: the role of JOHNNY HARMON can be played by a woman using the name JENNY HARMON, with all the same character traits as described. The Ensemble will be made up of additional actors or stage crew in the show within the show.

Character descriptions were adapted from theatricalrights.com.

The age ranges for the teen show are as follows: Teens must turn 13 before opening night (July 13th, 2018) and may not have graduated high school at the time of auditions (so, not older than 18/19).

Rehearsals for Curtains will be on Sundays at 6pm and Tuesdays and Thursdays at 7pm. Please note that one of the audition dates is on a Monday. Tech rehearsals will be held on July 8-11. Please bring a list of any conflicts you may have to auditions.

Performances will be held on July 13, 14, 19, 20, 21 at 8:00pm and July 15 and 22 at 2:00 pm. We also ask that actors be available to add possible Saturday matinees on July 14 and or 21.

Performances

Coming July 13th

July 2018
Su	M	T	W	Th	Fri	Sat
8	9	10	11	12	13 8:00 pm*	14 8:00 pm*
15 2:00 pm*	16	17	18	19 8:00 pm*	20 8:00 pm*	21 8:00 pm*
22 2:00 pm*	23	24	25	26	27	28

* Member tickets not valid for marked (orange) shows.

Tickets have not yet gone on-sale for this show.

Original Book and Concept by PETER STONE Additional Lyrics by JOHN KANDER and RUPERT HOLMES Originally Produces on Braodway by Roger Berlind, Roger Horchow, Daryl Roth, Jane Bergere, Ted Hartley and Center Theatre Group. American Premiere Produced at The Ahmanson Theatre by Center Theatre Group, LA's Theater Company. Curtains is presented through special arrangement with and all authorized performance materials are supplied by Theatrical Rights Worldwide, 1180 Avenue of the Americas, Suite 640, New York, NY 10036. (866) 378-9758 www.theatricalrights.com

Staff
Director		Lindsay Franklin
Producer		Christine Robinson
Musical Director		Doug Pratt
Assistant Director		Tia Allen
Choreographer		Allie Beaver
Technical Director		Wayne Grinwis
Set Design		Wayne Grinwis
Costumer		Mercedes Duran

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