CASTING CALL

Here's what we'll be looking for:

MAJOR ROLES:

VELMA KELLY: Former vaudeville star, brassy, tough, convicted killer
Songs: All That Jazz, Cell Block Tango, I Can't Do It Alone, My Own Best Friend, I Know a Girl, When Velma Takes the Stand, Class, Nowadays

ROXIE HART: Ambitious, tough, not as smart as she thinks she is
Songs: Funny Honey, Roxie, My Own Best Friends, Me and My Baby, Nowadays

BILLY FLYNN: Smooth, polished, successful, amoral lawyer
Songs: All I Care About Is Love, We Both Reached for the Gun, Razzle Dazzle

MATRON MAMA MORTON: Runs the prison, an opportunist (no dancing)
Songs: When You're Good To Mama, Class

MARY SUNSHINE: Feel-good, sob story journalist (she will be a she in our production)
Songs: A Little Bit of Good, We Both Reached for the Gun

AMOS HART: Roxie's sad sack husband, not too bright (no dancing)
Song: Mister Cellophane

OTHER ROLES:

FRED CASELY: The callow player that Roxie kills

SERGEANT FOGARTY: Investigating officer at Fred's murder

LIZ: Murderess. She killed the gum popper

ANNIE: Murderess who killed the Mormon with six wives

JUNE: Her husband ran into her knife six times

MONA: Murderess. Had artistic differences with her man

HUNYAK: The Hungarian murderess. Anybody speak Hungarian? Convicted and hanged.

HARRISON: The district attorney prosecuting Roxie

GO-TO-HELL KITTY: Heiress who finds her man in bed with two women

HARRY: Her man. He makes poor choices, but he does get to say, "Are you gonna believe what you see or what I tell you?"

ALSO: We have a doctor, a tailor, a judge, a bailiff, a court reporter, and a person who single-handedly plays all twelve members of the jury.

ENSEMBLE:

There is room in the chorus for people who are singers but might not have the greatest dance skills, as well as dancers who are not necessarily God's gift to singing. If you are the total package, that is most excellent. But we absolutely have space for people whose skill set is not quite so broad.

AGE:

There are no young person roles in this show. I'm not setting a hard and fast age limit, but you must be able to come across as an adult on stage. I will miss all my orphans and street urchins from my past few shows, but I can't send anybody out on stage who can't pass for a grown up.

PHYSICAL REQUIREMENTS:

We are structuring the show to incorporate actors of many levels of skill and stamina. Roxie and Velma are both demanding roles- basically run a few miles, then belt out a song, then run another mile while belting out a song.

For everyone else, requirements vary. The featured dancing ensemble will work hard, but for some folks considerably less dance will be required, and there are some roles that only require you to be able to walk and talk at the same time. In audition, you'll have the opportunity to share your comfort level.

I can't remember a show where this came up before, but people have been asking so, here we go. No, we will not have a height or weight requirement for this show. Human beings come in various levels of curviness, and there's no reason for the show not to reflect that. That said, this is a show that is a lot about sex and sensuality, and if you're generally only comfortable on stage wearing a hoop skirt and a parka, there are fewer (I won't say none) opportunities for you. But I'll also say this-- I never, ever, ever send any performer out on stage to be embarrassed. I know some folks are concerned about doing a show that they associate with people dancing around barely in their underwear-- we will be tasteful and appropriate, but we will also strive to keep it hot. If you have further questions about this, don't hesitate to get ahold of me.