GENERAL AUDITION INFORMATION We Want the Funk: a rustbelt lullaby on the one! A LAUNCH PAD preview production of a new play By Idris Goodwin Directed by Risa Brainin PERFORMANCES : May 19-27, 2016 HATLEN THEATER GENERAL Monday, March 14 AUDITIONS : 6-10pm CALLBACKS : Monday, March 28th 6pm 10pm Note: Callback information will be posted in the Production Office or on the door of 1507. 1ST REHEARSAL : Tuesday, March 29th 6pm 10pm REHEARSALS: Typically 20-25 hours per week until tech rehearsals begin. This play will rehearse Monday Friday between the hours of 6-11 until tech week. There will be some Friday afternoon rehearsals and occasional Saturday. There are additional hours for techs and dress rehearsals leading to performances including a Saturday. Note that LAUNCH PAD productions rehearse on the Saturday afternoon of the 3 rd performance. CREDIT: 3 units of THTR 49 and/or 149 will be given to cast members.
SCRIPT CHECKOUT : The current draft of the script is now available as a PDF or hard copy for checkout. A $10 refundable deposit fee (exact cash only) will be required and all scripts must be returned by 2pm the following day. Friday checkouts are due on Monday by 2pm. AUDITION REQUIREMENTS: Any full time UCSB student is welcome and encouraged to audition. The audition sign-up list is posted inside the Production Office. Please sign up for one 3-minute audition slot and arrive ten minutes prior to your appointment to fill out audition forms in hallway. Please be prepared to stay longer than your allotted 3-minute slot should it run long or should auditions run a little behind schedule. AUDITION INFORMATION: SYNOPSIS of We Want the Funk It s the early 1970s and the fourth largest auto company in the Midwest just laid off more than half its workers. Chuck is one of them, but he s not worried. Chuck is convinced that the funk will bring prosperity. Only thing, Chuck can t play no instrument. But somewhere in this sea of the recently unemployed and rejected those morphine addicted Vietnam vets---those ex militants turned public servants gear heads, burnouts, labor activists, Motown woulda coulda beens, and hustlers---somewhere in all that is Chuck s band. This psychedelic rhythmic verse drama follows one ordinary man s pursuit of a new working class frontier. THE UCSB PRODUCTION TEAM: Playwright: Director: Scenic Designer: Costume Designer: Lighting Designer: Composer: Choreographer: Idris Goodwin Risa Brainin Shaun Motley Devon Painter Michael Klaers Randy Tico Christina McCarthy
Musical Director: Assistant Directors: Dramaturg: Associate Dramaturgs: Music Consultant: Stage Manager: Asst. Stage Manager: Asst. Scenic Designer: Asst. Costume Designer: Asst. Lighting Designer: Jon Nathan Miriam Dance Sian Harden Elizabeth Engelman Jaime Gray Jihye Kim Alex Blue KC Buller Melissa Hartman Jia Gu Maddison Carroll TBA PLAYWRIGHT S BIOGRAPHY: IDRIS GOODWIN is a playwright, rapper and essayist. His plays include How We Got On, Remix 38 (Actors Theater of Louisville); And in this corner: Cassius Clay (StageOne Family Theater), This is Modern Art (Steppenwolf), Blackademics (Crowded Fire). Goodwin is one of the six playwrights featured in Hands Up, an anthology commissioned by The New Black Fest. Hands Up is being presented across the country. Upcoming plays include Bars and Measures (B Street Theatre) and The Realness (Merrimack Rep). He is the recipient of InterAct Theater s 20/20 Commission Award. Goodwin has been writer in residence at Berkeley Rep's Ground Floor Program, The Lark Center, The Kennedy Center and New Harmony Project. An accomplished hip hop and spoken word artist, he s been featured on HBO, Sesame Street and Discovery Channel. He the author of the pushcart nominated essay collection These Are The Breaks (Write Bloody, 2011). His latest album is Rhyming While Black. Idris teaches performance writing and Hip Hop aesthetics at Colorado College. COLLABORATION: UCSB and the Department of Theater and Dance are pleased to present the preview production of We Want the Funk. We are fortunate to have the playwright in residence during the rehearsal process to continue his work on the play. We are also excited to welcome guest artists Jeff Mills and Jenna Scanlon to the cast playing Ted and Bernice.
ROLES: CHUCK: young adult black male T: young adult black male (could also be Latino) RHONDA: young adult black woman CHOP: young adult white male BERNICE: middle aged adult white woman (CAST) TED: middle aged adult white man (CAST) RO: young adult black male SIMONE: young adult black female A CHORUS of 5: any ethnicity, any gender AUDITION PREPARATION: Please read the script carefully so you can use it to: Pick a short scene or soliloquy from the play. You do not need to memorize this scene, but it should be prepared well. If you choose a scene, you should also choose a partner and prepare together. It is possible to have a partner who is not auditioning for the role that they read in the scene. For example: if you want to do a Simone scene, you can enlist an actor to read Rhonda or T who will not be auditioning for that role. Selections should be no more than 2-3 minutes. Time your scene please. If you are a singer, please prepare 16 bars of a Motown song or the Star Spangled Banner. No accompaniment is necessary.
If you play an instrument, especially bass guitar, please prepare 16 bars of a funky song. Please specify which role you are reading for. If you have questions or need more information contact Risa Brainin at rbrainin@theaterdance.ucsb.edu.