West Boca High School Theatre Proudly Presents The Game s Afoot Audition Packet DIRECTED BY LANCE BLANK ASSISTANT DIRECTOR CHERYL CROUT NOVEMBER 2, 3, 4, 5, 2017 in the West Boca Performing Arts Theater. Welcome to the West Boca High School Theatre experience and thank you for auditioning to be a part of our All-SchooL Theatre Production of THE GAME S AFOOT. West Boca High School s Fine Arts department is committed to putting on a production that every actor, stage crew member, costume designer, props coordinator, stage manager, set designer, technical director, director, choreographer, music director, orchestra member, producer, lighting designer, sound designer, house manager, usher, program designer, poster designer, printer, custodian, parent, teacher's aide, guidance counselor, cafeteria staff, teacher, principal, asst. principal, secretary, school staff member and audience member can be proud of. From the choosing of the play to the audition to the rehearsal to the performance to the strike, all participants of the West Boca High School Theatre Experience will create and participate in a process that will feature nothing less than 100% dedication, hard work, teamwork and excellence! With a process that is founded in complete teamwork and collaboration, we will produce a professional production that will leave theatergoers in our community feeling WOWED!" The road getting there is as important as the performance itself. Thank you for joining us in this effort and we wish you the best of luck at auditions. If not cast we hope you will join us in one of many just as important roles backstage as there are onstage. I hope this is a fun learning experience where you will meet new friends and have an exciting theatre experience! Mr. Lance Blank, Director of West Boca High School Theatre. GOOD LUCK TO ALL WHO AUDITION! And thanks for being a part of West Boca High School Theatre! Please read the entire packet.
AUDITIONS Initial Auditions: Meet in Rm2104(Drama) Things to Bring: 08/28/17 4:00-8:30 PM Theater Monologue An unapologetic, positive attitude Signed agreement and contract Professional Dress Audition form, headshot, resume, and questionnaire. CALLBACKS Vocal/Acting/Dance Callbacks: Theater 08/29/17 4:15-7:30 PM Bring scene cuts, snacks and water. Dress appropriately. Please sign up for an audition slot. You must sign up and audition to be considered for The Game s Afoot. Questions? Please contact: Mr. Blank (Producer/Director) at lance.blank@palmbeachschools.org A Note From Director Lance Blank Auditions can be scary. Believe me, I've been in your shoes so I know just how nervous and anxious auditions can make you feel. That s why we've created this packet. It is filled with information that will prepare you and help you feel more relaxed and confident throughout the process. PLEASE read all of it carefully - this information is very important. You will find information about what to expect at the auditions and callbacks, rehearsal process information, and a list of important dates. Also characters, the synopsis, audition monologues, Production Agreements and more. What we am looking for: Acting skills while you are singing and dancing (because it s all about storytelling!!) Students who are prepared for their audition Students who want to work very hard Students who are committed to the show and to the schedule (This show must be a top priority) Students who review the material outside of rehearsal time (yes, being in an show means lots of homework) I am only interested in working with actors who possess a positive attitude, an awesome work ethic, zero ego, and good, caring spirits. You need to be committed to learning all of your lines, songs and choreography at a very fast rate. I also want students who want to have FUN in a theatre production. If you are prepared and responsible, we'll have a ball. AUDITION PROCESS: Monday, August 28th: Initial Auditions: Believe me, the hard work is worth it! Sign up for a slot to audition. There will be 5 slots per 15 minute period. Come to the auditions in professional looking clothes(i.e. No ripped jeans, t shirts, shirts falling off shoulder, flip flops, etc.) Prepare one of the attached monologues. Be warmed up and ready to do your best!. Or, if you would rather, you may do a monologue of about a minute s length that is not included. Audition Norms 1. While auditioning please do not use any of us as your acting partner pick a spot over our heads on which to focus. 2. We may or may not cut you off in the middle of your pieces. We may have you do it again differently. We do this for time purposes or to give you a note to see how you take direction.
Tuesday, August 29th: Callbacks: Callback materials will be available by the callboard and on-line during audition week. During callbacks, you may do cold readings, work with there partners, and do accents. Note: Mr. Blank and Mrs. Crout will be casting as we go. The Call Back List will be posted on wbhsdrama.com. PLEASE BRING ides for the characters you are being read for if given. REHEARSAL PROCESS: Rehearsals will begin the week of September 1. From the first week of rehearsals until the show, you may be called for a three hour rehearsal block any day after school until 6:30 pm. Some rehearsals may be evenings, some longer ones may be on Saturdays or Sunday Evenings. The closer we get to the performance, the more time that is likely needed in rehearsals. Anticipate becoming extremely busy and involved in the musical during the last week before we go into tech. Keep up with your school work. It takes great planning on your behalf to maintain excellent grades in AP classes AND be a lead in a musical. It is a challenge that is well rewarded. However, being upset with the directing team for calling rehearsals that you don't like, and/or occasionally getting out late is befuddling. Only audition for the musical if your entire family knows the commitments of time and energy that are required to put on an excellent show. This brilliant collaboration of scores of students, faculty and staff is well worth it! CHARACTER INFO AND MONOLOGUES: WILLIAM GILLETTE, Male, early to mid-50s. A dashing leading man and ardent lover of all that the glorious game of life has to offer. Passionate about his interests, which include the theatrical arts, mystery, and of course Sherlock Holmes. Described by Ludwig as, a strikingly handsome man good humored, full of irony and life. A sort of modern-day Ulysses. Transatlantic accent preferred. MARTHA GILLETTE, Female, mid-70s. Gillette s mother. Nouveau riche, which is to say that she lives a lavish and glamorous lifestyle, but lacks the class normally associated therewith. Described by Ludwig as, somewhat vague and dithering. New York or New England accent may be appropriate. FELIX GEISEL, Male, early 40s. A devoted character actor who relishes his craft, but is not immune to the occasional bout of jealousy. Described by Ludwig as, histrionic and arch in a Lionel Barrymore/Sir Toby Belch sort of way. Transatlantic accent preferred. MADGE GEISEL, Female, early 40s. A witty and energetic character actress. She has an edge to her, and a sharp tongue, but her affection is absolutely genuine. Described by Ludwig as, flamboyant and wry in a Rosalind Russell smart-mouthed-gal-about-town sort of way. Transatlantic accent preferred. SIMON BRIGHT, Male, 25. A witty jokester who finds humor in nearly everything. Described by Ludwig as, sweet and enthusiastic. Transatlantic accent preferred. Ability to play an instrument is a plus. AGGIE WHEELER, Female, 25. A genuine and sensitive young actress who is often swept away by the goings on around her. Described by Ludwig as, a real product of her age beautiful, bright-eyed, and full of spunk. Transatlantic accent preferred. INSPECTOR HARRIET GORING, Female, 40s. A police inspector who once dreamed of being an actress, and who is still an avid theatre fan. Described by Ludwig as, British, eccentric, and one of a kind. One minute, she seems wry and clever, the next minute she s off into a world of her own. She gets things wrong without even knowing it, yet she also seems just the sort of person who can find out when you re lying. That makes her formidable. British accent required. DARIA CHASE, Female, mid-30s to early 40s. A theatre critic with a dangerous penchant for snooping around. Very self-confident and aware of her own power and charm. Described by Ludwig as, one of those people you can t take your eyes off of; and despite all her showbiz cattiness, you can t help liking her or at least admiring her. She has a sense of humor and has invented herself from the ground up, which is no mean feet. Transatlantic, New York, or even high-class Southern accents may be appropriate.
Please choose one of the following monologues feel free to change any gender references anybody can do any one of these monologues, simply adjust the gender words. If you choose a monologue from The Game s Afoot, that does NOT mean you are auditioning solely for THAT character. All the characters have a similar delivery there just aren t many monologues in this play it s mostly banter. Note that the style is heightened I have chosen many monologues from playwright Noel Coward because the style of the dialogue is very similar. These characters are part of stylish, mannered, high-art society they are well-read, accomplished NYC actors who have pizazz and work off each other very well. Please also remember that this is a comedy, which means TENSION both physically and vocally. And even if a character is genuinely angry, there must be something in their frustration that makes the audience laugh. 1) Daria Chase (from The Game s Afoot) (This is her entrance. She enters and poses.) Merry Christmas! Oh William! My dear, sweet, vulnerable man! How is your arm? Your heart? Your soul? Ah! After that ghastly shooting I thought I d never see you again! I simply grabbed whatever was hanging in my sad, little closet as I bounded out of New York City for the countryside on Christmas Eve and oh my God just smell the air out here! I haven t smelled air like this since I was a little girl growing up in Kansas or wherever it was with all those divine little cows and things. How lucky you are to have all this...nature to comfort you. 2) William Gillette (from The Game s Afoot) (cut version) (In response to Aggie s line: You treat everything as a joke! Even that horrible attempt on your life!) Look, we have chosen this mad life of ours, and we d be insane not to accept it for what it is. We re actors. We wear silly costumes. We put on noses made of putty for God s sake. I don t treat life as a joke- I treat it as the most glorious game ever invented. Love and heartbreak? Game. Life and death? The greatest game, the biggest adventure. Shakespeare got it right on the nose. Henry the Fifth charging into battle against overwhelming odds and what does he cry? It s all a game and if I die, I die! So let them praise me, hate me or shoot me but at the end of the battle, I will have lived, even for a moment. And if you think you need Simon in order to live like that, then take him, by all means! Cling to him! Don t hesitate for a second!...i will, however, miss you unutterably. 3) Daria Chase (The Game s Afoot): (in response to We d rather you wrote about the play and not us. ) Oh, nonsense. Of course you wouldn t. Everyone wants publicity. It s magic, and it s changing the world. Look at me, I m a sorceress. A wave of the pen and I can make you a star. Poof. Publicity equals fame equals money. It s like a drug, but it never stops. And I must say, you ve all been hogging the limelight beautifully, haven t you. First the shooting, which in itself must have doubled my readership, then the inheritance and now the murder...(they look at her blankly)...the murder this morning...don t tell me you don t...(she realizes she s let the cat out of the bag)...oops. 4) MADAME ARCATI (from Blithe Spirit by Noel Coward): I did was requested to do, which was to give a séance and establish contact with the Other Side. I had no idea that there was any ulterior motive mixed up with it.(drawing herself up in reaction to Ruth s dismissal of the seance) Am I to understand that I was only invited in a spirit of mockery...? (incensed) Tricks of the trade!? Insufferable! I ve never been so insulted in my life. I feel we have nothing more to say to one another, Mrs. Condomine. Your attitude from the outset has been most unpleasant, Mrs. Condomine. Some of your remarks have been discourteous in the extreme and I should like to say, without umbrage, that if you and your husband were foolish enough to tamper with the unseen for paltry motives and in a spirit of ribaldry, whatever has happened to you is your own fault, and, to coin a phrase, as far as I m concerned you can stew in your own juice!
5) Ruth (Blithe Spirit by Noel Coward) (Expressing her frustration over the return of the ghost of Elvira, her husband s first wife.) Charles, I ve been making polite conversation all through dinner last night and breakfast and lunch today and it s been a nightmare and I m not going to do it anymore. I don t like Elvira any more than she likes me, and what s more, I m certain that I never could have, alive or dead. If, since her untimely arrival here the other evening, she had shown the slightest sign of good manners, the slightest sign of good breeding, I might have felt differently towards her, but all she has done is try to make mischief between us and have private jokes with you against me. I am now going up to my room and I shall have my dinner on a tray. You and she can have the house to yourselves and joke and gossip with each other to your heart s content. The first thing in the morning I m going to London to interview the Psychical Research Society, and if they fail me I shall go straight to the Archbishop of Canterbury! 6) Charles (from Blithe Spirit by Noel Coward) Bidding farewell to the ghosts of his two late wives, Ruth and Elvira. CHARLES: (starting to speak at the door. Softly.) Ruth! Elvira! are you there? (A pause.) Ruth! Elvira! I know damn well you re there. (Another pause) I just want to tell you that I m going away, so there s no point in your hanging around any longer Is that quite clear, my darlings? You said in one of your more acid moments, Ruth, that I had been hag-ridden all my life! How right you were! But now I m free, Ruth dear, not only of Mother and Elvira and Mrs. Winthrope-Llewellyn (Lou-ellen), but free of you too, and I should like to take this farewell opportunity of saying I m enjoying it immensely (The vase on the mantelpiece falls on the hearth-stone and smashes) Aha! I thought so you were very silly, Elvira to imagine that I didn t know all about you and Captain Bracegirdle. I did. But what you didn t know was that I was extremely attached to Paula Westlake at the time!(the picture above the piano crashes to the ground)i was reasonably faithful to you, Ruth, but I doubt if it would have lasted much longer. You were becoming increasingly domineering, you know, and there s nothing more off-putting than that, is there? (The clock strikes sixteen very quickly) Good-bye for the moment, my dears! I expect we are bound to meet again one day, but until we do I m going to enjoy myself as I ve never enjoyed myself before! 7) Lloyd (from Noises Off by Michael Frayn) (For some context...this former director has come back from his current production of Richard III to try and mend fences with an Actress unhappy in his previous production). Let me tell you something about my life. I have the Duke of Buckingham on the phone to me for an hour after rehearsal every evening complaining that the Duke of Gloucester is sucking boiled sweets through his speeches. Richard himself would you believe? -Richard III? Has now gone down with a back problem. I keep getting messages from here about how unhappy Brooke is and now she s got herself a doctor s certificate for nervous exhaustion she s going to walk! I have no time to find or rehearse another Vicki. I have just one afternoon, while Richard is fitted for a surgical corset, to cure Brooke of nervous exhaustion. So I haven t come to the theatre to hear about other people s problems. I ve come to be taken out of myself and preferably not be put back in again. 8) Barbara (from Reverse English) Well I am angry, Billy. I am...incensed. I am...this makes me crazy. Really frosts my pajamas. This makes me...this drives me...this gets me wild, do you understand me? I am not some trophy that can be won over by a bunch of sweaty, dirty guys with a vote in the shower room. It is bad enough that I m a freshman and got talked into being a JV cheerleader. This isn t the old west, Billy Bob, and I am not your mail order bride, or everybody s locker room fantasy, or some bimbo to be passed around from split end to quarterback. How dare you think you have any rights to even talk to me unless I say so, much less decide what I ll do or who I ll go out with for even one night, let alone an entire football season? It gets me astronomically furious!
Participant Number: WEST BOCA THEATER DEPARTMENT THE GAME S AFOOT PARTICIPATION FORM Name: Date of Birth: Address: City: Zip: Home Phone: Grade: Cell Phone: E-mail: T-shirt size: S M L XL XXL Gender: Male Female Parent(s)/Guardian(s) Name(s): If different than yours, Address and Home Phone of Parent(s)/Guardian(s): Parent(s)/Guardian(s) E-mail: How would you like to be involved with THE GAME S AFOOT? Cast Stage Crew Tech Crew Costume Crew Make-up Crew Prop Crew Student Director Stage Manager Asst Stage Manager Other You may attach a resume or list here: Acting experience/training Signing experience/training Dance experience/training
Questionnaire: If you are cast in TGA would you be willing to change your hair style, facial hair, or jewelry for the show? Yes No Are you in a Drama Class Currently? Yes No Which(period)? Are you in a Chorus/Band Class Currently? Yes No Which? Are you in a sport or club? Yes No Which? Do you have a job? Yes No Where and normal schedule? Do you drive? Yes No Car? Yes No FOR STUDENTS I would like to participate in this production and will do everything I can to make it a success. I understand that I will be required to maintain my schoolwork and attend all of the rehearsals that are required of me. I understand that my cooperation and self-discipline as well as my responsibility in learning all aspects of my role are conditions for my participation. I will bring work to do during practices. I will contribute an attitude of teamwork and help to bond all cast members together and will comply respectfully with adult production staff and parents. By signing this Participation Form, I have read, understand, and am in accord with the Participation Fee, Attendance Policy, and Behavior Contract as described in the Informational Packet to which this Participation Form was attached. Print Name of Cast/Crew Member Signature of Cast/Crew Member DATE FOR PARENT(S)/GUARDIAN(S) I give my son/daughter permission to be in the West Boca High School musical. He/she understands the commitment that he/she needs to make this production a success. I feel that my child can handle the added responsibility to his/her usual school day. He/she will not be absent from rehearsals after October 22 unless there is a serious emergency or an illness (work, club meetings, sporting events, social gatherings other than family weddings are not emergencies). My child has included all known conflicts on the conflict page. Print Name of Parent/Guardian Signature of Parent/Guardian Date