Footlight Theatre Audition Notice: I Hate Hamlet

footlight-logoFootlight Theatre Audition Notice: I Hate Hamlet

By Paul Rudnick
Directed by Donald R. Beck

Production Dates: June 6-8 & 12-15 ,2014

Synopsis

Andrew Rally seems to have it all: celebrity and acclaim from his starring role in a hit television series; a rich beautiful girlfriend; a glamorous, devoted agent; the perfect New York apartment; and the chance to play Hamlet in Central Park. There are, however, a couple of glitches in paradise. Andrew's series has been canceled; his girlfriend is clinging to her virginity with unyielding conviction; and he has no desire to play Hamlet. When Andrew's agent visits him, she reminisces about her brief romance with John Barrymore many years ago, in Andrew's apartment. This prompts a séance to summon his ghost. From the moment Barrymore returns, dressed in high Shakespearean garb, Andrew's life is no longer his own. Barrymore, fortified by champagne and ego, presses Andrew to accept the part and fulfill his actor's destiny. The action becomes more hilarious with the entrance of Andrew's deal-making friend from LA, spouting the laid-back hype of the Coast and offering Andrew a fabulous new TV deal worth millions of dollars. The laughs are nonstop as Andrew wrestles with his conscience, Barrymore, his sword, and the fact that he fails as Hamlet in Central Park.

Auditions will be held Saturday, March 22 at 1:00pm & Sunday, March 23 at 7pm at Footlight Theatre 1705 Footlight Theatre, Michigan City

Casting Requirements

Andrew Rally: handsome and charismatic. He has definite star quality and is an all-around good guy in his 30s. Actor should be comfortable kissing female character and with using a sword for staged sword fight.

John Barrymore's Ghost: Sexy, arrogant, highly theatrical, must be comfortable with using a sword and with stage combat. Dance experience helpful.

Deidre McDavey: Rally's girlfriend, ethereal, Ophelia-like, she's in her mid-20s to mid-30s. Must be comfortable kissing on stage and with being lifted onto a couch.

Lillian Troy: She's Rally's tough-as-nails agent — and, once in her long-ago youth, she had a fling with Barrymore in Rally's apartment. She's a smoker, in her 70s, and has a slight German accent. Dance experience helpful.

Felicia Dantine: A larger-than life, New York City real-estate agent who claims to be psychic. She has some Queens nasality in her speech and is in her 30s.