Auditions for Richard III and The Hunchback of Notre Dame, running in repertory with a shared cast.
Cromulent Shakespeare Company is seeking 15 actors to perform roles in both Richard III, directed by Timothy Jopek, and The Hunchback of Notre Dame, directed by Leah Cooper. The shows will run in repertory at the Minneapolis Theatre Garage. Ideally, all actors will have role(s) in each show – a large role in one and a small role in the other, or two small-medium sized roles in each.
Auditions:
The Children's Theatre Company
2400 3rd Ave S. / Minneapolis, MN 55404
Open call September 27, 6-9 pm and September 28, 4-7 pm. No appointment necessary; come either day, any time within the hours listed. Please bring current resume and headshot. You will be asked to read one scene from each script, depending on the character you are interested in playing. Optionally, you may also bring a prepared monologue from a classic play. It is not necessary to bring a prepared monologue, just an option if you aren't a great cold reader. Callbacks will be September 29 and 30, 6:30-9:30 pm by invitation.
The Cromulent Shakespeare Company embraces non-traditional casting in our endeavors to best serve the plays we produce and the audiences we perform for. We encourage actors of all ages, all racial and ethnic backgrounds, and actors with disabilities to audition.
The Cromulent Shakespeare Company divides 50% of its profits evenly between all non-contracted performers in each production. This profit-sharing plan reflects Cromulent's commitment to ensemble.
Rehearsals:
Profile Music Studios, Minneapolis (Near U of M, on University Ave)
Weeknights (M-Th) and weekend afternoons based on cast availability. Both shows will rehearse concurrently. November 23-24 read-throughs of each script. Rehearsals December 1-19 and January 4 through February 5.
Performances:
Minneapolis Theatre Garage
February 6-28. Each show on alternating days. Tuesday-Saturday evenings at 7:30 pm and Sunday matinees at 2:00 pm.
Character Lists:
Hunchback of Notre Dame
There will be double-casting of smaller character roles. Some of these roles subject to change as we are still doing rewrites on the adaptation. Note, this adaptation sticks closely to the original Victor Hugo novel. It is very different from the Disney version and not a musical. Also, this adaptation will approach the story as a play within a play, with descendants of the beggars' court reenacting the story. Therefore, while gender and age matter some, ethnicity and physical type don't matter at all. The director would welcome the opportunity to work with an ethnically diverse cast.
Claude Frollo - the Archdeacon of Notre Dame, surrogate father to Quasimodo. Anywhere from late 30s up, probably 50 or more.
Quasimodo - the hunchback, a bell-ringer at Notre Dame. He is mostly deaf from ringing the bells, hideously ugly, tremendously strong. He has virtually never known human contact.
Captain Phoebus de Chateupaers - of the King's Archers. Tall, virile, gorgeous, possibly a mane of blond hair to further resemble the sun.
Pierre Gringoire - a poet and dramatist, but not a very successful one. Neither fully brave nor selfish, no outstanding physical features. Probably in his 20s or 30s.
Clopin - is the "King" of the Beggars and Gypsies. He is gregarious, clever, quick in spirit, and fiercely defensive of his people. He is probably in his 40s to 60s.
Esmeralda - a lovely young dancer and entertainer, raised as a Gypsy, although she is not one. She has vowed purity until marriage. She is partially unaware of her beauty and its effect on men (and therefore on women). Late teens to late 20s, dark haired.
Fleur-de-Lys de Gondelaurier - a beautiful woman of the upper class. If she is vain and selfish, it is mostly because she is raised to be so. She should be a contrast to Esmeralda--blonde, perhaps very tiny, etc.
Sister Gudule - formerly Paquette la Chatefleurie, she is an anchorite who lives in seclusion and mourns the loss of her child. She blames, and thus hates, the Gypsies for this.
Jehan - Frollo's younger brother, a student of sorts, always out of money and up for a good time. Youngish.
Lady de Gondelaurier - Fleur-de-Lys' mother, she would be a voice of Parisian Society. Older.
Violet and Scarlet - two attractive actresses with Gringoire.
Lieutenant of the Guards - close to a friend of Phoebus, but understands rank,
Corporal - a bit of a bully.
Private - fairly thick, new to the Guards.
Donna - a drunk member of the beggars' court.
Red Andry - swaggering, tough, threatening (beggars' court).
Sebastian - always looking for a quick score or a bit of fun (beggars' court).
Jeannette - not born a Gypsy, joined beggars' court after personal losses. Mostly a trollop.
Magrite - a crony old crone, con artist, den mother in beggars' court.
Granny - just as old as she can be, survives partly by grossing people out (beggars' court).
M. Blanc - very old man, stooped, wracked, dressed in rags and tatters.
Mdm. Noir - more than a little crazy, a very old widow's veil covers her face.
Cousin - an executioner, he will probably also be the torturer.
Diane - an attractive young woman of the upper class. Vain but not malicious.
Amelotte - another attractive young woman of the upper class, malicious.
Peddler - selling bread and wine.
Innkeeper - a bit on the gruff-but-loveable side.
Richard III
There will be double-casting of smaller character roles.
Richard - Also called the duke of Gloucester, and eventually crowned King Richard III. Deformed in body and twisted in mind, Richard is both the central character and the villain of the play. He is evil, corrupt, sadistic, and manipulative, and he will stop at nothing to become king. His intelligence, political brilliance, and dazzling use of language keep the audience fascinated—and his subjects and rivals under his thumb.
Buckingham - Richard's right-hand man in his schemes to gain power. The duke of Buckingham is almost as amoral and ambitious as Richard himself.
King Edward IV - The older brother of Richard and Clarence, and the king of England at the start of the play. Edward was deeply involved in the Yorkists' brutal overthrow of the Lancaster regime, but as king he is devoted to achieving a reconciliation among the various political factions of his reign. He is unaware that Richard attempts to thwart him at every turn.
Clarence - The gentle, trusting brother born between Edward and Richard in the York family. Richard has Clarence murdered in order to get him out of the way. Clarence leaves two children, a son and a daughter.
Queen Elizabeth - The wife of King Edward IV and the mother of the two young princes (the heirs to the throne) and their older sister, young Elizabeth. After Edward's death, Queen Elizabeth (also called Lady Gray) is at Richard's mercy. Richard rightly views her as an enemy because she opposes his rise to power, and because she is intelligent and fairly strong-willed. Elizabeth is part of the Woodeville family; her kinsmen—Dorset, Rivers, and Gray—are her allies in the court.
Dorset, Rivers, and Gray - The kinsmen and allies of Elizabeth, and members of the Woodeville and Gray families. Rivers is Elizabeth's brother, while Gray and Dorset are her sons from her first marriage. Richard eventually executes Rivers and Gray, but Dorset flees and survives.
Anne - The young widow of Prince Edward, who was the son of the former king, Henry VI. Lady Anne hates Richard for the death of her husband, but for reasons of politics—and for sadistic pleasure—Richard persuades Anne to marry him.
Duchess of York - Widowed mother of Richard, Clarence, and King Edward IV. The duchess of York is Elizabeth's mother-in-law, and she is very protective of Elizabeth and her children, who are the duchess's grandchildren. She is angry with, and eventually curses, Richard for his heinous actions.
Margaret - Widow of the dead King Henry VI, and mother of the slain Prince Edward. In medieval times, when kings were deposed, their children were often killed to remove any threat from the royal line of descent—but their wives were left alive because they were considered harmless. Margaret was the wife of the king before Edward, the Lancastrian Henry VI, who was subsequently deposed and murdered (along with their children) by the family of King Edward IV and Richard. She is embittered and hates both Richard and the people he is trying to get rid of, all of whom were complicit in the destruction of the Lancasters.
The princes - The two young sons of King Edward IV and his wife, Elizabeth, their names are actually Prince Edward and the young duke of York, but they are often referred to collectively. Agents of Richard murder these boys—Richard's nephews—in the Tower of London. Young Prince Edward, the rightful heir to the throne, should not be confused with the elder Edward, prince of Wales (the first husband of Lady Anne, and the son of the former king, Henry VI.), who was killed before the play begins.
Young Elizabeth - The former Queen Elizabeth's daughter. Young Elizabeth enjoys the fate of many Renaissance noblewomen. She becomes a pawn in political power-brokering, and is promised in marriage at the end of the play to Richmond, the Lancastrian rebel leader, in order to unite the warring houses of York and Lancaster.
Ratcliffe, Catesby - Two of Richard's flunkies among the nobility.
Tyrrell - A murderer whom Richard hires to kill his young cousins, the princes in the Tower of London.
Richmond - A member of a branch of the Lancaster royal family. Richmond gathers a force of rebels to challenge Richard for the throne. He is meant to represent goodness, justice, and fairness—all the things Richard does not. Richmond is portrayed in such a glowing light in part because he founded the Tudor dynasty, which still ruled England in Shakespeare's day.
Hastings - A lord who maintains his integrity, remaining loyal to the family of King Edward IV. Hastings winds up dead for making the mistake of trusting Richard.
Stanley - The stepfather of Richmond. Lord Stanley, earl of Derby, secretly helps Richmond, although he cannot escape Richard's watchful gaze.
Lord Mayor of London - A gullible and suggestible fellow whom Richard and Buckingham use as a pawn in their ploy to make Richard king.
Vaughan - A friend of Elizabeth, Dorset, Rivers, and Gray who is executed by Richard along with Rivers and Grey.
