Auditions and Behind the Scenes

VUT also welcomes the participation of any student on crews for scenery, lighting, costume, makeup, properties, sound, stage management, box office, and house management. Contact us to see what opportunities are available.

Dead Man's Cell Phone

Auditions for Dead Man’s Cell Phone by Sarah Ruhl will be held in Neely Auditorium on Wed. Aug. 22 from 4-6 and Thurs. Aug. 23 from 7-9. Actor auditioning should come to one or the other of the auditions periods, but not both. Callbacks, should they be necessary, will be held on Fri. Aug. 24.

Dead Man’s Cell Phone is a contemporary dark comedy that explores what it means to be connected to (and disconnected from) others in this digital age. When Jean answers a stranger’s cell phone, she becomes immersed in his family, his marriage, his love affairs, and his work. Stylistically, the play is funny, poetic, and highly theatrical. For this production, I am looking for an ensemble of smart, collaborative actors who are interested in immersing themselves in Ruhl’s playful language, dark humor, and absorbing meditation on the possibility of real communication in our busy, buzzing, ringing, clanging, banging, noisy world.

For the auditions:

• Read the play if humanly possible. While familiarity with the play is not absolutely required for the auditions, it will certainly help. You may check out a copy of it at the theatre department office in the lobby of Neely Auditorium. The play is also available as an ebook from the Vanderbilt University Library—it can be accessed through Acorn. 

• Actors will read from the script during the auditions. I will be asking you to read from some combination of the following scenes:

• Act 1, scene 4 (Jean/Mrs. Gottlieb) beginning with Mrs. G’s, “Gordon—and I—had a falling out, you know—after that, he never returned my calls.”

• Act 1, scene 6 (Jean) beginning with “You know what’s funny? I never had a cell phone.”

• Act 1, scene 5 (Jean/Dwight) beginning with Dwight’s “Can I cut you some meat?”

• Act 2, scene 5 (Gordon/Jean) beginning at the top of the scene.

• Act 2, scene 1 (Gordon) beginning with “But that day—the day I died—I didn’t want to eat something that reminded me of body parts.”

• Please wear clothing and shoes that you can move in. No flip-flops, please!

Bring a detailed list of conflicts that you have during the rehearsal period. Rehearsals for Dead Man’s Cell Phone will begin on the evening of Sun. Aug 26 and run Sunday-Friday nights, 7-10, until the show opens on Thurs. Sept. 27. If you are cast, I will work around the conflicts you list until tech week begins. Technical rehearsals will begin with an all day rehearsal on Sun. Sept. 23 and continue with dress rehearsals Monday-Wednesday of that week. 

Please note that Rosh Hashanah (Sept. 17 and 18) falls during the rehearsal period of the play and that Yom Kippur (Sept. 26) falls on the final dress rehearsal of the play. Make sure that you note any conflicts that these religious holidays present for you on your audition cards

Performances of the play run Thursday-Sunday, Sept. 27-30 with evening performances Thurs., Fri., and Sat. and matinees on Sat. and Sun.

Please feel free to send me an email (leah.lowe@Vanderbilt.edu) or drop by my office (Neely Auditorium 201) if you have any questions about the auditions. I hope to see you there!

-Leah Lowe

The Taming of the Shrew

Production dates: November 2, 3, 4 & 8, 9, 10

Rehearsals will begin September 23^rd (we will not rehearse during fall break)

TYPE OF AUDITION: Group auditions, with cold readings of selected scenes & speeches from the text (copies available at the audition) in addition to improvisational movement. See “additional notes” regarding music and dance below.  

Reading the play (or a synopsis of the play and characters) prior to auditions is highly recommended

WHEN: Arrive at least 15 minutes early to fill out an audition card and to warm up. You need attend only one of the audition times. 

Wednesday August 22: 7 – 9 pm

Thursday August 23: 4 – 6 pm

Callbacks as needed: TBA

WHERE:  Neely Auditorium (on Alumni Lawn)

AUDITION ATTIRE: Please wear form-fitting clothing (skirts or dresses for women). In all cases your clothing should facilitate (not hamper) movement; AVOID flip flops! 

APPROACH TO THE PLAY:  What does it take to forge a life of compatibility? Is anything needed besides animal attraction and money? Join the party of creativity by auditioning for VUT’s The Taming of the Shrew. We seek an ensemble of 17 (11 males and 6 females) to explore the action of “taming” in this famous Shakespearean comedy. “Get to the feast, revel and domineer. . . Be mad and merry!” Ultimately, your enthusiasm, physicality, and input will inspire the costume design of whimsically altered, embellished, and repurposed past fashions. 

ADDITIONAL NOTES regarding MUSIC and DANCE:  Our approach to the play looks to incorporate elements of Latin-influenced music, improvisatory movement, and choreographed dance. We seek multi-talented actors who play instruments (possibly generating a portion of the music live) and/or the ability to dance and or move with finesse, although experience in dance is not required. A short dance piece will be taught at each audition session. A callback for musicians will be arranged after the initial auditions. Be sure to indicate your level of musical expertise on the audition card.

SCENES TO REVIEW BEFORE AUDITIONS

These scenes and/or monologues will be used in auditions:

II 1 – Kate and Bianca

II 1 – Gremio, Tranio (as Lucentio), Baptista – pp. 99 – 103

III 1 – Bianca, Lucentio, (as Cambio), Hortensio – pp. 109 – 111

IV 5 – Petruchio, Kate, and Vincentio

Petruchio’s speech IV 2 and Kate’s speech V 2