Auditions

Audition Notice!

"Village Players" "Bloor West Village Players" "Village Playhouse" "Runnymede theatre" theatre theater "community theatre" "Prisoner of Second Avenue" "Neil Simon" "Michael Hiller" auditionsTHE PRISONER OF SECOND AVENUE
by Neil Simon

Directed by Michael Hiller
Producer: Bridget Jankowski

PERFORMANCE DATES: September 16 to October 8, 2022

 (Non-union, non-paying. We are unable to cast full equity or ACTRA members.)
ALL ACTORS MUST BE FULLY VACCINATED AGAINST COVID-19

AUDITIONS will be held ON ZOOM at the following dates and times:

  • Tuesday, July 5: 7:00pm to 9:30pm
  • Wednesday, July 6: 7:00pm to 9:30pm
Callbacks (if needed) will be held AT THE VILLAGE PLAYHOUSE, 2190E Bloor St. West (around the corner from Runnymede subway station): 
  • Saturday, July 9: 7:00pm to 9:00pm
REHEARSALS & PERFORMANCES Will be held at the Village Playhouse. 
  • Rehearsals will generally be 3 hours in duration; Tuesday & Thursday evenings (7:00PM to 10:00PM) and Sunday afternoons (1:00PM to 4:00PM) from mid-July through mid-September.
  • Rehearsals begin Tuesday evening July 12. Tech week and dress rehearsals from Sunday, September 11 to Thursday, September 15.
  • Actors must be available for all performances from Friday, September 16 through to Saturday, October 8

THE PLAY:

Mel Edison is a well-paid executive of a Manhattan firm, until it suddenly hits the skids, and he gets the ax. His wife Edna takes a job to tide them over, then she too gets sacked. Compounded by the air-pollution killing his plants, and with the walls of the apartment being paper-thin allowing him a constant earful of his neighbours’ private lives, things can’t seem to get any worse…then he’s robbed, and his psychiatrist dies with $23,000 of his money. Mel does the only thing left for him to do — he has a nervous breakdown and it’s the best thing that ever happened to him.

The play is set in New York so the ability to do a New York accent would be a definite asset.

A reading copy of the play is available upon request.
CHARACTERS – 4F, 2M plus several voice-only characters (recorded):
  • MEL EDISON (age 40s+): A man on the edge of a breakdown. His life seems to be collapsing in on him, leaving him in survival mode. One of his coping mechanisms is his sense of humour, but even that seems to be waning.
  • EDNA EDISON (age 40s+): She’s trying her best to be supportive of Mel during his crisis, while dealing with her own issues. She has what amounts to a status transfer, from housewife to breadwinner.
  • HARRY EDISON (age 50s+): Mel’s pragmatic older brother. The figurehead of the family.
  • PAULINE (age 50s+): Mel’s older sister
  • PEARL (age 50s+): Mel’s other older sister
  • JESSIE (age 50s+): Yet another older sister
  • Voice Overs (not on-stage roles, will be recorded): Roger Keating (a newscaster), Stan Jennings (another newscaster), Bethesda Wayne (a female reporter), Judge, Upstairs Neighbour (male), Upstairs Neighbour (female)
PREPARATION: Please prepare a short (1-2 minute) comedic monologue. You will be re-directed.
TO BOOK AN AUDITION: Please email a copy of your headshot and resume to villageplayersauditions@gmail.com with your preferred date, time, interested role(s), and contact information.  Once we receive your details, you will receive a Zoom link one day prior to your audition.
To see a copy of The Village Players Policy for Respect of All Members, click HERE
 
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“If you get a chance to act in a room that somebody else has paid rent for, then you’re given a free chance to practice your craft.”
~ Philip Seymour Hoffman on auditioning
 
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