AUDITIONS
Pure as the Driven Snow
By Paul Loomis
Underwritten by Alan Bryant
Directed by Jennifer Hargis
Auditions June 21 & 22 at 7pm
Show dates August 12-28
Please arrive by 6:45pm
Please wear a mask!
Assistant Director-Robin Sutton
Music Director-Mark Bendiksen
Stage Manager-Savannah Barrera
Assistant Stage Manager-Lilly Sutton
Light/Sound Technician-Daniel Kimble
(character descriptions below)
It is preferred that you attend both nights of auditions so that the director may gauge the chemistry between all potential actors. Roles will be determined and scripts handed out on that Tuesday night (22nd) after auditions are complete. Rehearsals will be four nights a week until tech week, when they will be Sunday through Wednesday, performances begin on that Thursday and will run three weekends. There will also be pickup rehearsals on the second and third Wednesdays during the run of performances.
This is a MELODRAMA - Actors will need to expect the unexpected during performances and
ad-lib as necessary, over-acting all the while.
Plot Summary: On a dark and stormy night, Purity Dean--a working girl with a secret--seeks shelter from the storm in a country inn. She's been forced to give up her canning factory job as she can no longer endure black hearted Mortimer Frothingham's attentions. Working as a maid at the inn, she falls in love with the brave Leander, who works in a pickle factory. But Mortimer still pursues Purity and will win her by fair or foul means. And so, he begins his campaign of villainy.
Auditions will consist of cold reading from the script. Bear in mind, in the descriptions below, that the number of pages isn’t always a good indicator of the number of lines a character will have. For instance, Lettie is on stage for four pages, but if she has any lines at all, it might be two. The entire play takes place in the lobby of an inn.
It is the director’s intention to double-up 6 of the characters on three actors, but we will see what happens at auditions. Hopefully one person would play Jed and Eric, one person would play Alison and Lettie, and one person would play Mrs. Hewlitt and Nellie. This would bring the cast of the regular play down to 10 actors instead of 13.
Characters
Purity Dean—female, early to mid-twenties, heroine, appears in 60 pages of script
Leander Longfellow—male, 30-ish, hero, appears in 58 pages of script
Zamah Logan—female, no particular age, co-owner of Uland Inn, appears on 41 pages of script
Jonathan Logan—male, no particular age, co-owner of Uland Inn, appears on 50 pages of script
Mortimer Frothingham—male, 30+, villain, appears in 48 pages of script
Jed Lunn—male, no particular age, blackmailed by villain, appears in 19 pages of script
Ethelinda Hewlitt—female, old enough to be mother of young adult, snobby, appears on 25 pages of script
Alison Hewlitt—female, young adult, almost as snobby as her mother, appears on 27 pages of script
Eric Z. (EZ) Pickens—male, no particular age, son of pickle factory owner, appears in 25 pages of script
Imogene Pickens—female, mid-twenties, makes deal with villain, appears in 34 pages of script
Mrs. Faith Hogue—female, older than heroine, enters in 3rd act, appears in 9 pages of script
Letty Barber—female, no particular age, entire purpose is to carry something off stage, appears in 4 pages of script
Nellie Morris—female, no particular age, comes out of nowhere in 3rd act, appears in 3 pages of script
Card girl/boy—person to carry cards that have setting info or olio act names across stage. Appears at beginning of show, end of first act, before first olio, before second act, end of second act, before second olio, before third act, end of show. No memorized lines, but if you ad-lib anything to interact with the audience, nobody will get mad at you
Olio Performer—no particular gender, no particular age, number of olio performers and their acts to be determined later. Olio performers will appear after each of the two intermissions, but before the play’s act begins.
Leander Longfellow—male, 30-ish, hero, appears in 58 pages of script
Zamah Logan—female, no particular age, co-owner of Uland Inn, appears on 41 pages of script
Jonathan Logan—male, no particular age, co-owner of Uland Inn, appears on 50 pages of script
Mortimer Frothingham—male, 30+, villain, appears in 48 pages of script
Jed Lunn—male, no particular age, blackmailed by villain, appears in 19 pages of script
Ethelinda Hewlitt—female, old enough to be mother of young adult, snobby, appears on 25 pages of script
Alison Hewlitt—female, young adult, almost as snobby as her mother, appears on 27 pages of script
Eric Z. (EZ) Pickens—male, no particular age, son of pickle factory owner, appears in 25 pages of script
Imogene Pickens—female, mid-twenties, makes deal with villain, appears in 34 pages of script
Mrs. Faith Hogue—female, older than heroine, enters in 3rd act, appears in 9 pages of script
Letty Barber—female, no particular age, entire purpose is to carry something off stage, appears in 4 pages of script
Nellie Morris—female, no particular age, comes out of nowhere in 3rd act, appears in 3 pages of script
Card girl/boy—person to carry cards that have setting info or olio act names across stage. Appears at beginning of show, end of first act, before first olio, before second act, end of second act, before second olio, before third act, end of show. No memorized lines, but if you ad-lib anything to interact with the audience, nobody will get mad at you
Olio Performer—no particular gender, no particular age, number of olio performers and their acts to be determined later. Olio performers will appear after each of the two intermissions, but before the play’s act begins.