The Providence Players will be holding auditions for our production of Neil Simon’s California Suite, on March 12, 15, and 21st at the James Lee Community Center located at 2855 Annandale Rd in Falls Church. There are 11 roles and they all are open. The Providence Players is a twenty-year-old, award-winning, non-profit community theater troupe. California Suite is the closing production of the Providence Players 20th Anniversary season.
If You Will Be Auditioning:
Download the Complete Audition Form Here
Download the Rehearsal Schedule Here
RSVP Which Audition Date You Will Be Attending Here
An RSVP is necessary for planning purposes only. We do NOT require or make audition reservations or time slot appointments. Plan on attending as much of the audition session as you are able. We have fun at auditions and you will be up and down multiple times in different scenes and with different audition partners. No monologue is required. Read on for further information.
Neil Simon’s humorous confection in four separate comedy play-lets with one common thread. Four couples from different cities travel to California over the course of a year and stay in the same Beverly Hills Hotel suite, bringing their problems, anxieties and comic marital dilemmas with them. Simon is at his most humane and compassionate best yet the banter flies fast and furious in this popular comedy. The New York Times said “Mr. Simon is writing at his ebullient best…[He] makes us laugh so effortlessly.”
11 Actors (5 Men, 6 Women) – All Roles Open
- The Providence Players of Fairfax is a non-profit community theater troupe. All participation is on a volunteer, non-compensated basis.
- The Providence Players of Fairfax is a membership organization. Membership is not required to audition. If cast, actors in addition to production team members will be asked to become members of the Providence Players ($10) for the season (if they are not already).
- Actors are expected to participate in set build (May 5 & 6) and set strike (June 17)
Audition Dates
Mon March 12, 7:00 pm – 9:45 pm (In the James Lee Urbanites Room)
Thurs March 15, 7:00 pm – 9:45 pm (In the James Lee Urbanites Room)
Wed March 21, 7:00 pm – 9:45 pm (In the James Lee Urbanites Room)
Call-Backs (if needed – by invitation):
Thurs March 22, 7:00 pm – 9:45 pm (In the James Lee Urbanites Room)
Location
The James Lee Community Center
2855 Annandale Road
Falls Church, VA 22042
Auditions will be held in the Urbanites Rooms – NOT IN THE THEATER. The Urbanites Room is located to the left of the main desk at the front entrance of the community center.
Audition Information/Instructions
- PLEASE RSVPto the director at thewhiteheads@cox.net with the date you plan on auditioning.
- HOW WE WORK:We do not use a system of audition time slots or appointments. You are welcome to come to auditions on either (but not both) of the initial audition evenings. No appointment is necessary but please come as close to the start of auditions and plan on staying until the end. PPF auditions have actors up and down to read multiple times in multiple combinations and scenes. Most actors find this fun. As space allows, you will be able to watch all the auditions. You may be asked to go into the hallway with audition partners and work a bit on a scene. We will do our best to get you up multiple times reading for parts you are interested in. You may also be asked to read for other parts you may not be auditioning for. The Providence Players strives to make our productions open to interested and engaged actors and actresses, regardless of their level of experience. We try and make our auditions as relaxing and fun as possible.
- AUDITION PROCESS:Auditions will consist of readings from the script – No monologue is required.
- AUDITION SIDES:Sides for the audition process will be supplied at auditions.
- AUDITION FORM: Resumes and headshots will be accepted, but are not required. Please ALSO COMPLETE the attached Audition Form and bring it with you to the audition.
- MEMBERSHIP:The Providence Players of Fairfax is a membership organization. Membership is not required to audition. If cast, actors in addition to production team members will be asked to become members of the Providence Players ($10) for the season (if they are not already).
Rehearsal Schedule
Though there will be opportunities to do “read thrus” and table work prior, official rehearsals begin the first week of May. If you have any conflicts with rehearsal dates, please describe them on your audition form.
Character Summaries:
Visitors from New York. Hannah Warren is a Manhattan workaholic who flies to Los Angeles to retrieve her teenaged Daughter Jenny after she leaves home to live with her successful screenwriter father William. The bickering divorce couple is forced to decide what living arrangements are best for the girl.
- William – Very fit, healthy and mellow. Mid 40’s to mid-50’s
- Hannah – Fast talking, tough New Yorker Mid 40’s to mid-50’s
Visitors from Philadelphia. Conservative middle-aged businessman Marvin Michaels awakens to discover a prostitute named Bunny unconscious in his bed after consuming a bottle of vodka. With his wife Millie on her way up to the suite, he must find a way to conceal all traces of his uncharacteristic indiscretion.
- Michael – Late 30’s to late 40’s
- Millie – Late 30’s to late 40’s
- Bunny – 20 – 30 something. Young looking
Visitors from London. British actress Diana Nichols, a first-time Oscar nominee and her husband Sidney, a once closeted antique dealer who increasingly has become indiscreet about his sexual orientation are in town for the Oscars. She is in deep denial about the true nature of her marriage and has not confidence in winning, her mood fluctuates between hope and panic to despair.
- Diana – 55 to 70, British accent required
- Sidney – 55 to 70, British accent required
Visitors from Chicago. Two affluent couples who are best friends: Stu Frankly and his wife Gert and Mort Hollender and his wife Beth. They are taking a much-needed vacation together. Things begin to unravel quickly when Beth is hurt during a tennis game and Mort accuses Stu of having caused her injury. Very physical scene, comedically.
- Stu Franklyn – 40’s-60’s
- Gert Frankly – 40’-60’s
- Mort Hollender – 40’-60’s
- Beth Hollender – 40’-60’s
More information about the Production
Neil Simon’s humorous confection in four separate comedy play-lets with one common thread. Four couples from different cities travel to California over the course of a year and stay in the same Beverly Hills Hotel suite, bringing their problems, anxieties and comic marital dilemmas with them. Simon is at his most humane and compassionate best yet the banter flies fast and furious in this popular comedy. The New York Times said “Mr. Simon is writing at his ebullient best…[He] makes us laugh so effortlessly.”
Performance Dates and Times
Thursday, Friday and Saturday 7:30 p.m.
June 1 – 16
Sunday Matinees 2:00 p.m.
June 3 & 10
About the Director, Beth Whitehead
Beth Whitehead is a longstanding member of PPF. She has directed a number of productions for PPF, including last year’s production of To Kill a Mockingbird, which earned her a WATCH nomination for Outstanding Direction of a Play. She has directed several other PPF productions including All My Sons which received the Ruby Griffith Award for Overall Excellence. Her acting work has included Big Amanda and Laura in Glass Mendacity, the White Witch in The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, Bananas in The House of Blue Leaves, Mame Dennis in Auntie Mame, (WATCH nomination) Charlotte Hay in Moon Over Buffalo, M’Lynn in Steel Magnolias, Meg in Crimes of the Heart and Romaine Vole in Witness for the Prosecution (WATCH nomination). Beth received her MFA in Theatre Arts from Cornell University and her BA in Theatre Arts from the University of Washington in Seattle and has worked with The Seattle Repertory Theatre, ACT, The Empty Space, The Seattle Children’s Theater, Montana Shakespeare in the Parks, Colorado Shakespeare Festival, The Alaska Repertory Theater, Hangar Theater upstate New York and others.