Wheaton Drama Announces Auditions For To Gillian On Her 37^th Birthday

Wheaton Drama, Inc. (WDI) announces auditions for its fourth show of the 2009-2010 season, To Gillian On Her 37^th Birthday.  Winner of the 1983 Oppenheimer Award for Best Play, Michael Brady’s touching and funny family drama focuses on love, loss, and hope.

Marc Ludena will direct, assisted by Jo-Ann Ledger. Mary Beth deBolt and Dawn Herbst are the production managers and Debbie Trueblood is the stage manager.

Auditions will be at 7pm on January 31 and February 1 at Playhouse 111, 111 N. Hale Street in downtown Wheaton, Illinois. Roles are for 2 males and 5 females. No roles have been pre-cast. General auditions will be closed auditions. Actors will be paired up, have a few minutes to prepare, and will read from the script. Actors will be released after reading. 

Monologues (2 minute maximum) are not necessary, but will be seen at the actor's request.

If called back, actors will be asked to read for specific roles with various partners.

CHARACTER DESCRIPTIONS

A note on ages: Ages listed here are defined by the script. Casting will be done as believably as possible; however, the character's physical believability will be weighed against the actor's abilities, as well as the relative age of other actors in contention for the roles. 

MEN:

DAVID: Late 30's.  Intellectual. Physically fit. He runs every day, and has been doing so for years. A university professor who has quit working since the death of his wife (Gillian).  Keeps Gillian alive in his mind as his anchor to the world.

PAUL: Late 30's. David's best friend. A joker, but also an intellectual. Uses humor to diffuse situations. Buffer between David and Esther.

WOMEN:

RACHEL: 16. David's daughter. She's intelligent and sensitive, but also in full blush of young adulthood and the changes that come when girls become women. Takes care of David, but that's wearing on her. 

CINDY: 16. A local. Rachel's best friend. Athletic. Not as intellectual as Rachel, but curious. That curiosity is possibly fueled by her enormous crush on David.

KEVIN: Late 20’s. Fit. Optimistic 

ESTHER: 39-40. Gillian's older sister (by 2 years). Strong, confrontational, insightful. Does Tai Chi (actors auditioning for the role do not need to know Tai Chi, but will have to learn enough to seem comfortable doing it). Esther carries a deep sadness over Gillian's death, but understands that the living need to move forward.

GILLIAN: 35 (at time of death). A ghost/memory. 

WITH THE EXCEPTION OF “PAUL”, ALL CHARACTERS WILL APPEAR IN SOME FORM OF BEACHWEAR.

Rehearsals will be 3-4 days a week, to be determined by cast conflicts. For Tech Week and the week before, rehearsal will be 5 nights.  

Performances of To Gillian On Her 37^th Birthday are March 26 through April 18, 2010 (no show Easter). Shows are Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays at 8pm and Sundays at 3pm.

To Gillian On Her 37^th Birthday is presented by arrangement with Broadway Play Publishing, Inc. For more information regarding auditions, please visit http://www.wheatondrama.org, or contact the director at marc@bassline-shift.com.

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