Audition for Cabaret

Cabaret
Department of Theatre, Speech & Dance
February 26 – March 1 and March 5 – March 8, 2009

Audition Information:

Times

Tuesday, December 2, 7:00 – 10:00 PM
Wednesday, December 3, 7:00 – 10:00 PM
Thursday, December 4, 3:00 – 5:00 PM, 7:00 – 10:00 PM
Friday, December 5, Callbacks TBD

Sign-Ups

A sign-up sheet is located on the bulletin board in the Leeds Breezeway of Lyman Hall. Please sign-up for one hour-long slot. If possible, sign-up for one of the evening times, as the afternoon slots on Thursday will be needed to accommodate those involved in other productions going up in December. If there is no availability during the time you have free, contact James (contact information below).

The Audition

Groups of twelve actors will audition together in hour-long slots. In pairs, they will read selected sides from the show (available, along with script, score, and recording, in the Becker Library in advance and at the auditions on the day-of). Individually, they will sing 16-32 bars of a song not from the show (but from a musical or the American Songbook) and should bring sheet music to the audition (accompanist provided, sheet music selections available in Orwig). Finally, the entire group will be taught a short selection of a dance from the show. Actors should wear clothes in which they can move.

Important Dates

Rehearsals will begin on January 15, one week before the start of classes. Actors are required to be on campus for this week, and housing will be arranged through ResLife. Actors will also be needed for tech and performances beginning on the Monday of Winter Weekend (February 16) straight through the show’s closing (March 8).

Questions? Problems?
James Anglin Flynn
(781) 801-2195
flynn at brown dot edu

Cabaret Audition Poster

Interview with Spencer Golub

Spencer Golub is the director of S&B's current production, The Changeling.

1) Tell me a little about the play. What drew you to it?

The play is about sex, murder, mayhem, madness. It’s a familiar Jacobean tragedy, between “dark comedy” and tragedy. It’s like a late-night horror version of Shakespeare; people are dying on account of love, passion drives them to extremes no one could foresee.

There’s no moral or philosophical stance I’m trying to foist on spectators. It’s an adventure in excess, which is what I like about Jacobean drama. There are a handful of texts in world literature where a woman and a man are locked in a struggle to the death through passion and this one stuck with me. I wanted to build a world around that that would sustain that relationship.

It’s midnight madness theatre where spectators are shocked, startled, and emptied of the darkness they brought in with them.

2) This is a classic Jacobean play, “one of the best” according to one source. What do you think of that designation? What kind of responsibility do you feel toward the text?

“Classic Jacobean text” is an oxymoron really. They are classic in terms of what they do, not necessarily the beauty of the writing. My responsibility is to help the play speak to an audience, not in the play’s time, but in my time. I see my responsibility is to immerse myself not so much in the period of the writing but the feeling, the theatrical psyche. I need to make it as theatrical as possible. The theatrical event should have a visceral effect—make the blood pump faster in both the heart and the head.

3) Any other influences on your approach to directing the play?

Some influences I can’t tell—but you’ll see them. Anything I direct is influenced by film and music. It’s an amalgam, the influences are absorbed, so it’s hard to say where they begin and end. It should be recognizable as Spencer Golub, not as its influences. Just like the most important part of writing is rewriting, directing’s most important part is redirecting. It’s about determining what’s worth keeping in collaboration with the actors. Talking about influences may be a bit of a feint. You allude to them to create a tension that undoes them. I’m looking for things to react to or against rather than ascribe to or reinforce.

4) Why The Changeling now?

For me the question is actually, why at all? Relevance is never a question I ask. It’s not “because of society or the turn of historic events.” The play speaks to something inside of me… or that may just be self-delusion. It’s a play I wanted to stage because of that relationship as opposed to a particular protagonist. It’s going to be a dark ride.

-Interview conducted by Michelle Carriger

Do You Know The Changeling?

For help uncovering the mystery of our next production, The Changeling, email doyouknowthechangeling@gmail.com.

Get together a group for discounted tickets, and as always, first-years get in free on Thursday night performances!

Box Office on the Green

While we are anxiously awaiting the opening of our next show, The Changeling, publicity has started up with a vengeance.

Sock & Buskin will be out on the Main Green this Monday, November 11th from 12:00 - 3:00 selling discounted tickets. It's a student rush, Brown-style, and you can pick up a ticket to any performance for $5.

First Reviews of the Season

Funnyhouse of a Negro
Written by Adrienne Kennedy
Directed by Kym Moore

Providence Phoenix Review

Brown Daily Herald Review