Moon Over Buffalo – Auditions

Audition Notice:
Moon Over Buffalo

by Ken Ludwig

The Brown County Playhouse and Director Steve Booker will hold auditions at the Brown County Playhouse on March 16 and 17 from 6:30pm – 8:30pm. You can arrive anytime up to 8:00. Actors will read from audition sides, which will be provided when you arrive.

Important Dates: Production dates are May 29, 30, 31, and June 5, 6. Rehearsals will typically be Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday evenings, beginning March 30, in Nashville.

Show Overview: It is the summer of 1953, and George and Charlotte Hay, former Broadway stars, have taken their run-down touring company to Buffalo, New York. In Buffalo they have the intention of running “Cyrano de Bergerac” and “Private Lives” in repertory, all the while grumbling about missed Hollywood opportunities. But on-stage harmony is compromised when George performs an off-stage infidelity, impregnating the company’s ingenue. When Charlotte learns of this, she prepares to run away with the family lawyer, sending lightweight George on a grief-stricken drinking binge. Meanwhile, it  turns out that Frank Capra is headed to town on a talent scouting mission looking to hire the couple for his swashbuckling Scarlet Pimpernel epic. As a result, the Hay family — including scornful, deaf mother-in-law Ethel, determinedly practical daughter Rosalind, and dashing actor Paul, Rosalind’s ex-boyfriend — must work overtime to get sloppy drunk George into his Cyrano hat and nose…. or is it his Elyot Chase smoking jacket? With the entrance of Rosalind’s fiancé, anxious TV weatherman Howard — one man with two mistaken identities — and Richard Maynard, the wealthy lawyer hoping to lure Charlotte away to his mansion — the confusion only intensifies.

Character Overview: The ages shown below are the script suggestions. However, the director encourages anyone interested to audition for the show, even if your age doesn’t match up with certain roles.

• George Hay, a traveling actor, age 50s
• Charlotte Hay, George’s wife and actress in his company, age 50s
• Ethel, Charlotte’s nearly deaf mother, Age 70s
• Rosalind, The Hays’ daughter, who left the stage to lead a “normal” life, Age 20s – 30s
• Howard, A TV weatherman and Rosalind’s fiancé, Age 20s – 30s
• Eileen, An actress in the company who was George’s ‘one-night stand”, Age 20s
• Paul, Stage manager for the company and Rosalind’s ex-fiancé, Age 20s – 30s
• Richard, A love-sick lawyer who is courting Charlotte, Age 50s