[NEohioPAL] POSTPONED DUE TO WEATHER: LCCC American Enterprise Auditions

[Jeremy Benjamin via NEohioPAL]

Due to the weather and the closing of the LCCC Campus for Monday,
February 2, today's auditions for American Enterprise have been
postponed.  Auditions will take place as scheduled on Tuesday, February
3 and we will hold auditions on Wednesday, February 4 from 7 - 10 pm.
Please feel free to attend either night.  No appointments are necessary!

LORAIN COUNTY COMMUNITY COLLEGE THEATRE DEPARTMENT ANNOUNCES AUDITIONS
FOR JEFFREY SWEET'S AMERICAN ENTERPRISE 
Directed by Skip Corris 


Brief Synopsis of Play:
George Pullman began his rise to power dedicated to providing a safe,
uplifting workplace for his employees. He even created a town where his
workers could live away from the slums of Chicago. Despite his good
intentions, he became one of the most despised men of the Industrial
Era. Jeffrey Sweet's American Enterprise is a sweeping journey through
the late nineteenth century. The play incorporates narration, song and
movement, and story theatre techniques to portray Sweet's large cast of
characters.

Director Skip Corris is seeking a large multiracial/multigenerational
(ages 16 and older) cast of versatile men and women to portray George
Pullman, Eugene Debs, and other historical characters. Most actors will
play multiple roles.

Audition Dates: 
Tuesday, February 3, 2015 from 7:00 pm to 10:00 pm. and 
Wednesday, February 4, 2015 from 7:00 pm to 10:00 pm.
Please plan on staying for the entire audition time period.

Where:
Auditions will be held in the Stocker Arts Center's Cirigliano Studio
Theatre on the campus of Lorain County Community College, 1005 N. Abbe
Road, Elyria OH 44035

Please direct questions regarding auditions to ccorris at gmail.com. Please
include American Enterprise in the email subject line.
Please email or call LCCC Theater Department Director Jeremy Benjamin to
schedule an audition date at jbenjami at lorainccc.edu or 440-366-7120

Production Dates: 
Thursday, April 23 through Saturday, April 25, 2015 at 8:00 pm.

Rehearsal Dates: 
Rehearsals will begin on or around February 22. Exact dates will be
determined once the production is cast. Please bring all your conflicts
(between February 22 - April 25) with you to auditions.

How to Prepare for Auditions:
Please come prepared with contrasting short monologues and prepare 16
bars of a traditional song (to be presented a capella).  Copies of the
script are on reserve at the Bass Library on the campus of LCCC.

CAST BREAKDOWN:

GEORGE PULLMAN:  50's - 60s. Larger than life. Railway Industrialist,
inventor of the Pullman sleeping car and the town that bears his name.
Starts out with an idealistic plan for his workers and his company; ends
up the most hated man of the Industrial Era.

J. PATRICK HOPKINS:  25 - 35. Groomed as Pullman's protege, Hopkins
later opposes him, becomes mayor of Chicago, and sides with the workers.

GEORGE PULLMAN JR: 20's. Doesn't live up to Pullman's expectations of
him. Takes refuge in drink and carousing. Jealous of Hopkins.

FLORENCE PULLMAN: 20s - 30's. Pullman's daughter. Though he dotes on
her, Florence sympathizes with George Junior.

JENNIE CURTIS:  20's. A Pullman Company seamstress, she becomes active
in the union movement and delivers a stirring speech that helps movilize
the workers.

 EUGENE V. DEBS: 50s - 60s. Charismatic labor leader. Head of American
Railway Union. Reluctantly back Pullman strike. Later tried and
imprisoned.

WICKES: Any age. Pullman Company Vice-President, he is something of a
toadying yes-man to Pullman.

RICHARD ELY: Any age. Harper's Magazine writer. His article first shows
the cracks in the facade of Pullman's perfect company town.

REVEREND OGGEL: 30's - 50's. Minister loyal to Pullman. (Today he would
be a proponent of the Prosperity Gospel, probably with a television
ministry.)

HEATHCOTE: 30'S - 40's. A Pullman Company mechanic and model citizen, he
becomes spokesman for the workers' rights.

With the exception of PULLMAN and HOPKINS, most roles will double and
triple as  SINGERS, BUSINESS and RAILROAD OWNERS, WORKERS, REPORTERS,
CLERGY, COMMISSIONERS, and CITIZENS.



________________________________

Jeremy K. Benjamin
Director of Theatre
Production Manager/Technical Director/Designer
Lorain County Community College
(440) 366-7120
jbenjami at lorainccc.edu

"After all of our studies we acquire only that which we put into
practice."
 
-Goethe