<html><head><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html charset=utf-8"></head><body style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space;" class=""><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center; margin: 3pt 0in 9pt; line-height: 28pt;"><b class=""><span class="" style="font-size: 28pt;">The Whale Auditions<o:p class=""></o:p></span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">Avenue Arts Marketplace & Theatre announces auditions for THE WHALE<o:p class=""></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">Located at 324 Cleveland Ave. NW Canton, Ohio 44702<o:p class=""></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">SYNOPSIS: On the outskirts of Mormon Country, Idaho, a six-hundred-pound recluse hides away in his apartment and slowly eats himself to death. Desperate to reconnect with his long-estranged daughter, he reaches out to her, only to find a viciously sharp-tongued and wildly unhappy teen. Big-hearted and fiercely funny, <i class="">The Whale</i> tells the story of a man's last chance at redemption, and of finding beauty in the most unexpected places.<o:p class=""></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><b class="">The Whale is presented by special arrangement with Samuel French, Inc.</b><o:p class=""></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">Directed by: Kourtney Highland<o:p class=""></o:p></p><div class=""><br class="webkit-block-placeholder"></div><div class="" style="text-align: center;">Auditions will be held on Tuesday, January 28th and Wednesday, January 29th from 7-9pm</div><div class="" style="text-align: center;">Callbacks (if necessary) will take place on January 30th from 7-9pm</div><o:p class=""></o:p><div class=""><br class="webkit-block-placeholder"></div><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">All auditioners are asked to come prepared to cold read from the script. We also ask that you bring a current headshot and resume with you to auditions. <o:p class=""></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">Please be familiar with the script using the link provided in the SignUpGenius BELOW!<o:p class=""></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">At this time, there are no stipends and/or AEA contracts being offered!<o:p class=""></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">Rehearsals will begin on February 3rd and will run Mondays through Thursdays<o:p class=""></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">Performances: March 13th, 14th, 20th and 21st at 8pm and March 15th at 2pm<o:p class=""></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><b class=""><font size="3" class="">TO AUDITION, PLEASE GO TO: </font></b><a href="https://www.signupgenius.com/go/60b0c4bafa82ca3fe3-thewhale2" class="">https://www.signupgenius.com/go/60b0c4bafa82ca3fe3-thewhale2</a></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"> <o:p class=""></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">CHARACTERS:<o:p class=""></o:p></p><div class=""><br class="webkit-block-placeholder"></div><div class="" style="text-align: center;"><b class="">Charlie (male, any ethnicity, early-mid 40s-50s) - </b>a morbidly obese man (somewhere around 650 lbs) who is dying of congestive heart failure throughout the play; been wasting away for years, ever since giving up on himself since the death of his partne; however awful his life has become, he has put all of his hopes and optimism on his daughter, who he hasn’t seen in 17 years; a very insightful, intelligent , well-educated man who is sensitive, gentle, and thoughtful</div><b class=""><div class="" style="text-align: center;"><b class=""><span class="" style="font-size: 8.5pt;">This role requires mature language and mild sexual content</span></b></div></b><o:p class=""></o:p><div class=""><br class="webkit-block-placeholder"></div><div class=""><br class="webkit-block-placeholder"></div><div class="" style="text-align: center;"><b class="">Liz (female, any ethnicity, 30s-40s) - </b>Charlie’s best friend; a nurse who would like to think of herself as very hardened, but she’s not; masking a huge amount of emotional depth, and she’s constantly trying to shove her feelings down into herself; brash, stern, and loud, but pretty sensitive on the inside.</div><b class=""><div class="" style="text-align: center;"><b class=""><span class="" style="font-size: 8.5pt;">This role requires mature language and simulated alcohol use</span></b></div></b><o:p class=""></o:p><div class=""><br class="webkit-block-placeholder"></div><div class=""><br class="webkit-block-placeholder"></div><div class="" style="text-align: center;"><b class="">Ellie (female, any ethnicity, late teens-early 20s) - </b>Charlie’s daughter whom he hasn’t seen since she was a baby; a deeply intelligent, deeply cynical teenager who feels—probably accurately—that she is always the smartest person in the world; very manipulative and shrewd, has convinced herself that she doesn’t care about her ailing father; never valley-girl or sarcastic and eye-rolling, doesn’t say things to be mean, she says them because they are true.</div><b class=""><div class="" style="text-align: center;"><b class=""><span class="" style="font-size: 8.5pt;">This role requires mature language and simulated drug use (marijuana)</span></b></div></b><o:p class=""></o:p><div class=""><br class="webkit-block-placeholder"></div><div class=""><br class="webkit-block-placeholder"></div><div class="" style="text-align: center;"><b class="">Elder Thomas (male, any ethnicity, late teens-early 20s) - </b>a Mormon missionary who happens upon Charlie just as he has his first cardiac episode; a somewhat naïve, innocent young man who just wants to see Mormonism help one person before he ends his mission; makes a big effort to be a good Mormon boy, but underneath it all he’s a normal disaffected, pot-smoking Midwestern teenager.</div><b class=""><div class="" style="text-align: center;"><b class=""><span class="" style="font-size: 8.5pt;">This role requires simulated drug use (marijuana)</span></b></div></b><o:p class=""></o:p><div class=""><br class="webkit-block-placeholder"></div><div class=""><br class="webkit-block-placeholder"></div><div class="" style="text-align: center;"><b class="">Mary (female, any ethnicity, early-mid 40s-50s) - </b>Ellie’s mother; Charlie’s ex-wife, who has also not seen Charlie in 17 years; a hardened alcoholic who has been there, done that; a woman who has made a lot of bad choices, but feels that she has done the best she can given the cards she was dealt.</div><b class=""><div class="" style="text-align: center;"><b class=""><span class="" style="font-size: 8.5pt;">This role requires mature language and simulated alcohol use</span></b></div></b><o:p class=""></o:p><div class=""><br class="webkit-block-placeholder"></div><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"> <o:p class=""></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><i class="">Avenue Arts Marketplace and Theatre is a CLEan House Theatre. This means we are committed to being a space free of harassment based on sex, gender, race, religion, class, ethnicity, nationality, political belief, or ability. We are committed to being a safe environment that fully allows us to challenge ourselves, our audiences, and our communities; that supports creative risks of mind and body; and that establishes the freedom to create theatre that represents the full range of human experience</i>.<o:p class=""></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"> <o:p class=""></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">All questions should be directed to <a href="mailto:avenueartstheatre@gmail.com" class="">avenueartstheatre@gmail.com</a></p></body></html>