AUDITIONS
Vokes Players will hold auditions for next to normal, music by Tom Kitt and book and lyrics by Brian Yorkey, a Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award winning contemporary musical drama about a woman’s struggle with mental illness and its effects on her family. Auditions will be held by appointment on Sunday & Monday, May 19 & 20, from 7-10PM at Beatrice Herford’s Vokes Theatre, Route 20 (97 Boston Post Road), Wayland MA.
Stage direction by Donnie Baillargeon; music direction by Howard Boles.
To schedule an appointment, please send an email to n2nvokes@verizon.net.
Please indicate a date and time (on the hour/half hour) that you would like to be scheduled. Please include a phone number. You will receive a response promptly.
THE AUDITION: Please prepare a song from a modern musical in the style of the show – a choice that shows your acting and singing ability via song. Songs with a “rock” style would be recommended but not required.
THE CALLBACKS: Callbacks if required will be held on Wednesday, May 22 at 7:00 PM.
REHEARSALS: Rehearsals will begin the week of August 25th. Expect three-four rehearsals/week. There will be a couple of meetings scheduled during the summer. Dates/times will be worked out with members of the cast.
THE PRODUCTION:
Performance dates are 8PM on Thursdays-Fridays-Saturdays, October 31 – November 23, 2013, with 2PM matinees on Saturday, November 9 and 16.
**Possible extension dates: Friday and Saturday, November 22 and 23 at 8PM.**
THE STORY: next to normal is a contemporary family drama, about a woman’s struggle with mental illness and the effects of her illness on her family. As next to normal opens, middle-aged mother Diana seems to have it all: a handsome, loving husband and two talented teenage children. It is soon obvious, however, that life for Diana is far more difficult than it seems. She has been dealing with severe depression and delusions, plagued with anxieties and mood swings since tragedy struck her marriage nearly 16 years earlier. Under the care of a therapist, Dr. Madden, she continues to seek countless treatments, medications and therapies to help her return to a normal life. Her condition is growing worse with time and Diana’s family begins to unravel around her, finding their own desperate ways to deal with her illness and their own loss. Her husband Dan confronts his own confusion and depression; daughter Natalie deals with isolation and a budding romance with a fellow music student, Henry; and son, Gabe, serves as Diana’s confidante and link to a happier past.
next to normal is a considered a rock musical with much of the story told through song. While primarily rock-based, the score presents a variety of other musical styles including jazz, country and classical. The melodies are often interwoven with the action frequently moving back and forth among simultaneous scenes, as well as between literal and psychological realities. Though serious in focus, the play is full of surprises and humor as well. This is a unique musical crammed with emotion from beginning to end; a tour-de-force for any actor/singer in every role.
THE CHARACTERS:
***Note: Age is relative. Characters are described for their chronological age. We are looking for actors who can play those ages.***
Diana – (Alto with belt/mix to F) – late thirties to early forties. A sharp, middle-aged wife and mother afflicted with a crippling depression, bipolar disorder and delusions for nearly 16 years. Despite her illness, the confusion and the uncertainty it triggers in her life and in the world around her, Diana is strong-willed, determined and resistant on a deeply profound level to challenges to what she believes is important.
Dan – (High Baritone/Tenor to B) – late thirties to early forties. Diana’s husband. He loves his wife deeply, still desiring her while trying to provide unconditional support despite her debilitating and seemingly permanent illness. This man is worn, though, and wearied by having to cope with Diana’s unpredictable mood swings, surges of activity and crashes into despair. There’s a sense that he is a bit self-important, perhaps passive-aggressive in spite of his self-effacing, humble surface.
Gabe – (Rock Tenor to B) – almost eighteen. Dan and Diana’s dashing, gentle and bright son. Vibrant. Playful. Everything a mother could want in a son and everything Diana is afraid of. Beneath his seemingly blithe yet energetic exterior lies the determined force of a young man with a Svengali-like hold on his mother and a passion to never be forgotten.
Natalie – (Alto with belt/mix to F) – sixteen going on seventy. Dan and Diana’s moody daughter. She tries to be perfect but it is not going well. Overachieving in her school work she finds that the stress of dealing with her mother’s illness is too much to handle. Tired of dealing with her mother’s unpredictable volatility, her father’s half-hearted affection, and the intense focus that they both place on their son, she acts out with anger, frustration, sarcasm and eventually drug use.
Henry – (High Baritone/Tenor to B) – seventeen. Musician, romantic, stoner, slacker and philosopher king, Natalie’s boyfriend, tries to be supportive as she attempts to cope with her family. His persistent and honest affection for Natalie finally breaks down her resistance. In spite of his apparently frequent drug use, he is easily the wisest, most grounded character in the show.
Dr. Madden/Dr. Fine – (High Baritone/Tenor to G) – on the young side of ageless. Dr. Madden is Diana’s somewhat unconventional psychiatric therapist. Unquestionably confident in his abilities and unwaveringly clinical in his approach to his treatments to alleviate Diana’s depression, he warms as he gains more insight into her condition. Dr. Fine is Diana’s psycho pharmacologist. Their few interactions find him focused on jargon and a seeming enjoyment at making things complicated.
