Friday, January 12th, 7.30pm at the theatre
This is a workshop for any level of dancer just for you to get a sense of the standard of dance ability required in the production. Anyone who would like to audition, from zero experience to highly proficient, is encouraged to attend to judge their comfort level before going forward into the formal audition pool. If you have some tap experience then please bring tap shoes if available. If not, then just wear comfortable shoes and clothes you can move in.
Saturday, January 13th, 1.30pm at the theatre
More formal one-to-one auditions with script. There may be call backs later in the month to pair people up, etc. If you can only attend Friday night, then please flag this on the day and we will try to do script work with you that evening (although we can’t promise anything) or we will schedule a time for a one-to-one meeting over the coming weeks.
Please note: you can still audition on Saturday without attending the Friday workshop.
Character Breakdown
ROLES: 9 women and 1 man
Playing ages:
1 younger woman (ideally early to mid 20s)
1 older lady (60+) (possibly with basic piano skills)
All other characters between 35 and 55 years old playing ages. Rough idea of each character’s age shown below, but fairly flexible (within reason).Tap Teacher (ideally good tap skills):
MAVIS – 40; former professional tap dancer. Vivacious and charismatic teacher of amateur adults. Smoker / vaper. Stressed but tries not to show it. Has an irresponsible boyfriend; quietly terminates her pregnancy. Misses the bright lights; dreams of creating her own dance company. Driven and disciplined nature of an ex-performer but very empathetic and caring; loves to tap. Running an amateur tap class is a big step down for her but she is fully committed, non-judgmental and wants the best for all her pupils.Piano Accompanist: (no dancing required, simple rhythmic pieces, one skilled flourish if possible, but not a dealbreaker if no piano ability)
MRS. FRASER – 60-75; vegetarian; prides herself on her pessimism; disapproves of many things including almost every pupil in the class. Suspects students of avoiding paying. Feels her superior piano skill goes unrecognized in class. Was neighbourly refuge as Mavis grew up in broken home; highly protective of Mavis. Reads women’s magazines ardently; wears frumpy, practical clothing and a woolly hat at all times.Competent Dancers (ideally a little tap experience so you can shine in the grand finale):
LYNNE – 19-22; shy and eager to please; is a nurse-in-training still upset by deaths. Once had dreams to be a professional dancer but is more ‘practical now’: getting herself ‘set-up’ before serious boyfriends or marriage. Coaches & encourages Dorothy. Has taken ballet & tap classes for several years so is light on her feet.VERA – 35-40; neat & proper as a pin; immaculate makeup and perfectly coiffured bouffant hair; expensive but ‘blowsy’ clothing. Well spoken, from years of elocution lessons. ‘Noveau riche’ air. Think a younger, less dragon-like Hyacinth Bucket. Clean freak. Constantly tidying up after classmates; brings her own toilet brush to class to bleach the bathroom. Likes to gossip. Harbours her secret that she was a pregnant teenage bride who married a dominant older man who has “improved” her with speech & etiquette lessons. Learns quickly to dance primly & efficiently.
MAXINE – mid-40s-early 50s. A smoker. Sheppey born and bred. Brilliant salesperson and wheeler dealer; has a high-end second-hand clothing store. Married 3 times, big rocks on her finger. Feels useless as stepmother of disrespectful teenager; mothers her classmates with a supply of dance gear. Caring by nature but somewhat insensitive, she unintentionally offends with comments on classmates’ weight or health and teases Geoffrey implying he’s gay. Is a confident dancer, one of the most natural in the class.
New Students (knowing tap would be great, but just need some style of dance experience or ability to learn steps to be able to execute simple but impressive dance finale):
GEOFFREY – mid-40s – the only male in class. His wife has died recently, and adult son lives in another city. Works in shipping insurance. Tries to avoid being noticed; non-confrontational. His briefcase & suit are rather worn. He watches people & notices details; is helpful whenever possible. His tap is limited but competent; surprisingly he plays a short but rocking boogie-woogie on piano (does not need to play in reality).ROSE – mid-40s; Caribbean / African ethnicity. Committed Christian, in a 20-year loving marriage with 3 kids; grumps about her man but is cheerful, fun and outgoing by nature. Comfortable in her skin. A bookkeeper; worries prejudice is preventing her son from landing a job and worries how he’s becoming disrespectful. Unsuccessfully tries to straighten her hair. Befriends Sylvia and gives her some money. Has little sense of rhythm but loves every minute of tap class.
ANDY – mid-30s- 40s; extremely uncomfortable in her own skin. Shy but with a lot of hidden anger and hurt underneath the surface that makes her come across as unfriendly and aloof. Inclined to stoop, defensive about her personal life; selects clothing to hide bruises by her husband. Volunteers with blind seniors. Has a couple of angry outbursts in class. Considers tap the only thing she “does for herself all week” but taps without any co-ordination whatsoever. Has her sights on Geoffrey as a kindred soul and potential romantic confidante.
SYLVIA – 30-40; bubbly, ample sexy curves which she sees as obese; uses self-depreciating humour about her body, her intelligence, her marriage and even her character. Self admittedly ‘common as muck’. Money is very tight; she expects failure but carries on. Addicted to chewing gum. Her husband does odd jobs under the table. Tap skill isn’t very good but she doesn’t give a damn.
DOROTHY – 30-45; anxious, bird-like personality; worries about nearly everything. Nervously finishes other people’s sentences. Unmarried and quietly bitter that she is sole care-provider of invalid mother; longs to do something exciting with her life. Allergies. Constantly sneezing or sniffing. Little confidence in her own abilities. Taps with extravagant ungainly movements.