Vintage Theatre announces auditions for both

Snow Falling On Cedars
From the Book by David Guterson
Adapted for the Stage by Kevin McKeon
Directed by Sam Wood

and

Shadowlands

By William Nicholson
Directed by Craig A Bond and Lorraine Scott

DATE: 04/13/13 (Sat 10:00AM – 1:00PM)
LOCATION: Vintage Theatre, 1468 Dayton St., Aurora 80010

Snow Falling on Cedar has a cast of twelve. All of the actors in the cast play multiple characters except with the exception of four cast members.

1. Kabuo Miyamoto (31 years old) – Kabuo is a strong, stoic Japanese-American and the defendant in the first-degree murder trial of Carl Heine Jr. He is the eldest son of the Miyamoto family, who grew up picking strawberries on the Heine farm. Kabuo is married to Hatsue, the beautiful woman Ishmael Chambers has loved for most of his life. Kabuo is honest and ethical, though given to anger. Trained in kendo stick fighting, Kabuo is a WWII veteran, who fought in the European theater for America.  He is capable of killing and prizes his abilities as a fighter, but still has nightmares about what he saw in the war.  He values a traditional and simple life, and longs to work the strawberry fields his father worked before him. Accused of murder mainly out of racism, Kabuo maintains a coldly rigid stance throughout the trial, hoping to appear calm. Instead, he appears removed and uncaring and, above all, fundamentally different from the other townspeople.  The actor playing Kabuo Miyamoto has only this one character to portray.  However, he has to play Kabuo from age 14 to 32.

2. Ishmael Chambers (31 years old) – Son of Arthur Chambers, Ishmael is also a WWII war veteran having fought in the Pacific theater where he lost his left arm.  After the death of his father, he took over the San Piedro Review and as the sole reporter for the paper.  Officially, he is at the trail as a reporter covering the Kabuo trial. He is thirty-one and unmarried.  He has been in love with Hatsue since childhood. Ishmael met her when he was a boy and has been unable to forget her ever since. When she rejected him and then he lost his arm in the war, he quickly became an embittered, lonely young man who feels alienated from the rest of society. Full of self-hatred and believing he will never live up to the legacy of his ethical newspaper-owner father, Ishmael is miserable. When he finds evidence that proves Kabuo is innocent, he struggles with his own prejudice and jealousy.  However, Ishmael finds a way to redeem himself, both for Hatsue and in his own mind.  The actor playing Ishmael Chambers has only this one character to portray.  However, he has to play Ishmael from age 10 to 31. 

3. Hatsue (31 years old) – Hatsue Miyamoto, born Hatsue Imada, is a beautiful woman married to Kabuo Miyamoto. In her youth she was the Strawberry Princess and the young love of Ishmael. After her family was moved to the relocation camps, her mother forbade her to remain in contact with Ishmael.   She eventually decided Ishmael was wrong for her, and married Kabuo, who she views as a strong, kind man and a good husband.  She has always wanted from a young age to please her mother and her other elders. She yearns for the stillness and calm that her elders taught her.  The actress playing Hatsue Miyamoto has only this one character to portray.  However, she has to play Hatsue from age 10 to 31. 

4. Carl Heine Jr. (31 years old) – Deceased at the time of the trial, he was a powerfully built salmon gill-netter with a boat named after his wife Susan Marie. He was of German stock and was a childhood friend of Kabuo’s. Carl Jr. was imposing but a seemingly kind and polite man. He was an expert fisherman who had no known friends but no enemies either. His time fighting in the war seemed to affect him, making him unable to have easy friendships any longer.  The horrors of fighting the Japanese made Carl Jr. think differently about the Japanese community on his small island. He and his wife have three sons.  The actor playing Carl Heine Jr. also plays five other characters:  FBI 1, Serviceman 2, Strawberry Picker 2, Infantryman (Jackson), Crowd

5. Art Moran (40 years old) –He is the Sheriff of Amity Harbor, who both investigates Carl Heine’s death and testifies at the trial as a witness. Art Moran tries to do his job well, but at times this seems to go against his very nature. Squeamish around dead bodies and reluctant to take responsibility for the controversial situation of the trial, Art is often uncomfortable and vaguely feels he may be exposed as incompetent.  The actor playing Art Moran also plays five other characters:  FBI 2 (replacing Army Bureaucrat), Infantryman (Koenig), Sgt. Maples, Officer Powell, Crowd

6. Abel Martinson (24 years old) – The 24-year-old deputy of Art Moran is even more squeamish than Art, and equally ill-suited to his profession. Though he tries to please Art and perform his duties, Abel often makes mistakes or gets in over his head, such as when he tries to help Horace Whaley examine Carl’s dead body and ends up vomiting.  The actor playing Abel Martinson also plays seven other characters:  Fisherman 2, Serviceman 3, Carl Heine Sr., Crowd, FBI 3, Pharmacist’s Mate, George Leonard

7. Alvin Hooks (40 years old) –He is the prosecutor in the case against Kabuo Miyamoto. Mr. Hooks often uses personal attacks and prejudice to try to implicate Miyamoto in the death of Carl Heine.  The actor playing Alvin Hooks also plays five other characters:  Fisherman 1, Coroner, Serviceman 1, Infantryman (Harvey), Crowd

8. Nels Gudmundsson (79 years old) – Nels is Kabuo’s defense attorney, an aging man at 79, blind in his left eye, and an excellent chess player. He is conscious of how feeble he looks, of how many things he can no longer do. He knows, also, that he is good at his job. He desires to understand the truth of the case, and he knows that racism is at work. He wants to help Kabuo and is honest with him about the danger he is in.  The actor playing Nels Gudmundsson has only this one character to portray. 

9. Susan Marie Heine (28 years old) – Susan is the 28-year-old wife of Carl Heine Jr. (widowed). She is described as beautiful, sensual, and tragic, and she is also of German stock. She testifies during the trial. She is also mother of three sons.  The actress playing Susan Marie also plays three other characters:  Checker, Strawberry Picker, Crowd

10. Etta Heine (52 years old) – Etta is the mother of Carl Heine Jr. Etta was born in Bavaria and does not like San Piedro very much and wishes she could live in Seattle.  As a young married woman, she lived in Seattle and worked as a seamstress.  Ironically, she does not like strawberries even though that was her family’s livelihood for many years.  Despite her own immigration story, Etta mistrusts the Japanese community on the island.  After her husband’s death, she took advantage of her son being away at war to sell the family farm to Ole Jorgensen.  Technically the Miyamotos owned 7 of the 63 acres that made up the strawberry farm.  During the trail, she justifies her action because the Miyamoto family failed to make the last 2 payment. She does not care that the payments were missed because the Miyamotos were forced to live in a relocation camp.  She moved her family to Amity Harbor after she sold the family’s farm.  This decision involuntary pushed Carl Jr. into the fishing trade after he returned from WWII.  Etta feels attached and the victim of Kabuo’s suspicious looks every time she sees him around town.  The actress playing Etta Heine also plays four other characters: Mrs. Chambers, Crowd, Dr. Whitman, Crowd

11. Fujiko Imada (51 years old) – She is Hatsue’s mother and wife of Hisao. She had arrived in Seattle as Hisao’s picture bride, expecting him to be a wealthy owner of vast lands. She found, however, that he was very poor. They worked hard together and bore five daughters.  The actress playing Fujiko Imada also plays two other characters: Mrs. Nitta, Crowd

12. Hisao Imada (58 years old) – He is Hatsue’s father. Hisao paid a match maker in Japan to arrange his marriage with Fujiko. He brought Fujiko to the United States believing he was something he was not.  Working hard and raising a family allowed Fujiko to forgive him and eventually maybe love him.  The actor playing Hisao Imada also plays three other characters:  Zenhichi Miyamoto, Mr. Nitta, Crowd

This show runs from November 23 – December 15, 2013 in the Bond Trimble Theatre.

SYNOPSIS: Adapted for the stage by Seattle’s Book-it Repertory Theatre, David Guterson’s haunting story takes place in 1954, on a Puget Sound island so isolated that no one who lives there can afford to make enemies. The island’s white and Japanese-American communities have lived in quiet but uneasy peace, even through the dark days of WWII internment camps and widespread anti-Japanese war hysteria. But when Kabuo Miyamoto is charged with murder and it turns out that his wife’s spurned white lover Ishmael holds the information that could set him free, the island’s secret prejudices, jealousies and ancient grievances threaten to boil over into an act of injustice from which there can be no return.

NOTE: Callbacks will be held on Saturday, April 27^th from 10a.m. – 1 p.m.

SHADOWLANDS

8 M, 2W (14 characters)

The action takes place in Oxford, England in the 1950’s.

Synopsis:  Reserved British Author C.S. Lewis (The Chronicles of Narnia) was used to discussing love in the abstract. But when he meets the outspoken Joy Davidman, he is forced to confront his own feelings of love and loss.  This intimate and epic love story shows how Lewis and Davidman are both unexpectedly transformed by their faith, doubt and the power of the heart.

C.S. Lewis “Jack”:  Age – Fifties. He is a witty, shy, scholarly Oxford Professor who teaches Medieval, Renaissance literature.  Creator of the Chronicles of Narnia and wrote many books on Christian theology.

Major W. H. Lewis “Warnie”: Late 50’s.  Jack’s older brother who is reasonable, patient and keeps an open eye to each individual.

Professor Christopher Riley: Age 40-50. Clever, cynical and always wants the last word with his Oxford group of friends.

Rev. “Harry” Harrington: Age 30-50.  The cordial, polite chaplain who takes everything in stride as he participates with his colleagues.

Dr. Maurice Oakley/ Waiter/Priest: Age 30-50.  The Doctor is well educated and likes to share his opinion. As a waiter he is attentive and shows much empathy as the Priest.

Alan Gregg/Doctor: Age – 25-40. A man with vigor who likes to argue.

Joy Davidman:  Age – late 30’s. An uninhibited, American poet raising her son.  After divorcing her husband she comes to England with an agenda.  She falls in love with Lewis through his writings. Outspoken and sensitive to her shadows.

Douglas: Age: 8-10.  Joy’s son who is respectful, brave and knows Lewis’s The Magician’s Nephew backwards and forwards.

Registrar/Nurse: Age: -25-40.        Authoratative/kind and caring.

Registrar’s Clerk/Waiter in Hotel:  Age: 20-30.  Dutiful.

Shadowlands runs from October 11 – November 10 in the Jeffrey Nicholson Theatre

NOTE: Callbacks will be held on Saturday, April 27^th from 1p.m. – 4 p.m.

For both shows please be prepared for cold readings from the script and to stay for about an hour.  Please bring a resume and headshot.  

Equity contracts are not available for either show.

Signupgenius.com will allow you to sign up for a specific time slot.  You will also receive a reminder email two days before the event!

VINTAGE THEATRE WEBSITE: www.vintagetheatre.com
Questions? Email samuel.n.wood@kp.org for Snow Falling on Cedars and swtlgs@comcast.net for Shadowlands

DATE: 4/13/2013 (Sat.)