Auditions!
a contemporary comedy from the 2014 Off-Broadway season
by Sarah Ruhl
Performance Run Commitment: Jan 12 - Feb 5, 2017
When: Monday, October 10, 7pm
Where: Manoa Valley Theatre
Guest Director
Kevin Keaveney
About the show
A play within a play, this hilarious romantic comedy examines, in occasionally gritty detail,
relationships in and out of the theatre. Two actors with a 'history' are thrown together as romantic
leads in a forgotten 1930s melodrama. Quickly they lose touch with reality as the story onstage
follows them offstage. It is an ensemble piece that leaps back and forth from 1930s to 1980s to
present day. This is its Hawaii premiere.
Auditions
Auditions will consist of readings from the script. Prepared monologues are not a necessity but
will be heard (aim for light and witty). Scripts are available to read onsite at the theatre during
normal business hours (9:30am-5pm, M-F). It is strongly recommended that you read the play in
advance of the auditions.
Although Stage Kiss is not a musical theatre piece, actors auditioning for HE and SHE (and to a
lesser extent, HARRISON and LAURIE) must be able to carry a tune and dance simply but
elegantly. Auditionees for those roles should come prepared to sing 16 bars of your favorite
song, any style, a capella. No piano will be provided.
All roles are available.
A Woman, SHE – In her forties. Plays the role of Ada Wilcox. Must have both a mid-Atlantic
1930s accent and a Brooklyn accent in the plays-within-the-play.
A Man, HE – Same age as SHE. Plays the role of Johnny Lowell. Must have both a midAtlantic 1930s accent and an Irish brogue in the plays-within-the-play.
A DIRECTOR – A visionary. Any age, so long as he is older than SHE.
KEVIN – The reader, who also plays the understudy, the doctor, the butler and the pimp. Any
age, so long as he is younger than SHE.
The HUSBAND/HARRISON – 40s or 50s. Calm and solid, or quavering and stricken, as the
scene calls for. Must have a mid-Atlantic 1930s accent in the main play-within-the-play.
ANGELA/MILLIE/MAID – Teenager or early 20s
MILLICENT/LAURIE – Late 20s – early 30s
A few notes…
The play is called Stage Kiss. There are innumerable kisses throughout the play, including one
same-sex kiss between SHE and MILLICENT, and one same-sex kiss between the DIRECTOR
and KEVIN. These are necessary requirements of the play.
A note about accents: everyone but the DIRECTOR speaks with a mid-Atlantic accent in the
main play-within-a-play. For your preparation, good examples of this accent are Katherine
Hepburn, Cary Grant, Bette Davis, Vincent Price, and for more contemporary references, the
film The Hudsucker Proxy, Evan Peters in the “Hotel” season of American Horror Story, Rarity
from My Little Pony, and Mr. Burns, Sideshow Bob and Sideshow Mel from The Simpsons.
Production Schedule
rehearsals
performance run
commitment
November 14, 2016 - January 11, 2017
January 12 - February 5, 2017 (max: 19 performances),
Wednesdays at 7:30pm, Thursdays at 7:30pm, Fridays at 8pm,
Saturdays at 8pm, Sundays at 4pm.
Performances will be held at Manoa Valley Theatre. Rehearsals will be held at Iolani School,
563 Kamoku Street. The rehearsal schedule will generally be Mondays through Fridays from
6:30 to 9:30 pm, and Saturdays and Sundays as necessary. Cast members will uniformly receive
an honorarium to help defray the out-of-pocket expenses associated with volunteerism and
participation in this production. This honorarium is not an offer of employment.
About The Director
Kevin Keaveney (Guest Director) directed MVT's It's A Wonderful Life: A live Radio Play
(2011) and The Actors' Group's The Best Man. He holds a bachelors degree in theatre studies
and film from Yale University, and has been seen onstage at MVT in One Flew Over The
Cuckoo's Nest, Around the World in 80 Days, August: Osage County and Tony n' Tina's
Wedding.
Script Perusal and More Information
Scripts are available for perusal on premises at the Manoa Valley Theatre business office, 2833
East Manoa Road, between 9:30 am and 5:00 pm, Mondays through Fridays. For more
information please call MVT at 988-6131.
Upcoming Auditions
Audition dates (tentative) for MVT's 2016-17 season are:
Rock of Ages (rock musical) - November 28 & 29
Wait Until Dark (mystery/thriller) - January 23
Happily Eva After (Hawaii pidgin English musical comedy) - March 20 & 21