LADIES IN BLACK

INFORMATION NIGHT – Monday 1st July – 7pm

Audition Dates – Noosa Arts Theatre

 

Monday 8th July  5.00- 8.30pm (for the role of LISA)

Tuesday 9th July  5.00-8.30pm (All other roles)

Wednesday 10th 5.00-8.30pm (All other roles)

Monday 15th July 6pm  CALLBACKS

• You may be asked to attend a call back on 15 July for final casting.

*****Auditions by appointment only****

For further information and to book an audition slot please contact Margaret Courtney

M: 0407 450 621 or E: theperegianpair@hotmail.com

• Please prepare a musical theatre song (Music backing track needs to be provided, either on USB or from your mobile) Alteratively, you may sing ‘a cappella’. (without music backing).

 PERFORMANCE DATES
 Preview: November 14 at 7:30 
 Opening Night: November 15 at 7:30pm
 Evenings: November 21, 22, 27, 28 & 29 at 7:30pm
 Matinees: November 16, 17, 23, 24, 30 & December 1 at 2:00pm

REHEARSALS COMMENCE –  Tuesday 24 September (6.00pm)
Thereafter Tuesdays (6-9 pm), Thursdays (6-9pm) and Saturdays (1pm-5pm) as required.

  Rehearsals and Commitment to the Show

• • All cast are to be active members of Noosa Arts Theatre.
  • All cast members must be available for all show dates.
  • An initial rehearsal schedule will be provided by the first rehearsal.
  • Please note – You may not be required to attend every rehearsal, and this will be covered in rehearsal schedule.
  • All cast members are expected to attend every rehearsal for which they are called.
  • A full commitment to this show will be required from all performers.
  • If more than three rehearsals are missed, a performers participation in the show will need to be re-evaluated.
  • Please don’t audition if you are doing another show that will impact on your ability to attend our rehearsals OR if you are not available for all scheduled performance dates.

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Ladies in Black

Ladies in Black is based on the 1993 novel The Women in Black by Madeleine St John. (There is a non-musical movie of the same name and same story playing at cinemas).

A scrumptious coming of age musical set in 1959 in the department store “Goodes”.

A shy teenager joins the staff of the women’s clothing department. Each staff member is on the precipice of change – facing independence, working for a living and what it means to be a woman.

The Age called it “A unicorn of the stage: a full blown, home-grown musical that actually works” and “probably the best Aussie musical since Priscilla went global”. It wrote “Tim Finn’s songs range from Broadway-inspired numbers to true blue ballards, from witty patter songs to shares of blues and jazz standards. They’re beautifully integrated with the dramatic action, and the comic lyrcs are priceless”

CAST – minimum 8 females and 3 males, potentially, speaking parts for up to 11 women and 6 men.

Lisa – 16. A thin, shy bookworm who is described as having neither style nor beauty, yet emerges with both at the end of the story. Highly intelligent, and desperate to learn more about literature, her holiday job at Goodes teaches her more about life than she could have imagined. This is a star vehicle role. Lisa is involved in 17 songs and 18 scenes in the show.

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Myra/Dawn – a double for a woman in her mid to late 20’s. Myra is Fay’s best friend- buxom, cheerful and out for a good time. Dawn is Patty’s sister- forthright, cynical and rough round the edges. Myra is involved in 3 scenes in the show. Dawn is involved in 2 songs and 2 scenes.

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Patty – 32 years old, unhappily married shop assistant at Goodes. She has failed to have a baby and her husband is chronically uncommunicative, so she has become stitched up and a little malicious as a result. Underneath she is vulnerable and unhappy. Patty is involved in 11 songs and 13 scenes in the show.

Frank- Patty’s 35-40 year old husband. Described by others as ‘gormless’. Frank is a tile saleman with little ambition or vitality. Humiliated by his potential responsibility for his childless marriage, he hides his low self-esteen in taciturn introspection. Frank is involved in 4 songs and 7 scenes in the show.

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Magda – exotic Hungarian of about 40. In charge of Model Gowns at Goodes, she is the embodiment of European style, glamorous, educated and beautifully presented. While undoubtedly somewhat forbidding, she has warmth, wit and great insight. Magda is involved in 9 songs and 13 scenes in the show.

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Rudi/Lloyd/Fred – potentially all played by one actor in his mid to late 30s. Lloyd and Fred are two Australian men on the look-out for a good time.
Rudi is Hungarian refugee on the look-out for a wife. He is charming, well-read, irrepressible, a beautiful dancer and a genuine lover of women. Rudi is involved in 3 songs and 5 scenes in the show.

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Mrs Miles – Lisa’s mother, in her late 30’s or 40’s. She dotes on her daughter, is proud of her and wants the best for her but is nervous of rocking the boat and upsetting her conservative husband. A product of her era, she is neither educated nor sophisticated, but her love for her daughter ultimately gives her courage. Mrs Miles has 3 solo or duet songs and is involved in 9 scenes in the show.

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Miss Cartright/Joy – A potential double for an actress of about 40. Miss Cartright is the blue-stocking, crisply authoritative manager of the Ladies Department at Goodes. Ideally tall and definitely stylish, she is all business, having dedicated her life to it, but is not without compassion or wit. Miss Cartwright is involved in 4 songs and 4 scenes in the show.

Joy is Patty’s older sister. Exhausted by motherhood and housework, she doesn’t live up to her name. Joy is involved in 2 songs and 2 scenes in the show.

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Miss Jacobs/Mrs Crown – a potential double for an actress in her 60’s. Miss Jacobs has worked in Goodes her whole life. Nervous and intense, she lives alone and has a sense of tragedy about her. Miss Jacobs is involved in 6 songs and 6 scenes in the show. Mrs Crown is Patty’s mother. Now widowed, she is a rough diamond who has brought up three daughters and doesn’t beat around the bush. Mrs Crown is involved in 2 songs and 3 scenes.

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Fay – 29-year-old shop assistant at Goodes. Pretty and cheerful but has had a series of unfortunate relationships with unsuitable men, so she feels insecure about ever getting married and being considered respectable. Fay is involved in 9 songs and 16 scenes in the show.

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Mr Miles/Stefan – These two roles can be played by one actor. Both are in their 40’s. Mr Miles (Dad) is stiff, conservative, and authoritarian. He loves his daughter but firmly believes a woman’s place is in the home and is baffled by her intellect and ambition. Stefan is an ebullient Hungarian intellectual and bon vivant. He is a passionate enthusiast for all things literary. Mr Miles -Dad/Stefan has 2 duets and is involved in 5 scenes in the show.

Women can also be: Solo singers, Customer in Goodes, “The Voices” in a number of scenes, the Barmaid, Staff at Goodes, Guests at Magda’s party.

Men can also be: Fred, Lloyd or Joe – Australian men, “The Voices” in a number of scenes, Vronsky in an Anna Karenina fantasy, a young WW1 soldier – Miss Jacob’s lost love, guests at Magda’s party, The Doorman (with solo singing) or husbands at Goodes sales.

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LADIES IN BLACK – VIDEO HIGHLIGHTS

“I got it” from the musical Ladies in Black. (youtube.com)

Ladies in Black: Sydney Festival 2017 (youtube.com)

“Tomorrow Becomes Today” – Ladies in Black (youtube.com)