AUDITIONS: Elegies For Angels, Punks and Raging Queens

August 27 & 28

Auditions for Elegies For Angels, Punks and Raging Queens

A cycle of songs and monologues by Bill Russell (Side Show, Unexpected Joy) and music by Janet Hood.

Presented in the Black Box at Cotuit Center for the Arts

Performances: November 9-12, 16-19, 24-26

Stage & Music Direction by Katie Lynch Koglin

Auditions: Sun, Aug 27, 1-4pm

                Mon, Aug 28, 6-8pm*

Callbacks: Wed, Aug 30, 6-8pm

Location at CCftA is tbd.

*Our pianist, Glenn Starner-Tate, will be available to play for vocal auditions on Monday night. If you’re interest in a singing role, please consider attending on Monday. Katie will be the accompanist on Sunday and Wednesday.

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Celebrate love, life, and the connections we have with one another! The work is inspired by the NAMES Project AIDS Memorial Quilt and Edgar Lee Masters’ “Spoon River Anthology.” The piece was developed in the late 1980s and was originally titled “The Quilt.”  Past productions include NYC and other US locations, London, Australia, Germany, Israel, Ireland, and other countries. (Katie was fortunate to play the harp for the Boston premier, directed by Bill Russell and music directed by Janet Hood.)

“Because the poems portrayed the perspective of characters who had died, they are voiced in past tense. It wasn’t until I started putting together the first full production of Elegies.. that I realized the lyrics I’d written were in present tense and were expressions of those left alive in the face of this tragedy. Two worlds were present on stage, the dead who spoke in verse and the living who sang. I found the dynamic between the two realms intriguing and became more focused on trying to show a canvas of the many types both infected and affected by AIDS.” – Bill Russell

Reviews:

“Generates a feeling of love, humanity and common cause that sends you out glowing.” – Glasgow Herald

“Immensely powerful…. The songs are uniformly good; the final song is sensational.” – Financial Times

“It is an elegy, not just to ‘Angels, punks and raging queens’, but to suffering and togetherness.” – The Times

“Bursts with humour, rage and hope.” – Backstage

Details:

Seeking a diverse cast!

Actors reciting monologues have passed away.

Singers are the family and friends of those who have passed.

Actors are encouraged to sing along in the finale, but it’s not required.

Actors may be cast as multiple characters.

Singers cannot be double cast to recite monologues.

Due to the style of this show, there wont be a long rehearsal process.

Singers should be comfortable with pop/modern musical theater styles.

Due to language and subject matter, this show is not appropriate for children. Anyone under 18 must have a waiver signed by a parent/guardian in order to participate. There’s one “8 year old” character and a few “teen” roles.

Character Descriptions:

Characters range from a small-town-grandmother to a full drag queen and everyone in between. One character speaks Spanish.

http://www.samuelfrench.com/p/6352/elegies-for-angels-punks-and-raging-queens

Recommended Recording:

New York City on April 2, 2001 in the Haft Theatre at the Fashion Institute of Technology as a benefit for the Momentum AIDS Project. The cast for that performance included numerous well known performers including Alice Ripley, Emily Skinner, Brian d’Arcy James, Christopher Durang, Mario Cantone, Joe Piscopo and Norm Lewis. The concert was recorded, and the recording was released by Fynsworth Alley in 2001.