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Auditions for Manhattan Stories: Woody Allen improv

Posted: April 9th, 2012, 11:37 pm
by Jon Bolden
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When: Wednesday, April 25th, 7-10pm
Where: The Hideout Theatre (exact location in the theater TBD).
Directed by: Jon Bolden & Valerie Ward

This summer, the Hideout Theatre presents the next installment of their 2012 main-stage series: Manhattan Stories: Improv in the Style of Woody Allen.

Rehearsals:
Rehearsals will be every Wednesday 8pm-10:30pm in May, 7-10pm in June, and continuing in July / August from 6:30pm - 8pm . Performances will be every Saturday at 8:00pm in July and August. We are looking to cast 8-9 people, with roughly equal numbers of women and men. Players should be able to commit to attending a majority of the rehearsals and performances. Unlike some previous Hideout main-stage shows with larger rotating casts, we would like to build a tight ensemble cast with every performer in every show if possible. The cast will be expected to make the production a priority during rehearsals and performances. If you anticipate missing more than one or two rehearsals or shows, please do not audition. Those cast will also be expected to absorb as much source material as possible during the rehearsal and run of the production. Optional movie watching nights will be in the works.

The Show:
This will be a narrative show in the style of Woody Allen, specifically focusing on relationships, the exploration of philosophical ideas, and simple character-driven stories. Woody's plots often do not wrap themselves up in nice little packages, which we look forward to exploring. We will be work-shopping various story telling techniques true to the experimental nature of many of Allen's films. Auditioners should have a familiarity with and love for Allen's work. We are specifically drawing inspiration from his more grounded works such as Hannah and Her Sisters, Annie Hall, and Manhattan (to name a few), while still injecting some of the playfulness and innovation of films such as Bullets over Broadway, A Midsummer Night's Sex Comedy, and Purple Rose of Cairo. If you're not as familiar with Allen's work but still interested in auditioning, we suggest you catch up with a few of the above. A good Woody Allen impersonation is not necessary. See his complete filmography

Auditions:
Audition slots are 45 minutes long, starting at 7:00, 7:45, 8:30, and 9:15. If you are interested in auditioning, please email woody-auditions@hideouttheatre.com by April 22 at midnight with the time slot(s) you are available for. We'll start assigning people to a specific slot as requests come in. If you are unable to make any times, please email the same address and we'll see if we can work something out. Any questions can posted publicly here on the forums or sent privately to the above email address. We're really excited about this show and have been doing a lot of watching and thinking about it. We're looking for a diverse and talented cast to bring Woody Allen's work to the stage in a new way, and we're excited to see what it becomes. See you at auditions!

Posted: April 9th, 2012, 11:52 pm
by Roy Janik
We're long overdue for both Valerie Ward AND Jon Bolden to be mainstage directors. Can't wait!

Posted: April 9th, 2012, 11:59 pm
by valetoile
So excited for this!

Posted: April 10th, 2012, 12:13 am
by kaci_beeler
Yay! All of this sounds so lovely! Very exciting!

Posted: April 10th, 2012, 12:33 am
by jason boehle
this looks awesome!

Posted: April 10th, 2012, 8:50 am
by Ryan Austin
Bam! Signed up.

Can't wait!

Posted: April 10th, 2012, 9:08 am
by Rev. Jordan T. Maxwell
i would never belong to any improv show that would have me as a member...so don't cast me, and i'll be happy to perform. ;)

Re: Auditions for Manhattan Stories: Woody Allen improv

Posted: April 10th, 2012, 9:21 am
by Brad Hawkins
Jon Bolden wrote:We are specifically drawing inspiration from his more grounded works such as Hannah and Her Sisters, Annie Hall, and Manhattan (to name a few), while still injecting some of the playfulness and innovation of films such as Bullets over Broadway, A Midsummer Night's Sex Comedy, and Purple Rose of Cairo. If you're not as familiar with Allen's work but still interested in auditioning, we suggest you catch up with a few of the above.
To that end, I host a weekly screening of Allen's films at my place. Here's a link to the Facebook group where I announce times and titles. We'll be doing this up until the run of this show, but now that Jon and Val have posted this, I'm tweaking the schedule to front-load some more of the films that they have cited as influences. It's every Sunday at 8pm.

Posted: April 10th, 2012, 9:28 am
by happywaffle
Email sent, yo.

Posted: April 10th, 2012, 11:01 am
by Katie T.
I really like this approach of focusing on the one show and making it a priority. I didn't do that this last time and it cheats the experience a bit. It's hard to not want all the things!

Posted: April 10th, 2012, 1:40 pm
by Asaf
As a New York Jew, I of course sent an email.

Posted: April 10th, 2012, 1:41 pm
by kbadr
To complain?

Posted: April 10th, 2012, 1:56 pm
by Brad Hawkins
kbadr wrote:To complain?
They call it kvetching.

Posted: April 10th, 2012, 3:11 pm
by Rev. Jordan T. Maxwell
kbadr wrote:To complain?
you think perhaps the auditions you could hold a little earlier, maybe? some of us, we don't stay up so late...

Posted: April 10th, 2012, 4:06 pm
by StatusBro
I can't audition.... I have tickets to see Maria Bamford that night... Fuck Shit