Open Auditions | BRIGHT STAR

Lafayette Theater Department announces
Open Auditions 

for 

Bright Star

Music, Book & Story by Steve Martin
Music, Lyrics & Story by Edie Brickell 

Directed by Professor Mary Jo Lodge
Musical Direction by Guest Artist Mitch Samu
Choreography by Deena Linn
Conducted by Tom DiGiovanni

From theatricalrights.com: “Inspired by a true story and featuring the Tony®-nominated score by Steve Martin and Edie Brickell, Broadway’s BRIGHT STAR tells a sweeping tale of love and redemption set against the rich backdrop of the American South in the 1920s and ’40s. When literary editor Alice Murphy meets a young soldier just home from World War II, he awakens her longing for the child she once lost. Haunted by their unique connection, Alice sets out on a journey to understand her past—and what she finds has the power to transform both of their lives. With beautiful melodies and powerfully moving characters, the story unfolds as a rich tapestry of deep emotion. An uplifting theatrical journey that holds you tightly in its grasp, BRIGHT STAR is as refreshingly genuine as it is daringly hopeful.”

Bright Star, which played on Broadway in 2016, is a musical featuring both traditional Broadway sounds and bluegrass music and will feature a full bluegrass band made up of Lafayette students and professionals (all band roles are filled). There are ten featured roles, 4 female and 6 male roles, and approximately 9 additional roles (some with featured scenes) for an active singing and dancing chorus. Our casting is gender-inclusive, and all who audition can decide which roles they wish to be seen for. Our Lafayette production seeks to include actors of diverse races, nationalities, sizes, and abilities, however, there are no non-singing roles. The musical will be performed up the hill at the Williams Center for the Arts from Nov. 14-17th.  

Initial auditions will be self-recorded video submissions. You may use your phone or any recording device to film yourself with audio and video. For your initial audition, please sing approximately 1 minute of any song that shows off your range (you may wish to sing a country/bluegrass song, but that is not required). You may sing without accompaniment or use accompaniment from any source you wish (including YouTube). Accompaniment should not include vocals. Videos should not exceed one minute, so choose a portion of your song to sing. Be sure to identify yourself in your video.

AUDITION DETAILS

UPDATE: VIDEOS ARE DUE BY SEPT. 6th AT NOON. Earlier submissions welcome. Submit all videos, along with your audition information and conflicts, via the submission form.

SUBMISSION FORM

Callbacks will be held on Lafayette’s Arts Campus on the evenings of  Sept. 9th and will involve a dance call, and possible additional singing from the show (which you will be taught).
If you wish to prepare in advance, the cast recording is widely available to stream on YouTube or elsewhere.

 

Bright Star will run November 14th – 17th in person at the Williams Center for the Arts (up the hill) at Lafayette.
You must be available for all performances. You can be in/work on both Lift Every Voice (our first production of the 2024-2025 theater season) and Bright Star – we are working around Lift Every Voice’s schedule.
All cast and crew positions are open, except for stage manager, and academic credit can be earned for roles onstage and off.
Bright Star will rehearse a few evenings a week, and some weekday afternoons, depending on availability, until Lift Every Voice closes, and then will rehearse Sunday afternoons and Monday through Thursday evenings in October, with additional times will be added during the last two weeks before the show in November. We will NOT rehearse during Fall Break. Night classes may be accommodated until the week before the show.  

 

Casting Breakdown (from Theatrical Rights Worldwide):
4 female and 6 male featured roles, with opportunities for featured casting in the ensemble (3 M, 4 W).  We will also be casting one female-identifying and one male-identifying understudy who will also perform in the ensemble. 

Featured Roles:

  • Alice Murphy – plays both 16-17 and 36-37. Alice at age 36-37 is an editor of a southern literary magazine; intelligent, attractive, and professional. Young Alice at age 16-17 is rebellious, high-spirited, and adventurous. She must be a very strong singer and comfortable in folk and bluegrass styles.
  • Billy Cane – a young soldier returning home from WWII; an aspiring young writer; fresh, open, optimistic, charming, and a little naïve.
  • Daddy Cane – Billy’s father. A widower. Spry, good-looking. Kind-hearted, if a bit lonely.
  • Margo Crawford – a small-town bookstore owner; a childhood friend of Billy’s with a keen intellect.
  • Daryl Ames – An assistant at a literary magazine. Funny, with a dry and officious sense of humor. Insecure, and perhaps a bit socially awkward, but endearing and innately likable.
  • Lucy Grant – A junior editor at a literary magazine. An ambitious, professional young “modern” career woman of the 1940’s. Strong, forthright, and provocative with a sharp sense of humor.  Featured singer and dancer.
  • Mama Murphy – Alice’s mother. A caretaker to her family and her rural community. A warm, loving, sensible woman. Hardworking, with great inner strength and compassion.
  • Daddy Murphy – Alice’s father; an authoritative and stern disciplinarian; devoutly religious, hard-working, a poor but proud farmer.
  • Mayor Josiah Dobbs – the Mayor of Zebulon; a political and financial powerbroker – distinguished, an imposing, and controlling presence; has a genuine interest in protecting his son’s future and his family name, but in doing so, is ultimately pushed to a point of extreme and irrevocable cruelty.
  • Jimmy Ray Dobbs – plays both age 18-20 and 38-40. Jimmy Ray in his early 20s in flashbacks is Mayor Dobbs’ son and young Alice’s beau; handsome, boyishly charming, well-built, and intelligent; The same actor will also play an adult Jimmy Ray at age 38-40.

Ensemble (includes two additional understudies for a total of 9):

  • Max/Ensemble – a customer at Margo’s bookstore, with a crush on Margo who later becomes Edna’s beau.
  • Florence/Ensemble – an employee at Margo’s bookstore and a childhood friend of both Billy and Margo.
  • Edna/Ensemble – an employee at Margo’s bookstore.
  • Stanford/Ensemble – Loyal assistant to Mayor Josiah Dobbs
  • Dr. Norquist/Ensemble – The local family doctor in Zebulon
  • Government Clerk (F)/Ensemble – A clerk at the Office of Records in Raleigh
  • Well-Dressed Woman/Ensemble – A woman (38-40) living in Raleigh.

With questions or for more information, contact Prof. Mary Jo Lodge via e-mail at lodgem@lafayette.edu.