| Character |
Audition Piece |
Reno Sweeney
Brassy, forthright. New Yorks most notorious evangelist and nighclub singer. She sends the lords message along with her ‘angels’ in her own unique way. She is clearly no stranger to the seedier side of life. Needs a strong singer and dancer (preferably with tap experience) and actor. |
Audition dialogue Act 1 Sc 5, p37-38 |
Hope Harcourt
Wealthy debutante engaged to uptight Englishman Lord Evelyn Oakley to ensure a ‘good match’ for the family, but is in love with Billy Crocker. Tries to rebuff him, sometimes with more success than others. A more gentle foil to Reno Sweeney. Needs strong singer and actor and solid mover/dancer. |
Audition dialogue Act 1 Sc 3, p25-26 |
Evangeline Harcourt
Hope’s mother, a pushy widow who is keen for Hope to cement her excellent match with a Lord. Needs a good actress, no solo singing required. |
Audition dialogue Act 1 Sc 7, p44 |
Erma
Hope’s mother, a pushy widow who is keen for Hope to cement her excellent match with a Lord. Needs a good actress, no solo singing required. |
Audition dialogue Act 1 Sc 4, p28-29 |
Angels
Purity, Chastity, Charity, Virtue. Reno’s sidekicks, they are anything but their names! Needs strong dancers, preferably with tap experience. Ideally these girls will be front and centre of all the major dance numbers, along with Reno. |
No dialogue audition |
Billy Crocker
Assistant to Elisha Whitney, Billy sneaks on board the ship to woo his love, Hope, gets mixed up with some gangsters, and ends up pretending to be public enemy number one. He is a key link between most of the main characters. Needs a strong singer, dancer and actor. |
Audition dialogue Act 1 Sc 3, p25-26 |
Lord Evelyn Oakley
A British Lord (hence posh UK accent). Comes across very uptight, but is filled with a secret passion. Is engaged to Hope but falls for Reno. Needs a solid singer and actor. |
Audition dialogue Act 1 Sc 5, p37-38 |
Elisha Whitney
A wealthy tycoon who wants Evangeline, and goes somewhat over the top to try to get her. A fan of the drink. Needs reasonable singer and strong actor. |
Audition dialogue Act 1 Sc 4, p28; Act 1 Sc 7 p44 |
Moonface Martin
A somewhat ineffectual gangster, public enemy number 13. Needs a good sense of comic timing and a strong actor and reasonable singer. |
Audition dialogue Act 1 Sc 5, p37-38; Act 1 Sc 4 p28-29 |
Spit
One of two New York street ‘toughs’. Needs solid actors. No solo singing. |
Audition dialogue Act 1 Sc 5, p35 (Spit please also read in Moonface, and Dippy take last line on page, just for audition purposes). |
Dippy
One of two New York street ‘toughs’. Needs solid actors. No solo singing. |
Audition dialogue Act 1 Sc 5, p35 (Spit please also read in Moonface, and Dippy take last line on page, just for audition purposes). |
Ship's Captain
Nice character acting roles, limited solo singing. |
Audition dialogue Act 1 Sc 2, p11-12 |
Ship's Purser
Nice character acting roles, limited solo singing. |
Audition dialogue Act 1 Sc 2, p11-12 |
Quartet of Sailors
Close harmony singing, so solid singers required. Could potentially consider women on tenor roles but would need to be sung at pitch. Some movement/dance preferred. |
No dialogue audition |
All characters should speak and sing with a US accent (generic or character, your choice) unless otherwise stated):
Audition dialogue will be read together. Please note, where vocal demands allow, I am very happy to be flexible on gender casting and would happily consider making some of the male roles ‘trouser roles’. If in doubt, please ask! |
