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AUDITION NOTICE
Who’s in Bed With the Butler
Performance Dates: Feb. 7, 8, 9, 14, 15 & 16
Written by Michael Parker
Directed by Paul James
AUDITIONS on the evenings of:
Tuesday, November 12 and Thursday, November 14 beginning at 6:30pm. Please arrive at 6:30pm and no later than 7pm either evening.
This is an open call. No appointment needed. No Monologues. Cold/Warm Readings from Script. For a perusal copy of the script please send email to info@acttwotheatre.com
Rehearsals are held Tuesday and Thursday evenings, and Sunday afternoons. Rehearsals begin November 17. No rehearsals from Dec. 20 until January 2.
AUDITIONS: Bring your AUDITION FORM filled out in advance. Audition form download will be posted here in late October.
PLOT:
William Olden, a California billionaire has died. He leaves his entire estate including the winery, (where the action of the play takes place), to his daughter Constance. There are however three notable exceptions: He has left his twenty million dollar yacht to a Miss Josephine Sykes, his priceless art work to a Miss Renee LaFleur and his antique car collection to a Miss Marjorie Merivale. Constance, accompanied by her lawyer, Roy Vance, arrives at the mansion. They are greeted by Clifton, the butler, and an eccentric housekeeper, Agnes. She is as deaf as a post and moves about as fast as one while she wanders the mansion, looking for her pet rat, Oscar. Constance and Roy have two objectives in mind; firstly, to find out who these three women are, and secondly, by threatening to contest the will, persuade them to settle for lesser amounts of money.
More info and Script Excerpts on the Playwright’s website at: https://www.michaelparkerplaywright.com/whos-in-bed-with-the-butler
Roles are available for 4-6 women and 3 men. All roles are available and open.
CHARACTERS:
AGNES (Age 60+) The late Mr.William Olden’s housekeeper, she is as deaf as a post and moves about as fast as one! Steadfastly refusing to switch on her hearing aid, she wanders in and out of the action, usually oblivious to the complexities of the plot going on around her. She lives in her own world and spends a great deal of her time looking for her pet rat “Oscar,” who seems to be the center of her life. (Likeable, funny, perhaps a little self-centered)
CLIFTON (Age 40-60) The late Mr. William Olden’s butler, and the pivotal character of the play, is a very complex personality. He is not intended to be ‘pigeonholed’ by the audience, who should always be left wondering what facet of his character will be revealed next. He starts out as the loyal servant and appears to by ‘Mr. Nice Guy,’ then as the plot progresses, we see him in turn as the schemer, the scoundrel, the opportunistic embezzler and then, either the naive lover, or the romantic playboy. (Maybe both!) He is nevertheless an endearing personality with a quick, dry wit and a great sense of humor. Audiences take great delight in seeing him finally ‘tamed’ by Susie Legere at the very end of the play. (Suave, clever, a likeable rougue)
SUSIE LEGERE (Age 30-45) The actress hired by Clifton to pretend to be his wife in order to protect him from the amorous advances of Renee LaFleur. She throuws herself into the role with enthusiasm, but quickly discovers all is not what it seems to be. A very determined lady with definite ideas on marriage and morality, she nevertheless allies herself with Clifton, even though she slowly becomes awared of his dubious character. When not leaping on and off furniture to avoid ‘Oscar’, she is at the heart of many of the visual comedic sequences. In the latter stages of the play, it is Susie who seizes control and brings order out of chaos. (Bright, perky, quick-witted and resourceful)
CONSTANCE OLDEN (Age 40-50) Mr. Olden’s only child, she has been persuaded by her attorney to contest her father’s will. She is somewhat dour and taciturn and would appear to be ‘all business.’ As the total incompetence of her attorney Roy Vance and his sidekick WIlliam Davis Jr. becomes apparent, we see a softer side of her culminating in a hilarious surprise move in her final scene. (Severe, dowdy, businesslike, yet finally kind and tender)
ROY VANCE (Any age) Miss Constance’s attorney is a ‘thoroughly nasty piece of work.’ For him, the law is all about making money and not at all about justice. His frustrations mount as he comes to realize he is up against masterful planners in Clifton and his co-conspirators. Becoming ever more desperate to locate the missing assets of the estate, he seems to lose his sense of reality and becomes rather a tragic figure as he, in turn, makes his final exit. (Scheming, untrustworthy, greedy and malicious)
WILLIAM DAVIS JR. (Any age, but agile) The private detective hired by Roy Vance to investigate the disappearance of certain assets from the estate of the late Mr. Olden. He is one of life’s total incompetents who misinterprets every piece of information he receives. He is hit by doors, he is knocked out by a suit of armor, in fact he is repeatedly rendered unconscious while managing to follow all clues down the totally wrong path. He always leaps (sometimes literally) to the wrong conclusion and, if all this wasn’t enough, he clearly spent his entire education studying under Mrs. Malaprop! He is a truly comedic character and such an idiot that audiences cannot help but love him.(Sympathetic, funny, extreme, a natural clown)
*RENEE LaFLEUR (Age 30-45) A voluptuous French beauty who spends the entire play in amorous pursuit of Clifton. She will not be denied and uses all her feminine wiles to this end. She comes close to seducing him on several occasions. She will not take no for an answer and continues her passionate quest no matter what the obstacles. It is only as a result of the determined efforts of Susie that she does not succeed. (Sexy, seductive, determined to the very end)
*JOSEPHINE SYKES (Age 30-45) The second of the three bimbos, she is very English in manner, bearing and accent. She appears at first to be a little ‘prim and proper’, but softens as we see her in her relationship with Clifton. She shows great strength of character when she does not allow herself to be intimidated by Constance and Vance. We feel she has genuine feelings for Clifton and she portrays a sense of sadness when she is finally obliged to reject him. (Pretty, sophisticated, well-educated and articulate)
*MARJORIE MERIVALE (Age 30-45) The quintessential California girl. She takes her affairs with Mr. Olden and Clifton very much in stride. She has a practical, perhaps materialistic, approach to life. As Susie schemes to break up Marjorie’s affair with Clifton, we get the feeling that she gives up a little too easily and we are left with the impression that perhaps she was really only in it for the money after all. (Beautiful, athletic, outgoing and calculating)
*The play has been carefully written to enable the roles of the three “bimbos” to be played by one, two or three individual actresses. It is the goal of our director that these 3 roles(Renee, Josephine and Marjorie) be played by one actor with the experience, talent and skill set necessary to create and embody three distinctively unique characters.
Roles are available for 4-6 women and 3 men. All roles are available and open.
More info and Script Excerpts on the Playwright’s website at: https://www.michaelparkerplaywright.com/whos-in-bed-with-the-butler
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IMPORTANT: Bring your Audition Form filled out in advance to your audition. Audition form will be posted for download on this page in Late-October.
Auditions are held at:
St. Peters Cultural Arts Centre
One St. Peters Centre Blvd.
St. Peters, MO 63376
Our beautiful Performing Arts Theatre is in the City Hall building, Western(far right) most building at the opposite end from the Rec-Plex.
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ABOUT US: Act Two Theatre’s shows play to large audiences with a loyal-season ticket subscriber base of theatre lovers. All performances take place in the beautiful 318-seat Performing Arts Theatre at the St. Peters City Hall Cultural Arts Centre, adjacent to the Rec-Plex. The theatre has comfortable seating and a terrific stage!
Theatre Location for Auditions
St. Peters Cultural Arts Centre
One St. Peters Centre Blvd.
St. Peters, MO 63376
Performing Arts Theatre is in the City Hall building, Western(far right) most building at the opposite end from the Rec-Plex. Act Two Theatre performs in St. Peters to one of the largest average audiences of local St. Louis area theatre companies. Each show runs 6-8 performances with attendance numbers ranging between 1000-1800 per run. Act Two’s loyal, large and enthusiastic season ticket subscriber base allows many to receive the gift, joy and magic of live theatre that our talented actors, directors, tech crew and volunteers create.
Act Two Theatre
2019 Audition Dates
Future Auditions:
See above.
About Act Two Theatre:
2019 marks Act Two Theatre’s 26th season. We are proud to present another year of high-quality theatre in St. Peters, Missouri. We are located in the beautiful 318-seat Performing Arts Theater at the St. Peters City Hall Cultural Arts Centre, adjacent to the Rec-Plex. The theater has comfortable seating and a terrific stage!
Act Two Theatre performs to one of the largest average audiences as compared to other local St. Louis area theatre companies. Except for the Muny and Stages no other professional, regional or community theatre company boasts a larger following. Act Two’s loyal, large and enthusiastic season ticket subscriber base allows many to share in the joy and magic of live theatre that our talented actors, directors, tech crew and volunteers create.
