Shakespeare Center of Los Angeles will hold AEA auditions for The Merchant of Venice on Tues. January 21st at 1238 W. 1st Street, Los Angeles, CA 90026. Sign-up begins at 8:00 am. Auditions 9:00 am – 5:00 pm. Please prepare up to 2 minutes of Shakespearean verse with a second piece ready. SCLA is looking for strong, classically trained, versatile, company-oriented actors capable and comfortable transforming into several characters within the course of a single performance. Performers of all ethnic and racial backgrounds are encouraged to attend.
Actors must be available during daytime hours if cast. The rehearsal schedule includes daytime rehearsals Sunday – Friday (Feb. 16 – March 16) and matinee school performances on weekdays (March 17-April 6).
www.shakespearecenter.org
Casting for the following roles:
Shylock – middle aged, charming, witty, good sense of humor, principled, a deal maker with great soul and a very sharp mind. Can be just as mean-spirited, vengeful, bigoted and unforgiving as he can be kind, compassionate, and merciful. A devoted father seeking to secure his daughter’s well being.
Portia – late 20’s or early 30’s – charming, secretive, spiritual, privileged, demanding, well educated, cultured, with a quick wit, sharp mind for legal distinctions, she can be as romantic as she can be ruthless.
Nerissa – late 20’s or early 30’s – devoted, loyal, spiritual, secretive, grounded, salt of the earth, with a playful sense of humor and romance that is matched by an ethical core with clear boundaries between what is right and what is wrong.
Bassanio – late 20’s or early 30’s a well educated, articulate, charming, self promoting, status seeking, entitled suitor obsessed with securing the girl of his dreams by any and all means available.
Jessica – early to mid 20’s, a devoted daughter, earnest, grounded, pragmatic young woman with clear set of priorities and realistic expectations. She’s protective, compassionate, and capable of keeping a secret at any and all costs. A risk taker with a strong need to find security and trustworthy intimacy.
Lorenzo – early to mid 20’s, a sharp business man and asset manager. Driven by the need to achieve financial security and enduring intimacy. Capable of complete loving, earnestness and deserving confidence and trustworthiness, keeps his word. Equally capable of convincing deception when life and death are at stake.
Antonio – middle aged, experiencing a crisis of identity, lost his direction and way, seeking a sense of self that transcends his accumulation of considerable material successes. Can be just as mean-spirited, vengeful, bigoted and unforgiving as he can be kind, compassionate, and merciful.
For more information go to www.actorsequity.org.
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