Dio Dining & Entertainment accepting video auditions for “A Raisin in the Sun” through 02/25
Dining & Entertainment
: A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry.
professional
Now through February 25.
Yes
To schedule an appointment:
No in-person open audition. Video submissions will be accepted through Sunday, February 25. In-person callbacks will be held in March by invitation only, exact date and time TBD.
Location of auditions:
The Dio – Dining & Entertainment
177 E. Main Street
Pinckney, MI 48169
Seeking a cast of strong black actors, Non-Equity.
Walter Younger – man to play early 30s, a dreamer; he wants to be rich and devises plans to acquire wealth with his friends, Bobo and Willy Harris; when the play opens, he wants to invest his father’s insurance money in a new liquor store venture; he spends the rest of the play endlessly preoccupied with discovering a quick solution to his family’s various problems.
Lena Younger (Mama) – woman to play 50 to mid-50s, Walter and Beneatha’s mother; the matriarch of the family, Mama is religious, moral, and maternal; she wants to use her husband’s insurance money as a down payment on a house with a backyard to fulfill her dream for her family to move up in the world.
Ruth Younger – Walter’s wife and Travis’s mother; Ruth takes care of the Youngers’ small apartment; her marriage to Walter has problems, but she hopes to rekindle their love; she is about thirty, but her weariness makes her seem older; constantly fighting poverty and domestic troubles, she continues to be an emotionally strong woman; her almost pessimistic pragmatism helps her to survive.
Beneatha Younger (Bennie) – Mama’s daughter and Walter’s sister; Beneatha is an intellectual; twenty years old, she attends college and is better educated than the rest of the Younger family; some of her personal beliefs and views have distanced her from conservative Mama; she dreams of being a doctor and struggles to determine her identity as a well-educated black woman.
Travis Younger – Boy to play age 10, Walter and Ruth’s sheltered young son; Travis earns some money by carrying grocery bags and likes to play outside with other neighborhood children, he has no bedroom and sleeps on the living-room sofa.
Joseph Asagai – Man to play mid-20s, A Nigerian student in love with Beneatha; Asagai, as he is often called, is very proud of his African heritage, and Beneatha hopes to learn about her African heritage from him; speaks with a Nigerian accent.
George Murchison – Man to play mid-20s, another suitor of Beneatha, George is well off and mingles in social circles that are out of reach for the Younger family, well liked by Mama and Ruth.
Bobo – Man to play 30s-40s, a friend of Walter that hopes to open a liquor store with Walter and Willy Harris, loses his life savings because of Willy’s betrayal.
Prepare two contrasting one minute monologues. Please film one from shoulders up, and one full body. Email video link to steve@diotheatre.com. Private YouTube links are preferred. **Actors auditioning for the role of Travis may video themselves telling a funny story or a joke that shows off their personality without including a monologue.** Please include the following in your submission email: your headshot and resume, photo proof of full Covid-19 vaccination including booster(s) if eligible, as well as a list of all conflicts from May 28 through July 28, 2024. Video submissions due no later than Saturday, February 24. In-person callbacks will be held in March by invitation only at The Dio, 177 E. Main St. Pinckney MI, 48169, exact date and time TBD.
n/a
All actors receive a one-time stipend of $600*, plus a meal following each performance and two complimentary tickets. Actors with previous serving experience may choose to serve tables on select nights for additional tip money. Servers are scheduled on an alphabetic rotation. *If any of the performances are cancelled for any reason, stipend will be reduced by $30 per cancelled show.
Rehearsals will begin May 28 and take place at The Dio, 177 E. Main, Pinckney MI, 48169, Mondays through Fridays from 6pm to 10pm and Saturdays from noon to 6pm. Tech Saturday will take place from noon to midnight on June 15. Please be aware that rehearsal may run later than 10pm during tech week, June 17 to June 20. Can work with rehearsal conflicts if necessary, however, conflicts are a deciding factor in casting. All conflicts must be communicated at the time of auditions. The Dio reserves the right to require masking during the rehearsal process depending on the health of the cast, and the state of spread of Covid-19 in the community.
*Call for evening performances is 7pm.
*Call for matinee performances is 1pm.
Friday, June 21 – evening
Saturday, June 22 – evening
Sunday, June 23 – matinee
Friday, June 28 – evening
Saturday, June 29 – evening
Sunday, June 30 – matinee
Friday, July 5 – evening
Saturday, July 6 – evening
Sunday, July 7 – matinee
Friday, July 12 – evening
Saturday, July 13 – evening
Sunday, July 14 – matinee
Thursday, July 18 – evening
Friday, July 19 – evening
Saturday, July 20 – evening
Sunday, July 21 – matinee
*Thursday, July 25 – evening
*Friday, July 26 – evening
*Saturday, July 27 – evening
*Sunday, July 28 – matinee
*indicates potential added performances/buffer weekend in case any performances are cancelled due to Covid infection within the cast and crew.
SHOW SYNOPSIS:
Set on Chicago’s South Side, Lorraine Hansberry’s celebrated play concerns the divergent dreams and conflicts in three generations of the Younger family: son Walter Lee, his wife Ruth, his sister Beneatha, his son Travis, and matriarch Lena. When her deceased husband’s insurance money comes through, Mama Lena dreams of moving to a new home and a better neighborhood in Chicago. Walter Lee, a chauffeur, has other plans: buying a liquor store and being his own man. Beneatha dreams of medical school. Hansberry’s portrait of one family’s struggle to retain dignity in a harsh and changing world is a searing and timeless document of hope and inspiration.
IN THE SPIRIT OF SHARED HUMANITY AND A CONCERN FOR OUR COMMUNITY AND THE WORLD AT LARGE, WE AT The Dio CELEBRATE DIVERSITY AND AFFIRM OUR SOLIDARITY WITH THOSE INDIVIDUALS AND GROUPS MOST AT RISK. WE DISAVOW ALL RACISM AND HATE SPEECH OR ACTIONS THAT ATTEMPT TO SILENCE, THREATEN AND DEGRADE OTHERS. WE ENCOURAGE AND WELCOME BIPOC, AAPI, Latinx AND LGBTQ+ PERFORMERS TO ATTEND OUR AUDITIONS, AND TO JOIN OUR DIO FAMILY.
For additional information: steve@diotheatre.com.