Auditions for the 2024 season will consist of readings from the script(s) and will be held at the Hausmann Nature Center in the Lapham Peak Unit of the Kettle Moraine State Forest.
Please carefully read through the following information. Contact Dustin J. Martin, Artistic Director, at dmartin@summerstageofdelafield.org if you have any questions.
SummerStage is a community theater. All acting positions are unpaid.
Audition Dates
Auditions will be held by appointment only on Saturday, March 23, 10 am – 1 pm and Sunday, March 24, 1 – 4 pm. Callbacks (if needed) will be held on Tuesday, March 26, 6:30 – 8:30 pm.
Season Audition Process
- Sign up for SEPARATE, consecutive time slots for each show you wish to be considered for. For example, you might sign up for 7:40 pm for STEEL MAGNOLIAS and 8:00 pm for HAMLET.
- Be prepared to share all conflicts with the rehearsal schedule(s).
- Callbacks and casting for the three shows will be held simultaneously.
- If feeling sick, please reschedule your audition time.
IMPORTANT: If you sign up and later find out that you will not be able to attend, please remove your sign up so your slot can be filled by someone else.
Materials to Bring
Please bring the following for EACH show you are auditioning for:
- A copy of your resume and headshot, if you have one.
- A completed audition form.
Directions
Take I-94 to the Hwy C exit in Delafield (exit 285). Go south on Hwy C about one mile and the park entrance will be on your left. On your entry to the park, stop at the ranger station. Let the ranger know you are there for SummerStage auditions and you’ll be permitted entry. Follow the signs to the Hausmann Nature Center, which will be on your left. Park there and then follow the short path to the Nature Center.
Physical address: W329 N846, County Rd C, Delafield, WI 53018
Rehearsals and Performances
Most rehearsals and all performances will be held within Lapham Peak, either at our stage or an alternate location. Rehearsals will typically be between four and five times a week prior to the production. You must be available for all technical rehearsals and performances. Excessive conflicts may result in not being cast in the production.
STEEL MAGNOLIAS
by Robert Harling
directed by Donna Daniels
Rehearsals: April 22 – June 5, 2024
Performances: June 6 – 8, 12 – 15, 19 – 22 at 7:30 pm (11 performances)
In Chinquapin, Louisiana, all the ladies who are “anybody” come to Truvy’s beauty salon. Helped by her eager new assistant, Annelle (who is not sure whether she’s still married), the wise-cracking Truvy dispenses shampoos and free advice to Ouiser (the town’s rich curmudgeon), Miss Clairee (an eccentric millionaire with a raging sweet tooth), and M’Lynn, the local social leader whose pretty daughter, Shelby, is about to marry a “good ole boy.” Filled with both hilarious repartee and moving drama, the story is touching, funny, and marvelously lovable.
AVAILABLE ROLES
- Truvy Jones, female, stage age 40-50. Owner of the beauty shop. She knows everyone’s business and shares it with anyone who will listen. She always has advice. Vivacious.
- M’Lynn Eatenton, female, stage age 50-55. Shelby’s mother. She is overprotective and finds the need to have a firm grasp on things at all times. She is a busy woman who worries about her daughter.
- Annelle Dupuy-Desoto, female, stage age 20-30. Very shy hair-dresser & assistant to Truvy. She goes from a very soft spoken and timid person at the beginning of the show to a bible loving Christian.
- Shelby Eatenton-Latcherie, female, stage age 20–30. Daughter of M’Lynn. Prettiest girl in town. Loved by all. Strong-willed. She has a bit of sass to her. Confident in her own life decisions, in spite of her mother’s protests.
- Clairee Belcher, female, stage age 60+. Widow of the mayor of Chinquapin. She is wealthy and knows everyone’s business. She loves to laugh and poke fun at the little things that others cry over. She is very close with Ouiser.
- Ouiser Boudreaux, female, stage age 60+. She is a wealthy old bitty and a loveable, miserable lady. Her unique personality and sense of humor and personality provides comedic relief in the show. Quick-witted.
UNNECESSARY FARCE
by Paul Slade Smith
directed by Michael Pocaro
Rehearsals: June 3 – July 17, 2024
Performances: July 18 – 20, 24 – 27, 31, Aug. 1 -3 at 7:30 pm (11 performances)
Two cops. Three crooks. Eight doors. Go! In a cheap motel room, an embezzling mayor is supposed to meet with his female accountant, while in the room next door, two undercover cops wait to catch the meeting on videotape. But there’s some confusion about who’s in which room, who’s being videotaped, who’s taken the money, who’s hired a hitman, and why the accountant keeps taking off her clothes.
AVAILABLE ROLES
- Eric Sheridan, male, stage age 20-40. A bookish, even-keeled police officer who is thrown into some difficult situations–while not wearing any pants.
- Billie Dwyer, female, stage age 20- 40. A police officer. Eric’s partner. Although she seems to lack every skill needed for police work, she is enthusiastic and eager to succeed.
- Karen Brown, female, stage age 20- 40. An accountant who usually has a very professional demeanor, but seems unable to keep herself in control today.
- Mayor Meekly, male, stage age 50-75. A sweet, gentle fellow, who seems very Innocent (with a capital “I”)
- Agent Frank, male, stage age 30-60. Town Hall head of Security. Although he can seem confident and even gruff, in moments of crisis he is easily reduced to a very frightened man
- Todd, male, stage age 30-60. Speaks with a pronounced Scottish accent. A professional hit man who’s accent gets thicker the angrier he gets, until he’s completely indecipherable.
- Mary Meekly, female, stage age 50-75. the Mayor’s wife. Small statured, she seems very sweet natured, and a good match for her husband the mayor, however, she is not all that she seems.
HAMLET
by William Shakespeare
adapted and directed by Dustin J. Martin
Rehearsals: July 1 – August 21, 2024
Performances: August 22 – 24, 28 – 31, September 4 – 7 at 7:30 pm (11 performances)
In Shakespeare’s most enduring and influential play, the Danish prince Hamlet mourns his father’s death and his mother’s subsequent remarriage. When the ghost of Hamlet’s father appears and reveals that he was murdered, the prince feigns madness, contemplates life and death, and plots revenge on his uncle-turned-stepfather Claudius, who is now the king of Denmark. What follows is an epic and sweeping tragedy, as only the Bard can deliver.
AVAILABLE ROLES
- Hamlet, male, stage age 20-40. Hamlet is a beloved prince and a thoughtful, melancholy young man. Distraught by his father’s death, Hamlet is only made more depressed by his uncle Claudius’ succession to the throne and his subsequent marriage to his mother. When the ghost of the king, Hamlet’s father, tells him that he was murdered by his brother Claudius and that Hamlet must avenge him, Hamlet becomes almost suicidal and obsessed with revenge.
- Gertrude, female, stage age 40-60. The Queen of Denmark and King Hamlet’s widow, now married to Claudius, and mother to Hamlet.
- Claudius, male, stage age 40-60. The King of Denmark, elected to the throne after the death of his brother, King Hamlet; Claudius has married Gertrude, his brother’s widow.
- Polonius, male or female, stage age 40-70. Claudius’s chief counselor, and the father or mother of Ophelia and Laertes.
- Ophelia, female, stage age 20-40. The daughter of Polonius, and Laertes’s sister, who lives with Polonius at Elsinore; she is in love with Hamlet.
- Laertes / Ensemble, male, stage age 20-40. The son of Polonius, has returned to Elsinore from Paris.
- Horatio / Ensemble, male, stage age 20-40. A good friend of Hamlet, from the university at Wittenberg, who came to Elsinore Castle to attend King Hamlet’s funeral.
- Rosencrantz / Ensemble, male or female, stage age 20-40. Childhood friend and schoolmate of Hamlet, who was summoned to Elsinore by Claudius and Gertrude.
- Guildenstern / Ensemble, male or female, stage age 20-40. Childhood friend and schoolmate of Hamlet, who was summoned to Elsinore by Claudius and Gertrude.
- Ghost / Player King / Gravedigger, male, stage age 50-70. Appears as the image of Hamlet’s father. The Player King is the leader of the troupe of touring actors; in the “play within a play,” he takes the part of the king who is murdered . The Gravedigger unearths Yorick’s skull.
- Player Queen / Ensemble, female, any age.
- Bernardo / Player 3 / Ensemble, male or female, any age.
- Marcellus / Player 4 / Ensemble, male or female, any age.