Audition Calls
Oshawa Little Theatre Audition Call Notice - Calendar Girls
Performance Dates: September 28, 29, 30; October 5, 6, 7, 8, 12, 13, 14 2023
Producer: Amy Lawrence
Directors: Annette Stokes-Harris and Michael Serres
Stage Manager: Jerry Chadwick
All auditions, rehearsals and performances will be at Oshawa Little Theatre, 62 Russett Avenue, Oshawa. Anyone casted must be a member in good standing with the Oshawa Little Theatre.
Audition Dates:
Monday, June 19th 6:00 - 9:00 pm
Tuesday, June 20th 6:00 - 9:00 pm
All auditions will be held at The Oshawa Little Theatre (62 Russett Ave. in Oshawa)
Call-backs:
Wednesday, June 21st from 6:00 - 9:00 pm.
No preparation is required, and scripts will be given for a cold read.
To book your audition time, please email producer.calendargirls.olt@gmail.com.
Auditions will be booked in 10-minute intervals. Please indicate your desired date and time. We will
try our best to accommodate you. Please ensure you bring your completed audition form to your
audition (please see other attachment)
All rehearsals and performances will be at the Oshawa Little Theatre. Cast must be available for all performance dates. Everyone casted must be a member in good standing with the Oshawa Little Theatre.
Rehearsals:
Sundays from 6 to 9pm
Mondays from 7 to 10pm
Wednesdays from 7 to 10pm July
through September.
First read through: Wednesday, July 5th at 7pm.
AUTHOR'S NOTE
A WORD ON NUDITY
As in the best traditions of vaudevillian fan dances, the art of the play's nudity lies in what is withheld.
The choreography of this sequence is best described as "fabulous concealment". Should we see
anything we oughtn't, the whole scene will deflate like a soufflé on which the oven door has been
opened too quickly. Also beware - the music cues in the scene are vital as they maintain the build of
euphoria in the room, especially over the set-up of the piano pose. - Tim Firth
DIRECTORS’ NOTE
Everyone will be aware of the Calendar shoot that is the best- known aspect of the Calendar Girls’
story. It is essential that the audience see nothing that we do not wish them to see in this scene. It will
be carefully choreographed and will require a great team effort from all those involved to ensure that
each person’s modesty is protected by her fellow actors.
Roles (please note, the ages are character guidelines):
CHRIS - fifties
You want Chris at your party. She will talk to people she doesn't know, find things to say to fill silences
and generate laughter. Part of this is because Chris is at home in crowds, holding court, being the
centre of attention. Without Chris in her life, Annie would be better behaved, her life less fun. The two
of them are like ill-behaved schoolgirls.
ANNIE - fifties
Annie will join in mischief but is at heart more conformist and less confrontational than Chris. After
Chris has put a waiter's back up in the restaurant, Annie will go in and pour calm. The
mischievousness Chris elicits saves Annie from being a saint. She has enough edge to be interesting,
and enough salt not to be too sweet. Together these two are greater than the sum of their parts. They
would be lesser humans had they not met each other. Each is spiritual mustard to the other's meat.
CORA - around forty
Cora's past is the most eclectic, her horizons broadened by having gone to college. This caused a
tectonic shift with her more parochial parents. She came back to them pregnant and tail-betweenlegs,
but Cora has too much native resilience to be downtrodden. She is the joker in the pack, but never
plays the fool. Her wit is deadpan. It raises laughter in others, but rarely in herself. Her relationship
with her daughter is more akin to that between Chris and Annie. Cora doesn't need to sing like a diva
but must be able to sing well enough to start the show with Jerusalem and sing the snatches of other
songs required. The piano keyboard can be marked up to enable her to play basic chords should she
not be a player.
JESSIE - late sixties/seventies
Get on the right side of Jessie as a teacher and she'll be the teacher you remember for life. Get on
the wrong side and you will regret every waking hour. A lover of life, Jessie doesn't bother with
cosmetics - her elixir of life is bravery. Jessie goes on rollercoasters. Her husband has been with her
a long time and is rarely surprised by her actions. Jessie bothers about grammar and will correct
stallholders regarding their abuse of the apostrophe "s".
CELIA - thirty-five to fifty
The fact that Celia is in the WI is the greatest justification of its existence. A woman more at home in a
department store than a church hall, she may be slightly younger than Chris or the same age, but she
always feels like she's drifted in from another world. Which she has. She is particularly enamoured of
Jessie, and despite the fact Jessie has little time for most Celias of this world, there is a
rebelliousness in Celia to which Jessie responds. It's what sets Celia apart from the vapid materialism
of her peer group and made her defect.
RUTH - forties
Ruth's journey is from the false self-confidence of the emotionally abused to the genuine
selfconfidence of the woman happy in her own skin. Ruth is eager to please but not a rag doll, and
despite being Marie's right-hand woman she is desperate to be the cartilage in the spine of the WI
and keep everyone happy. She has spine herself- if she was too wet, no one would want her around.
But they do, and they feel protective of her because they sense there is something better in Ruth than
her life is letting out. They are proved right.
MARIE - fifties
The WI is a trophy to her, which justifies her entire existence. There is a lingering part of Marie that
would love to be on that calendar.
JOHN - Annie's husband, fifties
John is a human sunflower. Not a saint. Not a hero. Just the kind of man you would want in your car
when crossing America. When he dies it feels like someone somewhere turned a light off.
ROD - Chris's husband, fifties
You have to be a certain kind of guy to stick with Chris and Rod loves it. He can give back what he
gets and has a deadpan humour which has always made Chris laugh. He drinks a lot but never so
much as to have a problem. He would work every hour to make his shop a success. And John was
his mate, even though the relationship was originally channelled through their wives.
LAWRENCE - late twenties
Hesitant without being nerdy, Lawrence is a shy young man with enough wit to make a joke and
enough spirit to turn up at the WI hall in the first place. When he arranges the shots, he is close to
female nudity but sees only the photo.
LADY CRAVENSHIRE - sixties
Lady Cravenshire really doesn’t mean to be so patronising. But the WI girls seem from another world.
The world of her estate workers.
ELAINE - twenties
Elaine really doesn't mean to be so patronising. But Jessie seems from another world. The world of
her gran.
LIAM - late twenties
Liam would like to be directing other things than photoshoots for washing powders. He's not so
unprofessional as to let it show, but we can sense a slight weariness at having to deal with these
women. There's a resigned patience to his actions and each smile he makes we feel is professional.
For Liam, this photoshoot is a job. And not the job he wanted.
Non-paying; Non-equity
Subject to any public health requirements or OLT Board requirements
The Oshawa Little Theatre is committed to diverse, and inclusive casting. We welcome applications from all performers, without regard to age, sex, ethnicity, disability, race, colour, national origin, sexual orientation, gender identity, or any other basis.