Harvey
by Sam Bass Theatre Association

Jan. 07 - Jan. 08 (2018)

Harvey, the Pulitzer-Prize-winning comedy by Mary Chase, is the story of a perfect gentleman, Elwood P. Dowd, and his best friend, Harvey -- a pooka, who is a six-foot tall, invisible rabbit. When Elwood begins introducing Harvey around town, his embarrassed sister, Veta Louise, and her daughter, Myrtle Mae, determine to commit Elwood to a sanitarium. A mistake is made, however, and Veta is committed rather than Elwood! Eventually, the mistake is realized, and a frantic search begins for Elwood and the invisible pooka, which ends with Elwood appearing, voluntarily, at the sanitarium. In the end, however, Veta realizes that she loves her brother and his invisible his best friend just as they are, and doesn’t want either of them to change.
 

Auditions for Harvey, by Mary Chase  
Directed by Christopher Lee Herod
 
Sunday January 7th 2017 6:30-9:30pm –  Round Rock Area Serving Center
Monday January 8th 2017 6:30-9:30 – Round Rock Area Serving Center
 
Round Rock Area Serving Center 
1099 E Main St, Round Rock, TX 78664, 
(2nd Floor Serving Center)
 
Callbacks: Tuesday January 9th 2017 6:30-9:30pm – Location TBD,
 
 
PERFORMANCES: March 9 - April 1, 2018
Thursday – Saturday 8:00 pm
Sundays 2:00 pm
 
To schedule an audition contact 
Christopher Lee Herod
Christopherleeherod@gmail.com

Special Notes!!

  • THERE WILL BE NO WALK UP AUDITIONS ALLOWED! AUDITIONERS MUST MAKE APPOINTMENT

 

  • It is imperative that you have read Harvey by Mary Chase in preparation for this audition. The play is realistic but requires size and ability to deal with large personalities of the story.

 

  • Auditions will be from two contrasting monologues of your choosing; time not to exceed two minutes. It is preferred that one monologue be period to the script when written and the other monologue a contrasting contemporary selection.

 
AUDTIONS WILL TAKE PLACE AT
Round Rock Area Serving Center
1099 E Main St, Round Rock, TX 78664,
(2nd Floor Serving Center)
 
 

Character Breakdowns: (aged are suggested not set in stone… if you are younger or older than a character you are interested in please still include it)

  • Ethel Chauvenet – (+40s) an old friend of the family. She is a member of the town’s social circle, which Veta wants Myrtle to break into, and so they both flatter her and curry her favor.
  • Betty Chumley (the doctor's wife) – (+40s) more concerned with socializing than with science: told that her husband has to examine a patient, she tells him, “Give a little quick diagnosis, Willie — we don’t want to be late to the party.”
  • Dr. William B. Chumley – (+50s) an esteemed psychiatrist and the head of the sanitarium, “Chumley’s Rest,” to which Veta has Elwood taken. He is a difficult, exacting man, feared by his subordinates, unwilling to tolerate his mistakes.
  • Elwood P. Dowd - (30s – 50s) the central character of the play, a friendly eccentric who spends his days and nights in the taverns of his unnamed town. Elwood’s best friend is Harvey, an invisible six and a half-foot-tall rabbit. The play leaves open several possibilities regarding exactly what Harvey is, whether he is a figment of Elwood’s imagination, as the psychiatrists would like to believe, or he is, as Elwood asserts, a supernatural being known as a pooka.
  • Judge Omar Gaffney - (+50s) an old family friend of the Dowds, a representative of the people in town who are accustomed to seeing Elwood talking to Harvey and who do not think anything of it.
  • Miss Johnson – (any) listed in the Cast of Characters as “a cateress,” but her dialog in the play is tagged “Maid.” She only appears briefly in the first act.
  • Nurse Ruth Kelly - (20s – 40s) a sympathetic character, a pretty young woman who appears to have some sort of love/hate relationship with Dr. Sanderson.
  • At the end of the play, it is the cab driver, E. J. Lofgren, (any) who makes Veta realize that the treatment that is supposed to make Elwood stop seeing Harvey might drain him of his kind personality.
  • Dr. Lyman Sanderson - (20s – 40s) young, for a psychiatrist, but very qualified — Dr. Chumley has picked him out of the twelve possible assistants that he tried. He is just as infatuated with Nurse Kelly as she is with him, but he only reveals his concern indirectly.
  • Myrtle - (18 – 30) a young woman, the daughter of Veta. The main reason why she and her mother are concerned about their standing in the community is that they both are concerned that Myrtle find a man to marry.
  • Veta Louise Simmons (30’s-50’s) Elwood’s Sister an important character in this play because she joins the play’s two opposing forces, logic and imagination.
  • Wilson – (20s – 40s) the muscle of Chumley’s Rest, a devoted orderly responsible for handling the patients who will not cooperate voluntarily.

 
 
Audition Requirements: Auditions will be from two contrasting monologues of your choosing; time not to exceed two minutes. It is preferred that one monologue be period to the script when written and the other monologue a contrasting contemporary selection. Experienced actors with strong acting abilities are needed; all actors are encouraged to audition. See character breakdown below for specifics on available roles. NOTE: All roles are available; there was no pre-casting.
 

  1. Make sure to READ THE PLAY!
  2. Look over the specifics for the characters you would like to be considered for on the website(www.sambasstheatre.org)
  3. Be prepared to answer questions about the play.  Again it is very important you have read it.  
  4. You must have any and all unavoidable conflicts listed on your audition sheet.
  5. Please bring a headshot and resume (if you have them).

Performance Dates: March 9-April 1, 2018 Thursday – Saturday 8:00pm Sundays 2:00pm
 
Rehearsal Schedule: Required meeting/Read Through January 15th 2018 6:30-10:30. Most rehearsals are flexible with schedule. All rehearsals are MANDATORY unless negotiated with the Director & Stage Manager Please provide a complete list of conflicts at Auditions.
 
Please be aware that the following rehearsals must be attended by ALL CAST MEMBERS!!  If you cannot ensure this, you will not be cast for the show.  Check calendars now, and make sure you have listed every conflict even if you don’t think it will happen. 

  • REHEARSAL DATES: (NOTE: Not all dates are MANDATORY for entire cast; Director only calls individuals that will be working scenes by the day)
  • 1/15 – 1/19, 1/22, 1/25, 1/26, 1/29, 2/1, 2/2, 2/5, 2/8, 2/9, 2/12, 2/15, 2/16, 2/19, 2/22, 2/23, 2/26, 3/1, 3/2 (6 – 10pm, 92h)
  • Mandatory 1/15, 2/26-3/8 (6 – 10pm)
  • TECH REHEARSAL DATES: 3/3 – 3/5 (3) (6 – 11pm)
  • FINAL DRESS: 3/8 (1)
  • Strike Sunday April 1