Theatre Auditions and Casting

Theatre Auditions

Each year, College of Liberal Arts’ Theatre Arts Program and NTID's Performing Arts Program offer numerous exciting opportunities to audition for plays from a wide range of theatre genres and styles, including comedies, dramas, musicals, and classics.

If you have any questions about auditions or need more information, contact:

Andy Head
Assistant Professor
School of Performing Arts
College of Liberal Arts

CLA Theatre Arts Program Director

Jill Bradbury
Department Chair
NTID Department for Performing Arts
National Technical Institute for the Deaf

NTID Performing Arts Department Chair

2023-2024 Auditions and Production Information

Ada and the Engine
by Lauren Gunderson

directed by Kelley Holley

As the British Industrial Revolution dawns, young Ada Byron Lovelace (daughter of the flamboyant and notorious Lord Byron) sees the boundless creative potential in the “analytic engines” of her friend and soulmate Charles Babbage, inventor of the first mechanical computer. Ada envisions a whole new world where art and information converge—a world she might not live to see. A music-laced story of love, friendship, and the edgiest dreams of the future. Jane Austen meets Steve Jobs in this poignant pre-tech romance heralding the computer age.


AUDITIONS: January 19 from 6:30-9:30pm in SAU A120

CALLBACKS: January 21 from 1-5pm in SAU A120

REHEARSALS: Some rehearsals may occur during the fall semester. In the spring semester rehearsals will start on Saturday, January 27, 2024. Rehearsals will be 3-4 times a week. Actors will be called for rehearsals only when they are in the scenes rehearsed that day.

TECH: March 30, April 1-4, 2024

SHOW: April 5-7, 2024

Please note: you cannot miss any tech rehearsals. 


CHARACTER BREAKDOWN: This production will utilize a combination of Deaf and hearing actors working together to create characters. Doubling of roles as well as double casting may be used for various characters.

CASTING NOTE: This production is open to all students at RIT/NTID of any size, race, and ethnicity. Although the gender of the characters cannot be altered, auditions and casting are open to all students, staff, and faculty regardless of gender identity.

 CONTENT NOTE: This play contains plot elements that revolve around sickness and death.

Ada Byron Lovelace: Sings. (18–36, she/her) Curious, funny, brilliant, aware of her brilliance, stories, aware of her story. Never met her famous father. Tries to be a “good girl” but just cannot help her curiosity and love of all things impossible. A woman of our time stuck in hers. 

Lady Anabella Byron: (35–55, she/her) Ada’s mother, harsh, strict, jealous? Yes. But realistic. She has had a hard life largely due to Ada’s father. Projects his sins on her.

Charles Babbage: Sings. (40–60, he/him) Ada’s soul mate, friend, mentor. Lauded genius of London. A holder of famous salons, an inventor, a mathematical scholar, a dreamer who just cannot seem to make his dreams into the metal they require to be real. Almost perfect for Ada. Almost.

Lord Lovelace: (25–45, he/him) A gentleman who becomes Ada’s husband. He’d rather that he was more rich and more lordly but he’ll manage with his lot. A proud man. A wanting man. A serious man. Is not madly in love with Ada but she’ll do just fine. (May be doubled with Byron.)

Mary Sommerville: (40–60, she/her) Charles’ friend and colleague and Ada’s mentor. There are no women as successful and respected in science and math as her. Pragmatic, sharply friendly, someone who will tell you when you’re wrong. (May be doubled with Lady Anabella Byron.)

Lord Byron: Sings. (36, he/him) A charming man, darkly funny, unpredictable, emotional, brooding but self-aware. A poet.

This production is looking for:

  • a student interested in designing scenic elements with a faculty mentor
  • a student interested in assisting the music and vocal director
  • students interested in Assistant Stage Managing
  • students interested in assisting designers for costumes, lighting, and projections
  • students interested in backstage, costume, and prop crews


If you have questions or would like to request a copy of the script for review, please email Kelley at kthspa@rit.edu.

 

 

Immersive Theatre Project
Conceived and directed by Ryan Underbakke

Once in a lifetime, a group of the most brilliant minds in the world appear at a specific location to create "The Machine".  Audiences will be invited to follow, engage with, and help create this machine as they learn more about the quirky, eccentric brilliant minds of this generation: their opinions of the world, their relation to each other, and more of the mythos around them. The production will be free-roam, allowing the audience to interact with any performer, or to tour the space and find various clues that lead to world-building. References for the tone of the piece include the films of Hayao Miyazaki, the films of Wes Anderson, and the television show Doctor Who.  


REHEARSALS: Rehearsals will take place throughout the fall semester on Saturdays from 12-3pm and continue into the spring semester. The nature of this production is much longer than a traditional production and requires a high commitment for the finished product.
TECH:
April 8-11, 2024
SHOW:
April 12-14, 2024

Please note: you cannot miss any tech rehearsals.  


CHARACTER BREAKDOWN: This production will utilize a combination of Deaf and hearing actors working together.

CASTING NOTE: This production is open to all students at RIT/NTID of any size, race, and ethnicity. Auditions and casting are open to all students, staff, and faculty regardless of gender identity.

 CONTENT NOTE: This play contains situations about death and dying.

All characters will be devised and performed by students. They will create their names, backstories, and relationships with each other through the rehearsal process.

If you have questions, please email Ryan at rmuspa@rit.edu.

Submit a 10-minute play for Deaf Creators Play Festival 2024! Selected scripts will be produced as a staged reading on 4/19. Students whose plays are selected will receive funding to attend the staged reading and festival. Open to Deaf/deaf/hard of hearing or DeafBlind college students nationwide. Scripts will be evaluated by a panel of judges, including Deaf/HH and hearing playwrights. Evaluation criteria will include artistic quality and contribution to diverse perspectives.

Scripts can be submitted in ASL or written English using this form here.

If submitting a video script, please create and submit an unlisted YouTube link with the form. If you have access issues with the form, please contact ntidperformingarts@gmail.com to discuss alternate submission options.

Submission deadline - Nov 15, 2023
Selection announcement - Jan 15, 2024

Theatre Casting

Auditions for SPA/NTID 23-24 productions will occur during the fall semester. Cast lists will be posted here following auditions and callbacks.

 

 

Guide.............................Gail Gonzalez
Ophelia...........................Jaide Winant
Laertes....................Valentina Camino
Polonius...........................Elliana Soto
Hamlet.............................Lavada Holz

     Guide............................................Abby Hill
     Ophelia.........................................Ace Gray
     Laertes.....................................Lane Biddle
     Polonius..........................Raihiem Marshall
     Hamlet.....................................Tayori Snipe

Guide.........................Sofia DeCredico
Ophelia........................Rebecca Lewis
Laertes............Nathalie Phongsavanh
Polonius.....................Bruno Karpinski
Hamlet.............................Teddy Walsh

     Guide....................................Trinity Jenkins
     Ophelia..................................Alyssa Rzasa
     Laertes...............................Damien Sorvillo
     Polonius..............Pierre-Ilias Arzimanoglou
     Hamlet.................................Skyler Herman

Photographer.....................Cess Corona 
Photography Assistant......Garen Earls
Makeup Artist................McKenzie Lam