Backstage Magazine Digital Issue: April 15, 2021

04.15.21

Kate Winslet just keeps getting better “You’re only as good as your last gig, babe”

Carey Mulligan’s best audition advice?

“Go big or go home!”

How the pandemic has changed casting for good

Your 2021 Oscars voting guide to the year’s best performances

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7 Pages OF CASTING NOTICES

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Contents The Green Room 6 The 2021 SAG Award winners 8 This week’s roundup of who’s casting what starring whom

9 Carey Mulligan talks “Promising Young Woman” and embracing complexity

Advice 11 NOTE FROM THE CD Taking stock, one year in 12 #IGOTCAST

Jefferson Dor

Features 4 BACKSTAGE 5 WITH...

Gary Oldman

10 MEET THE MAKER

vol. 62, no. 13 | 04.15.21

Cover Story

Boundless Kate Winslet’s career has given her every opportunity to rest easy—but she knows firsthand the brawn needed for a life in the arts. Now, the Oscar winner is riding an all-new high thanks to stunning, unconventional turns in “Ammonite” and HBO’s limited series “Mare of Easttown” page 14

Spike Lee, “Da 5 Bloods” co-writer and director

11 THE ESSENTIALISTS

Cindy Cowan, head of project procurement

12 LETTER FROM THE AWARDS EDITOR

An Oscars befitting our strange times

13 IN THE ROOM WITH Best picture Oscar nominees’ CDs 19 SILVER SCREEN, GOLDEN STATUES

Your official guide to the 2021 Oscar nominations

32 ASK AN EXPERT Cathryn Hartt on finding an agent in your area

Casting 24 New York Tristate 27 California 28 National/Regional Kate Winslet photographed by Jeremy Liebman/Trunk Archive, and on cover by Jenny Gage and Tom Betterton/Trunk Archive. Cover designed by Ian Robinson.

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Backstage 5 With...

Gary Oldman

By Benjamin Lindsay

A consummate character actor of stage and screen for the better part of 40 years, Oscar winner Gary Oldman— who’s also a nominee this year for David Fincher’s “Mank”—knows a thing or two about losing himself in a character.

From revealing the at-home technique he calls “kitchen acting” to citing Francis Ford Coppola’s advice on how to make your own luck as an artist, he gamely offers actors everywhere some tips on how to build a lasting career.

How did you first get your SAG-AFTRA card? I think it was on “State of Grace” [in 1990]. Good one to get it on. We were shooting in New York, and I later moved there, but I was not living there at the time. We were shooting, and they just said, “Well, you’ve gotta be part of the union.” So that was it.

What is your No. 1 piece of audition advice? Take your time.

Breathe and take your time. And if they’re horrid to you, then maybe they weren’t worth working for anyway—that’s what matters. That’s why I always think it doesn’t cost very much to be polite and to be nice.

script on a countertop because it’s higher than a desk, and then I wander and look and walk around and go to other places; and then I come back. I’ve always referred to it as “kitchen acting.”

Even if I’m not thinking it, I’ll always end up there.

What does your script analysis process look like? Well, for some reason, I always navigate to the kitchen. I like putting the

“If people treat you badly, they’re assholes and you don’t want to work with them anyway.”

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ILLUSTRATION: NATHAN ARIZONA/PHOTO: DFREE/SHUTTERSTOCK.COM

What was building the character of Herman J. Mankiewicz like? There’s no footage of him—not that David Fincher was really concerned with that; he wasn’t casting because I looked like him or whatever. He’s not particularly concerned with that.

He said to me, “I don’t want any prosthetics or wigs. I want no veil between you and the audience.” So that made me a little insecure, and I fretted about that for a while, because you’re kind of naked. Once we started, he made the right decision, and it was fine. But doing that work [is important]—the work you do alone. There is a book called “Mank” [by Richard Meryman] with a description of him in it, which was helpful.

And Jack Fincher, who had written the screenplay, had done a great deal of work himself. It was obvious, from anything I was reading around the material, that he had captured some essence of the spirit of Mank on the page. So a lot of my work was all in the words.

What’s your secret to acting-career longevity? Well, I think Coppola said, “What makes a successful career? It’s luck, and it’s talent.” Now, I’ve had my fair share of good luck, but it depends how you look at luck. If you think of it as an opportunity that is given to you, then if you’ve done the work, you make the most of that opportunity. If you test positive for the theater disease and you just have this thing in you, then you keep going. If you’re just dabbling in it, or you just have a mild, passing interest, or you think it might be cool to be a movie star, or you’ll get more people following you on Instagram—you know what I mean? You’ve got to really live, eat, sleep, [and] breathe it. You know if you have that.

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CHICAGO FILM CRITICS ASSOCIATION • LOS ANGELES FILM CRITICS CIRCLE • CHICAGO INDIE CRITICS ALLIANCE OF WOMEN FILM JOURNALISTS • MUSIC CITY FILM CRITICS ASSOCIATION DENVER FILM CRITICS SOCIETY • ST. LOUIS FILM CRITICS ASSOCIATION • DISCUSSINGFILM CRITICS AWARDS SAN FRANCISCO BAY AREA FILM CRITICS CIRCLE • BLACK FILM CRITICS CIRCLE WASHINGTON AREA FILM CRITICS ASSOCIATION • SOUTHEASTERN FILM CRITICS ASSOCIATION VANCOUVER FILM CRITICS CIRCLE • NATIONAL BOARD OF REVIEW (ICON AWARD) DALLAS-FORT WORTH FILM CRITICS ASSOCIATION • PHOENIX FILM CRITICS SOCIETY PHOENIX CRITICS CIRCLE • GOTHAM AWARDS (ACTOR TRIBUTE) • NAACP IMAGE AWARD LONDON CRITICS’ CIRCLE FILM AWARDS (ACTOR OF THE YEAR) • IOWA FILM CRITICS AWARDS COLUMBUS FILM CRITICS ASSOCIATION (ACTOR OF THE YEAR) • WOMEN FILM CRITICS CIRCLE AWARDS AUSTRALIAN ACADEMY OF CINEMA AND TELEVISION ARTS’ INTERNATIONAL AWARDS LATINO ENTERTAINMENT FILM AWARD • AFRICAN AMERICAN FILM CRITICS ASSOCIATION AWARDS

“CHADWICK BOSEMAN GIVES THE PERFORMANCE OF HIS LIFE. His display of acting prowess will be talked about for years.”

ABC NEWS

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ACADEMY AWARD® NOMINATIONS INCLUDING

BEST ACTOR CHADWICK BOSEMAN

FILM.NETFLIXAWARDS.COM

HAVE YOU BEEN CAST IN A PROJECT THROUGH A BACKSTAGE CASTING NOTICE? Share your story with us and you might be featured in an upcoming issue! Just tweet @Backstage using the hashtag #IGotCast and we’ll be in touch to hear your success story! @BACKSTAGE

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Kelvin Harrison Jr., Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, and Mark Rylance in “The Trial of the Chicago 7”

Awards

Your 2021 SAG Awards Winners Are… The only awards presented by and to performers threw some curveballs

By Jack Smart

BACKSTAGE 04.15.21

segments remotely, this year’s SAG Awards conveyed a sense of solidarity among the screen acting community’s very best.

The evening’s big film winner was Aaron Sorkin’s Netflix drama “The Trial of the Chicago 7,” which earned the prize for outstanding cast, shared between Yahya AbdulMateen II, Sacha Baron Cohen, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Kelvin Harrison Jr., Michael Keaton,

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NIKO TAVERNISE/NETFLIX

EACH YEAR, THE SCREEN Actors Guild Awards, Hollywood’s only accolades exclusively given by and presented to performers, celebrates the pride inherent in being able to say, “I am an actor.” That refrain was repeated by a starry lineup of SAG-AFTRA members in the 27th annual ceremony’s virtual presentation on April 4.

Even in a pre-taped format, with presenters and nominees filming

Frank Langella, John Carroll Lynch, Eddie Redmayne, Mark Rylance, Alex Sharp, and Jeremy Strong.

In the SAG Awards’ history, roughly half of film ensemble cast winners have gone on to claim the Oscar for best picture. (All but one has been nominated.) At last year’s SAG ceremony, a historic win for “Parasite” ultimately predicted its success at the finish line of the 2020 awards season.

While the odds of “Chicago 7” triumphing for the Academy’s top prize have now improved, it’s worth noting that this year marks an unusually small nominations overlap between the SAG and Oscar categories, with only “Chicago 7” and A24’s “Minari” nominated in both.

In the individual SAG Award film categories, which are also

typically a reliable predictor of Academy results, Youn Yuh-jung of “Minari,” Daniel Kaluuya of Warner Bros.’ “Judas and the Black Messiah,” and both Viola Davis and Chadwick Boseman of Netflix’s “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom” triumphed. Boseman, who passed away in August, set the record for most film SAG nominations in a single year with four, for both “Ma Rainey’s” and Netflix’s “Da 5 Bloods.” This is the first time in SAG Awards history in which all four winners in the individual film categories were actors of color.

Winners in SAG’s television categories echoed recent results from the Golden Globes and Critics’ Choice Awards. Pop TV and CBC’s final season of “Schitt’s Creek” won for comedy ensemble, with Catherine O’Hara taking home an additional trophy as comedy actress.

Jason Sudeikis furthered his streak as a comedy actor winner for Apple TV+’s “Ted Lasso,” and Season 4 of Netflix’s “The Crown” fared well in the drama races. Gillian Anderson bested co-stars Emma Corrin and Olivia Colman for her portrayal of Margaret Thatcher, and the overall cast earned the ensemble accolade for the second year in a row. Jason Bateman, meanwhile, earned the drama actor prize for Netflix’s “Ozark,” and limited series stars Anya Taylor-Joy and Mark Ruffalo each earned yet another trophy for their work on Netflix’s “The Queen’s Gambit” and HBO’s “I Know This Much Is True,” respectively.

For a full list of winners, stats, and information, visit sagawards.org. And stay tuned with Backstage for more coverage of this unusual awards season!

SCREEN ACTORS GUILD AWARD ®

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ACADEMY AWARD NOMIN ATIONS

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BEST PICTURE BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR SACHA BARON COHEN

WINNER

OUTSTANDING CAST

“THE

BEST PICTURE OF THE YEAR. SACHA BARON COHEN IS SUPERB.”

TOGETHER WE TRIUMPH

FILM.NETFLIXAWARDS.COM

who is searching for his teenage daughter in the wake of her abduction by a satanic cult that killed his ex-wife. When he has run out of options and the police investigation turns up nothing, he abandons his old life and turns to a cult escapee to help save his child.

Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, Jamie Foxx, Andrew Dice Clay, Maika Monroe, and January Jones have already been cast in the thriller, with the Los Angeles– based Matthew Barry Casting bringing in additional talent. Production is set to start in late May in New Mexico and Mexico City.

the case. Douglas Aibel is casting the miniseries, which has already brought on Colin Firth to play Michael. Production is set to start in early June and continue into November. No shooting location has been announced, but casting is taking place out of Atlanta, which could indicate a production home base.

Stranger Than Fiction A classic true crime tale gets the dramatic treatment

By Rebecca Welch

STAY IN THE LOOP ON INDUStry and casting news with our write-up on who’s been slated for recent film and television roles!

Please note that shoot dates are subject to state and county restrictions and may change.

Refer to Call Sheet for updates, and keep checking Backstage for the latest news on project development during this time.

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“God Is a Bullet” Nick Cassavetes is on board to direct and write the film adaptation of the 1999 Boston Teran novel “God Is a Bullet.”

The story will focus on smalltown sheriff Bob Hightower,

TELEVISION

‘Bridgerton’ Says: Out With the Old

By Casey Mink

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For the latest news, check out backstage.com/resources to find thousands of production listings, casting directors, acting classes, agents, and more!

FOLLOWING THE—DEVASTATING FOR many—news that “Bridgerton” breakout star Regé-Jean Page will not return for Season 2, the steamy Netflix hit has announced new casting for its second installment. Shelley Conn and Calam Lynch have signed on to join a growing ensemble that also recently added Charithra Chandran, Rupert Young, and Simone Ashley. The new episodes are slated to begin production this spring in the U.K.

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Get cast!

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“The Staircase” Docuseries “The Staircase,” which originally aired in 2004 and hit Netflix in 2018, helped pave the way for the true crime craze of today. Now, HBO Max is adapting the story into a limited series. In 2001, Kathleen Peterson was found dead by her husband, crime novelist Michael Peterson, at the bottom of a flight of stairs in their North Carolina home.

Michael quickly became the prime suspect, as his account of the events and his strange behavior started to raise questions about his involvement.

The dramatized adaptation will incorporate details from various reports and books on

COURTESY FOCUS FEATURES

What’s Casting

“The Last of Us” Video game fans can start making their fantasy cast list: HBO is adding a live-action adaptation of the PlayStation game “The Last of Us” to its programming slate. The wildly popular game takes place 20 years after a pandemic has decimated humanity.

Fourteen-year-old Ellie, who lives inside a quarantine zone, might provide the cure, and professional smuggler Joel agrees to help her traverse the U.S. in order to save the human race. The series, cast by Vickie Thomas, recently announced that “Game of Thrones” alums Pedro Pascal and Bella Ramsey will play Joel and Ellie, respectively. Production on the drama is set to start in early July in Calgary, Alberta.

Carey Mulligan in “Promising Young Woman”

back into her parents, and [she’s] keeping things very safe and won’t open herself up to anyone. [She] doesn’t have any friends; the closest person she has is Gail, played so brilliantly

by Laverne Cox. And I was like, ‘Ah! I don’t know how to put them all together!’ But that was the fun of it.”

Backstage Live

Up to the Challenge

Oscar nominee Carey Mulligan talks “Promising Young Woman” and audition advice

By Matthew Nerber

The following interview for Backstage’s on-camera series The Slate was compiled in part by Backstage readers just like you! Follow us on Twitter (@Backstage) and Instagram (@backstagecast) to stay in the loop on upcoming interviews and to submit your questions.

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COURTESY FOCUS FEATURES

FILM

Colman + Mendes Are the New Dream Team

By Casey Mink

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SINCE MAKING HER FILM debut in Joe Wright’s 2005 “Pride & Prejudice,” Carey Mulligan has become one of the most acclaimed actors working today. From her Oscar-nominated turn in “An Education” to “Inside Llewyn Davis” to “Wildlife,” Mulligan has proven her range as a

IN HIS FOLLOW-UP TO 2019 CRITIcal darling “1917,” director Sam Mendes is rejoining forces with Searchlight Pictures for “Empire of Light,” with Oscar winner Olivia Colman in talks to star.

The romance, which additionally features a script from Mendes, is set in the 1980s on the south coast of England. Pulling triple duty, the filmmaker will also serve as a producer on the project along with Pippa Harris via Neal Street Productions.

performer who knows no bounds. The latest example is her turn as Cassie in Emerald Fennell’s “Promising Young Woman,” for which she nabbed her second Oscar nod for best actress in a leading role.

She recently sat down with Backstage for a livestreamed Zoom webinar to talk about finding her characters, memorizing lines, and why she never hides her enthusiasm in the audition room.

Cassie was both challenging and fun to play because of her complexities.

“I think the challenge of her was that she is so many things at the same time—not just pretending to be drunk but actually sober, but also carrying this massive trauma and grief around with her but outwardly attempting to seem completely normal to the rest of the world. And then also she’s turned her life off a bit, and she’s sort of emotionally stunted. She’s still living at home, she’s kind of stuck in the age that she was, she’s drawn

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Mulligan’s work in theater prepared her to take on “Promising Young Woman.”

“The year before, I had done a monologue at the Royal Court Theatre in London called ‘Girls & Boys,’ and I took it to New York. And that was like BASE jumping off the Chrysler Building. It was the scariest thing I’d ever done! So it set the bar in a way that I was like, ‘Oh, that was so terrifying, brilliant, and rich!’ It prepared me well for scary things.”

Her best piece of audition advice: “Go big or go home.”

“Go big or go home, I think. I’ve always just been, like, nerdily keen for all the jobs that I’ve wanted to be involved in. I don’t have the ability to play it cool, at all. And I suppose the one bit of advice that someone told me is that they want you to be the right person when you walk in.

They want you to be the person that they can go, ‘Oh, brilliant, we cast that job.’ They don’t want you to flail and forget your lines and dissolve into tears. They just want you to be great, and they’re rooting for you in that sense—that you’ll make their lives better, make their lives easier.”

Want to hear more from Mulligan? Watch our full interview at backstage.com/ magazine, and follow us on Instagram: @backstagecast.

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Spike Lee, “Da 5 Bloods” co-writer + director

By Briana Rodriguez

Clarke Peters and Delroy Lindo in “Da 5 Bloods”

BACKSTAGE 04.15.21

laser-focused on Black Vietnam veterans getting their due—likely has something to do with the renewed awareness of Capt. Davis’ story, the filmmaker is self-effacing.

“Well, I don’t know about that,” he quips, “but I know it’s shenanigans on behalf of the United States Army!”

Lee often redirects focus from himself in a way that doesn’t feel avoidant, but rather reinforces his work’s intent and not its executor. Still, after four decades in film—from his first theatrical feature, 1986’s “She’s Gotta Have It,” at the time a rare look at Black feminism and an onscreen Black experience divorced from crime or drugs, to his 2018 white supremacy-bucking “BlacKkKlansman,” for which he won a screenwriting Oscar—his cinematic commentary and influence continue to sway tides on- and off-set.

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John David Washington (“BlacKkKlansman”) calls Lee an energy genius when it comes to reading spaces and people.

DeWanda Wise (Netflix’s “She’s Gotta Have It” series) praises his ability to give actors exactly what they need in the moment, whether that’s technical context for camera movements or a personal assistant to free up brain space for the real work.

When asked about his philosophy regarding actors, Lee flips the question again: “I just try not to get in the way.” Eventually, he does offer a few specifics: “My philosophy is very simple: Cast the best people you can. I know it might sound boring,” he says, laughing, “but that’s the truth!

You want to get the best people in front of the camera to bring those words—the black letters on a white sheet of paper—to life.”

How about once the casting— done alongside his longtime

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DAVID LEE/NETFLIX

SPIKE LEE HAS, FOR decades now, used his Hollywood influence to meaningfully shape real-world narratives. The morning before our phone call brings just the most recent example: The New York Times had published an article revealing the U.S. Army’s carelessness around recognizing one of the first Black Special Forces officers, Capt. Paris Davis, with a Medal of Honor. The Vietnam veteran was shot multiple times, lost his trigger finger, and still managed to save four lives and survive. Despite an immediate nomination for the recognition, the Army lost the recommendation. When his commander resubmitted it, it somehow went missing again. Fifty-six years later, Davis is still waiting.

When I point out that Lee’s latest, Netflix’s “Da 5 Bloods”—a film that’s

CDs Kim Coleman, Robi Reed, and Aisha Coley—is finished?

How does he get those performances out of everyone, from Denzel Washington and Edward Norton to, for “Da 5 Bloods,” a sprawling ensemble made up of newcomers and seasoned actors from four different countries?

“I approach it as if I’m a coach—football, basketball, baseball manager—to try to put people in the best position so they can succeed,” he says.

“What the best teams have is the fusion of the seasoned, grizzled veterans, and you gotta have youth. I love that mixture, because it plays against [itself and] gives me what I need: that friction, that tug with the different dynamics going against each other and with each other.”

That friction is used to great effect in “Da 5 Bloods,” whose cast includes Jonathan Majors, Isiah Whitlock Jr., Norm Lewis, the late Chadwick Boseman, and Delroy Lindo. The film landed a SAG Award ensemble nomination and an Oscar nomination for best original score.

Lee responded to the picture and performance snubs from the Academy with a “WE WUZ ROBBED (AGAIN!)” poster sale on Instagram.

But, as ever, Lee’s true accomplishments extend beyond accolades to the widespread recognition of the flesh-andblood folks that are at the root of his stories—not to mention the rich characters his actors get to play as a result.

“Without the actors, it ain’t gonna happen,” he says. “I’ve been blessed to work with some of the greatest of the greats. It’s a blessing. It’s a blessing. It’s a blessing.”

ILLUSTRATION: MARGAUX QUAYLE CANNON; COWAN: TROY JENSEN

Meet the Maker

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Note From the CD

Taking Stock, One Year In

THE ESSENTIALISTS

CINDY COWAN

head of project procurement As we close the book on this film awards season and look ahead to the next, Mogul Productions is looking way beyond that. Head of project procurement CINDY COWAN discusses the financing platform that’s decentralizing filmmaking.

ILLUSTRATION: MARGAUX QUAYLE CANNON; COWAN: TROY JENSEN

By Marci Liroff

HERE WE ARE, ROUGHLY A year after the COVID-19 pandemic—and subsequent lockdown—began. While there’s now light at the end of the tunnel, this landmark has me reflecting and chatting with casting colleagues. We’ve talked about how the audition process has changed over the past year and taken stock of what practices may stick around for good.

First off: the virtual audition.

I’ve been using Skype for casting since its introduction in 2003, but I’ve definitely relied upon it in new and vital ways these last 13 months. Virtual auditions help casting directors connect with talent remotely worldwide. Over the years, we’ve streamlined the process by having actors create their own setups in their locations (i.e., having proper lighting, a camera to record, and a reader) while we’re on the sidelines via

DAVID LEE/NETFLIX

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computer, just as the director would be in the room. Hiccups occur when actors aren’t very tech-savvy and don’t quite understand what we’re trying to achieve, but it’s otherwise pretty foolproof. Today, there are multiple online platforms available for virtual auditioning, including Backstage’s very own!

Self-tapes have also been around for years, though they were previously devoted to actors whom we weren’t keen on seeing in person or who weren’t in town. Now, self-tapes have become de rigueur and are usually the first step in the casting process. There are only so many hours in the day; with self-tapes, we can have a live session and simultaneously have hundreds of actors auditioning whom we can view at our leisure. But while it’s convenient, the ultimate goal is still to be in the room with actors. As casting director Geralyn Flood

Mogul is Bitcoin for filmmaking.

“In the decentralized capabilities of blockchain, [all] costs have to be put into it. They are visible to anybody, whether you put in $2 or $2 million. Everything is very transparent. That’s something Hollywood hasn’t seen before and probably doesn’t want to see. So there’ll be

some pushback from the old players that say, ‘Well, wait a minute—we had something good going on here.’ But the truth of the matter is, as we’re seeing with cryptocurrency like Bitcoin, this is the way to the future. This just happens to be the film business way to the future.”

There’s always backlash against Hollywood’s newest “thing.”

“When you saw HBO Go [launch], people were like, ‘What? HBO as an app?’ And now, their streaming platform became Amazon’s streaming platform, Netflix’s streaming platform, and everybody else’s streaming platform

recently told me, “Being in an office facilitates a kind of sharing of ideas that you just don’t get when working remotely.”

Last month, the Casting Society of America produced a two-hour seminar on how to work from home. One gripe that many of the CDs who spoke had was with ring lights. When we watch an audition, it’s vital for us to see your eyes, and CDs found it terribly distracting to see that ring reflected in actors’ pupils. Keep in mind that a quick fix could be to put a white pillowcase over the light to act as a filter. Still, such things don’t necessarily ruin auditions today.

While virtual auditions and self-tapes have been around for years, I find it interesting that the filmmakers and executives I work with have easily adapted to these new formats since

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By Casey Mink

that we’re enjoying….

It’s the same thing with this. I think there will be traditional players who don’t necessarily want this to go forward, because they’ve been enjoying the excess, and enjoying being able to hide money sometimes and see films go into profits but then never have to be paid back.

That’s one of the reasons we were determined to keep Mogul’s budgets at a certain level.”

March 2020, particularly in terms of what they expect from actors. No one expects a professionally produced self-tape filmed in a studio nowadays, and we’re all a bit more forgiving about technical snafus.

So what can we look forward to post-quarantine? Things will all shift once the majority of us get vaccinated, but longterm impacts are still up in the air. Self-tapes will still exist in place of live pre-reads, and we’ll hopefully get back to live auditions. But even with fully vaccinated actors, there will probably continue to be temperature checks, and perhaps rapid tests, while also keeping offices super clean for everyone’s safety. The goal is to move into a new normal and hold live auditions in which we can all be at our creative best.

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Spotlighting the people and projects you need to know

Letter From the Awards Editor

An Oscars Befitting Our Strange Times

By Jack Smart

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the pandemic era’s lens, like “Nomadland” and “The Trial of the Chicago 7,” would have been received differently. Heck, “Borat Subsequent Moviefilm” would have ended up with a completely altered story arc— and no Tom Hanks cameo!

Which is not to say that the actual Oscar nominees represent a deficit in filmmaking excellence; I predict we’ll look back on this year’s crop as a particularly impressive one for acting, writing, and directing.

Every one of the list’s nominated performers deserve to win, and the Academy’s historic recognition of more than zero women directors—two, in fact!—is worth shouting about from the rooftops.

But the “Sliding Doors” exercise is further proof that one of the fundamental maxims of Hollywood’s awards season— that voters highlight projects that reflect and refract the current cultural climate—is truer than ever in 2021.

For example, while it’s not necessarily a surprise that

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Sincerely,

Jack

Jefferson Dor

By Jalen Michael Actor JEFFERSON DOR just wants to do good work and tell good stories, and he’s putting in the effort to make it happen.

Great acting stems from a great imagination.

“All I want to do is tell stories and live truthfully in those moments. I love being able to get into the mind of each character I play so I can truthfully tell the story that was created.”

‘Overnight success’ is an illusion.

“I have been blessed to have booked roles during this pandemic. All my auditions have been self-tapes. Some of [the jobs] have been virtual.

Fortunately, the audition process has been quite easy for me. Be patient and trust the process….

Success does not happen overnight.”

Get a peek inside the industry with Backstage.

“I am on Backstage every day looking for work. I am constantly refreshing the page to see what other projects are out now. It is also a great place to network and meet new people, as well as book roles to get your career started.”

TO SEE YOUR SUCCESS story in print, tweet @Backstage using the hashtag #IGotCast, or email us at igotcast@ backstage.com.

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“NOMADLAND”: COURTESY SEARCHLIGHT PICTURES; DOR: DIANA GARLE

DEAR BACKSTAGE READER, What did you think of this season’s Oscar nominations?

As I’ve been perusing and pondering the list all week, I keep playing a game reminiscent of the 1998 cinematic masterpiece “Sliding Doors”: What would the Academy’s choices have been in the alternate timeline free of COVID-19?

Let’s say a pandemic had never disrupted entire industries, including Hollywood, and decimated everyday life as we know it. In this imagined version of 2021, we would have had a normal year of moviegoing, and the 93rd Academy Awards would not have been delayed until April 25. First and foremost, that timeline’s Oscar nods would differ from our real ones simply because there would have been more contenders released and seen in theaters.

Flashy titles like “A Quiet Place Part II,” “West Side Story,” and “The French Dispatch” would be in the mix, and it’s possible that films deemed startlingly relevant when seen through

#IGOTCAST.

RAQUEL APARICIO

Frances McDormand in “Nomadland”

streaming services are faring well this awards season, the redefining of screen debuts and screen audiences was accelerated in a year characterized by lockdown viewing. Netflix scored a best-ever 35 Oscar nominations (38 if you count international distribution), and Amazon followed with a bestever 12, signaling the extent to which the industry’s voting bodies watched movies on devices at home.

Plus, there’s our fascinating, evolving relationship with movies on a psychological and emotional level. If you’re like me, you watched films—maybe even relied on films—as a form of escape from the world’s calamities. The leading 10 Oscar nominations for “Mank” speak to its technical brilliance in recreating the golden age of Hollywood, and to this year’s audiences yearning to immerse themselves in a sumptuously glamorous world.

We fled 2020’s troubles alongside Frances McDormand’s Fern in “Nomadland,” on the Yi family’s 1980s Arkansas farm in “Minari,” and even at the heavy metal concerts in “Sound of Metal.” Other best picture nominees invoked the mainstream’s newfound focus on inequity and justice, like the feminist revenge fantasy of “Promising Young Woman,” or how “Judas and the Black Messiah” and “Chicago 7” recaptured American civil rights movements that proved as timely as ever.

There’s plenty more about this historically bizarre awards season to unpack in a future letter, so stay tuned and stay safe, reader. A myriad of potential 2022 Oscar season timelines await, and I’m holding out hope for the most normal one.

culture +

Spotlighting the people and projects you need to know

In the Room With

Best Picture Oscar Nominees’ CDs These casting directors reveal where they look for unrepresented talent

By Elyse Roth

kids, it’s different than if it’s teenagers or if it’s someone who’s a Vietnam vet or [other] different things the roles call for. In so many cases, there are agencies that represent all kinds of amazing people and sign young talent or new talent.

But, of course, there’s theater, and acting schools have showcases—things like that.”

Susan Shopmaker, “Sound of Metal” “I think any New York casting director will tell you that we go to theater. I’ll watch stuff from schools. We did a TV show that was all high school students, and it was very specific. We went to school shows; we would call up all the schools in the city and ask if we could come.

They were pretty generous.

I’m not big on social media searching, but Emily [Fleischer in my office] is; she does a lot of Instagram stuff. You know what else works? Small movies with unknown casts are where you find some gems.”

RAQUEL APARICIO

“NOMADLAND”: COURTESY SEARCHLIGHT PICTURES; DOR: DIANA GARLE

EVERY ACTOR YOU SEE ACCEPTING AN ACADEMY AWARD HAD to start somewhere. Most actors experience a period of acting classes, auditions, survival jobs, and networking to get a role that might lead to a nomination at a big awards ceremony—and chances are, the casting director who cast them in that breakout role has known them for years and kept them on the radar until the right opportunity came along. In conversation with Backstage, the CDs behind five of this year’s best picture Oscar nominees shared where they find new and unrepresented talent in hopes of setting them on the path toward awards gold.

Alexa L. Fogel, “Judas and the Black Messiah” “If I feel that I may find somebody because of their age, ethnicity, or because of some other reasons that are outside the mainstream, I will look for an ambassador in that community and see if they can guide me to more of a network of people that will introduce me to

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either real people or people who might want to try acting.”

Julia Kim, “Minari” “If it’s an older person or somebody who’s not an actor but I want to find some unique faces or types, I go into senior community centers and the YMCA. I look up where certain communities congregate and go into

that community, whether it’s a market that sells certain foods or a minimall that has a lot of shops from a specific community. I talk to people, and I create these very simple flyers so when they think of someone, they reach out to me. I go to churches, religious centers, skate parks for kids. It depends on the assignment. I try to disarm people, because everybody is a little shy or has their guard up. Schools are savvy to casting people coming in. I love the challenge of thinking of creative ways to find people.”

Laray Mayfield, “Mank” “A lot of [where I search] is dictated by what type of character they are. If they’re

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Mary Vernieu, “Promising Young Woman” “I’m definitely always looking. I think I drive everyone crazy. I’ll see someone on a commercial and I’ll say, ‘Find that person.’

Or I’ll see someone on the street, and I will go up to them if they’re exactly right and I’m really needing that role—especially with kids. I see a lot of theater. I have season tickets to the Geffen [Playhouse in L.A.], which I find to be a very helpful resource. I go to New York and see theater. I try to see everything I can, whether it’s a play or a TV show or a movie. I try to make sure that I’m really current. Also, if an agent calls and says, ‘So-and-so’s in town; will you meet them?’ I do a general every day.”

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Boundless Kate Winslet’s career has given her every opportunity to rest easy—but she knows firsthand the brawn needed for a life in the arts.

Now, the Oscar winner is riding an all-new high thanks to stunning, unconventional turns in “Ammonite” and HBO’s limited series “Mare of Easttown”

By Benjamin Lindsay | Photographed by Jenny Gage and Tom Betterton/Trunk Archive KATE WINSLET KNOWS THE SECRET TO A successful self-tape: the flat bit of wall behind her bedroom door. It’s become the go-to spot over the last year in quarantine for her daughter, actor Mia Threapleton, to film auditions—and she’s now got “two really good jobs” to show for it.

“We were doing this self-tape the other day, and she was getting frustrated; she was struggling with it. And I was just like: ‘Relax. It’s fine. You’re doing absolutely great,’ ” Winslet recalls, speaking by Zoom from the comfort of her home in the English countryside. “And, hands on her hips, she looked at me, and she was like, ‘When did you last do an audition, mum?’ And I said, ‘Well, darling, I did have to audition for “Titanic.” ’ ‘And how old were you?’ ‘I was 20—your age.’ And she just went: ‘…Bitch.’ We were cracking up laughing!”

Playing the iconic Rose Dawson (née DeWitt Bukater) opposite Leonardo DiCaprio launched Winslet into household-name status and earned her the second of seven Academy Award nominations. (Her first was for “Sense and Sensibility” in 1996, and she won in 2009 for “The Reader.”) It also cemented her as one of the preeminent movie stars and most reliable performers of her generation—one who, admittedly, hasn’t had to audition since the 1997 James

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Cameron epic. But still, she misses the practice of, in her words, “learning more about acting through the process of auditioning.”

“I miss that—the adrenaline of wanting something that much when you go into a room for something. That’s a really important part of a young actor’s life, because you learn your adrenaline levels, you learn how to calm your whole nervous system down,” she explains. “And the process helps enormously in terms of becoming unselfconscious—being able to walk onto a film set and not have that devil on your shoulder going, ‘They think you’re shit. You shouldn’t be here.’ It takes a lot to get through those feelings and move beyond them, and the audition process is helpful in that.”

That devil on the shoulder, however, never does go away for a working actor. Even today, it’s only the innate drive to hold her work and herself to an ever-higher standard in the face of self-doubt that keeps Winslet’s own devil

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at bay. She grew up in Reading, Berkshire, England, to a family of actors, among them her father and her maternal grandparents.

But her success from an early age, most notably booking Peter Jackson’s “Heavenly Creatures” at age 17, isn’t a case of true-blue nepotism. They were all gig actors—actors who “were not really actors most of the time”; actors who “were waiters and worked in shops and sold Christmas trees and laid tarmac on the roads and drove minivans” to pay the bills. They were actors, therefore, who were only “doing it for the sheer love of it. They never made any money from it at all.”

Winslet’s father, Robert, used to tell her as she was coming up, “You’re only as good as your last gig, babe.” She remembers it as “a great thing to have been told, because it means, ‘Alright, that one’s done.

On to the next.’ ” “I’ve still got to do the same amount of work. I never take it for granted. I’d never just 04.15.21 BACKSTAGE

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shortlist for “Titanic” screen tests, and her career changed seemingly overnight. That said, she was a young, impassioned artist, and the fame that came along with starring in literally the biggest movie ever made was not something she allowed to inform her next steps. Leaning into character roles, Winslet later did “Iris” opposite Judi Dench and “Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind” opposite Jim Carrey. Then came a string of features examining suburban restlessness and female ennui, including “Little Children,” “Revolutionary Road,” and, yes, “The Holiday.” Her first major small-screen project

Never expect that the world owes you anything. You have to go out there and get it and make the most of the opportunities that come your way, and that’s what I’ve always tried to do.

was a goliath five-part turn in HBO’s Emmywinning “Mildred Pierce.”

Last year’s “Ammonite,” from filmmaker Francis Lee, is also a standout thanks to Winslet’s quiet, insular work as unsung 19th-century paleontologist Mary Anning, a role that required as much physical dedication as emotional rigor. And her return to television this month on HBO’s small-town murder mystery “Mare of Easttown,” in which she stars as the titular detective who harbors ghosts and traumas of her own, may go down as some of her very best work yet.

Through the years, Winslet’s acting education has largely been of a self-taught nature, learning on the job and through collaborations with co-stars and filmmakers in a way that only someone with her natural vigor could metabolize. Because of that, she’s quick to advise upstart actors to not “get caught in thinking that you’re supposed to be a certain way or do a certain thing or have prepared a certain amount.” No two people’s processes are exactly the same. But the tenets of the Kate Winslet Technique, as it were, she admits to “really like talking about,” if only in hopes that sharing one of the infinite options out there will help someone else find their way.

Creating an “enormous amount” of backstory is her first key to unlocking a new role.

She’ll go all the way back to a character’s childhood, writing meandering thoughts down until she has a sketch of a biography.

The question she asks from there is: “What can I get for free?”

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JEREMY LIEBMAN/TRUNK ARCHIVE

On “Mare of Easttown”

“MARE OF EASTTOWN”: SARAH SHATZ/HBO

‘show up,’ ” she says of her work ethic today, widening her eyes. “God, the idea of that makes me feel slightly nauseous—I would never just wing it. It’s a terrible thought to even contemplate! Because you can never rest on your laurels. Never expect that the world owes you anything. You have to go out there and get it and make the most of the opportunities that come your way, and that’s what I’ve always tried to do.”

And so it was, with that mindset in place, that Winslet began a modest hobby in the performing arts, first filling her creative well in youth theater programs and later at the Redroofs Theatre School in Maidenhead—her only formal training in the craft—and at Reading’s own Starmaker Theatre Company.

“What I dared to hope was that I might get a bit of theater [work] here and there,” she remembers of her career aspirations at the time. But soon enough, screen work came knocking. She notched her first recurring role at 15 on BBC One’s “Dark Season.”

From there, true crime thriller “Heavenly Creatures” was the job that changed everything, between its worldwide festival tour (which included stops at Venice and Cannes) and an Oscar nomination for best screenplay. Even at 17, Winslet recalls taking the demands of being an actor seriously, scrupulously working through her script, developing her process, and, when the time came, going to New Zealand all on her own to film with Jackson and Melanie Lynskey.

“I think there’s a difference between being brave and being determined to be courageous,” she says of what gave her the spine to move halfway around the globe. “Being brave, to me, seems that it’s sort of an inherent quality that you either have or don’t have, or that you sort of accumulate over a period of time.

You can’t just go, ‘OK, I’m brave.’ It’s like going ‘OK, I’m happy.’ It’s just not that easy for a lot of us! But I’ve definitely always been quite resilient—that’s one thing I will say.”

Resilience further served her when auditioning for Ang Lee and Emma Thompson’s “Sense and Sensibility.” She all but conned her way into reading for the part of Marianne Dashwood, despite being asked to prepare for the smaller role of Lucy Steele.

Chalking it up to a miscommunication from her agent, she walked into producer Lindsay Doran’s audition room gushing that it was “completely bizarre how similar” she was to Marianne and that she couldn’t wait to read for her, inspiring Doran to begrudgingly shrug and see her for the younger Dashwood sister instead.

“I mean, I went off on this whole bullshit.

And [Doran] was like, ‘Oh, OK…. So did you prepare something?’ And I was like, ‘Yes! I prepared two scenes.’ And suddenly, I’m in there! I just completely went for it,” Winslet says, laughing. “I’d prepared my Marianne scenes, and that was that.”

That was that, indeed, as her back-to-back turns in “Sense and Sensibility” and Kenneth Branagh’s “Hamlet” put her on Cameron’s

JEREMY LIEBMAN/TRUNK ARCHIVE

“MARE OF EASTTOWN”: SARAH SHATZ/HBO

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In the case of Mare Sheehan, that meant playing off her physical space. The limited series from writer Brad Ingelsby and director Craig Zobel was filmed on location in Pennsylvania’s Delaware County, where she was able to absorb the people, the culture, and the accent. (Dialect coach Susan Hegarty was also on board to work through the area’s unique demands.) She also serendipitously has a longstanding friendship with Julianne Nicholson, who co-stars as Lori BACKSTAGE 04.15.21

alongside Evan Peters, Jean Smart, and Guy Pearce, among others. Nicholson’s husband, Jonathan Cake, is godfather to Winslet’s son, Joe, which naturally served the friendship and shorthand that’s captured onscreen between Mare and Lori. “We were able to literally just pick up parts of our own time together and dump it right onto those characters,” Winslet says.

Of course, not every project allows for such anthropological immersion or personal

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touchstones. As needed, Winslet uses her own experiences to fill in the gaps.

“I will look at my life and see, not necessarily what I can mimic, but what things I can call upon—and they could be things that happened to me a long time ago,” she says, drawing a comparison to therapy. “I haven’t had a huge amount of therapy in my life, but therapists get you to work through things and then move beyond them. I will do the opposite; I’ll go, ‘Oh, I’ll go back into that shit thought and that painful time and just dredge it right up again!’ So, with Mare, I did a huge amount of that, this kind of emotional layering and stacking of stuff—most of which, I will say, was really Mare’s stuff that I just immersed myself in and hung on to.”

The goal, Winslet says, is to build a character up to the point where it feels like her own, and to the point where she knows that no other actor could play it the way she’s chosen to.

“I’ve taken it off the page, pulled it out of the writer’s hands, and absolutely made it my own, so that, at the end of the day, I feel confident about playing her. Because so much about acting is about being brave enough to play that part and not having that evil voice in the back of your head that says, ‘So-and-so would’ve been a lot better than you!’ ” she says. “Whatever you can do, even if that means doing silly walks and taking up smoking again, or whatever the hell it might be—I’m not advising that people take up smoking again, by the way, but as an example—anything goes.

“When you start dreaming as the character, you know you’re in there.”

In the end, one of the unexpected gifts of “Mare of Easttown” was, nearly 25 years after “Titanic,” the opportunity to go back into the audition room. As a first-time executive producer, it was Winslet’s “first proper experience of watching self-tapes” and seeing actors flesh out Mare’s world.

“I felt so, first of all, overwhelmingly impressed by pretty much every single tape that I saw, particularly of young actors, because the hunger is right there,” she remembers. “Those are the things that I admire: actors that go for it, heart and soul.

It’s a wonderful thing when you really see it come to life. Sometimes, a performance can actually make you, as a creative team, rethink how you’d imagined that character might be.”

Winslet’s lasting advice for those looking to get cast, leave their mark, and build a career in the arts—and navigate the highs, lows, ebbs, and flows that come with it—goes back to the self-tape guidance she shared with her daughter just days before our interview: Breathe. Slow down. Relax. All will come in due time, and “when you end up getting a job or two, there’s no better feeling than that.”

“Don’t be so hard on yourself,” she concludes. “You have plenty of time to be hard on yourself later.” backstage.com

Silver Screen, Golden Statues

Your official guide to the 2021 Oscar nominations

By Backstage Staff

AT LONG LAST, THE ACADEMY AWARDS ARE UPON US. THE COVID-19 delay of the 2021 Oscars has meant a longer-than-usual period of contemplating the nominees—both for voting members of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and film buffs at large. Below, Backstage has assembled our voting guide to help you keep track of this year’s nominated actors.

Best Actress Viola Davis, “Ma Rainey’s

Black Bottom” What’s the best part of Davis’ performance as the titular crooner in her latest August Wilson adaptation? Is it her gruff, smoky voice, her swiveling hips, or the fire in her eyes? The four-time Oscar nominee and one-time winner uses her bonedeep physical performance to convey the rich interiority of the real-life Ma Rainey, Mother of the Blues and sufferer of no fools.

“THE UNITED STATES VS. BILLIE HOLIDAY”: TAKASHI SEIDA; “PIECES OF A WOMAN”: BENJAMIN LOEB/NETFLIX

Andra Day, “The United States

vs. Billie Holiday” The task facing Day in Lee Daniels’ ode to one of America’s most iconic singers would intimidate any star, let alone a first-time actor: She must recreate Billie Holiday’s oneof-a-kind stage presence and remind us that she was both an unsung civil rights hero and a flawed human being. Watching Day rise to the occasion with such a technically and emotionally calibrated execution is a treat.

“Nomadland” performance her most understated one yet feels redundant, given the documentary-like quality of Chloé Zhao’s study of van-dwelling nomads. It’s as if the actor lived for months as the determinedly grieving Fern, and Zhao’s camera simply captured her everyday movements. But make no mistake: The two-time Academy Award–winning McDormand is at the height of her powers, finessing every moment.

Carey Mulligan, “Promising

Young Woman” Mulligan’s turn as Cassie in “Promising Young Woman” is like the film itself: Don’t let the sunny styling and California surroundings fool you. Her measured portrayal of a woman on a mission—gradually revealed by writer-director Emerald Fennell—surprises until the very last moment. If the sinister way Cassie toys with handsy men wasn’t so delightfully thrilling, it would be downright terrifying.

Andra Day in “The United States vs.

Billie Holiday”

Best Actor Riz Ahmed, “Sound of Metal”

As Ruben, a heavy metal drummer and recovering addict who discovers that he’s losing his hearing, Ahmed paints a devastating portrait of dependency in all its forms.

Brilliantly underscored by the film’s sound design, his notes of wideeyed fear or discontent at a loud party provide a visceral, tragic look at life as a newly hearing-impaired person transitioning out of the hearing world.

Chadwick Boseman,

“Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom” There’s a raw wound underneath

Vanessa Kirby, “Pieces of

a Woman” If you didn’t know Kirby’s name before, you will after this awards season thanks to her stunning, wrenching, beautiful work in Netflix’s “Pieces of a Woman,” which sees the “Crown” Emmy nominee working through the aftermath of losing a baby in agonizing emotional detail.

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Anthony Hopkins,

“The Father” A character losing his grip on himself requires, paradoxically, an actor with the utmost selfawareness. Hopkins gives a master class in this skill in Florian Zeller’s stage-to-screen adaptation about a father experiencing dementia.

It’s one of the most profound performances yet from this legendary award winner, and his second Oscar nod in a row after last year’s “The Two Popes.”

Gary Oldman, “Mank”

One Academy Award–winning, appearance-altering turn isn’t enough for a chameleon like Oldman. In “Mank,” he steps into the shoes of another Oscar winner, Herman J. Mankiewicz, disappearing into the alcoholic screenwriter’s bedclothes and memories of old Hollywood.

Frances McDormand, “Nomadland” Calling McDormand’s

the suave, cocky demeanor that Boseman gives Levee, a rebellious trumpeter who flies too close to the sun. Delivering one of August Wilson’s biggest monologues, a tirade against God suffused with pain and outrage, Boseman lets the words pour out of him like a jazz solo. It’s the film performance of the year, a tragic reminder of this late actor’s skill and irrepressible humanity.

Vanessa Kirby in “Pieces of a Woman”

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Steven Yeun, “Minari”

No dream—especially the American dream—can be achieved without a cost. As Jacob, a Korean immigrant father and husband who determinedly moves his family to an Arkansas farm plot, Yeun demonstrates first the blind optimism of what he sees as success, then the crushing weight of what he considers failure. He also beautifully charts his character’s full-circle journey away from selfishness and back toward what really matters.

Best Supporting Actress Maria Bakalova, “Borat

Subsequent Moviefilm” A welcome addition to the bizarro world of “Borat,” Bakalova shines as Tutar, the Kazakh journalist’s teenage daughter and willing accomplice in his latest plot: to win over “McDonald” Trump.

For every clandestine farce the mockumentary concocts, Bakalova is right in step with Sacha Baron Cohen, delivering side-splitting improvised dialogue with unwavering commitment.

Glenn Close, “Hillbilly Elegy”

can turn crying into high art? Her tears are stars in their own right.

Amanda Seyfried, “Mank”

Seyfried does more than steal each “Mank” scene as Marion Davies; she robs us blind. It’s hard to look elsewhere when the supporting star is lighting up the screen, inviting the audience in with her eyes while maintaining an air of mystery. It can be tricky to act in a movie within a movie, but Seyfried manages to personify what being a true 1930s Hollywood star meant, both onand off-set.

Youn Yuh-jung, “Minari”

Irreverent, foulmouthed, and, at least in little David’s (Alan S. Kim) eyes, as un-grandmotherly as can be, Soonja complicates the central Korean American family’s fragile dynamics in “Minari” from the moment she arrives. Youn’s delightful comedic timing gives way to poignancy as David and his grandmother evolve from cheekily adversarial to genuinely friendly. It’s a great example of a performance that gives a film its heart.

Best Supporting Actor Sacha Baron Cohen, “The Trial of the Chicago 7” It’s evidence of Baron Cohen’s

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conspiracy, is as multilayered as it is surprising, somehow both completely laid-back and full of outrage.

Daniel Kaluuya, “Judas and

the Black Messiah” Kaluuya seems to have a sixth sense in his ability to get under our skin with a precise gesture or glare. His almost preternatural charisma is on display in Shaka King’s retelling of the FBI’s deceptive practices leading up to the 1969 assassination of Fred Hampton. Watching Kaluuya play the doomed Black Panther chairman, you may find yourself jumping out of your seat, fist raised in the air.

Leslie Odom Jr., “One Night

in Miami” Playing a beloved star always comes with risks, but if the star is a singer, that’s doubly true. How to recreate their vocal prowess without resorting to lip-syncing?

Odom’s portrayal of Sam Cooke could be the gold standard for this trick. In both his quiet charisma and the film’s stunning final vocals, he puts his own stamp on the inimitable Cooke, giving him cinematic life.

Olivia Colman, “The Father”

We’ve seen a nonstop succession of superb screen work from Colman ever since her Oscar win for “The Favourite.” Now, playing the daughter to an ailing Hopkins, she seems to remove even more barriers between herself and the camera lens.

What is it about magnetic performers like Colman, who

brilliance that in the same year he gave us another “Borat,” he turned in his most stirring dramatic performance to date in this Aaron Sorkin legal drama.

His take on Abbie Hoffman, one of the real-life seven accused by the federal government of

Amanda Seyfried in “Mank”

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“JUDAS AND THE BLACK MESSIAH”: GLEN WILSON/WARNER BROS. PICTURES; “MANK”: NETFLIX

This season, we can confidently crown Close as the queen of oneliners. Her larger-than-life Vance family matriarch represents the hard-knock starting point of this story’s multigenerational narrative. While her grandson fights to overcome the povertystricken hand he’s been dealt in the Appalachian backwoods, Close’s Mamaw unapologetically steeps herself in all things “hill people.” She demands, and earns, our attention.

Daniel Kaluuya and Lakeith Stanfield in “Judas and the Black Messiah”

“WOLFWALKERS”: APPLE TV+

Ornery, intoxicated, and tucked away in a desert cottage writing “Citizen Kane,” Oldman’s work as Mank might just put even more gold on his mantel.

“A Concerto Is a Conversation,”

Ben Proudfoot and Kris Bowers “Do Not Split,” Anders Hammer and Charlotte Cook “Hunger Ward,” Skye Fitzgerald and Michael Scheuerman

“A Love Song for Latasha,” Sophia Nahli

Allison and Janice Duncan

Film Editing “The Father,” Yorgos “Wolfwalkers”

Best Picture

“Nomadland,” Joshua

“The Father,” David Parfitt,

“The Trial of the Chicago 7,” Phedon Papamichael

Jean-Louis Livi, and Philippe Carcassonne

“Judas and the Black Messiah,” Shaka King, Charles

Paul Raci, “Sound of Metal”

Lakeith Stanfield, “Judas

“WOLFWALKERS”: APPLE TV+

“JUDAS AND THE BLACK MESSIAH”: GLEN WILSON/WARNER BROS. PICTURES; “MANK”: NETFLIX

You get the sense that Joe, a community leader and recovering alcoholic who lost his hearing in the Vietnam War, is a man who has seen and endured more than words—or sign language—can express.

There is both sorrow and hope in Raci’s eyes, particularly opposite Ahmed’s tortured Ruben. The scene in which the drummer confesses to what Joe then gently explains is a betrayal may be the year’s most heart-wrenching emotional roller coaster. and the Black Messiah” Stanfield once told Backstage that his “whole existence is about doing whatever I want, and the moment I’m not allowed to do that, I get really antsy.” This personal and professional M.O. is evident in the instinct-based, raw-nerve screen performances he’s delivered since his “Atlanta” breakout in 2016. It’s never been more on display than in his turn as William O’Neal, the titular real-life Judas and FBI informant against the late civil rights leader Fred Hampton.

backstage.com

D. King, and Ryan Coogler “Mank,” Ceán Chaffin, Eric Roth, and Douglas Urbanski “Minari,” Christina Oh “Nomadland,” Frances McDormand, Peter Spears, Mollye Asher, Dan Janvey, and Chloé Zhao

“Promising Young Woman,” Ben Browning,

Ashley Fox, Emerald Fennell, and Josey McNamara “Sound of Metal,” Bert Hamelinck and Sacha Ben Harroche

“The Trial of the Chicago 7,” Marc Platt and Stuart Besser

James Richards

“Another Round,” Denmark “Better Days,” Hong Kong “Collective,” Romania “The Man Who Sold His Skin,” Tunisia “Quo Vadis, Aida?”

Directing

Makeup And Hairstyling

“Another Round,”

“Emma.,” Marese Langan,

Cantini Parrini

Thomas Vinterberg “Mank,” David Fincher “Minari,” Lee Isaac Chung “Nomadland,” Chloé Zhao

Documentary (Feature)

“Over the Moon,” Glen Keane,

“Collective,” Alexander

Will Becher, and Paul Kewley “Soul,” Pete Docter and Dana Murray “Wolfwalkers,” Tomm Moore, Ross Stewart, Paul Young, and Stéphan Roelants

Cinematography “Judas and the Black Messiah,” Sean Bobbitt “Mank,” Erik Messerschmidt “News of the World,” Dariusz Wolski

“The Trial of the Chicago 7,” Alan Baumgarten

“Emma.,” Alexandra Byrne “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom,” Ann Roth “Mank,” Trish Summerville “Mulan,” Bina Daigeler “Pinocchio,” Massimo

“Onward,” Dan Scanlon and

“A Shaun the Sheep Movie: Farmageddon,” Richard Phelan,

G. Nielsen

International Feature Film

“Promising Young Woman,” Emerald Fennell

Gennie Rim, and Peilin Chou

“Nomadland,” Chloé Zhao “Promising Young Woman,” Frédéric Thoraval “Sound of Metal,” Mikkel E.

Costume Design

Animated Feature Film Kori Rae

Lamprinos

Nanau and Bianca Oana “Crip Camp,” Nicole Newnham, Jim LeBrecht, and Sara Bolder “The Mole Agent,” Maite Alberdi and Marcela Santibáñez

“My Octopus Teacher,”

Pippa Ehrlich, James Reed, and Craig Foster “Time,” Garrett Bradley, Lauren Domino, and Kellen Quinn

Documentary (Short Subject) “Colette,” Anthony Giacchino and Alice Doyard

21

Bosnia and Herzegovina

Laura Allen, and Claudia Stolze “Hillbilly Elegy,” Eryn Krueger Mekash, Matthew Mungle, and Patricia Dehaney

“Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom,” Sergio Lopez-

Rivera, Mia Neal, and Jamika Wilson “Mank,” Gigi Williams, Kimberley Spiteri, and Colleen LaBaff “Pinocchio,” Mark Coulier, Dalia Colli, and Francesco Pegoretti

Music (Original Score) “Da 5 Bloods,”

Terence Blanchard “Mank,” Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross “Minari,” Emile Mosseri “News of the World,” James Newton Howard “Soul,” Trent Reznor, Atticus Ross, and Jon Batiste

04.15.21 BACKSTAGE

Music (Original Song)

Ben Jones, and Santiago Colomo Martinez “Tenet,” Andrew Jackson, David Lee, Andrew Lockley, and Scott Fisher

“Fight for You,” H.E.R.,

Dernst Emile II, and Tiara Thomas (“Judas and the Black Messiah”) “Hear My Voice,” Daniel Pemberton and Celeste Waite (“The Trial of the Chicago 7”) “Husavik,” Savan Kotecha, Fat Max Gsus, and Rickard Göransson (“Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga”) “Io Sì (Seen),” Diane Warren and Laura Pausini (“The Life Ahead”) “Speak Now,” Leslie Odom Jr. and Sam Ashworth (“One Night in Miami”)

Writing (Adapted Screenplay) “Borat Subsequent Moviefilm,” Sacha Baron

Cohen, Anthony Hines, Dan Swimer, Peter Baynham, Erica Rivinoja, Dan Mazer, Jena Friedman, Lee Kern, and Nina Pedrad “The Father,” Christopher Hampton and Florian Zeller “Nomadland,” Chloé Zhao

Leslie Odom Jr. in “One Night in Miami”

Production Design “The Father,” Peter Francis and Cathy Featherstone

“Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom,” Mark Ricker, Karen

O’Hara, and Diana Stoughton “Mank,” Donald Graham Burt and Jan Pascale “News of the World,” David Crank and Elizabeth Keenan “Tenet,” Nathan Crowley and Kathy Lucas

Short Film (Animated) “Burrow,” Madeline Sharafian and Michael Capbarat “Genius Loci,” Adrien Mérigeau and Amaury Ovise

and David Wyman “Mank,” Ren Klyce, Jeremy Molod, David Parker, Nathan Nance, and Drew Kunin “News of the World,” Oliver Tarney, Mike Prestwood Smith, William Miller, and John Pritchett “Soul,” Ren Klyce, Coya Elliott, and David Parker “Sound of Metal,” Nicolas Becker, Jaime Baksht, Michelle Couttolenc, Carlos Cortés, and Phillip Bladh

“One Night in Miami,”

Kemp Powers

“The White Tiger,” Ramin Bahrani

Visual Effects

Writing (Original Screenplay)

“Love and Monsters,”

“Judas and the Black Messiah,” Will Berson, Shaka

Matt Sloan, Genevieve Camilleri, Matt Everitt, and Brian Cox “The Midnight Sky,” Matthew Kasmir, Christopher Lawrence, Max Solomon, and David Watkins “Mulan,” Sean Faden, Anders Langlands, Seth Maury, and Steve Ingram

“The One and Only Ivan,” Nick Davis, Greg Fisher,

King, Kenny Lucas, and Keith Lucas “Minari,” Lee Isaac Chung

“Promising Young Woman,” Emerald Fennell “Sound of Metal,” Darius

Marder, Abraham Marder, and Derek Cianfrance

“The Trial of the Chicago 7,” Aaron Sorkin

“ONE NIGHT IN MIAMI”: PATTI PERRET/AMAZON STUDIOS; “BORAT SUBSEQUENT MOVIEFILM”: AMAZON STUDIOS

“If Anything Happens I Love You,” Will McCormack and Michael Govier “Opera,” Erick Oh “Yes-People,” Gísli Darri Halldórsson and Arnar Gunnarsson

Short Film (Live Action) “Feeling Through,” Doug

Roland and Susan Ruzenski “The Letter Room,” Elvira Lind and Sofia Sondervan “The Present,” Farah Nabulsi and Ossama Bawardi

“Two Distant Strangers,”

Travon Free and Martin Desmond Roe “White Eye,” Tomer Shushan and Shira Hochman

Sound “Greyhound,” Warren Shaw, Michael Minkler, Beau Borders,

BACKSTAGE 04.15.21

Sacha Baron Cohen and Maria Bakalova in “Borat Subsequent Moviefilm”

22

backstage.com

STARS AREN’T BORN, THEY’RE MADE

Hard-core training for Musical Theater performers who want to realize their potential as great actors.

Earn a college degree while working all day, every day on your craft.

Find out how at nycda.edu

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Submit a Notice |

New York Tristate Plays Berkshire Theatre Festival 2021 Season

• Casting Equity actors for the Berkshire

Theatre Festival 2021 Season. Season includes: “The Importance of Being Earnest” (David Auburn, dir. Rehearsals begin May 24; shoots June 18-July 10), “Four Women” (Gerry McIntyre, dir.

Rehearsals begin July 20; runs Aug. 14-Sept. 5), and “Shirley Valentine” (Eric Hill, dir. Rehearsals begin Sept. 7; runs Oct. 2-24.) Note: All roles this season have been cast. We are not casting understudies.

• Company: Berkshire Theatre Festival.

Staff: Kate Maguire, artistic dir.; Alan Filderman, casting dir.

• Season runs in Stockbridge, MA. • Seeking—Equity Actors: 18+.

• Seeking submissions from MA. • For consideration, submit a tape of a

two-minute monologue to fildercast@ aol.com with Berkshire EPA in the subject column. State your name before you start the monologue. Submissions deadline is Apr. 20, 2021.

• Pays $739/wk. plus housing and trans-

portation. Equity LORT D Non-Rep Agreement.

Hangar Theatre 2021 Summer Season

• Seeking video submissions from

Equity actors for roles in the Hangar Theatre’s 2021 summer season.

Season includes “The Realness: Another Break Beat Play” (Idris Goodwin, writer; Kyle Haden, dir.

Rehearsals begin June 1; runs June 17-26); “Once (The Musical)” (Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova, music & lyrics; Enda Walsh, book; John Carney, motion picture as source material; Shirley Serotsky, dir.-artistic dir.; Chris Blisset, music dir. Rehearsals begin June 15; runs July 2-17); “Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street” (Stephen Sondheim, music & lyrics; Hugh Wheeler, book; Sanaz Ghajar, dir. Rehearsals begin July 6; runs July 23-Aug. 7); and “Queens Girl in the World” (Caleen Sinnette

BACKSTAGE 04.15.21

SUBMIT YOUR CALLS FOR CAST AND CREW: Visit backstage.com/findtalent and click on “Post a Notice.”

Include all relevant project requirements, including any pay, fees, dues, costs, required ticket sales or nudity.

Jennings, writer; Dawn Meredith Simmons, dir. Rehearsals begin July 27; runs Aug. 12-21).

Casting picks of the week

• Company: Hangar Theatre. Staff:

Shirley Serotsky, artistic dir.; R. J. Lavine, managing dir.; Michael Cassara Casting/ Michael Cassara, CSA, casting season.

BY LISA HAMIL

• All productions perform Tuesday 7:30

stage

p.m. ET, Wednesday 2:30 p.m. ET and 7:30 p.m. ET, Thursday 7:30 p.m. ET, Friday 7:30 p.m. ET, Saturday 2:30 p.m.

ET and 7:30 p.m. ET, and Sunday 7:30 p.m. ET.

’Seize The King’ Get back to the boards in NYC for this Equity live production

• Seeking—Equity Actors: 18+.

• Seeking submissions from NY. • For consideration, submit videos

through this form: https://form.jotform. com/210803504524142. If you encounter any technical difficulties, you may submit via e-mail to submissions@ michaelcassara.net - but only use that address for questions you may have or if you are unable to use the form.

Prepare one brief song (ideally about a minute long) in the style of either “Sweeney Todd” or “Once.” (If you would like to submit for both, you may submit two brief songs. You are welcome to sing from either show, or something of your own; sing with accompaniment; tracks are fine) and/or one brief monologue (about a minute) in the style of anything in the season. (If you are an actor who sings and would like to be considered for multiple projects within the season, you are welcome to submit multiple pieces.) In the event that a performer does not have access to audition accompaniment tracks, the theatre has provided audition accompaniment cuts of Irving Berlin’s “Always,” now in the public domain, which you are welcome to use as a general singing audition. Per Equity rules, it has been provided in 4 separate keys (Soprano/Alto/Tenor/Bass) and tracks/sheet music can be obtained from www.dropbox.com/ sh/1a4ff2936tn2wcf/ AAALsljpkIdBCzETdyi6ulVna?dl=0 Callbacks will be held (via video selftape and live virtual auditions) in April/ May, 2021. Once you have submitted your materials, we will not follow up unless we need anything further.

• Note: The Hangar believes in diversity

and representation in casting and encourages actors of all ethnicities and gender identities, as well as performers with disabilities, to audition. When roles are described, we are describing the characters as scripted or as conceived for the director’s vision of this project.

tv

’The Gilded Age’ Visit the past in this NY based HBO series from the creator of Downton Abbey

musical

‘Mamma Mia’ Become a dancing queen in this Equity live production in SC

stage

‘When Pigs Fly’ Succeed in this Dallas, TX Equity live production

film

‘Simón’ Flee to Miami, FL for this SAG feature film

Like most regional theatres, the Hangar has a certain number of Equity contracts available for each show. For this season, most of our shows will have 3-5 Equity contracts available. In the interest of transparency, we have tried to give an indication of where we believe these contracts will be utilized, but all performers may submit wherever they’d like (non-Equity performers can submit for roles that are anticipated to be Equity contracts, and Equity members can submit for any role in which they’re interested).

• Pays $638/wk. plus health/pension/

lodging/travel. Equity SPT 8 Contract, pending approval. Non-Equity actors: All paid positions pay a minimum of $200/wk. and provide EMC points.

24

Housing/travel/additional salary are available commensurate with position.

‘Honky Tonk Angels’

• Seeking video submissions from Equity

actors to play teen, housewife, business woman - all southern Country Western Singers, can move or dance well. Actors of color are encouraged to audition.

Local actors who reside within commuting distance particularly encouraged to submit.

• Company: Summer Theatre of New

Canaan. Staff: Melody Libonati, dir.artistic dir.; Doug Shankman, choreo.; Nick Wilders, music dir.; Ed Libonati, exec. prod.; Michael Blagys, prod. mgr.; James Hart, technical dir.

• Rehearsals begin June 29; runs July

15-Aug. 1 in New Canaan, CT.

• Seeking—Angela: female, 30-39, a

Texas housewife in her mid thirties. She has a great sense of humor and a fiercely independent streak. She identifies with “Roseanne,” an earth-mother comedienne. Powerful leading mezzo.

Sings “Stand By Your Man” and “Harper Valley PTA.” Darlene: female, 18-29, a young woman from the deep South in her late teens to early twenties. She is pretty, sweet and simple. A young woman who grew up in a coal mining town in West Virginia and the Mississippi Delta. She plays simple guitar. She also clogs (the mountain version of “tap dancing”). Country soprano with belt. Sings “I Will Always Love You” and “Fancy.” Sue Ellen: 30-39, a Los Angeles career woman; a “citified” country girl in her mid-thirties. Smart, very attractive, sexy and frustrated. She dances, roller skates and twirls baton (if possible). Shealso clogs. She should be a great dancer. Alto belter. Sings “9 to 5” and “Rocky Top.” • Seeking submissions from CT. • For consideration, submit headshot,

resume, and a video audition of either a brief song of your choice in the style of the show or one of the three tracks provided here: www.dropbox.com/sh/ z4zz85c14969rfs/ AACn6HElBHnd0zPnmVfRrSAla?dl=0 to casting@stonc.org. Note: Submissions will only be accepted on Apr. 19 and Apr. 20.

• Callbacks will also be via virtual

submission.

• Equity’s contracts prohibit discrimina-

tion. Equity is committed to diversity and encourages all its employers to engage in a policy of equal employment opportunity designed to promote a positive model of inclusion. As such, backstage.com

FULL TIME PROGRAMS

Application Deadline Extended to May 1

NYC EVENING CONSERVATORY Begins September 13 LA PROFESSIONAL CONSERVATORY Begins September 13

SUMMER PROGRAMS MUSICAL THEATER INTENSIVE June 7–July 16 SELF-GENERATED THEATER LAB June 7–July 9 CHEKHOV INTENSIVE July 12–August 13

Where rigorous actor training and social justice meet.

Stella Adler Studio of Acting 65 Broadway Floor 2 New York, NY 10006 StellaAdler.com 212-689-0087 classes@stellaadler.com Art of Acting Studio 1017 N Orange Drive Los Angeles, CA 90038 artofactingstudio.com 323-601-5310 info@artofactingstudio.com The Stella Adler Studio of Acting/Art of Acting Studio is a 501(c)3 not-for-profit organization and is accredited by the National Association of Schools of Theatre.

casting New York Tristate Equity encourages performers of all ethnicities, gender identities, and ages, as well as performers with disabilities, to submit.

‘The Exterminator’

• Casting “The Exterminator,” a dark

• Equity LOA Contract, salary pending.

comedy about a young exterminator who begins to unravel as he trains his replacement.

‘Seize The King’

writer-dir.; Joseph Walsh, prod.

• Casting Equity Actors for “Seize The

King.” Note: The Classical Theatre of Harlem is currently seeking actors for their summer 2021 show, Will Power’s Seize the King, a bold re-imaging of William Shakespeare’s Richard III. All actors must possess strong language skills, i.e.: classical, slam poetry, rap/ hip-hop etc. The Classical Theatre of Harlem strongly welcomes applications from persons with disabilities, protected veterans, and underrepresented minorities.

• Company: Classical Theatre of Harlem.

Staff: Carl Cofield, dir.; Will Power, writer; The Classical Theatre of Harlem, prod.; Ty Jones, prod. artistic dir.

• Rehearsals begin June 3, 2021; first pub-

lic performance runs July 7-25 in NYC.

• Seeking—Actor 1: male, 30-59. Actor 2:

male, 25-49. Actor 3: female, 20-49.

Actor 4: female, 30-49. Actor 5: male, 40-69.

• Seeking submissions from NY. • For consideration, submit a video of a

one-two minute classical monologue showing command of verse.

Submissions must include an opening slate with your name and the name of your audition piece. Email your submission to casting@cthnyc.org. All should submit a picture/resume. Submissions deadline is Apr. 16 at 5 p.m. ET. • Pays $476/week minimum (LOA ref.

LORT.) Equity LOA-NYC Agreement.

Short Films

• Staff: Allamaprabhu Pattanashetty,

• Shoots in late April.

• Seeking—Claire: female, 50+, all eth-

nicities, Claire is one of the tenants whose apartment the main characters have to exterminate. She only appears in a couple of quick scenes, but the role is crucial to the development of the overall story. The scene itself is comedic in nature, and applicants should be comfortable with provocative, dry humor.

• Seeking submissions from NY. • Apply on Backstage.com.

• No pay. Travel costs covered.

Student Films ‘Clowns Are in This One’

• Casting “Clowns Are in This One,” a

student short film about the romance that forms between two clowns in the dangerous, competitive world of street clowning.

• Company: New York University. Staff:

Jake Wichansky, student.

• Rehearses over Zoom; shoots Apr.

22-25 in NYC and New Jersey.

• Seeking—Ronald: male, 30-60, the

boss of his own crew of clowns. He is a strong leader who does not accept insubordination, as he knows how competitive this business is. He is ruthless and will do anything to protect his business.

• Seeking submissions from NY and NJ. • Send submissions to jsw491@nyu.edu.

• No pay.

‘Strip’

‘Crush(ed)’

about a timid young woman getting her first wax - and finding her confidence in an unexpected way. Note: Roommate submissions/actors who live together preferred.

ward coming-of-age story about transformation, identity, and the woes of having an unreciprocated middle school crush. Synopsis: After the last day of 7th grade, Maya and her childhood best friend Will continue their long-standing tradition of rating their classmate’s yearbook pictures, but this time Maya has an ulterior motive: getting Will to like her. Maya attempts to diminish her biggest insecurity by flatironing her natural type 4 hair for the first time. She continually hints to Will that she likes him, but he doesn’t pick up on her advances until she flat out says it in true middle school fashion: “I like like you.” When Will reveals he doesn’t feel the same way, Maya’s resilience enables her to triumphantly overcome rejection and return to her roots.

• Casting “Strip,” a comedic short film

• Company: Columbia MFA Program.

Staff: Emily Everhard, Columbia MFA writing/directing.

• Shoots end of June for two days TBD in

NYC.

• Seeking—Sherry: 15-26, all ethnicities,

17; timid, unsure of herself, and lacking confidence; Sherry wants to change into the confident career women she’s surrounded by in NYC; Sherry tries to uncover her ‘femininity’ in a traditional way, but learns that she can make her own rules; there is no nudity. Note: Roommate or actors who live together submissions preferred. Natalia: 20-35, all ethnicities, a no-nonsense wax technician - she’s all about business and doesn’t understand why anyone would get a wax, except to please a man; Natalia believes that “beauty is pain” is a lesson all young women must learn.

Note: Roommate or actors who live together submissions preferred.

• Seeking submissions from NY. • Apply on Backstage.com.

• No pay.

BACKSTAGE 04.15.21

• Casting “Crush(ed),” a charmingly awk-

• Company: NYU. Staff: Amanda Gordon,

dir.-prod.; Ziyne Abdo, prod.

• Shoots Apr. 24 and 25 in New York

Metropolitan area.

• Seeking—Maya: female, 10-16, Black /

African Descent, a shy, awkward, and vulnerable 13-year-old girl. She tries to diminish her most prominent insecurity by straightening her natural hair and takes the biggest leap of faith in her middle school life: telling her crush that

she likes him. When Maya is rejected she learns that changing for someone is never worth it and returns to her literal and figurative roots by wetting her hair and restoring it to its natural state. Will: male, 10-16, White / European Descent, a nerdy, cute, and well-meaning middle schooler who is oblivious to Maya’s huge crush on him. When Maya reveals that she likes him, Will reveals that he doesn’t see her as a girl.

• Seeking submissions from NY. • Apply on Backstage.com.

• No pay, but credit, meals, and footage

provided.

‘What You Don’t See’

• Casting “What You Don’t See,” a short

PSA that exposes the not-so-glamorous life of a male influencer.

• Company: NYU. Staff: Lily Grigsby-

Brown, dir.-cinematographer-AD-AC.

• Shoots in NYC. • Seeking—Drew: male, 18-35, all ethnic-

ities, male influencer. Can be an influencer for anything.

• Seeking submissions from NY. • Apply on Backstage.com.

• Lunch will be provided. Copy for reel

provided upon completion of project.

Scripted TV & Video ‘Power: Book III,’ Church Band With Experience

• Seeking SAG/NU to portray band mem-

ber for 1990s church scene with experience (guitar, keyboard, bass, and/or drums) for “Power Book 3: Raising Kanan,” on STARZ. • Company: Grant Wilfley Casting. Staff:

Katherine Hurt, casting assoc.

• COVID test and fitting TBD (before

work dates); shoots Apr. 21 in the NYC area.

• Seeking—Band Member with

Experience (Guitar, Keyboard, Bass, and/or Drums): 18+, Black / African Descent, for a 1990s church scene.

Note which instrument you have experience with, and detail the level of experience. No visible tattoos. Everyone must be comfortable receiving a 1990s style hair cut if needed. No braids, weaves, wigs for women. Men must be comfortable being clean shaven for work date.

• Seeking submissions from NY. • For consideration, email a cover letter

with the following: name; SAG or NonUnion; phone number; your availability for work Apr. 21; general avail for COVID test and fitting prior to work; whether you’ve worked on “Power Book 3” before; all sizes (men - height, weight, suit, shirt, pants, and shoe. Women: height, weight, bust-waist-hips, dress/ pant and shoe); 2-3 recent photos showing your current look and hair (No editing, filters, sunglasses, hats, masks, etc. Casting needs to clearly see your face and hair. Selfies and candid photos are great. No professional headshots); if you are ok getting a 1990s hair cut if needed; note which instrument you have experience with, and detail the level of experience; men are you okay

26

being clean shaven; if you have visible tattoos; confirmation you are 18+; confirmation you are local to NYC area; and what ID you bring for your I9 (note if you have a visa or restricted ID of any kind) to casting@gwcnyc.com with the subject line “Backstage, Church Band.”

• Pay provided.

‘Power: Book III,’ Church Goers

• Seeking SAG/NU to portray 1990s

church goers for “Power Book 3: Raising Kanan,” on STARZ.

• Company: Grant Wilfley Casting. Staff:

Katherine Hurt, casting assoc.

• COVID test and fitting TBD (before

work dates); shoots Apr. 21 in the NYC area. This scene will be matching for a scene in upcoming episode, so you may be needed back for 2nd day of work at TBD date in April/early May. • Seeking—Church Goers: 18+, Black /

African Descent, nonunion for a 1990s scene. This scene will be matching for a scene in upcoming episode, so you may be needed back for 2nd day of work at TBD date in April/early May.No visible tattoos. Everyone must be comfortable receiving a 1990s style hair cut if needed. No braids, weaves, wigs for women. Men must be comfortable being clean shaven for work date.

• Seeking submissions from NY. • For consideration, submit a cover let-

ter with your name; SAG or nonunion; phone number; your availability for work Apr. 21; your general avail for COVID test and fitting prior to work; if you’ve worked on “Power Book 3” before; all sizes (men - height, weight, suit, shirt, pants, and shoe. Women: height, weight, bust-waist-hips, dress/ pant and shoe); 2-3 recent photos showing your current look and hair (No editing, filters, sunglasses, hats, masks, etc. Casting needs to clearly see your face and hair. Selfies and candid photos are great. No professional headshots); if you are okay getting a 1990s hair cut if needed; men, if you are are okay being clean shaven; if you have visible tattoos; confirmation that you are 18+; confirmation that you are local to NYC area; and what ID you bring for your I9 (note if you have a visa or restricted ID of any kind!) to casting@ gwcnyc.com with the subject line “Backstage, Church Goers.”

• Pay provided.

‘The Gilded Age’

• Casting “The Gilded Age,” Season 1 of

the HBO series from the creator of Downton Abbey.

• Company: Grant Wilfley Casting. Staff:

Belle GWC, casting dir.

• Shoots May 22-June 15 in Troy, NY; cos-

tume fittings will start from Apr. 20 and go through May. • Seeking—Men And Women 18-75 To

Portray 1880’s Working Class And Upper Class People: all genders, 18+, White / European Descent, there will be one required covid test before your day of work, as well as one covid test the day before a required fitting; you will be compensated for this; seeking Troy, Albany, Schenectady Area locals only for this; scenes are set in the 1880s; men and women backstage.com

California casting

must have no visible tattoos (especially on neck and hands); men must have natural hair colors and ok getting period haircut and have your facial hair styled/altered to be period appropriate; men and women must have no wool allergies; men ideally 5’8”- 6’2”, 46” chest measurement and below, and 38” waist measurement and below due to limited 1880’s costume stock; men ideally 1.5-2” of hair length all around; no buzzed sides/ back; women must have natural hair colors only (no highlights, ombre or balayage); looking for women with longer hair lengths preferably at least four-six inches below the shoulders (please note current length of hair.); women must be okay wearing a corset, bustle and multiple layers as appropriate to the 1880s; women ideally 5’3”-5’8”, 32” waist and below due to limited 1880’s costume stock.

Nonunion Men And Women 18+ To Portray Caucasian Teenagers: 18-25, White / European Descent, specifically men 18+ that are 5’8” or below; 32” waist or below; women 18+ that are 5’6” or below, 26” waist or below.

Nonunion Men And Women To Portray 1880’s African American Pedestrians: all genders, 18+, Black / African Descent.

• Seeking submissions from NY. • If interested/available, email gilded-

age@gwcnyc.com, change the subject line to read “Backstage/Troy/ Albany/Schenectady Locals” and include in the body of the email the following information: name; whether you are a member of SAG-AFTRA or nonunion; phone number; confirm that you are local to the Troy/Albany/ Schenectady area; several candid fullbody photos, photos from the back that shows your hair length. Men: Are you okay getting an 1880s haircut if needed? Men: Are you okay being clean shaven on the shoot date or having your facial hair altered? (If so which one, or both?) Women: Are you okay with wearing a corset or bustle?

Women: Current hair length below the shoulders. Men and Women: Do you have any tattoos? (this includes, hands, feet, ankles, back of neck, behind the ear). Men and Women: Confirm your hair is not dyed or colored in any way (if it is, elaborate.) All wardrobe sizes (Men: height, weight, jacket, neck, sleeve, waist, inseam, shoe. Women: height, weight, dress, bust, waist, hip, shoe.) Current photos without makeup, include several current photos that depict what you currently look like (especially in terms of hair length and color. No filters, sunglasses, or hats at all!!!) Which forms of IDs you will be bringing for your I9 if booked (if you have a VISA or Employment Authorization Card, let us know!) If submitting for a musician role, please include your musical experience and/or if submitting as a group. Confirm you have general open/flexible availability from Apr. 22-June 15, 2021. Confirm you have availability for a fitting between Apr. 20-May. • Pays $178/8hrs (SAG-AFTRA); and

$165/10 hrs. (nonunion rate). backstage.com

‘Seize The King’

Online Commercials & Promos

• Seeking Equity Stage Manager and

Equity Assistant Stage Manager for “Seize The King.” Note: The Classical Theatre of Harlem strongly welcomes applications from persons with disabilities, protected veterans, and underrepresented minorities.

Skincare Social Ads

• Casting a series of beauty product

• Company: Classical Theatre of Harlem.

social videos.

Staff: Carl Cofield, dir.; Will Power, writer; The Classical Theatre of Harlem, prod.; Ty Jones, prod. artistic dir.

• Staff: Cindel K., prod.-coord.

• Shoots in April in Beacon, NY. • Seeking—Energetic Woman: female,

• Rehearsals begin June 3, 2021; first

30-45.

public performance runs July 7-25 in NYC.

• Seeking submissions from NY. • Apply on Backstage.com.

• Include photos of bare face with no

• Seeking—Equity Stage Manager: 18+.

• Seeking submissions from NY. • For consideration, submit resume to

makeup.

jobs@cthnyc.org. Submissions deadline is Apr. 16.

• Pays $300/day, plus Metro-North ticket

reimbursement provided. Must be comfortable using beauty products. Must have clear skin without makeup.

• Pays $476/wk. Equity LOA ref LORT

NYC Agreement.

Festivals & Events Front of House Hospitality Staff

• Seeking 20 people to work a red carpet

type event in East Hampton. This is a charity event with big name entertainment.

• Company: The Goodkind Group. Staff:

Paula Geller, coord.

• Charity event will be held May 7 in East

Hampton.

• Seeking—Bartenders and Waiters: 18+,

performers and models with some restaurant experience for large charity event.

• Seeking submissions from NY. • For consideration, submit your resume

and contact information to paula@thegoodkindgroup.com.

• This is an hourly salary. You will be paid

Stage Staff & Tech

Gigs

Berkshire Theatre Festival 2021 Season

• Seeking energetic and environmentally

Ambassador for Green Energy

conscious individuals to attend events and locations for Green Mountain Energy to help people understand the importance of supporting renewable energy.

• Seeking and Equity Stage Manager for

the Berkshire Theatre Festival 2021 Season. Season includes: “The Importance of Being Earnest” (David Auburn, dir. Rehearsals begin May 24; shoots June 18-July 10), “Four Women” (Gerry McIntyre, dir. Rehearsals begin July 20; runs Aug. 14-Sept. 5), and “Shirley Valentine” (Eric Hill, dir.

Rehearsals begin Sept. 7; runs Oct. 2-24.).

3 hours travel time. Transportation will be provided back and forth. All employees will be bused from a central location in NYC.

Southern California

• Company states: “This flexible part-

time job is excellent for performers looking for income in between gigs and auditions. As a sales agent/brand ambassador, you will be engaging people at retail locations and events and educating them about clean energy options, providing excellent customer service and representation of the company, and meet and exceed personal goals on a monthly basis and be compensated by performance. Scheduled based on your availability.”

• Company: Berkshire Theatre Festival.

Staff: Kate Maguire, artistic dir.; Alan Filderman, casting dir.

• Season runs in Stockbridge, MA. • Seeking—Equity Stage Manager: 18+.

• Seeking submissions from MA. • For consideration, submit cover letter

• Company: Green Mountain Energy.

and resume to Corey Cavanaugh, general manager at corey@berkshiretheatre.org. Submissions deadline is Apr. 20, 2021.

Staff: Megan Smith, senior recruiter.

• Year-round opportunities located in

Manhattan, the Bronx, Queens, and Brooklyn, NY.

• Pays $911/wk. Equity LORT D Non-Rep

• Seeking—Brand Ambassador/Sales

Agent: all genders, 18+, all ethnicities, responsible for generating face-to-face conversations with prospective customers to promote and sell products and services in various settings. The primary goal is to acquire new customers and enroll them. Sales agents will be responsible to achieve goals set by the sales team lead and/or area manager. They will also work closely with other members of the sales team to determine best practices, maximize customer satisfaction, learn market trends, and support sales and marketing initiatives.

Agreement.

Contemporary American Theater Festival 2021 Season

• Seeking Equity Stage Managers for

the Contemporary American Theater Festival 2021 Season. Season includes: “Sheepdog” (Rehearsals May 15-20 over Zoom; recorded live May 20, 2921 in NY.) “The House Of The Negro Insane” (Rehearsals May 30-June 4 via Zoom; recorded live June 4 in NY.).

• Company: Contemporary American

Theater Festival. Staff: Ed Herendeen, artistic dir.; Pat McCorkle, McCorkle Casting, casting.

• Seeking submissions from NY. • Send submissions to nyjobs@green-

mountain.com.

• Season runs in NY. • Seeking—AEA Stage Manager: 18+. AEA

• Provide a resume with up-to-date con-

tact info.

Assistant Stage Manager: 18+.

• Commission based on performance.

Hourly pay guaranteed.

• Seeking submissions from WV and NY. • For consideration, submit resume to

ATTN: Peggy McKowen to info@catf. org. Submissions deadline is Apr. 20.

VISIT BACKSTAGE.COM/CASTING for full character breakdowns, script sides, and more casting notices

• Pays $911/wk. Equity LORT Rep

Agreement.

27

Student Films ‘Echoes’

• Casting “Echoes,” a student film.

Logline: A young man struggles with the growing pressures of his mental health manifesting in strange ways.

• Company: Chapman University. Staff:

Laurence Hewitt, dir.; Bill Xie, prod.; Luke Dias, co-prod.; Gabriel Urbano, cinematographer.

• Shoots May 14-16 in Orange, CA. • Seeking—Phillip: male, 18-30, all eth-

nicities, struggling with the pressures of the world around him which is manifesting into an internalized voice in his head. Charlie: all genders, 18-30, all ethnicities, Phillips’ closest friend who won’t stop trying to help Phillip no matter how far Phillip pushes him, Charlie is far more outward and easygoing, is very put together but has a fun streak, and is the only person Phillip could ever open up to.

• Seeking submissions from CA. • Send submissions to lhewitt@chapman.

edu.

• No pay.

‘The Last Gay in Indiana’

• Casting “The Last Gay in Indiana,” a

student film.

• Company: Dodge College of Film and

Media Arts.

• Shoots weekends May 28-30 and June

4-6 in Orange County, CA. Note: Rehearsals will most likely be over zoom but possibly one or two in person rehearsals.

• Seeking—Pence: male, 40-70, White /

European Descent.

• Seeking submissions from CA.

04.15.21 BACKSTAGE

casting National/Regional • Apply on Backstage.com.

• No pay.

‘The Reunion’

• Casting “The Reunion.” Synopsis: In a

highly-controlled utopian society, when a father who was a member of the resistance escapes from prison and returns to family, the son has to choose between family and his loyalty to the government.

• Staff: Angel Gu, dir.-writer; Tina Bui,

prod.; Mia Miller, casting dir.

• Shoots TBD in/around Orange County,

CA.

• Seeking—Jason: 18-25, Asian, man of

the house but still respects his mother’s decisions; wants to bring honor to his family by staying loyal to society (Brothers as a replacement father figure); never accepted his father leaving him as a child and holds on to that trauma; attached to his family. Lee: male, 41-59, Asian, willing to sacrifice himself for what he considers the greater good; he knows that Tara supports what he’s doing but doesn’t think the kids need to understand what’s going on; he comes home to get the book assuming the family dynamic is the same as ten years ago; comes to the house immediately after escaping government prison. Tara: female, 38-53, Asian, head of the household; strong-willed, intimidating personality; not a fan of the government but having a normal life is more important than enacting change; does not want any conflict with the government; change would be cool but it’ll happen when it happens. Melissa: female, 18-28, the eldest child who is skeptical of society and naively wants to join the resistance movement; she’s interested in the resistance because she’s seen the bad things that they can do but has different priorities in her life right now; thinks that she’s the woman of the house because she brings home the money; closer to her mother b/c they both have similar complaints against the government; excited for her father to come back and sees this as her calling/ big opportunity to join the fight.

• Seeking submissions from CA. • Send submissions to miamiller@chap-

man.edu.

• Travel, meals, and credit provided.

‘The Tenant’

• Casting “The Tenant,” a horror/thriller

student thesis film. Logline: After his father goes to prison for a grisly murder, a teenager moves in with his abusive uncle whom he suspects may have been complicit in the crime.

• Company: Chapman University. Staff:

Logan B., coord.

• Shoots Apr. 30, May 1-2, 7-9 in L.A. or

Orange County.

• Seeking—Maya: female, 18-24, all

ethnicities, Lee’s neighbor down the street who is just excited that another young person has moved to the neighborhood. Living in a small, impoverished town with few people her age and not much to do, she too self-medicates. She befriends Lee out of both desire for a new friend and her morbid curiosity about his family history. Lee: 18-24, all ethnicities, a reserved, intro-

BACKSTAGE 04.15.21

Online Commercials & Promos

verted kid, Lee grew up physically and psychologically abused by both his father and uncle, which has led to him living an isolated interior life medicated by alcohol and weed. Lee has experienced some very recent trauma after his father murdered a girl in his high school grade. Now, with nowhere else to go, Lee reluctantly goes to live with his uncle whom he begins to think may have helped his father in the murder. Morris: 40-60, Lee’s uncle, Morris is an imposing and intimidating man. Living in a rundown, barely inhabitable house, his two main joys are beer and picking up sex workers. Off-putting in his lack of filter or social awareness, he can alternate between unsettling jokes, bullying, and abuse.

Steven Slate Audio Lifestyle Commercial • Casting Steven Slate Audio lifestyle

commercial. Video b-roll and stills for company product the VSX Headphones.

• Company: Steven Slate Audio. Staff:

Brian D’Almeida, content specialist; Joshua Miller, head of media and marketing.

• Shoots TBD date in the Los Angles, CA

area (Cafe, skate park, beach, city park here in LA or valley, bedroom music studio; actual location pending).

• Seeking submissions from CA. • Apply on Backstage.com.

• No pay.

• Seeking—VSX Lifestyle Model: all gen-

ders, 18-34, looking for models for the music producer/audio engineer role.

Will be shooting in various locations capturing video b-roll & stills for the VSX Headphones.

Multimedia

• Seeking submissions from CA. • Send submissions to brian@stevensla-

teaudio.com.

Glamour Magazine’s ‘All My Exes,’ LA-Based Contributors

• Pays $150-$300 flat rate.

• Seeking women for video series, “All

National/ Regional

My Exes!” Casting director states: “Our main contributors will be asked some questions about themselves and three of their exes will field the same questions to see how the answers compare. The interviews are fun and lighthearted, and we’re hoping to show how people who were formerly in a relationship can remain on good terms. Looking for “real people” that live in the greater LA area. “Our funny and lighthearted series explores these questions in one of our beautifully produced and highly engaging videos.

We’re looking for people with three exes who would be interested in participating--our previous episode can be found on Glamour’s YouTube channel. All contributors should possess the ability to be candid on-camera and be local to LA--we’ll be shooting at our studios where we’ll be following strict COVID-guidelines. We’re interested in profiling people of all types of relationships and orientations.”

Plays Creede Repertory Theatre 2021 Season

• Seeking video submissions from Equity

actors of all genders, races, ethnicities, ages, and/or abilities for the 2021 outdoor summer season (in person work) and Headwaters New Play Festival (digital only). Season includes “An Iliad” (Lisa Peterson and Denis O’hare, writers); Ken Ludwig’s “Dear Jack, Dear Louise” and “Red Riding Hood” (Allison Gregory).

• Company: Creede Repertory Theatre.

Staff: John DiAntonio, prod. artistic dir.; Kate Berry, assoc. artistic dir.; Brittni Shambaugh Addison, education dir.-EDI co-chair.

• Company: Conde Nast. Staff: Thomas

Giglio, casting dir.

• Shoots ASAP in Los Angeles. Note:

Productions and studios follow strict COVID guidelines to ensure safety.

• Summer Season (all shows, in person

work, rotating repertory) rehearsals (all shows) begin May 31; tech begins June 21; runs June 25-Sept. 4. Headquarters New Play Festival (digital only) rehearsals begin Aug. 23; runs Aug. 27-28.

Note: Members who perform in-person work will be required to: Adhere to CRT’s COVID-19 Health and Safety Protocols, a copy of which will be provided at time of offer, which are subject to change/update as required by government mandates and/or Equity requirements; to complete a 14 day quarantine prior to in-person work; Complete COVID-19 testing prior to inperson work and weekly throughout the contract, as required by Equity.

Testing will be at the sole expense of CRT.

• Seeking—Person With Three Exes: 24+,

all ethnicities, seeking people with three exes that would be interested in participating in this series; all contributors should possess the ability to be candid on-camera and be local to LA, and be on good terms with their three exes that will also appear on-camera.

• Seeking submissions from CA. • Apply on Backstage.com.

• Submit a note about you with picture

and contact info, and some info about the exes you wish to appear with you.

Your exes should ideally live in the LA area as well. Submissions without your full contact info will not be considered.

Small stipend available, shooting ASAP. • Stipend available, more info upon

request.

• Seeking—Equity Actors: 18+.

28

• Seeking submissions from CO. • All auditions are by video submission

only. For consideration submit a headshot, resume, and one comedic or dramatic monologue no more than two minutes in length via https://podio. com/webforms/26023535/1951860.

There are no musicals this season, so no song is required. You will be contacted for a digital callback if the theater needs to see more. Submissions deadline is Apr. 20.

• CRT strongly encourages artists from

marginalized communities to submit.

• Equity’s contracts prohibit discrimina-

tion. Equity is committed to diversity and encourages all its employers to engage in a policy of equal employment opportunity designed to promote a positive model of inclusion. As such, Equity encourages performers of all ethnicities, gender identities, and ages, as well as performers with disabilities, to submit.

• Pays $517/wk. Equity LOA ref. LORT D

Contract.

Milwaukee Repertory Theater 2021-22 Season

• Seeking video submissions from Equity

actors for roles in the Milwaukee Repertory Theater’s 2021-22 season. All roles will be understudied, expect for the roles in “My Way.” Season includes “Dad’s Season Tickets”(Stackner Cabaret; Matt Zembrowski, writer; Ryan Quinn, dir. Rehearsals begin Oct. 5; tech begins Oct. 26; runs Oct. 29, 2021Jan. 2, 2021; no performance Nov. 25, Dec. 24-25 or Jan. 1); “Steel Magnolias” (Quadracci Powerhouse Theater; Robert Harling, writer; directed by Laura Braza, dir. Rehearsals begin Oct. 12; tech begins Nov. 3; runs Nov. 9-Dec. 5 (no show Nov. 25; extra matinees Nov. 11 and Dec. 1); “A Christmas Carol” (Pabst Theater; Charles Dickens, source material, Mark Clements, adaption-dir.

Rehearsals begin Nov. 2; tech begins Nov. 23; runs Nov. 30-Dec. 24; no rehearsal Nov. 25, extras matinees Dec. 1, Dec. 7, Dec. 15); “Toni Stone” (Quadracci Powerhouse Theater; Lydia Diamond, writer; Tinashe KajeseBolden, dir.; Ameenah Kaplan, choreo.

Rehearsals begin Dec. 7 (no rehearsal Dec. 25 & Jan. 1); tech begins Dec. 28; runs Jan. 4-30, 2022 (extra matinee Jan. 26); “My Way” (Stackner Cabaret; Todd Olsen and David Grapes, wrtiers; Kelley Faulkner, dir. Rehearsals begin Feb. 8, 2022; tech begin Mar. 1; runs Mar. 4-May 1, 2022); “As You Like It” (Quadracci Powerhouse Theater; Daryl Cloran, adaptation-dir. Rehearsals begin Feb. 1, 2022; tech begins 9, 2022; runs Feb. 15-Mar. 20 (extra matinees Mar. 2 and Mar. 16); “New Age” (Stiemke Studio; Dael Orlandersmith, writer; Jade King Carroll, dir. Rehearsals begin Feb. 15, 2022; tech begins Mar. 16; runs Mar. 22-May 1 (extra matinee Mar. 30); “Titanic” (Ensemble Version) (Quadracci Powerhouse Theater; Peter Stone, book; Maury Yeston, music & lyrics; Josh Clayton, orchestrations; Mark Clements, dir.; Jenn Rose, choreo.; Dan Kazemi, musical dir. Rehearsals begin Mar. 8; tech begins Mar. 29; runs Apr. 5-May 15 (extra shows Apr. 27 and May 4); and “Murder on the Orient Express” backstage.com

National/Regional casting

(Quadracci Powerhouse Theater); Ken Ludwig, adaptation; Agatha Christie, text as source mater; Marti Lyons, dir.

Rehearsals begin May 3, 2022; tech begins May 24; runs May 31-July 1).

• Company: Milwaukee Repertory

Theater. Staff: Laura Braza, artistic prod.

• Season rehearses and performs in

Milwaukee, WI.

• Seeking—Equity Actors: 18+.

• Seeking submissions from WI. • For consideration, submissions will be

accepted from Apr. 20 at 9 a.m. CT through Apr. 21 at 6 p.m. For plays: submit a 1-2 minute monologue, contemporary or classical. For musicals: submit a one minute monologue and either 32 bars of a song of your choice (for which you’ll provide accompaniment) or use the accompaniment/sheet music provided at https://drive.google.com/ drive/folders/1HxAovl eMpYQIDmvNmQj4OLx6EvQ0DQ34? usp=sharing.

Submissions deadline is Apr. 21.

• Equity’s contracts prohibit discrimina-

tion. Equity is committed to diversity and encourages all its employers to engage in a policy of equal employment opportunity designed to promote a positive model of inclusion. As such, Equity encourages performers of all ethnicities, gender identities, and ages, as well as performers with disabilities, to submit.

• Pays $1161/wk. (“A Christmas Carol”);

$969/wk. (“Steel Magnolias” & “Toni Stone”; $1008/wk. (“As You Like It,” “Titanic,” & “Murder on the Orient Express”; $717/wk. (“Dad’s Season Tickets”); and $739/wk. (all others).

Equity LORT Non-Rep Contact.

‘When Pigs Fly’

• Seeking video submissions from Equity

actors for roles in “When Pigs Fly.” Synopsis: Howard Crabtree’s “When Pigs Fly” takes place in a hastily booked theatre under renovation, Howard struggles to put on a lavish musical revue over numerous obstacles, including the near-mutiny of his cast, and the nagging memory of his high school guidance counselor, who told him he’d succeed ‘when pigs fly.’ Just when it seems all is lost, Howard realizes the problem isn’t that he’s gone too far - it’s that he hasn’t gone far enough. The show goes on, and all of Howard’s fabulously sequined dreams come true.

• Company: Uptown Players. Staff:

Howard Crabtree and Mark Waldrop, conceived by; Mark Waldrop, sketches & lyrics; Dick Gallagher, music; B.J.Cleveland, dir.; Kevin Gunter, music dir.

• Rehearsals to begin June 14, 2021; runs

July 9-25 with 4 shows per week in Dallas, TX. Note: Rehearsals and performances will be indoors following all vaccinated individuals CDC and Equity guidelines. All current CDC COVID health and safety protocols will be in place for this production, including callbacks, rehearsals, and performances.

All cast and crew and production team must show proof of COVID-19 vaccination (including the 14 day period following) before attending rehearsals.

• Seeking—Howard: male, 30-39, all eth-

nicities, a mad genius costume backstage.com

designer, he is the heart of the show and its driving force—even as he loses control of it. Wholesome and mid-western, his creative urge cannot be denied.

Man #1: male, 35-45, all ethnicities, imperiously grand, he holds on to his professionalism as number after number implodes under the weight of Howard’s overblown ambitions. Must be an adept drag performer. Man #2: male, 25-40, all ethnicities, impish subversive. Wicked, but lovable. A strong comic who can turn around and deliver the one serious ballad. Man #3: male, 22-35, all ethnicities, a young tall character man with a great physique. Man #4: male, 25-35, all ethnicities, a plus size show-stopper with a big tenor voice.

• Seeking submissions from TX. • For consideration, sign up at http://bit.

ly/PigsFlyAuditions to let us know that you plan to send in a video submission and which role you feel suits you best.

Prepare an up-tempo comedy song in the style of the show that shows personality & vocal range or use the accompaniment track at www.dropbox. com/s/hmytp66kivg6cdq/You_Cant_ Take_The_Color_Out_Of_ Colorado_-_A_Patriotic_Finale_G_ piano.mp3?dl=0 to sing “Color of Colorado.” (If you’re unable to locate sheet music, e-mail auditions@uptownplayers.org.) Slate with your name and song at the beginning of the video and attach your headshot & resume to the email with a link to your video submission. Submissions deadline is Apr. 21.

Note: Local Dallas actors particularly encouraged to submit. All cast members must be strong singer/actor/movers with solid skills in traditional musical comedy. The show is designed to celebrate the joy of old-school vaudevillian performance style. All the characters in the show are gay men. All ethnicities are encouraged to submit a video audition. Quirkiness, individuality, and diversity are all a plus.

• Equity’s contracts prohibit discrimina-

tion. Equity is committed to diversity and encourages all its employers to engage in a policy of equal employment opportunity designed to promote a positive model of inclusion. As such, Equity encourages performers of all ethnicities, gender identities, and ages, as well as performers with disabilities, to submit.

• Pays $384/wk. Equity LOA ref. LORT

Contract. Two principal actor contracts available.

Musicals ‘Mamma Mia’

• Seeking video submissions for all roles

in “Mamma Mia.” Actors must be able to have great acting, vocal and movement abilities. Ensemble actors will understudy lead roles.

• Company: Arts Center of Coastal

Carolina. Staff: Catherine Johnson, book; Benny Andersson & Bjorn Ulvaeus, music & lyrics; Casey Colgan, dir.; Bradley Vieth, musical dir.; Richard Feldman, general mgr.

• Rehearsals begin June 1; runs June

22-Aug. 22 (performances TuesdaySaturday at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday at 2 p.m.). Note: All rehearsals and performances are in-person pending Equity Safety approval. All auditions will be online video submissions. Due to COVID-19, we are not holding any inperson auditions at this time.

• Seeking—Donna: female, 30-45, the

mother Sophie; attractive and freespirited. A former lead singer in a group called “Donna and the Dynamos” who now owns and runs a hotel/casino on a Greek island. A strong feminist who also has a zany and vulnerable side.

Sophie: female, 18-25, a very special young woman who is determined to find the romance and happiness she feels eluded her mother. Has a wild, zany spirit even though she pursues a conventional marriage; pop soprano.

Tanya: female, 35-45, a former singer in the “Dynamos.” Rich, sophisticated, acerbic, funny, and witty. Rosie: 35-45, also a former singer in the “Dynamos” who now writes for and runs a feminist press. She’s confident, strong, and funny on the outside but shy underneath. Kooky and fun, good comic actress, bit of a clown. Actress who sings. Sam: male, 35-45, may be Sophie’s father. Left Donna 20 years ago because he was engaged to another woman. Charming, successful architect. Actor who sings; baritone.

Harry: male, 35-45, may be Sophie’s father. British financier, weathy, buttoned-up, and conservative but trying to reconnect with his freer, youthful self. Must do a very convincing English accent. Also an actor who sings. High baritone, tenor. Bill: male, 35-45, may be Sophie’s father. A travel writer with no possessions or strings. Goodnatured, always ready for adventure.

Funny, preferably a big or imposing man. Sky: male, 18-29, Sophie’s fiance; athletic, attractive – has given up his life as a successful young businessman in order to make over Donna’s tavern and marry Sophie. Featured Ensemble role.

Lisa: female, 18-25, Sophie’s friend who arrives to be a bridesmaid. Very energetic and kooky. Should sing and dance well. Featured Ensemble role. Ali: female, 18-25, Sophie’s friend. Impulsive and fun. Should contrast to Lisa and Sophie. Should sing and dance well.

Featured Ensemble role. Pepper: female, 18-29, Sky’s friend. Helps run the hotel. Charming, loves women, always flirting. Must be a good mover/ dancer. Acrobatic skills a plus. Baritone/ tenor. Featured Ensemble role. Eddie: male, 18-29, another friend of Sky and hotel worker. Laid-back, easygoing.

Also a mover/dancer role. Baritone/ tenor. Featured Ensemble role.

• Seeking submissions from SC. • For consideration, upload a video audi-

tion to Vimeo and include a link for viewing in your submission. YouTube links will also be accepted. Send submissions to casting@artshhi.com. Sides will be available on www.artshhi.com/ auditions. Submissions deadline is Apr. 16.

• For more info visit, www.artshhi.com.

• The Arts Center of Coastal Carolina

does not believe in discrimination

29

based on race, color, creed, gender, national origin, veteran status, sexual orientation, age, or disability.

• Equity’s contracts prohibit discrimina-

tion. Equity encourages performers of all ethnicities, gender identities, and ages, as well as performers with disabilities, to attend submit.

• Pays $562/wk. Equity SPT 7 Contract.

‘Songs for a New World’

• Seeking video submissions from Equity

members for “Songs for a New World.”

• Company: North Carolina Theatre.

Staff: Jason Robert Brown, music & lyrics; Eric Woodall, prod. artistic dir.-dir.; Lauren Juengel, prod. mgr.; Edward G. Robinson, music dir.; Jose Rondon, Jr., choreo.; Eric Woodall, CSA, casting dir.

• Rehearsals begin July 12, 2021 in-per-

son inside of Kennedy Rehearsal Space at Duke Energy Center For the Performing Arts, pending Equity final approval.; runs July 27-Aug. 1 in-person inside Raleigh Memorial Auditorium in Duke Energy Center For the Performing Arts, pending Equity final approval.

Note: Complying with all COVID guidelines, restrictions and regulations from the State of North Carolina and Actors’ Equity Association.

• Seeking—Man 1: male, 20-39, Black /

African Descent, male-identifying; vocal range: D-High C. Audition material for Man 1 is located via link. Man 2: male, 30-49, all ethnicities, male-identifying; vocal range: Low F-High Ab. Audition material for Man 2 is located via link. Woman 1: female, 20-39, all ethnicities, female-identifying; vocal range: Low G- High F. Audition material for Woman 1 is located via link.

Woman 2: female, 30-49, all ethnicities, female-identifying; vocal range: Low F- High F. Audition material for Woman 2 is located via link. Male Standby: male, 20-39, Black / African Descent, male-identifying to understudy Man 1 and Man 2; vocal range: Low F-High C. Use audition material for Man 1, which is located via link.

Female Standby: female, 20-39, all ethnicities, female-identifying to understudy Woman 1 and Woman 2; vocal range: Low F-High F. Use audition material for Woman 1, which is located via link.

• Seeking submissions from NC. • For consideration, submit a prepared

video of you singing one of the provided musical clips provided at https:// www.dropbox.com/sh/lmtumlyhxj7w9l0/ AADSLeteaLHsot0csTIAGxt5a?dl=0.

Slate your name on the video. Submit the downloadable link to auditions@ NCTheatre.com with “AEA Submission Your Last Name” in the subject line.

Submissions deadline is Apr. 14.

• Pays $824/wk. Equity LOA ref. COST

Contract.

Chorus Calls ‘Mamma Mia’

• Seeking video submissions from Equity

actors for the ensemble for “Mamma Mia.”

04.15.21 BACKSTAGE

casting National/Regional • Company: Arts Center of Coastal

Carolina. Staff: Catherine Johnson, book; Benny Andersson & Bjorn Ulvaeus, music & lyrics; Casey Colgan, dir.; Bradley Vieth, musical dir.; Alec Varcas, choreo.; Richard Feldman, general mgr.

• Rehearsals begin June 1; runs June

22-Aug. 22 (performances TuesdaySaturday at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday at 2 p.m.). Note: All rehearsals and performances are in-person pending Equity Safety approval. All auditions will be online video submissions. Due to COVID19, we are not holding any in-person auditions at this time.

• Seeking—Ensemble: 20-49, all ethnici-

ties, quirky and offbeat; male and female actors who sing (with a rock sound) and move well. youthful, sexy, athletic performers. All ethnicities encouraged to submit for this audition.

All roles are open. Actors must be able to have great acting, vocal and movement abilities. Ensemble actors will understudy lead roles.

• Seeking submissions from SC. • For consideration, visit www.artshhi.

com/auditions to prepare for and submit audition. Upload your video audition to Vimeo and include a link for viewing in your email submission. YouTube links are also acceptable. Singers: Prepare song for Ali (female) or Pepper (male).

Dancers: prepare dance combination.

Wear form fitting attire. Men, shorts and tank top; women, two piece dancing clothing and heels.

• For more info visit, www.artshhi.com.

• The Arts Center of Coastal Carolina

does not believe in discrimination based on race, color, creed, gender, national origin, veteran status, sexual orientation, age, or disability.

• Equity’s contracts prohibit discrimina-

tion. Equity is committed to diversity and encourages all its employers to engage in a policy of equal employment opportunity designed to promote a positive model of inclusion. As such, Equity encourages performers of all ethnicities, gender identities, and ages, as well as performers with disabilities, to attend submit.

• Pays $562/wk. Equity SPT 7 Contract.

Feature Films ‘Simón’

• Casting Venezuelan Miami locals for a

role in “Simón,” a SAG Ultra-low budget feature film. Logline: After facing the wicked force of the oppressive dictatorship in Venezuela, broken freedom fighter Simón manages to flee the country to Miami, FL where he struggles to obtain asylum to prevent being deported to the criminal authorities back home.

• Company: Lauren Herrel Casting. Staff:

Diego Vicentini, dir.; Marcel Rasquin, Jorge Antonio Gonzalez, prods.; Lauren Herrel, casting dir.

• Shoots Apr. 21, 25, and 29 (three days)

dent opposition team in Venezuela.

Passionate, he participates in the protests and in the tough conversations about what’s going on in their country.

He’s a fighter, strong willed.

short film about a street performer in downtown Boston.

• Shoot Apr. 22 or 23 (time TBD) in Dallas,

• Company: Redlist. Staff: Raquel Tadeo,

dir.; Mallika Walavalkar, prod.

• Shoots May 5, 2021 in Quincy Market,

Downtown Boston, MA.

Miami locals only. Must be Venezuelan actor. We will not be able to use you if you are not from Venezuela. This is very important. Must be available for all three dates.

• Seeking—Little Boy: male, 5-10, all eth-

nicities, (age 5-10); playful and curious; can be of any race or ethnicity, but must look young. Parent: all genders, 25-40, all ethnicities, age 25-40; down to earth, ordinary parent of a small child; can be of any race or ethnicity; any gender. Drummer: male, 30-45, Black / African Descent, age 30-40; lonely, quiet, kind. Looking for social connections; male, Black; tall, well built; experience with drumming is a plus.

• For consideration, specify in your

submission that you match the above.

This is an important story that needs specifically a Venezuelan actor. Use the sides provided to submit a selftape audition.

• Pays $206/day. SAG-AFTRA Ultra Low

Budget Agreement. Note: We will not be flying/traveling in or providing accommodations for this role and due to Covid we are not able to have anyone come in from another state.

• Seeking submissions from MA. • Send submissions to raquelta@bu.edu.

• Note your availability for early May.

Actors must be able to obtain a negative COVID-19 test result before shooting starts.

• No pay.

Short Films

Scripted TV & Video

‘Fifth Wheel’

• Casting “Fifth Wheel,” a short film

about a young man having to deal with his father’s business and his father’s illness.

BuzzFeed: Disney Princess Spoof

• Company: Viewfinder Productions.

Staff: Dandre Ballard, dir.

• Casting actresses to play Disney prin-

• Shoot dates TBD in Dallas, TX in the

Duncanville and Oak Cliff area.

• Seeking—Pop: 50-70, Black / African

Descent, the owner of a transportation business; his health is declining and is depending on his son to take over and do the heavy lifting. Wallace: 20-35, Black / African Descent, a young man working for his father and knows some, but not all about a business that he has to help his ill father run. Percy: male, 40-50, Asian, Black / African Descent, Indigenous Peoples, Latino / Hispanic, Middle Eastern, South Asian / Indian, Southeast Asian / Pacific Islander, White / European Descent, a truck driver that works for Wallace’s father. Carl: male, 40-51, Asian, Black / African Descent, Latino / Hispanic, a potential driver that might work for Wallace’s father. Mike: male, 23-66, Asian, Black / African Descent, Ethnically Ambiguous / Multiracial, Indigenous Peoples, Latino / Hispanic, potential driver.

Gina: female, 18-30, Black / African Descent, Wallace’s girlfriend; she is there for him but at the same time mad because they don’t get to spend a lot of time together. Riley: female, 18-30, Asian, Black / African Descent, Ethnically Ambiguous / Multiracial, Indigenous Peoples, Latino / Hispanic, Middle Eastern, a lesbian truck driver.

She is looking for a job. A potential driver. Momma: female, 50-67, Black / African Descent, Mother to Wallace.

Former wife to Pops.

in Miami, FL.

Note: Must be Venezuelan man living in Miami. Vocal member of Simón’s stu-

• Submit headshot/photo.

• Pay TBD.

BACKSTAGE 04.15.21

• Company: Pence Media. Staff: Paulette

• Casting “The Lonely Drummer,” a mini

• Seeking submissions from FL. • Apply via Backstage.com • Note: Specifically seeking Venezuelan

• Seeking submissions from TX. • Send submissions to dandreemail@

• Seeking—Antonio: 20-29, Venezuelan.

‘The Lonely Drummer’

gmail.com.

cesses in a Disney spoof sketch.

Looking for actresses to play the following characters: Tinkerbell, Cinderella, Aurora, Alice, and Rapunzel.

• Company: BuzzFeed. Staff: A. Pitts,

casting.

• Shoots remotely.

• Seeking—Disney Princess: female, 18+,

White / European Descent.

• Seeking submissions nationwide.

• Apply on Backstage.com • If you would like to be considered for

this casting, you must completed the mandatory casting application.

• Paid, nonunion.

BuzzFeed: Moana Spoof

Hopkins, production mgr.

TX.

• Seeking—Husband: male, 34-50, Asian,

Black / African Descent, Ethnically Ambiguous / Multiracial, Indigenous Peoples, Latino / Hispanic, South Asian / Indian, Southeast Asian / Pacific Islander, White / European Descent.

Wife: female, 30-49, Asian, Black / African Descent, Ethnically Ambiguous / Multiracial, Indigenous Peoples, Latino / Hispanic, South Asian / Indian, Southeast Asian / Pacific Islander, White / European Descent.

• Seeking submissions from TX. • Send submissions to Erin@pencemedia.

com.

• For consideration, upload your audition

video to https://www.dropbox.com/ request/YE9yaHQKwRhOIxsrfGTX and include your name, agency, role you are auditioning for, phone number, and a read of the material.

• Pays $300.

Online Commercials & Promos Healthy Hair Product Shoot • Casting women and men with long,

curly hair (red or blonde) for a healthy hair product shoot.

• Staff: E. Kennedy, coord.

• Shoots either remotely or at a studio in

L.A., depending on location of talent.

• Seeking—Person with Long, Naturally

Curly Hair: 18-45, Ethnically Ambiguous / Multiracial, White / European Descent, attractive people who have long, naturally curly hair to demonstrate hair products and talk about managing their curly hair.

• Seeking submissions nationwide.

• Apply on Backstage.com.

• Pays $125-$150 flat depending on the

requirements of the shoot.

• Company: BuzzFeed. Staff: A. Pitts,

Household Products Commercial, Real Same Sex Couples

• Shoot remotely.

• Seeking—Moana: female, 18+,

onstrate household products for a big name household brand.

• Casting Polynesian actresses to play

Moana in a Disney spoof sketch. casting.

Southeast Asian / Pacific Islander.

• Seeking submissions nationwide.

• Apply on Backstage.com • If you would like to be considered for

this casting, you must completed the mandatory casting application.

• Paid, nonunion.

• Casting a real same sex couple to dem-

• Company: TubeScience. Staff: Anna

Sweeney, casting.

• Dates are TBD but on going shoots are

flexible.

• Seeking—Real Same Sex Couple: all

genders, 25-35, all ethnicities.

• Seeking submissions nationwide.

• Send submissions to casting@tube-

science.com.

Local Commercials ‘Ignore It’

• Casting nonspeaking roles in “Ignore

It,” a commercial for a home services company that will run 12-24 months in the Minneapolis/St. Paul, MN area.

30

• Pays $125 flat per person; nonunion.

Paid Social Ad for Backstage: “Reactions” • Casting a paid social ad for Backstage

that will feature multiple actors (individuals) reacting to getting cast with Backstage! Note: We will shoot this project in a studio environment in the greater Seattle area. This will be just under a two-hour gig on location for backstage.com

National/Regional casting

each talent. Will require reading through multiple lines of script. Talent to provide their own attire. Covid-19 guidelines will be followed during the shoot. Seeking to fill the following roles/ demographics below. Script Lines (submit a video audion for this role).

• Company: Grow With Bamboo. Staff:

Stavro Victor, content producer remote; Jake Fordyce, content producer on location.

• Studio shoot Apr. 20 or 27 in the

greater Seattle, WA area.

• Seeking—Kid Up To 11 Years Old - Boy

Or Girl: all genders, 7-12, all ethnicities, seeking a child and their parent (mom) to be cast together for this role, feel free to apply separately for this and the Mom role. Female (Mother of Kid) 28-45 Years Old: female, 28-45, all ethnicities. Male/ Female 18-25 Years Old: all genders, 18-26. Male/ Female 40+ Years Old: all genders, 39-87, all ethnicities.

• Seeking submissions from WA. • Apply on Backstage.com.

• Script Lines (submit a video audition for

this role.).

• Final pay $200/ for 2hr hour shoot and

media/video use in perpetuity.

Self-Taped Content, Creators • Seeking talent/creators who own and

know how to manipulate camera, lights and sound equipment and have general knowledge about visual/audiovisual/ film to generate high quality self-taped content for prestigious brands.

• Company: READY SET. Staff: A S, cast-

ing dir.

• Talent works from home.

• Seeking—Professional Creator

(Woman): female, 18-65, all ethnicities, creators who own and know how to manipulate professional camera, sound and lightning equipment and have a general knowledge of cinematography to generate high quality self taped content. Professional Creator (Man): male, 18-65, all ethnicities, looking for creators who own and know how to manipulate professional camera, sound and lightning equipment and have a general knowledge of cinematography to generate high quality self taped content.

• Seeking submissions nationwide.

• Send submissions to cast.me@ready-

set.co.

• Talent will need to see your experience

and know about your equipment.

• Make sure that the reel of your work as

a content creator (not as a talent) is linked on your profile as well as your artistic reel. Also detail the equipment you currently have or plan to get for this project.

• Pay TBD. Depending on script, perfor-

mance and technical equipment.

Shaving Testimonials + UK/ NZ/AUS Accents

• Casting men for shaving testimonials.

Production states: “This is an ongoing casting. We shoot these projects weekly in our studio in Downtown Los Angeles or these testimonials can also be shot as a director assisted remote.

All you need is a smart phone and a bathroom. We are looking for all types of men, especially me with British, backstage.com

Australian, and New Zealand accents.”

Manager for the Headwaters New Play Festival (digital only). Season includes “An Iliad” (Lisa Peterson and Denis O’hare, writers); Ken Ludwig’s “Dear Jack, Dear Louise” and “Red Riding Hood” (Allison Gregory).

• Company: TubeScience. Staff: Sarah

Furlong, casting prod.

• This is an on going project. Shoots

weekly.

• Seeking—Man Willing to Shave for In

Studio or Remote Testimonial: male, 21-45, all ethnicities, looking for handsome men who are willing to shave on camera. Must be willing to shave something on your body. It could be your neck, your head, your beard, your chest, or at least be willing to clean up your beard. Don’t apply if you don’t grow facial hair.

• Company: Creede Repertory Theatre.

Staff: John DiAntonio, prod. artistic dir.; Jacob Bannerman, dir. of prod.

• Summer Season (all shows, in person

work, rotating repertory): SM Prep begins May 24; rehearsals (all shows) begin May 31; tech begins June 21; runs June 25-Sept. 4. Headquarters New Play Festival (digital only) SM prep begins Aug. 19; rehearsals begin Aug. 23; runs Aug. 27-28. Note: Members who perform in-person work will be required to: Adhere to CRT’s COVID-19 Health and Safety Protocols, a copy of which will be provided at time of offer, which are subject to change/update as required by government mandates and/or Equity requirements; to complete a 14 day quarantine prior to in-person work; Complete COVID-19 testing prior to inperson work and weekly throughout the contract, as required by Equity.

Testing will be at the sole expense of CRT.

• Seeking submissions nationwide.

• Apply on Backstage.com.

• Pays $150-$200. Non union, all media

buyout.

Commercials (Voiceover) Hershey Product, SAG/ AFTRA Male 30s-40s Comedic VO

• Casting SAG-AFTRA male comedy voice

• Seeking—Stage Manager: 18+.

• Seeking submissions from CO. • For consideration, submit resume and

talent in their 30s-40s for a Hershey product promo. Note: Must have home recording setup.

cover letter via https://podio.com/webforms/26027787/1952360. Submissions deadline is May 1. CRT strongly encourages stage managers from marginalized communities to submit.

• Company: The Hershey Company. Staff:

Josh Perilo, mgr. in-house digital creative.

• Records remotely from home. Must

have professional home recording setup.

• Pays $719/wk. Equity LOA ref. LORT D

Contract.

• Seeking—Male 30s-40s with Comic

Milwaukee Repertory Theater 2021-22 Season, Stage Manager

Timing: male, 30-50.

• Seeking submissions nationwide.

• Apply on Backstage.com.

• Pays $535.40. Online TBD.

• Seeking submissions for future consid-

eration for stage management positions. All Equity stage managers have been engaged for our 2021-22 season.

Season includes “Dad’s Season Tickets”(Stackner Cabaret; Matt Zembrowski, writer; Ryan Quinn, dir.

Rehearsals begin Oct. 5; tech begins Oct. 26; runs Oct. 29, 2021-Jan. 2, 2021; no performance Nov. 25, Dec. 24-25 or Jan. 1); “Steel Magnolias” (Quadracci Powerhouse Theater; Robert Harling, writer; directed by Laura Braza, dir.

Rehearsals begin Oct. 12; tech begins Nov. 3; runs Nov. 9-Dec. 5 (no show Nov. 25; extra matinees Nov. 11 and Dec. 1); “A Christmas Carol” (Pabst Theater; Charles Dickens, source material, Mark Clements, adaption-dir. Rehearsals begin Nov. 2; tech begins Nov. 23; runs Nov. 30-Dec. 24; no rehearsal Nov. 25, extras matinees Dec. 1, Dec. 7, Dec. 15); “Toni Stone” (Quadracci Powerhouse Theater; Lydia Diamond, writer; Tinashe Kajese-Bolden, dir.; Ameenah Kaplan, choreo. Rehearsals begin Dec. 7 (no rehearsal Dec. 25 & Jan. 1); tech begins Dec. 28; runs Jan. 4-30, 2022 (extra matinee Jan. 26); “My Way” (Stackner Cabaret; Todd Olsen and David Grapes, wrtiers; Kelley Faulkner, dir. Rehearsals begin Feb. 8, 2022; tech begin Mar. 1; runs Mar. 4-May 1, 2022); and “As You Like It” (Quadracci Powerhouse Theater; Daryl Cloran, adaptation-dir.

Rehearsals begin Feb. 1, 2022; tech begins 9, 2022; runs Feb. 15-Mar. 20

Print & Digital Modeling EyeBuyDirect Summer Ad

• Casting summer ads for the hottest

new styles from EyeBuyDirect.

• Company: South James. Staff: Colin

Olsen, prod.

• Shoots one day between Apr. 28-30 in

Las Vegas, NV.

• Seeking—Male Model: male, 18-35, all

ethnicities. Female Model: male, 18-35, all ethnicities.

• Seeking submissions from NV. • Apply on Backstage.com • For consideration, submit a photo of

you in glasses if available.

• Pay provided.

Stage Staff & Tech Creede Repertory Theatre 2021 Season, Stage Manager • Seeking one Equity Stage Manager for

the 2021 outdoor summer season (in person work) and one Equity Stage

31

(extra matinees Mar. 2 and Mar. 16).

• Company: Milwaukee Repertory

Theater. Staff: Laura Braza, artistic prod.

• Season rehearses and performs in

Milwaukee, WI.

• Seeking—Stage Manager: 18+.

• Seeking submissions from WI. • For future consideration, submit

resume to Kimberly Carolus, Production Stage Manager at kcarolus@milwaukeerep.com. Submissions deadline is Apr. 21.

• Equity LORT Non-Rep Contract. Pays

$1685/wk. (“A Christmas Carol”); $1156/ wk. (“Steel Magnolias” & “Toni Stone”); $1202/wk. (“As You Like It,” Titanic”; “Murder on the Orient Express”); $884/ wk. “Dad’s Season Tickets”); and $911 (all other shows).

Festivals & Events TRU 2021 NYC Combined Virtual Audition Event

• Seeking actors of all types, ages, and

ethnicities for the annual TRU Audition Event, which will be attended by more than 50 NY area (and beyond) Equity and non-Equity producing companies, directors, and producers, and other individuals, including casting directors and agents. Casting will be for both current virtual productions and presentations as well as anticipated live productions.

• TRU notes that this is an opportunity to

“be seen by over 60 people and companies that need you, in one audition.”.

• Company: Theater Resources Unlimited

(TRU). Staff: Bob Ost, exec. dir.; Stephanie Pope Lofgren, actor coord.; Jay Chacon, administrative assistant.

• Event runs remotely (11 a.m.-6 p.m. EST)

on the weekend of May 22-23.

• Note: Musical auditions will be Sunday,

May 23, non-musical/dramatic on Saturday May 22. Limited non-musical slots will also be available on Sunday morning at 11 a.m.

• Seeking—Actors: 5+, all ages and all

types.

• Seeking submissions nationwide.

• You will be given two minutes to per-

form two monologues or a monologue and a song.

• The first 80 applicants will be automati-

cally accepted; after that priority is given to TRU members and Equity members, and others will be notified of acceptance after the May 12 deadline.

• For more info and an application

packet, visit https://truonline.org/ events/nyc-audition-weekend-2021/

• For questions, email TRUActors@gmail.

com.

• The registration fee is $60 ($45 for

AEA) if you register before May 1 (postmark); the fee is $95 ($80 for AEA) if you register after May 1. There is an additional early bird discount of $10 with code BS-10 before May 1. Submissions close May 12.

• The pay situations and Equity/non-

Equity contracts will vary depending upon the productions that are casting.

04.15.21 BACKSTAGE

Ask An Expert Agents Auditions Film Headshots Television Theater Unions Voiceover

Q:

Does your agent have to live in the same state as you?

—@it.z.fern

Our Expert Cathryn Hartt is an acting coach.

*Submit questions for our Experts on Backstage’s Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter accounts, or via our forums page at backstage.com/forums!

The views expressed in this article are solely that of the individual(s) providing them, and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of Backstage or its staff.

BACKSTAGE 04.15.21

32

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ILLUSTRATION: MARGARET RULING/SHUTTERSTOCK.COM; HARTT: COURTESY CATHRYN HARTT

If you live in a large acting market, you need to have an agent in that area. They need to be working full time with local casting agents and networks.

If you live near several regional markets, most agents these days get the same breakdowns and can take care of most of the other markets that it would be feasible for you to work in. Therefore, you might be fine with one agent.

It is sometimes acceptable to have multiple agents for different regions. For example, if you live in Dallas, you might also have an Atlanta agent. However, your Dallas agent could submit you for something filming in Georgia, and vice versa. A lot of those auditions are for small roles that they will book right off of your first tape. Your agent will let you know if they want you to be a local hire (a resident of the area where they’re filming) or if they will pay for your travel and per diem. Some actors even choose to travel on their own dime so that the production doesn’t have to pay for them.

If you have different agents in different regions, they should know about each other so that they can negotiate how auditions will be divided. Don’t try to get an agent in a market that you’re not willing to go to in person.

Those actors who live in areas far from any acting markets should not sign up with an online agent. Agents need to be in the city they serve. They work hard to network and have a familiarity with their regional contacts.

You’ll need to be willing to drive to the nearest city with an acting market for auditions. Fortunately, most first auditions outside of Los Angeles these days are self-tapes. When it comes to callbacks and shooting, however, it will be up to you to get there. I have students who drive hundreds of miles for auditions, classes, and shooting.

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