Announcing open auditions for:

Casa Valentina
By Harvey Fierstein
Directed by Marla Bronstein
March 24 – April 9, 2023
Auditions: 1/29/23 – 1/30/23

Casa Valentina, by Harvey Fierstein, is a story that takes place over 14 hours in June of 1962, when most men went to the Catskills, the land of dirty dancing and Borscht Belt comedy, to escape the summer heat, but others took the two-hour drive to escape something else entirely: being men. CASA VALENTINA tells the story of the residents and guests of the Chevalier d’Eon. Based on real events and infused with Fierstein’s trademark wit, this moving, insightful, and delightfully entertaining work offers a glimpse into the lives of a group of “self-made women” as they search for acceptance and happiness in their very own Garden of Eden. It was paradise for these men, white-collar professionals who would discreetly escape their families to spend their weekends safely inhabiting their chosen female alter-egos. But when faced with the opportunity to become an official organization, to share their secret lives with the world, these “self-made women” had to decide whether public recognition would help them gain a place in open society or spell their own personal disaster and worth the risk of personal ruin.

We require seven males and two females. Please note that all male characters will be in drag for most of, if not the entirety of the show. Please also note that this show is set in 1962, and the primary aim of the characters is the ability to pass as females without notice. Think drag more along the lines of Donna Reed than RuPaul.

Roles:
George/Valentina: Male, 40-49
Married to Rita. Runs Casa Valentina. An insurance salesman type as a man, strong and poised as a woman; the center of the group; stable and comfortable within the life he’s created for himself, but rattled by the encroaching forces which threaten it. Appears in and out of drag.

The Judge/Amy: Male, 60-69
A regular at Casa Valentina; large and imposing as a man, and a clunky sort of Tug-boat Annie woman; older and more repressed than most of the others. Appears in and out of drag.

Charlotte/Isadore: Male, 50-59
The ultimate WASP, a buttoned-down strict disciplinarian; a school marm. Not your favorite aunt; an activist and a snake; opinionated and manipulative; appears in drag only.

Jonathan/Miranda: Male, 20-29
Making his first visit to Casa Valentina, masculine, shy, and bookish; the youngest of the group; a teacher, overly polite and cautious, excited, but frightened and insecure; has never worn women’s clothing in public before (appears in and out of drag). masculine, shy, and bookish. Overly polite and cautious as a male and ebullient as a female. Appears in and out of drag and in underwear.

Albert/Bessie: Male, 40s-59
Chubby; Willie Loman by day, Ethel Mertz at night, fixture at Casa Valentina; quick-witted and friendly, unaffectedly feminine; appears in drag only.

Michael/Gloria: Male, 20-29
A regular at Casa Valentina, very handsome and sexually charged chap who is accustomed to compliments whether dressed as a male or female; the most modern and sexual of the group; appears in drag only.

Theodore/Terry: Male. Playing age 60s to 80s. Sweet and gentle and slightly silly, like a favorite old auntie but there’s a hard-won integrity and sense of self underneath; appears in drag only.

Rita: Female, 40-49
Married to George; co-owns and operates Casa Valentina; on the outside, she’s a classy lady who owns a wig shop on 5th Avenue but underneath, she’s a resigned, determined, but worn earth mother; her love of the girls barely covers an inner sadness.

Eleanor: Female, Playing age 30s to 50s. The Judge’s daughter. Brittle, cold, and damaged.

The Royal Society of Antarctica
By Mat Smart
Directed by Sean Walbeck
January 27 - February 12, 2023
Auditions: 12/4/22 – 12/6/22

Produced by special arrangement with Dramatic Publishing

“An immensely touching, quirky, tragicomic surprise.” —Chicago Sun-Times

A young woman seeking to understand her mother’s disappearance joins the ranks of a ragtag group of misfits and scientists who serve at McMurdo Station in Antarctica. Amidst janitorial duties, never-ending daylight and subzero temperatures, this lonely and rugged bunch finds an escape from the world and a home for one another. A striking and luminous story about why we run away and what happens when we finally come face to face with what we’ve been running away from.

The Royal Society of Antarctica
By Mat Smart
Directed by Sean Walbeck
January 27 - February 12, 2023
Auditions: 12/4/22 – 12/6/22

Produced by special arrangement with Dramatic Publishing

“An immensely touching, quirky, tragicomic surprise.” —Chicago Sun-Times

A young woman seeking to understand her mother’s disappearance joins the ranks of a ragtag group of misfits and scientists who serve at McMurdo Station in Antarctica. Amidst janitorial duties, never-ending daylight and subzero temperatures, this lonely and rugged bunch finds an escape from the world and a home for one another. A striking and luminous story about why we run away and what happens when we finally come face to face with what we’ve been running away from.

LEND US YOUR EARS, the reading series at the Bellingham Theatre Guild, continues this season with Twilight Bowl, Rebecca Gilman’s penetrating exploration of young women’s contemporary existence set in a Midwest bowling alley, on February 4, 2022, at 2:00 pm.

The Pay-What-You-Will performance, directed by Dee Dee O’Connor, follows the personal journeys of women just out of high school progressing awkwardly into the harsh and subtle realities of their world over the next two years of young adulthood, testing the boundaries and consequences of the law, and the fragile nature of friendship, and future prospects. Written by acclaimed playwright Rebecca Gilman, Twilight Bowl will be performed in this single reading by skilled local actors and contains adult languages and situations.

LEND US YOUR EARS (with the mission: Good Plays Read Well) produces matinee readings with local actors in front of the curtains, with general admission seating and the audience choosing what it wants to pay. No reservations necessary, and any questions can be directed to LUYE Artistic Director Sean Walbeck (sean@gigglewax.com, 360-647-9242).

Produced by special arrangement with THE DRAMATIC PUBLISHING COMPANY of Woodstock, Illinois.

The Bellingham Theatre Guild is a volunteer theater that has been serving the Whatcom County community since 1927. More information about BTG can be found at www.bellinghamtheatreguild.com.

The Royal Society of Antarctica
By Mat Smart
Directed by Sean Walbeck
January 27 - February 12, 2023
Auditions: 12/4/22 – 12/6/22

Produced by special arrangement with Dramatic Publishing

“An immensely touching, quirky, tragicomic surprise.” —Chicago Sun-Times

A young woman seeking to understand her mother’s disappearance joins the ranks of a ragtag group of misfits and scientists who serve at McMurdo Station in Antarctica. Amidst janitorial duties, never-ending daylight and subzero temperatures, this lonely and rugged bunch finds an escape from the world and a home for one another. A striking and luminous story about why we run away and what happens when we finally come face to face with what we’ve been running away from.

The Royal Society of Antarctica
By Mat Smart
Directed by Sean Walbeck
January 27 - February 12, 2023
Auditions: 12/4/22 – 12/6/22

Produced by special arrangement with Dramatic Publishing

“An immensely touching, quirky, tragicomic surprise.” —Chicago Sun-Times

A young woman seeking to understand her mother’s disappearance joins the ranks of a ragtag group of misfits and scientists who serve at McMurdo Station in Antarctica. Amidst janitorial duties, never-ending daylight and subzero temperatures, this lonely and rugged bunch finds an escape from the world and a home for one another. A striking and luminous story about why we run away and what happens when we finally come face to face with what we’ve been running away from.