Auditions for Laramie Project: 10 Years Later
New Tampa Players and director G. Frank Meekins are seeking a diverse cast for our fall production of Laramie Project; 10 Years Later.
Auditions:
Tuesday, September 7th and Thursday, September 9th at 7PM @ Uptown Stage at the University Mall
Directions to Uptown Stage:
The University Mall is located at 2200 East Fowler Ave., Tampa, FL 33612. Once you arrive at the University Mall, park on Fletcher side of the Mall near Burlington Coat Factory. Walk towards Burlington Coat Factory and follow the sidewalk to the left. The sidewalk will go around the building between the Mall and the new apartments construction site. Continue down the sidewalk. Uptown Stage’s backdoor is number 6620 has a red stage star on it. Ring the doorbell on the left of doorframe. If you get lost, please call 443-850-8997.
Auditions Material:
Please prepare a one minute monologue for this audition. We will also do cold readings from the script.
Schedule:
Please come prepare to list all rehearsal conflicts between September 10th and October 24th. Rehearsals will begin on September 13th and will be on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday evenings. A cast conflict calendar will be made once the show has been cast and rehearsal calendar will be created based on cast conflicts.
Important Dates:
Technical Rehearsal: Sunday, October 10th at 2-8PM
Dress Rehearsals: Monday, October 11th at 6:30 PM, Tuesday, October 12th at 6:30 PM, Wednesday, October 13th at 6:30 PM, and Thursday, October 14th at 6:30 PM
Performance Dates:
Friday, October 15th at 7:30 PM
Saturday, October 16th at 7:30 PM
Sunday, October 17th at 3:00 PM
Saturday, October 22nd at 3:00 PM
Saturday, October 23rd at 7:30 PM
Sunday, October 24th at 3:00 PM
COVID-19 Protocols:
For auditions, all cast, crew, and auditionees will wear masks and socially distance as much as possible.
SHOW SYNOPSIS:
In 2008, the Tectonic team returned to Laramie to explore the long-term effects of the 1998 murder of Matthew Shepard on the town, expecting to write a short epilogue to The Laramie Project. The depth of what they encountered warranted a full-length play in itself. They visited with many of the people they met in 1998-99, and interviewed new people as well, including the two men convicted of the crime and the victim’s mother, Judy Shepard. Ten years later, we find people who have moved on with their lives in spite of the murder, people whose lives have taken different directions because of the murder, and an insidious level of historical revision (based on a toxic mixture of denial, resentment and media misinformation) about the cause of the murder. The widespread – mercifully not universal – willingness to forget what they knew in 1998, to discard factual evidence and accept a new narrative that exonerates their societal guilt and blames the victim, is a chilling, but essential lesson for America today.
The Laramie Project: Ten Years Later is the second of a two-play cycle, and is the sequel to The Laramie Project. There is an emerging trend in theaters to produce both plays in repertory, which reflects a powerful response to a world where facts are plastic, where acceptance is despised. To witness Laramie in the rawness of its shaken self-confidence and the desperation of its historical reconstruction, is to be warned. Hate did happen there. Hate can happen anywhere. We must guard against it. When it happens, we must not deny, or forget, or revise. The people of Laramie are our teachers.
Character Breakdown:
Director G. Frank Meekins is looking for a diverse ensemble cast of 8 to portray over 40 characters in Laramie Project: 10 Years Later.
Characters Include:
Aaron McKinney: convicted murderer of Matthew Shepard
Andy Paris: Member, Tectonic Theatre Project
Ben: Laramie resident, guest at dinner party
Beth Loffreda: Professor, university of Wyoming , author of the book Losing Matt shepard
Catherine Connelly: Professor, university of Wyoming
Chairman Childers: conservative Representative in Wyoming legislature
Clerk in Wyoming legislature
Cowboy at health clinicCurrent students at university of Wyoming campusdave O’Malley: Retired Laramie police officer, lead investigator on the Matthew shepard case for Laramie Police departmentdeb Thomsen: Editor of the Laramie Boomerang, local Laramie newspaperdennis shepard: Father of Matthew shepard
Father Roger schmit: catholic priest at the catholic newman center in Laramie at the time of Matthew shepard’s murder
Gene Pratt: Russell Henderson’s Mormon home teacher
George: Laramie resident, guest at dinner party
Glen silber: Producer, 20/20
Governor dave Freudenthal: Governor of Wyoming
Greg Pierotti: Member, Tectonic Theater Project
Jan Lundhurst: Laramie resident
Jedediah shultz: Laramie native, character in the original play; university theater student now living in nYc and pursuing an acting career
Jeffrey Lockwood: Laramie resident
Jerry Parkinson: dean of the Law school, university of Wyoming, advocate for domestic partner benefits
Jim Osborne: Friend of Matthew shepard, Laramie resident
Jim: Laramie resident, guest at dinner party
John dorst: Professor, university of Wyoming, folklorist and Laramie resident
Jon Peacock: Matthew shepard’s former academic advisor
Jonas slonaker: Openly gay Laramie resident
Judy shepard: Mother of Matthew shepard
Leigh Fondakowski: Member, Tectonic Theater Project
Lucy Thompson: Grandmother of con-victed murderer Russell Henderson
Marge Murray: Mother of police officer Reggie Fluty
Matt Michelson: Former owner of the Fireside Bar
Moisés Kaufman: Artistic director, Tectonic Theater Project
Narrator
Other representatives of Wyoming legislature
Peterson: Republican Representative in Wyoming legislature
Rebecca Hilliker: Theatre professor, university of Wyoming
Reggie Fluty: Police officer who found Matthew shepard at the fence
Rental car agent in Laramie
Rob DeBree: Albany county sheriff’s department, investigator on the Matthew Shepard case
Romaine Patterson: Friend of Matthew Shepard, gay activist
Russell Henderson: convicted murderer of Matthew Shepard
Shoppers at a strip mall in Laramie
Stephen Belber: Member, Tectonic Theater Project
Susan Swapp: Laramie resident
University official
Zackie Salmon: Laramie resident and advocate for domestic-partner benefits at university of Wyoming
