Auditions

We would like to see either one or two monologues no more than ninety seconds each. If you will be doing two monologues, please make sure that they contrast in some way. 

If you sing, we would like to hear one verse and one chorus of a song, or, sixteen bars of a song. Occasionally we ask for additional, contrasting songs so we suggest you come prepared for that possibility. An accompanist will be provided. No recorded accompaniment or a cappella singing. You must bring your own sheet music with full piano accompaniment part – no lead sheets or vocal only sheet music. All music should be written in the key in which you plan to sing it. No on-site transposing.

Please bring two copies of your picture and resume. 

We encourage anyone interested in our Resident Company, Player Company, or any musical to attend the movement/dance auditions, even if you do not consider yourself to be a dancer. 

A movement/dance audition warm-up space will be open half an hour before the scheduled audition time on each day for warm-up and changing. Please be prepared to stay through the entire movement/dance audition time. Please wear shoes and clothing appropriate for a dance audition.

Teaching of the first dance combination will begin promptly at 12:30 pm on Sunday, and 1:00 pm on Monday.

The movement/dance auditions will be broken down into two levels: 

• Choreographed movement/dance: EVERYONE ATTENDING THE DANCE AUDITIONS WILL DO THIS COMBINATION after which we will ask the more experienced dancers to stay and learn a second combination
• Dance combination for dancers, including Actor/Singers who also consider themselves dancers. Only those requested to do the second combination will learn it.

If you are a dancer who plans to attend the movement/dance auditions but do not plan to attend the acting/singing auditions, that is OK, but please inform the audition monitor. 

Year-round, Resident Company Members: Most members of our resident company sing and move, at least at a minimal level, but it is not a requirement. For these auditions, we highly encourage you to sing and attend the movement auditions in addition to acting if you are interested in becoming a member of the resident company. Late 20s to 60s; Male and female; AEA and EMC candidates.

AEA & Non-AEA local and non-local jobbers: Various individual roles for a single show or single repertory.

AEA and Non-AEA actors for a series of six readings and staged productions during the Appalachian Festival of Plays and Playwrights.

The Barter Players: Non-AEA; College graduates or equivalent experience; Pay, insurance, and housing provided; Year-round; Brochures available. 

Apprentice Company:  Non-AEA; College undergraduates or equivalent experience; Class credit through your College or University; Summer only.

Possible replacements and understudies for the 2024 season.

AEA Actors will be given priority in scheduling requests for audition slots, and any AEA member who arrives for an audition without having signed up will be seen as soon as possible.

We will not be seeking any actors under 18 at this audition. For those interested in auditions for younger actors, please email casting@bartertheatre.com and ask to be put on the youth audition list to hear about all audition opportunities.

Barter Theatre believes that great stories belong to everyone. We welcome actors of all backgrounds, identities, ages, and ethnicities to audition. We encourage submissions from BIPOC actors for all roles. Please see our commitment to Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion here. 

If you are not available for the 2024 season, we prefer that you wait until our December 2024 auditions to be seen.  

We are seeking the roles that are listed below each title. The dates following each show are the dates of performance. Rehearsals begin 4-8 weeks prior to performances. Note: We are not seeing youth under 18 years old for these auditions. Youth auditions will be held another time. All of the following roles will be understudied.

HOME by Samm-Art Williams (Smith Theatre)

Dates: February 17, 2024 to March 17, 2024

SEEKING:

CEPHUS MILES – 40s, Black Southern farmer who moves to the North. Character is portrayed as a teenager, in his early twenties, age thirty-five, and age forty.
WOMAN ONE/PATTIE MAY WELLS – 30s-40s, Black Southern woman who is the girlfriend of Cephus Miles. Also portrays several characters with an age range from teens to forty.
WOMAN TWO – 30s-40s, Black female, portrays several characters ranging in age from teens to forty

RING OF FIRE: THE MUSIC OF JOHNNY CASH by Richard Maltby, Jr., conceived by William Meade (Gilliam Stage)

Dates: April 12, 2024 to May 11, 2024

SEEKING:

TRENNA – Female vocalist F#3-F#5, doubling on acoustic guitar if possible
JASON – Male vocalist D2-Ab4, playing acoustic guitar if possible
DAVID – Male vocalist E2-B4, playing electric guitar, banjo, and fiddle if possible
EDDIE – Male vocalist E2-F4, playing acoustic and electric guitar, if possible
MARK – Male vocalist E2-G4, playing bass (preferably double bass but electric can be used) and various percussion, if possible

THE WIZARD OF OZ by Frank L. Baum, Music & Lyrics by Harold Arlen and E.Y. Harburg (Gilliam Stage)

Dates: May 26, 2024 to August 18, 2024

SEEKING:

DOROTHY GALE – 18+ to play young girl, soprano, full of wonder and imagination
AUNT EM/GLINDA – 30s+ female, soprano/alto
MISS GULCH/WICKED WITCH – 30s+ female, wicked
UNCLE HENRY/EMERALD CITY GUARD – 30s+ male
PROFESSOR MARVEL/WIZARD OF OZ/ET AL – 40s+ male
HUNK/SCARECROW – 18+, strong dancer and singer
HICKORY/TIN MAN – 18+, strong dancer and singer
ZEKE/COWARDLY LION – 18+, strong dancer and singer
TWISTER/BABY/CROW/WINKIE/JITTERBUG/ET AL – 18+, strong dancer and singer to play multiple roles
TWISTER/BABY/CROW/WINKIE/JITTERBUG/ET AL – 18+, strong dancer and singer to play multiple roles
TWISTER/CITIZEN/JITTERBUG/ET AL – 18+, strong dancer and singer to play multiple roles
NANNY/SNOW/ET AL – 18+, strong dancer and singer to play multiple roles
NANNY/TREE/SNOW/ET AL – 18+, strong dancer and singer to play multiple roles
NANNY/SNOW/NIKKO/ET AL – 18+, strong dancer and singer to play multiple roles
TWISTER/CITY FATHER/SNOW KING/JITTERBUG/ET AL – 18+, strong dancer and singer to play multiple roles
MAYOR/STYLIST/WINKIE GENERAL/ET AL – 18+, strong mover and singer to play multiple roles
BARRISTER/TREE/SNOW/JITTERBUG/ET AL – 18+, strong mover and singer to play multiple roles
CORONER/TREE/JITTERBUG/ET AL – 18+, strong mover and singer to play multiple roles

CRY IT OUT by Molly Smith Metzler (Smith Theatre)

Dates: June 21, 2024 to August 17, 2024

SEEKING:

JESSIE – 30s female, recently relocated to Port from Manhattan to raise her family. Educated, articulate, lovely, and warm, but in private, bends towards anxiety. Worked 90-hour weeks in the city as a corporate lawyer until Allie was born; now she’s in yoga pants.
LINA – 20s-30s female from Long Beach, fun, funny, and refreshingly genuine. Works at St. Francis Hospital
MITCHELL – 30s-40s male, Adrienne’s husband, works in investment capital. A math nerd who is amazing with numbers, but not people. Serious, shrewd, and sensitive; becoming a father changed him.
ADRIENNE – 30s-40s female, Mitchell’s wife. Elegant, powerful, aloof, and slightly rock ‘n’ roll. Grew up in Central Park West, loyal and ferocious in both business and life

SHERLOCK HOLMES AND THE CASE OF THE JERSEY LILY by Katie Forgette (Gilliam Stage)

Dates: September 14, 2024 to November 8, 2024

SEEKING:

SHERLOCK HOLMES – 20s-40s, the infamous detective; cunning, brilliant, and eccentric.
WATSON/MAN 2 – 20s-40s, Sherlock’s right-hand-man
MRS. LILLIE LANGTRY – 30s-50s female, a grand dame of theater
OSCAR WILDE – 30s male, an influential playwright and socialite
MRS. IRMA TORY/MRS. MCGLYNN – 40s-50s female, searching for a way up in the world
JOHN SMYTHE/ABDUL KARIM/MAN 1 – 20s-30s male, Irma Tory’s relation / works for Her Majesty the Queen
PROFESSOR MORIARTY – 20s-40s, Sherlock’s nemesis

GO TELL IT ON THE MOUNTAIN by Catherine Bush, with vocal arrangements by Eugene Wolf (Smith Theatre)

Dates: November 13, 2024 to December 22, 2024

SEEKING:

MAN – any age, strong singer and storyteller
WOMAN – any age, strong singer and storyteller
GUITARIST – any age and gender identity, plays acoustic guitar throughout the play

AS YOU LIKE IT by William Shakespeare (Smith Theatre)

Dates: April 2, 2024 to April 24, 2024

SEEKING:

PHOEBE – 18+, a proud shepherdess
CELIA – 18+, Duke Frederick’s daughter and Rosalind’s cousin
ROSALIND – 18+, Duke Senior’s daughter
DUKE SENIOR/LEBEAU – 50s+, Duke Frederick’s older brother and Rosalind’s father
AUDREY/AMIENS – 18+, a country girl
FREDERICK/JACQUES – 30s+, Duke Senior’s younger brother and his usurper/a discontented, melancholic lord
SILVIUS/CHARLES – 18+, a shepherd/a wrestler
OLIVER – 18+, the eldest son and heir
TOUCHSTONE – 18+, a court fool
ORLANDO – 18+, the youngest son of Sir Rowland de Boys

GRANDMA GATEWOOD TOOK A WALK by Catherine Bush (Smith Theatre)

Dates: May 11, 2024 to June 2, 2024

SEEKING:

EMMA “GRANDMA” GATEWOOD – 50s-60s, an Appalachian farm woman who has seen much and endured
MAN – 50s-60s, plays multiple male roles, including P.C. Gatewood, Hugh Caldwell, and Dr. Monroe

THE SHAWSHANK REDEMPTION – Adapted for the stage by Owen O’Neill and Dave Johns (Gilliam Stage)

Dates: June 14, 2024 to August 17, 2024

SEEKING:

ANDY DUFRESNE – 30s male, a fish out of water in Shawshank; quiet, very intelligent, softly-spoken man
RED – 40s Black male, “the guy who could get things”, friend of Andy
WARDEN STAMMAS – 40s-50s male, the warden of Shawshank, a coward, a bully, and a cheating hypocrite who will stop at nothing ot get what he wants
HADLEY – 40s male, head prison guard at Shawshank
BOGS – 30s-40s male, feared throughout the prison
BROOKSIE – 60s-70s male, lived most of his life in Shawshank, the model prisoner in charge of the library trolley
ENTWISTLE – 30s-40s male, follows in the scary shadow of his head guard Bryan Hadley
ROOSTER – 20s-40s male, from Montgomery, Alabama
DAWKINS – 30s-40s – has a short fuse and can be prone to violence, but could be described as an ordinary decent criminal
RICO – 20s-40s male, grew up in Detroit
PINKY/COOK/TOMMY WILLIAMS – 20s male, plays Tommy (the youngest con in Shawshank who learns from Andy), Pinky, and the Cook

THE PLAY THAT GOES WRONG by Henry Lewis, Jonathan Sayer, and Henry Shields (Gilliam Stage)

Dates: August 31, 2024 to November 9, 2024

SEEKING:

ANNIE – 20s-40s female, the company’s stage manager
TREVOR – 20s-40s male, the company’s lighting and sound operator
CHRIS – 20s-40s male, head of the drama society, director of the play and plays Inspector Carter (an esteemed local inspector)
JONATHAN – 20s-40s male, plays Charles Haversham (deceased)
ROBERT – 20s-40s male, plays Thomas Colleymoore (Charles’ old school friend)
DENNIS – 20s-40s male, plays Perkins (Charles’ butler)
MAX – 20s-50s male, plays Cecil Haversham (Charles’ brother) and Arthur (the gardner)
SANDRA – 20s-40s female, plays Florence Colleymoore (Charles’ finance and Thomas’ sister)

THE TRIP TO BOUNTIFUL by Horton Foote (Smith Theatre)

Dates: September 20, 2024 to November 2, 2024

SEEKING:

CARRIE WATTS – 50s+ female, wants to take one last trip to her hometown before she dies
LUDIE WATTS – 40s male, Carrie’s son and Jessie Mae’s husband
JESSIE MAE WATTS – 40s female, Ludie’s wife,
THELMA – 20s-40s female, a friendly stranger on Carrie’s journey
ROY/TRAVELER – 20s+ male
SHERIFF – 20s+ male, the local sheriff
HOUSTON TICKET MAN 1/TRAVELER – any age and gender identity, plays multiple characters on Carrie’s journey
HARRISON TICKET MAN/TRAVELER – any age and gender identity, plays multiple characters on Carrie’s journey
HOUSTON TICKET MAN 2/TRAVELER – any age and gender identity, plays multiple characters on Carrie’s journey

A CHRISTMAS CAROL by Charles Dickens (Gilliam Stage)

Dates: November 20, 2024 to December 29, 2024

SEEKING:

EBENEEZER SCROOGE – 50s+, a redemptive heart
FRED/DICK WILKINS/CHRISTMAS YET TO COME/ET AL – 30s+, plays multiple characters
JACOB MARLEY/MR. FEZZIWIG/NICHOLAS/WILL/ET AL – 40s+, plays multiple characters
BOB CRATCHIT/JOE/ET AL – 30s+, plays multiple characters
DRAKE/CHARLES/PETER CRATCHIT/TOPPER/ET AL – 20s+, plays multiple characters
DAWKINS/CHRISTMAS PRESENT/ET AL – 30s+, plays multiple characters
BELLE/ELIZABETH/MRS. DILBER/ET AL – 20s+, plays multiple characters
CHRISTMAS PAST/MARTHA CRATCHIT/ET AL – 20s+,  plays multiple characters
MRS. CRATCHIT/CAROLINE/ET AL – 20s+, plays multiple characters
MRS. WEMMICK/MRS. FEZZIWIG/MADELINE/MRS. TETTERBY/ET AL – 30s+, plays multiple characters
MRS. DAWKINS/FAN/CLARA/KITTY/ET AL – 20s+, plays multiple characters

*All titles and dates are subject to change due to availability of rights and licenses.

The performance dates of our 2024 season can be found above and more information about each show can be found on our website. Brochures are also available at the audition site. Rehearsals for most plays begin approximately six-eight weeks before they open. Most actors will participate in two productions during the same repertory.

If you are interested in becoming a member of The Barter Players (Barter’s non-AEA company) or Apprentice Company we require that you act, sing and attend the movement/dance auditions, even if you do not consider yourself a mover/dancer or singer. Please be available for a callback interview with Barrett Guyton, the Director of the Barter Players following the evening auditions. There will be a callback list after each audition hour for those asked to stay.

We ask that you sign up for an audition slot for any part of this audition. AEA Members without appointments will be worked in throughout the day.

After you have read the above carefully, sign up for an audition slot by following this link. If you have any questions, please contact casting@bartertheatre.com