audition notice - DEATH OF A SALESMAN - Scottsdale Desert Stages Theatre - January 20

Auditions have been announced for the classic drama Death Of A Salesman, performing in our Actor's Cafe.

Directed by Virginia Olivieri

AUDITION DATES & TIMES:
Sunday January 20th at 7pm
Callbacks January 22nd at 7pm

Cold Reads from the script
Bring headshot and resume

CLICK HERE to register

Rehearsals begin on Feb 4th.

SHOW DATES & TIMES:
March 15th- April 14th
Friday and Saturdays at 7:30pm
Sunday at 2:00pm

CASTING:
Willy Loman has been cast.

Linda Loman* (not quite 60) has made a life of doing whatever’s necessary to protect her husband and hold her family together; her love of her husband and sons is sincere and unreserved. We see her soothing Willy, no matter how childish or irrational his behavior, and we see her denouncing her sons to their faces, so she is alternately sympathetic and assertive. She probably has few illusions, but she has decided to accept what she cannot change.

Biff Loman* (early 30s) was a football hero in high school (in 1932) but is now confronting the truth that he’s lost, that he hasn’t been able to reconcile his values, as learned from his father, with the less ambitious, less accomplished adult he now realizes he’s become. A central action of the play involves Biff’s struggle to come to terms with his own situation and to get his father to understand who he really is.

Happy Loman* (a couple of years younger than Biff) comes across as a smooth-talking operator and outright liar, but much of the challenge of the role involves finding the integrity in the character and in his vision of himself and the world. He has always wanted to be more than he is, but he’s either unable or unwilling to do what’s necessary.

Charley* (about Willy’s age) is the next-door neighbor who has made a matter-of-fact success in a business similar to Willy’s, a pragmatic man who has learned to have no illusions but who has treated Willy with unfailing although unsentimental generosity.

Bernard* (early 30s) is Charley’s son, the nerdy smart kid in high school and the object of the Loman boys’ derision who has grown up to become a quietly successful attorney. He has the insight and the compassion that some of the other characters lack.

Ben (approximately mid-50s when we see him in 1928), Willy’s elder brother, is the voice of authority and absolute confidence, depicted as Willy remembers and admires him, the man who walked into the jungle and emerged wealthy and powerful. He always stands at the center of his world; he has a commanding presence and a full, resonant voice.

The Woman (fortyish when we see her in 1932) is Willy’s conception of the exciting woman he isn’t able to see in Linda, one who makes him feel desirable and masterful, one whose sexuality excites him and shocks the younger Biff. On her own terms, she’s a survivor, an unmarried woman who’s making her way as well as she can.

Howard (middle 30s) owns the company (inherited from his father) that has employed Willy since 1913, a manager adept at handling people who has the guts to tell Willy to his face that he’s firing him but still conveys a measure of sympathy.

Stanley (anywhere from 30 to 50) is a wisecracking head waiter; he might have a Brooklyn accent.
Miss Forsythe (20s, maybe 30s) is attractive, brassy, loud, very tuned in to the game that she routinely plays with men like Happy.

Jenny (20s, maybe 30s) is Charley’s secretary.

The following characters will be played by the same actor:
Howard and Stanley
Miss Forsythe and Jenny.