Community Auditions

DEARLY DEPARTED

Pick up/check out a script these times or contact us for special time.
Monday, March 4 between 4-7pm or 
Tuesday, March 5 between 4-7.

Audition Dates: Wednesday, March 6, 6-8:30pm (drop in)
or Saturday, March 9, 2-4pm (drop in and read)
Call backs Sunday, March 10, 7pm, if needed

First Read Through - March 11th
Rehearsals by scenes worked around individual schedules.

Show Dates: May 9, 10, 11 and 12

AUDITIONS AND CALLBACKS:
What do I do?
Each audition will go through the cold reading process, which is reading from sides of the script (including dialogue - with others - and monologues). Above all, relax and have fun in your audition.

Do I stay the whole time?
Plan on being there the entire time, as I hope to see people read multiple times, but it could be that you are done early. Do not read into it at all if you are told that you are finished early. It could be that we saw everything that we needed to see already! You will get to read at least once for your first choice in role preference.

ABOUT DEARLY DEPARTED:
Not since Steel Magnolias has a more colorful and dysfunctional group of Southern eccentrics gathered below the Mason-Dixon line. When the patriarch of the Turpin family keels over dead in the first scene, the struggle to get him buried involves the whole clan, including the not-so-grieving widow who wants to put "Mean and Surly" on the tombstone. "If you were amused by the kind of bucolic mayhem of…GREATER TUNA, this more ambitious trip down a rustic main street could be just your dish of cola." —NY Post. "DEARLY DEPARTED is drop dead funny." —NY Daily News.

CASTING FOR THE FOLLOWING ROLES:
MEN
BUD TURPIN​ (Mid 60’s): An elderly man

RAY-BUD​ (Mid 30’s): He is Bud’s elder son and is married to Lucille. As the only sibling with a paying job (He’s a mechanic who works for Clyde’s Auto Repair and Body Shop), Ray-Bud is saddled with the responsibility of paying for his father’s funeral. Needless to say, he’s resentful. He hates funerals, and while he loves his family, he wishes they would just go away. Nevertheless, he’s determined to get the job done, even if it means taking a drink or two to get through it all.

JUNIOR​ (Early 30’s): He is Ray-Bud’s younger brother, and is married to Suzanne. Like her, he is a dreamer, but he’s a failed entrepreneur, and his dreams have gone sour. He has recently had an affair (in the Kmart parking lot) and must try to make amends to his angry wife.

ROYCE​ (Late 20’s): He is Marguerite’s younger son, unmarried, and unemployed. His dream is to live on welfare and do as little as possible. He must cope with his difficult, judgmental mother, and fights back as best he can. He’s not the world’s brightest guy, but there’s something likeable about him.

REVEREND HOOKER​ (Any age): Although he tries to be diplomatic, he feels over-worked and put-upon by his difficult flock. He’s given to platitudes. He has an embarrassing attack of Montezuma’s revenge at the funeral!

CLYDE​ (Mid 30’s): He is Ray-Bud’s boss and owner of Clyde’s Auto Repair and Body Shop. He’s a loyal good ol’ boy, eager to help Ray-Bud get revenge on Cecil DePew, owner of the funeral parlor.

NORVAL​ (late 70’s): An ancient man with every illness under the sun who speaks only in grunts

WOMEN
RAYNELLE​ (Mid 60’s): She is the widow of Bud Turpin and mother of Ray-Bud, Junior and Delightful. She’s a basically nice woman, religious, diplomatic, and eager to keep the peace with her difficult family members. She is not at all sorry that her husband has died, since they haven’t gotten along for 36 of their 39 years of marriage. She is funny in an ironic sort of way.

LUCILLE​ (Mid 30’s): She is Ray-Bud’s wife. Her one great sorrow is that they are childless, due to her numerous miscarriages. She is a down-to-earth, no-nonsense woman with a sense of humor who steps up and takes charge of the funeral arrangements while trying to keep Ray-Bud and the rest of the family on an even keel.

SUZANNE​ (Early 30’s): She is married to Junior and mother to a bunch of impossible children. She imagines herself to be a wonderful singer (but isn’t). She imagined her life with Junior would be wildly romantic, but it has turned out to be deeply disappointing, and she never lets Junior forget it. She is highly emotional, nervous, and given to headaches. She loves being the center of attention. Although he’s been unfaithful, deep down, she loves her husband. (MUST SING)

MARGUERITE​ (50’s): She is Bud’s younger sister and mother of Royce (and another son who is in jail). She is very worried about Royce’s lack of motivation and his Godless ways. She is also very religious, judgmental, and a holier-than-thou, bossy nag, but she actually means well. (MUST SING)

DELIGHTFUL​ (Early 20’s): She is Raynelle’s and Bud’s youngest child (She was a “surprise” baby!). Obese (or played as high metabolism) and virtually silent, she deals with her sorrows by eating constantly. She is probably not too bright. Although she has little to say, she’s very funny!

NADINE​ (Late 20’s): She shows up for the viewing and funeral. She has been married multiple times, has eight children, all of whom are named for celebrities, and is very pregnant with number nine. She may not be the brightest candle on the cake, but she’s a tremendous talker!

JUANITA​ (early 30’s): She is a cousin-by-marriage to the Turpins. Stylish, sophisticated, and catty, she has made the only “good” marriage of the bunch, a fact she never fails to rub the other women’s noses in, but secretly, her marriage is crumbling.

VEDA​ (70’s): Another family friend, Veda is married to Norval and is his primary caregiver. Despite having to care for her husband’s many needs, she is cheerful, upbeat, and a great talker.

THE JOY OF LIFE SINGERS​: This mixed chorus appears in two scenes and must be able to sing without accompaniment. Need at least three, but will double as other parts.