Auditions for 2010-2011 Academy Players Season

On Golden Pond

Director: Kathy Clay

Auditions: Held in Joy and Lynch Christian Warehouse Theatre
Tuesday, September 28th at 7:00pm
Wednesday, September 29th at 7:00pm

First Read-Through Thursday September 30 at 7:00pm

Full rehearsal schedule to be determined at read through.

Performance Dates: November 5-7 & 11-13, 2010

CASTING: 4 Male, 2 Female

• NORMAN THAYER, JR: (seeking actors 50 and above to play 80 yrs old) A retired college professor, irascible, crusty, but a loving and generous man under his brusque faŤade. Norman has a sharp sense of humor and is devoted to his family, despite his grumblings.
• CHARLIE MARTIN: (Age 36+) The local mailman, Charlie is an affable, cheery man with a strong Maine accent.
• BILL RAY: (Age 40+) Newly engaged to the Thayer's daughter Chelsea, Bill Ray is a nice polite man that, when challenged, (by Norman), will stand his ground.
• BILLY RAY: (seeking actors age 12-18 who look 12-14 years old) Billy is a typical, self-conscious teenager with a great, sarcastic sense of humor. A terrific foil for Norman.
• ETHEL THAYER: (seeking actresses 48 and above to play late 60s) A lively, energetic woman, Ethel is a devoted wife to Norman and mother to Chelsea. She understands the tenuous relationships between all the other characters in the play and mediates brilliantly. A charming lady.
• CHELSEA THAYER: (Age 38+) The daughter of Ethel and Norman, Chelsea is newly engaged to Bill Ray. Chelsea has a close relationship with Ethel. Chelsea is cautiously optimistic at the recent turn of events in her life; she was previously divorced and has always had a strained relationship with her father Norman.

Be prepared to do "cold readings" of scenes from the script, which will be provided at auditions. Bring a picture/resume if you have one, and digital photos will also be taken when you sign in.

Plot Synopsis

Comedy
Full Length

This is the love story of Ethel and Norman Thayer, who are returning to their summer home on Golden Pond for the forty-eighth year. He is a retired professor, nearing eighty, with heart palpitations and a failing memory-but still as tart-tongued, observant and eager for life as ever. Ethel, ten years younger, and the perfect companion for Norman, delights in all the small things that have enriched and continue to enrich their long life together. They are visited by their divorced, middle-aged daughter and her dentist fiance, who then go off to Europe, leaving his teenage son behind for the summer. The boy quickly becomes the "grandchild" the elderly couple have longed for, and as Norman revels in taking his ward fishing and thrusting good books at him, he also learns some lessons about modern teenage awareness-and slang-in return. In the end, as the summer wanes, so does their brief idyll, and in the final, deeply moving moments of the play, Norman and Ethel are brought even closer together by the incidence of a mild heart attack. Time, they know, is now against them, but the years have been good and, perhaps, another summer on Golden Pond still awaits.

Scripts are available ahead of time in the box office to be read only on site after September 1st.

Box office hours M-F 9-12 and 1-5

Stay tuned for audition notices for the Academy Players production of Chicago!! (Performance May 2011)

Please call Nora Moore at 434-528-3256 x114 or email her at Nora Moore if you have any questions

Return to the 2010-2011 Performance Season