Ghostlight Ensemble announces joint auditions for the first quarter of its Live Movie Reading Series and for its young audiences play festival, Make/Believe. Actors may audition for one of both of the programs. Please state which program you wish to audition for in your submission. Actors may be considered for multiple short plays and multiple movies.
The Live Movie Reading Series is a low-key and fun, staged reading of some of our favorite movies. These readings are fundraisers for local nonprofits. Past recipients have included Common Pantry, Girl Forward and New Leash on Life, among others.
Make/Believe is part of our Nightlight young audiences series and is a curated festival of short plays by playwrights from around the country. The plays, geared towards children 12 and under, all have one unifying feature – strong female characters.
There is no pay for any of these shows.
Character Descriptions
Seeking a strong ethnically diverse cast of all genders, ages, shapes and sizes that is representative of the city in which we live.
For the Live Movie Reading series, we're looking for actors who love these movies and who can also read. Those are literally the only requirements. Please note that we prefer a greater diversity in our casts for these movies than the original directors did and that the genders of our actors do not always match those of the actors in the films.
For Make/Believe, actors with previous experience working with children will receive preference in scheduling. All actors must have a love of good stories, a sense of fun and an imagination to rival any 5-year-old. Most of the pieces in this festival involve some level of interaction with the audience, so actors must be comfortable interacting with children and their guardians.
Time Commitment
Live Movie Reading Series:
In general, the live movie reading series involves an initial gathering to watch the movie that is being performed and two rehearsals. There is no tech. All performances take place at 7:30 p.m. on Mondays at Carbon Arc Bar and Board (located at the Davis movie theater in the North Center neighborhood of Chicago).
Performance dates and movies are as follows:
January 27, 2020: 10 Things I Hate About You
February 17, 2020: Charlie's Angels (2000 version)
March 23, 2020: Back To The Future
Make/Believe Festival:
Directors will set rehearsal dates and times around actor availability. These are 15-minute (or less) pieces and should require a minimal number of rehearsals.
Tech is scheduled from noon to 5 p.m. on Saturday, February 15, 2020. Specific time slots will be scheduled for each piece and actors are not expected to be there all day.
Performance times are:
Saturday, February 22, 2020
Sunday, February 23, 2020
All pieces will be performed both days. Performances start at 2 p.m. and will be held at Laugh Out Loud Theater in the North Center neighborhood of Chicago.
Materials To Prepare
Actors auditioning for the Live Movie Reading series are asked to prepare a monologue from their favorite movie, no longer than 1 minute. These monologues do not need to be memorized (as the performances are read and not memorized), but must be acted and staged to the best of your ability.
Actors auditioning for Make/Believe will be given sides to read. Please note that you will be in consideration for all the scripts in the festival, even if you are only reading sides for one particular piece.
The audition date is January 11, 2020, from 10:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. in the Lakeview neighborhood of Chicago.
Please submit your headshot and resume to Jean at casting@ghostlightensemble.com, and she will be in touch with sides and an audition appointment. Please indicate any time restrictions you have for the audition period in your email.