Auditions Announced for Live Movie Reading Series

Ghostlight Ensemble announces auditions for the second quarter of its Live Movie Reading Series. Please state which movie reading you wish to audition for in your submission. Actors may be considered for multiple readings.

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.

There is no pay for any of these readings.

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.

We're looking for actors who love these movies, love having fun 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.

Time Commitment
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:

• April 27, 2020: Drop Dead Gorgeous

• May 18, 2020: Legally Blonde

• June 29, 2020: The Big Lebowski (Please note, the role of Walter has been cast.)

Materials To Prepare
Actors are asked to prepare a comedic 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.

The audition date is March 21 from 1:30 p.m. to 4 p.m. at the Mayfair branch of the Chicago Public Library.

Please submit your headshot and resume to Jean at casting@ghostlightensemble.com, and she will be in touch. Please indicate any time restrictions you have for the audition period in your email.

Up Next: A Live Reading of Charlie's Angels

Ghostlight Ensemble presents the next installment of its ongoing live movie reading series with Flip Your Goddamn Hair: A Live Reading of Charlie’s Angels (2000 edition).

So get ready for all the flying muffins and flying kicks that one movie theatre bar can hold! Join us at 7:30 p.m. on Monday, February 17 at Carbon Arc Bar & Board (4614 N Lincoln Ave, Chicago, IL 60625), located in the Davis Theater in North Center.

Charlie’s Angels is a 2000 American action comedy film about three women working at a private detective agency in Los Angeles for a mysterious boss they've never seen. Their client has hired them to retrieve stolen voice-ID software — which they do using martial arts, tech skills and sex appeal — only to find out the baddies are actually after something else entirely.

The live reading is directed by Emma Jo Schumacher.

There is a suggested donation of $5 at the door, which will help Ghostlight fund its current season.

Up Next: A Live Reading of 10 Things I Hate About You

Ghostlight Ensemble presents the next installment of its ongoing live movie reading series with Hell is Just a Sauna: A Live Reading of 10 Things I Hate About You.

So dig out all that late 90s feminist poetry you wrote and your crop tops and join us at 7:30 p.m. on Monday, January 27 at Carbon Arc Bar & Board (4614 N Lincoln Ave, Chicago, IL 60625), located in the Davis Theater in North Center.

10 Things I Hate About You is a 1999 American romantic comedy retelling of William Shakespeare's comedy The Taming of the Shrew set in a late-1990s high school. New student Cameron is smitten with Bianca and, in order to get around her father's strict rules on dating, attempts to get bad boy Patrick to date Bianca's ill-tempered sister, Kat.

The live reading is directed by John Gleason Teske.

Auditions Announced for Live Movie Reading Series and Make/Believe short play festival

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.

Up Next: Must Eat TV 3: A live reading of Thanksgiving TV episodes

Ghostlight Ensemble brings back the popular Thanksgiving installment of its ongoing live movie reading series, Must Eat TV 3: A Live Reading of Your Favorite Thanksgiving Television Episodes.

Thanksgiving is all about stuffing yourself silly with family and friends; ignoring your redneck cousin Jack and his 23 kids and his 12 dogs; giving thanks; and television. So join your Ghostlight family, friends and cousin Jack for a celebration of everyone's favorite eating holiday.

The lineup features “Blitzgiving” from How I Met Your Mother,  “Shibboleth” from The West Wing and “Auntsgiving” from Blackish at 7:30 p.m. at Carbon Arc Bar & Board, located in the Davis Theater in North Center.

There is a suggested donation of $5 at the door, which will help Ghostlight fund its upcoming season, AND a non-perishable good or additional cash donation to benefit North Center’s Common Pantry, which provides emergency food and social services to those in need.

Only 5 Days left to vote Ghostlight as one of the Best of Chicago

Voting ends at noon on Monday, October 21, for the Chicago Reader’s Best of Chicago 2019 poll. Ghostlight is excited to be nominated in two categories: Best Established Theater Company and Best Off-Loop Theater Company.

We'd be honored if you would follow this link to vote for us. And you can ask your friends and family to do so as well, as there are no restrictions on voting.

Please note: You don’t have to fill out all the categories if you’re only interested in voting for a few of them, however you DO have to go to the final page (About You) and hit the Finish button for your vote to count.

In addition, a number of our collaborators and Ensemble members are nominated as well.

Our Co-Artistic Director Maria Burnham is nominated for both Best Director and Best Playwright.

Stefanie Johnsen is nominated for Best Designer. Stefanie designed the costumes for our production of An Ideal Husband.

And Improvised Jane Austen is nominated for Best sketch/improv troupe. Ensemble Member Holly Robison is a member of IJA and the group has performed at a number of our past events.

In addition, Carbon Arc Bar, which hosts our Live Movie Reading Series is up for Best Cinema Bar.

Thanks so much for your vote! You are what’s truly Best about Chicago!

Up Next: A Live Reading of Reality Bites

Ghostlight Ensemble presents the next installment of its ongoing live movie reading series with You And Me And Five Bucks: A Live Reading of Reality Bites.

So dig out your best Gen X ennui and join us at 7:30 p.m. on Monday, August 26 at Carbon Arc Bar & Board (4614 N Lincoln Ave, Chicago, IL 60625), located in the Davis Theater in North Center.

Reality Bites is a 1994 romantic comedy/drama that follows the lives of recently graduation Gen Xers as they navigate the pitfalls of life, love and the search for gainful employment. The plot centers on Lelaina (played by Winona Ryder), an aspiring videographer, who is working on a documentary called Reality Bites about the disenfranchised lives of her friends and roommates.

The live reading is directed by Maria Burnham.

There is a suggested donation of Five Bucks at the door, which will help Ghostlight fund its upcoming season. We’re also raising funds for Blue Sky Bakery & Cafe, a nonprofit cafe in North Center that provides transitional job skills to at-risk youth and also provides an excellent place to grab a cup of coffee and a little bit of conversation.

Up Next: A Live Reading of Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade

Ghostlight Ensemble presents the next installment of its ongoing live movie reading series with Don’t Call Me Junior: A Live Reading of Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade.

So dust off that brown leather fedora, get that whip cracking and join us at 7:30 p.m. on Monday, May 6 at Carbon Arc Bar & Board (4614 N Lincoln Ave, Chicago, IL 60625), located in the Davis Theater in North Center, to celebrate the 30th Anniversary of the movie’s release.

Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade is a 1989 American action-adventure film directed by Steven Spielberg and is the third installment in the Indiana Jones franchise. It was release in the United States on May 24, 1989. In Last Crusade, the intrepid explorer Indiana Jones sets out to rescue his father, a medievalist who has vanished while searching for the Holy Grail. Following clues in the old man's notebook, Indy arrives in Venice, where he enlists the help of a beautiful academic, but they are not the only ones who are on the trail, and some sinister old enemies soon come out of the woodwork.

The live reading is directed by Chad Wise.

There is a suggested donation of $5 at the door, which will help Ghostlight fund its upcoming season.

Up Next: As If!: A Live Reading of Clueless

With the cast of Clueless in town for C2E2, what better time to brush off the 1995 rom-com script and give it a unique, Ghostlight Ensemble treatment?!

So dig out your plaid skirts and knee-high socks and join us at 7:30 p.m. on Monday, March 25 at Carbon Arc Bar & Board (4614 N Lincoln Ave, Chicago, IL 60625), located in the Davis Theater in North Center.

Clueless is loosely based on the Jane Austen novel Emma and tells the story of a shallow, rich and socially successful girl at the top of her Beverly Hills high school's pecking order who sees herself as a matchmaker. She takes on a "tragically unhip" new girl at school as a pet project, initiating her into the ways of the popular kids. But things backfire on her when the new girl surpasses her in popularity. Hijinks and love debacles ensue.

After the live reading, Carbon Arc will be playing the movie Clueless, so stick around for a side-by-side comparison!

There is a suggested donation of $5 at the door, which will help Ghostlight fund its upcoming season.

Thanks to everyone who attended Make A Move & The Bunny Gets It

We had a full house for our live reading of Con Air last night at Carbon Arc Bar & Board. Thank you to everyone who attended and who donated to Chicago Veterans.

If you weren't able to attend, but want to donate to this local charity, which helps veterans readjust to civilian life (OR if you did attend and want to give more money to the cause), you can donate through the organizations website at ChicagoVeterans.org.

Our next Live Reading will be in July (exact date TBA) and we'll bringing the cult hit film The Sandlot to life in celebration of the 25th anniversary of its release.

Up Next: Make A Move & The Bunny Gets It: A Con Air Live Reading

Ghostlight Ensemble presents the next installment of its ongoing live movie reading series: Make A Move & The Bunny Gets It: A Con Air Live Reading.

Join us at 7:30 p.m. Monday, May 7, at Carbon Arc Bar & Board (4614 N Lincoln Ave, Chicago, IL 60625), located in the Davis Theater in North Center.

Con Air is the 1997 action film starring Nicolas Cage as former war hero Cameron Poe. Poe is sentenced to eight years in prison when he accidentally kills a man in a barroom brawl. When his release comes through, he's eager to see the daughter he's never met, but he finds himself aboard a flight transporting ten of the most dangerous men in the American penal system. When the criminals hijack the plane, Poe has to find a way to get home, keep himself alive, look after his cellmate Baby-O — who will die without proper medicine  — and try to help the cops on the ground.

There is a suggested donation of $5 at the door, which will help Ghostlight fund its upcoming season, AND an additional donation for Chicago Veterans, a non-profit that helps service members and their families in the Chicagoland area transitioning back to civilian life.