Playhouse 22 is looking for 2 strong female performers and one strong male to audition for our second "Women On the Edge" Black Box Series production of "Althea & Angela".

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Audition Dates:

Auditions will be held on November 15 (1 p.m. - 4 p.m.) and 16  (7 p.m. - 10 p.m.)  

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Callbacks will be November 17 at 7 p.m.

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Althea & Angela by Todd Olson is the second production in our Black Box Series, highlighting intimate, character driven pieces. This production will take place in our smaller "black box" setting, with the cast and audience situated on the stage. 

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Directed by Erin Leder.  

 

The show will run February 13-22; Fridays and Saturdays at 8 p.m., Sundays at 2 p.m.

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Synopsis:

In 1955 Althea Gibson and Angela Buxton were world-ranked tennis players...yet no one wanted to partner with them in women’s doubles. In fact, few even wanted to talk with them. Post-War America was still very segregated and the tennis world was still very anti-Semitic. Eight years after Jackie Robinson had broken the color line in major league baseball, the tennis world lagged behind, clinging to its country club roots. So, Althea, a black woman from Harlem, and Angela, a Jewish woman from Liverpool, were outcasts in two nations. So they decided to join forces outside their own country - and what happened then made history. 

 

ALTHEA & ANGELA tells the story of their meeting at an exhibition game in New Delhi, pairing up, and winning the French Open and Wimbledon – the first Grand Slam events that any African-American - male or female - had ever accomplished. It also tells the story of the unlikely events that occurred 40 years later, when one fell upon destitute times...and the other saved her life by a mass appeal to the tennis world.

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Character Breakdown:

ALTHEA GIBSON (20's-30's African American)
a street tough girl from Harlem who would do anything to win. Intermittently she also sings songs from the LP which she recorded after her tennis days. Part 3 finds Althea at age 68.

ANGELA BUXTON (20's Jewish Brit)
a cultured girl from Liverpool who would do anything to win. She briefly plays American tennis champion Alice Marble and an announcer. Part 3 finds Angela at aged 61.

MAN (40's-60's)
plays tennis officials/scorekeepers from various countries, as well as racist spectators, announcers, members of the press, Angela’s father Harry Buxton, Queen Elizabeth, and Althea’s neighbor.

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​Audition Requirements:
Those auditioning for the role of Althea should be prepared to sing 16-32 bars of something a capella, as there will be musical interludes of Althea's voice. 

 

Those auditioning for the role of Angela will be expected to perform with a British accent.

 

Those auditioning for the role of The Man should be able to perform a variety of accents, including French and British.

 

\Read-through expected shortly after casting. Rehearsals beginning sometime in December, 2-3 weeknights and 1 weekend day, dependent on cast availability. More frequent rehearsals closer to opening.

ALL ROLES ARE OPEN

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​Auditions will be held at the East Brunswick Community Arts Center, 721 Cranbury Road, East Brunswick, New Jersey.

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