Theatre Huntsville Auditions
By the way, meet vera stark

By Lynn Nottage

Directed by: Shonda Devine


In-person and virtual audition options are available for this show.

Scroll to the bottom of the page for the virtual audition information.

IN-PERSON AUDITIONS

WHEN?

  • Sunday October 6th, 2024 at 6:00 p.m. 

  • Monday October 7th, 2024 at 6:00 p.m. 

WHERE?

  • Theatre Huntsville Scene Shop

  • Address: 500 Plummer Road 35806 (map)

WHO?

  • Everyone ages 18+.

  • All roles are available, casting is open, and newcomers are welcome and encouraged.

  • There is no fee to participate in Theatre Huntsville productions.

WHAT DO I NEED TO PREPARE?

  • Come prepared to read from the script. Auditionees will read scenes from the script in a group setting.

  • Contact us to arrange a copy.

WHAT DO I NEED TO WEAR?

  • Come dressed to move.

PRODUCTION DATES

  • This show is scheduled to run March 21-30, 2025 (8 performances) at the Von Braun Center Playhouse.

  • Rehearsals start date TBD. Because this show has a multi-media component, it may begin rehearsals earlier than our typical 6-8 week schedule.

AVAILABLE ROLES

This show has 5 female and 3 male roles. Several actors will play dual roles.

Vera Stark - Female, 25-30, Black / African Descent 

  • Beautiful, smart, funny and willful; Works as a maid to the fading-star, Gloria Mitchell, until she gets her own big break. Her subsequent career does not play out as she perhaps anticipated it would. 

Gloria Mitchell - Female, 25-30. White / European Descent

  • She’s a fading Hollywood star. Vain, melodramatic and self-absorbed; works tirelessly to preserve an air of glamour as she fights to stay afloat in Hollywood. 

Leroy Barksdale / Herb Forrester - Male, 20-40, Black / African Descent 

  • Leroy: Brazen and endearingly pompous. Chauffeur of famed film director

  • Herb: Smart, savvy and articulate contemporary filmmaker/musician, fascinated by Vera’s celebrity.

Lottie McBride / Carmen Levy-Green - Female, 20-40, Black/African Descent 

  • Lottie: Classically trained actress & Vera’s cynical and witty roommate. 

  • Carmen: a respected, intelligent college professor with strong views on what happened to Vera in later years.

Anna Mae Simpkins / Afua Assata Ejobo - Female, 20-40, Black / African Descent, Biracial or Multiracial / African Descent

  • Anna Mae: Vera’s sassy, sexy and overconfident roommate. Her light complexion allows her to pass as a Latina to score a big role. Nothing is beneath her. 

  • Afua: Modern-day poet, journalist and performer with her own staunch opinions on Vera.

  • Actor should have facility with accents.

Mr. Slasvick / Brad Donovan - Male, 40-70, Any Ethnicity 

  • Slasvick: Well-groomed and wealthy studio executive with less-than-stellar social skills.

  • Brad: Smooth-talking 1970s talk-show host with an appealing, over-the-top personality.

Maximillian von Oster/Peter Rhys-Davies - Male, 30-49, White / European Descent

  • Von Oster: Russian. Highly conceited, famous film director with an inflexible artistic.

  • Rhys-Davies: Groovy 1970s rock musician.

  • Actor must have facility with accents.

SYNOPSIS:

In a new comedy from the Pulitzer Prize–winning playwright of Ruined, Lynn Nottage draws upon the screwball films of the 1930s to take a funny and irreverent look at racial stereotypes in Hollywood. BY THE WAY, MEET VERA STARK is a seventy-year journey through the life of Vera Stark, a headstrong African-American maid and budding actress, and her tangled relationship with her boss, a white Hollywood star desperately grasping to hold on to her career. When circumstances collide and both women land roles in the same Southern epic, the story behind the cameras leaves Vera with a surprising and controversial legacy that scholars will debate for years to come.

VIRTUAL AUDITION INFORMATION

Virtual auditions have 2 components:

  • Email a recorded monologue.

  • Complete an audition form.

AUDITION VIDEO

  • Please choose one monologue under 2 minutes to record.

AUDITION FORM

You must also complete THIS AUDITION FORM. 

If you cannot complete the online form, a printable version is available here that you can print, fill out and email it to us.

Audition videos and forms must be submitted by October 6, 2024 and be complete.

To be considered complete, a virtual audition should:

  • Email a video containing a monologue from the show to

  • Complete the audition form HERE.

If you have questions or issues with your virtual audition, please email us.