Auditions

Auditions at Renaissance Theatre

At the Renaissance Theatre, we offer a wide range of exciting audition opportunities to showcase your talent.

From Broadway and Black Box productions to Education, Symphony, and Youth Ensemble performances, there's something for everyone. Join us and be part of the vibrant world of theater, where your skills and passion can shine on our diverse stages. Get ready to audition for your dream role and make unforgettable memories with us at the Ren!

How it works

• Auditions for each show are different
• Some auditions require submitting a reading, musical excerpt, and dance reel
• Callback notices will be sent via email

Upcoming Auditions

About the Show

Fun Home, Music by Jeanine Tesori, Book & Lyrics by Lisa Kron, Based on the graphic novel by Alison Bechdel, Directed by Jenny Bennett, Musical Direction by Michael Thomas

“My Dad and I both grew up in the same small Pennsylvania town. And he was gay. And I was gay. And he killed himself. And I...became a lesbian cartoonist.”

A real family story about a real family: there’s a husband, wife, and three hilarious kids growing up in the small town of Beech Creek, PA. The family business is the funeral home. Like other real families in other towns large and small, some of these characters are gay. In the present, adult Alison Bechdel, a cartoonist, sleuths through the past by way of her secretive father’s artifacts and her own memories as a kid (Small Alison) and young adult (Medium Alison). Like cartoons can, the musical jumps time and space from frame to frame, as Alison hopes to understand the spaces between.

Venue

Renaissance Theatre, 138 Park Avenue West, Mansfield, OH 44902

Auditions

Please submit a 32-bar cut of a musical theatre song in the style of the show.

When

Video submissions accepted Tuesday, October 3, 2023–Tuesday, October 10, 2023. There will be no in-person auditions for this production.

Who

Actors between the ages of 9 and 50 (Please see character description.) The Renaissance Theatre values diversity and inclusion in all activities. Performers of all ethnicities, gender (identity or expression), sexual orientation, and disabilities are encouraged to audition.

Compensation

Nonunion guest artist contracts start at $200 weekly, and include housing and a $100 travel stipend.

How to Submit

Please send an unlisted YouTube link of your audition cut to [email protected]

Please include:

• Name
• Resume
• Headshot
• Height
• Vocal range
• Role you are auditioning for
• Will you accept any role? (Y/N)
• Address, email and phone number

Rehearsal Schedule

Wednesday, December 27, 2023 at 6:00 PM–9:00 PM (Children and Local Actors)
Thursday, December 28, 2023 at 6:00 PM–9:00 PM (Children and Local Actors)
Saturday, December 30, 2023 at 10:00 AM–2:00 PM (Children and Local Actors)

Tuesday, January 2, 2024 at 6:00 PM–10:00 PM (Music with Full Cast)
Wednesday, January 3, 2024 at 6:00 PM–8:00 PM (Music with Full Cast) and 8:00 PM–10:00 PM (Staging)
Thursday, January 4, 2024 at 6:00 PM–10:00 PM (Staging)
Saturday, January 6, 2024 at 10:00 AM–4:00 PM (Staging)

Sunday, January 7, 2024 at 12:00 PM–4:00 PM
Monday, January 8, 2024 at 6:00 PM–10:00 PM
Tuesday, January 9, 2024 at 6:00 PM–10:00 PM
Wednesday, January 10, 2024 at 6:00 PM–10:00 PM
Thursday, January 11, 2024 at 6:00 PM–10:00 PM
Saturday, January 13, 2024 at 10:00 AM–4:00 PM

Sunday, January 14, 2024 at 12:00 PM–4:00 PM (Tech Sunday)
Monday, January 15, 2024 at 6:00 PM–10:00 PM
Tuesday, January 16, 2024 at 6:00 PM–10:00 PM
Wednesday, January 17, 2024 at 6:00 PM–10:00 PM
Thursday, January 18, 2024 at 6:00 PM–10:00 PM (Final Dress)

Thursday, January 25, 2024 at 6:00 PM–10:00 PM (Brushup Rehearsal)

About the Theatre

The Renaissance Theatre is a 1400-seat movie palace that was built in 1928 as part of the Warner Brothers theatre chain. A complete renovation took place in the 1980s and 1990s, and an expansion in 2009. It is located at 138 Park Avenue West in Mansfield, OH. The Renaissance produces six to eight professional mainstage and Theatre 166 black box productions each season. Theatre 166 also hosts the Emerging Artists Festival, which showcases new, original work by playwrights from all over the world. Guest artists are paid a performance stipend as well as travel and housing stipends. The Renaissance also offers Equity Guest Artist contracts.

About the Director

Jenny Bennett is a fourth-generation theatre woman—a director, actor, and writer. Directing includes: The Three Musketeers (9 AUDELCO nominations, four awards), Henry V (3 AUDELCO awards) Off-Broadway at the Classical Theatre of Harlem; Twelfth Night, Richard III, The Fall of King Henry (3 Henry VI), The Winter's Tale, American 

Shakespeare Center; Much Ado About Nothing at Hope Rep (2022 BroadwayWorld Michigan Award for Best Play). Kaohsiung, Taiwan directing includes Macbeth, Dangerous Liaisons/ Weixian Guanxi, Godspell, Into the Woods, and As You Like It! (a musical she co-wrote). Jenny is on the faculty of AMDA New York. MFA, U of Delaware; BA, UVA. A former SDC/ Kurt Weill Foundation Fellow, Jenny is a member of AEA, SDC, the Lincoln Center Theater Directors Lab, and is in process to complete certification as a Consent Forward Artist with IDC. Insta: @jb_JennyB

Note about Staged Intimacy

All scenes with intimacy follow a specific set of staging and rehearsal protocols rooted in consent and safety for the actors. Theatrical intimacy is any action on stage where the given circumstances of the scene or the overall production calls for touch, both physical and imaginative, or moments between actors of simulated sexuality or sexual violence.

Casting Breakdown

Alison, Female, 37–44. The narrator of this story, a lesbian cartoonist. At 43, the age her father died (perhaps by suicide), she is reckoning with her past to understand her own life and her relationship with her father. “My father and I were exactly alike. My father and I were nothing alike.” Must be a strong singer who can move seamlessly in vocal quality from speech to song. Range: low E to light belt C sharp. E3–C#5

Bruce, Male, 40–49. Alison’s father. A high school English teacher and funeral home director with a passionate (obsessive?) devotion to the precise historic restoration of his home. A complex, incredibly well-read man with a hot temper due to years of repression. He can be caring and attentive, but also tends to erupt in sudden flares of rage. Alison says, “My father treated his furniture like children, and his children like furniture.” Must be a strong singer who can move seamlessly in vocal quality from speech to song. Range: B to G. B2–G4

Helen, Female, 40–49. Alison’s mother. A high school English teacher and local actress. Life raising three small children in this small town with this unpredictable husband whose gay affairs she looks past—this is a frustrating reality for the girl who wanted to act in NYC then fabulously married, living in Europe (until her husband inherited the family business back home in Beech Creek). Must be a strong singer who can move seamlessly in vocal quality from speech to song. Range: A flat to strong mixed E. A3–E5

Medium Alison, Female, 20–25. To play 19. Alison Bechdel as a freshman at Oberlin College, discovering her sexuality. She’s an incredibly well-read, hyper-intelligent teenager. Her uncertainty about who she is and her enthusiasm to figure it out makes her socially awkward at times. Must be a strong singer who can move seamlessly in vocal quality from speech to song. Also plays one of the Susan Deys. Strong mix-belt to C and effortless mix to E. C4–E5

Joan, Female, 20–25. To play 19. A student at Oberlin College. She exudes a confident, sexual energy, with a dry sense of humor. Unlike Alison, Joan is very comfortable in her skin and openly identifies as a lesbian. Also plays one of the Susan Deys. Seeking an actor who is comfortable with some harmony singing. Alto.

Roy/Pete/Mark/Bobby Jeremy, Male, 20–24. Seeking one actor to play all roles. Roy: a young man Bruce hires to do yard work. Pete: a mourner who visits the funeral home. Mark: a high school junior. Bobby Jeremy: the lead singer of a band in Small Alison’s imagination. Seeking a singer with a strong, clean, 70s pop sound to a B. B2–B4

Small Alison, Female, 9–11. Alison Bechdel as a child. Likes to draw. Precocious and opinionated, she really does not want to wear that dress, please (and a crew cut would get her hair out of her eyes better than that stupid barrette, Dad). On the cusp of finding herself. Seeing an actress who is confident and intelligent. Must be a strong singer who can move seamlessly in vocal quality from speech to song, natural sound. Range: B to B. B3–B4

Christian Bechdel, Male, 10–12. Alison’s older brother in the play. As the oldest of the three children, he strives to be the leader, but is sometimes overshadowed by Alison’s strong personality. Seeking a singer (prepubescent) with a natural sound, good sense of harmony and pitch.John Bechdel, Male, 7–9. Alison’s younger brother. Like most boys his age, he is full of energy with a quirky imagination. Looks up to his siblings. Seeking a singer with a natural sound, good sense of harmony and pitch.