What: Open auditions for Neil Simon’s Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award winning dramatic comedy, Lost in Yonkers at Pentacle Theatre in Salem
When: 1 p.m., Saturday, June 6; doors will open at 12:30 p.m.
Where: Pentacle Theatre Lobby
324 52nd Avenue NW
Salem, Oregon
Casting: Three women, two men, two boys.
Auditions: Actors will read from the script, copies of which are available on loan at the Pentacle Theatre Business Office, 145 Liberty Street NE in downtown Salem for a $10 refundable deposit. Call 503-485-4300 ext. 22 to arrange for pickup. Those auditioning should bring a list of scheduling conflicts for June 9 through September 12 and an audition form which can be found at https://pentacletheatre.org/auditions.
Callbacks (if needed): 1 p.m., Sunday, June 7
Pentacle Theatre Lobby
324 52nd Avenue NW
Salem, Oregon
Read-through: Tuesday, June 9 (Location TBA)
Rehearsals: Generally Monday through Thursday, 6:30-9:30 p.m.at the theater’s downtown rehearsal studio. Weekend commitments starting in August.
Show dates: Friday, August 21, through Saturday, September 12.
For more information: Contact the director, Karen McCarty, [email protected], 503-851-6785.
About Lost in Yonkers by Neil Simon: Winner of the 1991 Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award, Lost in Yonkers is a popular coming-of-age play by dramatist Neil Simon. The comedy-drama focuses on the difficulties faced by two young brothers forced to live with a group of eccentric relatives in Yonkers, New York. Jay and his younger brother Arty are teenagers when their father, Eddie, takes a job as a traveling salesman to pay off his late wife’s medical debts. The boys are left with their stern, German-Jewish immigrant Grandma Kurnitz, who owns and operates a candy store. Also living with them is their more likable Aunt Bella, who has a scattered personality and childlike enthusiasm. The family is completed by Uncle Louie, a small-time henchman for some gangsters, and Aunt Gert, who suffers from a breathing problem—more psychological than physical. Bella attempts to show her independence when she announces she wishes to marry her equally slow, usher boyfriend from the movie house and open a restaurant. Jay and Arty witness a conflict that could tear the family apart. Lost in Yonkers offers much of Simon’s trademark humor with a more bittersweet feel than in most of his other work. It is considered by many to be Simon’s greatest work.
