Casting Performers for "The Grippe" Play

ONLY LOCAL TALENT WILL BE CONSIDERED. Performers needed for the "The Grippe" play. See more details below. About the project: SYNOPSIS OF THE GRIPPE The Great Influenza of 1918-20, which caused the deaths of fifty million people worldwide and over 600,000 Americans, has been forgotten as it was subsumed within the greater context of World War I. Thus, how to address this issue through the medium of theatre; one that resonates with our most recent experiences of the previous pandemic? Based on actual events, The Grippe, written by James P. Mirrione, is a new play with music that chronicles the Great Influenza of 1918-1920 - the so-called “Spanish Flu.” The work, with a cast of 11 actors who play more than twenty-five characters, weaves several stories throughout the context of the play to capture the potency of those times and to reveal its relevancy for today. The Grippe presents its story in both words and music, as a five-piece jazz band plays eighteen songs from the period––both familiar and unknown - to create an ironic commentary for the narrative and to drive the plot forward with a rhythmic energy. It is these period jazz and ragtime musical selections that punctuate the dramatic action throughout the play; by illustrating the irony of a care-free world unaware they are dancing on the edge of an earth-shattering event. The Grippe follows the valiant efforts of John Pascal, an astute reporter who uncovers the early warning signs of the Great Influenza of 1918 prior to it becoming a pandemic. With the help of a young nurse, Helen Adams, they work together to try to alert the Wilson administration to the oncoming pandemic before it is too late - and, of course, they fall in love along the way. The play also presents a time when the role of African-Americans was erased from the historical record. In its here, then, that another plot line, primarily with the character of Mr. Sweets – the head butler in the White House - who serves as a narrator and guide to the events unfolding in the words and music of the play. The era of The Grippe was, in many ways, a time not so different from our own. In 1918, the nation was beset by war, Machiavellian politics, and racism, while at the same time struggling to survive a scourge that had the lethal ability to cut short love, family, friends, and to set one citizen against another. Rate: Paid. Additional info: Please see dates below. No conflicts can be considered. REHEARSALS: Monday, September 22 (6:30pm – 10:30pm); Tuesday, September 23 (6:30pm – 10:30pm); Wednesday, September 24 (6:30pm – 10:30pm); Sunday, September 28 (6:30pm – 10:30pm); Monday, September 29 (6:30pm – 10:30pm); Tuesday, September 30 (6:30pm – 10:30pm); Wednesday, October 1 (6:30pm – 10:30pm); Saturday, October 4 (1:00pm– 5:00pm). PERFORMANCES: Sunday, October 5 at 7:30pm; Monday, October 6 at 7:30pm. Callbacks will be scheduled the evenings of Tuesday and Wednesday, September 16 and 17 as needed, with rehearsals starting Monday, September 22 at 6:30pm. If interested, please apply.