Website Blank Theatre Company
Re-examining contemporary classics
Blank Theatre Company is seeking actors to submit for their production of Passion with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and Book by James Lapine. This production will be Directed by Blank’s co-artistic director Danny Kapinos with music direction by Aaron Kaplan.
Auditions by appointment will be held Sunday, April 6th from 1:00-4:00pm and Monday, April 7th from 6:00-9:30pm at Greenhouse Theatre Center. The space is located at Greenhouse Theatre Center, 2257 N Lincoln Ave, Chicago, IL 60614.
Callbacks will be held by individual appointment on Saturday, April 19th and Sunday April 20th from 1:00-5:00pm at Greenhouse Theatre Center, 2257 N Lincoln Ave, Chicago, IL 60614.
There is a $450 stipend for this production. This production is Jeff Eligible. Please note: An MRE will be included on this contract. We will have NO 10 out of 12s during this rehearsal process.
Material to Prepare:
Please prepare 32 bars of a musical theatre song in the style of the show. Please bring your book in case the production team wishes to hear more.
To submit, please send your headshot and resume (as 1 PDF) along with your audition availability to Casting@Blanktheatrecompany.org. NOTE: Please check your spam folder; this email address is finicky, and we will respond to every submission regardless of whether we are able to see you or not!
Time Commitment:
REHEARSALS
First Rehearsal: Sunday, June 1st, 2025, from 7:00-10:00pm
Rehearsals: Sundays-Thursdays 7:00-10:00pm through 7/3/25
Tech: Monday - Thursday 7/7/25-7/10/25 and 7/14/2025 6:00-11:00pm
Understudy Rehearsals: Saturday 7/19/25 & Saturday 7/26/25 2:00-5:00pm
PERFORMANCES
Previews Friday 7/11/25 and Saturday 7/12/23 at 7:30pm.
Opening Tuesday 7/15/25 at 7:30 PM
Closing 8/10/25
Performances Thursday-Saturdays at 7:30pm and Sundays at 3:00pm. One Saturday Matinee on 8/9/25 at 2:00pm. One Monday performance at 7:30pm on 8/4/25.
Both rehearsals and performances will take place at Greenhouse Theatre Center, 2257 N Lincoln Ave, Chicago, IL 60614.
Character Type/Restrictions:
Giorgio - he/him - 20s-30s - baritone - Army captain, a natural and charismatic leader. His depth of thought and emotional maturity makes him feel out of place in the army environment.
Fosca - she/her - 20s-30s - alto/mezzo – THIS ROLE IS CAST – SEEKING UNDERSTUDY ONLY - Very ill (likely epileptic) and at death’s door, she lives her life with the knowledge every day might be her last, and so she is unafraid to grasp for the things she wants. While others perceive her as child-like, she is surprisingly at peace with her lot in life and perceives more about the world than those around her do.
Clara - she/her - 20s-30s - soprano - THIS ROLE IS CAST – SEEKING UNDERSTUDY ONLY -Giorgio’s lover, a young woman trapped in an unhappy marriage seeking to explore agency outside the boundaries of what society will allow.
Colonel Ricci - he/him - 30s-40s - baritone/tenor - Fosca’s cousin and guardian. Motivated by guilt, he has made it his life mission to care for Fosca as her condition declines but patronizes her in his attempts to care for her.
Doctor Tambourri - he/him - 30s-50s - baritone - Tries his best to care for Fosca with the tools he has, tolerates more behavior from the army men than he should.
Lieutenant Torasso - he/him - 20s-40s - baritone/tenor - Arrogant and resentful of the attention and special treatment Giorgio is receiving, he tests the bounds of what he can get away with saying and stirs up gossip and controversy.
Seargent Lombardi - he/him - 20s-40s - baritone - The army cook, trying his best to please with limited means, he receives a lot of flack for the quality of the food. Under other circumstances, he would be an upstanding member of society, but faced with constant complaints and abuse, he allows himself to be as gossipy and mean as his peers.
Lieutenant Barri - he/him - 20s-40s - bass - Very sharp and perceptive but miserable about his lot in life, he has resigned himself to a life of gambling and making sarcastic remarks.
Major Rizzolli - he/him - 20s-40s - baritone - Attempts to keep respect and decorum among his colleagues, but as it’s a losing battle he tolerates more poor behavior than he should.
Private Augenti - he/him - 20s - tenor - Mail carrier, young and not yet corrupted by the miserable circumstances of the barracks, remains optimistic but learns to be cynical in order to fit in.
Fosca’s Mother/Servant - she/her - 30s-40s - will double as a maid/servant at the barracks and Fosca’s mother in a flashback sequence. Will likely understudy a principle.
Mistress/Servant - she/her - 20s-30s - will double as a maid/servant at the barracks and Count Ludovic’s mistress in a flashback sequence. Will likely understudy a principal role.
This production will utilize both internal and external understudies for all roles.
Most characters we encounter currently are on the binary and are written with he/him or she/her pronouns and you will see that in the above character descriptions. However limiting the descriptions are, our casting seeks to be inclusive as possible, and we invite gender non-conforming, genderqueer, transgender, and non-binary actors to submit for the roles they are most interested in being seen for. We will also list race/ethnicity when specific to the character but are otherwise seeking all races and ethnicities.
Please let us know if you have any questions, concerns or if there are any accommodations we can provide.
To apply for this job email your details to casting@blanktheatrecompany.org