Website Porchlight Music Theatre
Chicago's home for music theatre
Porchlight Music Theatre announces video auditions for “Little Shop of Horrors” and “Dead Outlaw.”
For those performers who will not be able to attend our up-coming in-person General Auditions, we offer this opportunity to submit a video audition.
Seeking singing Adult Actors (18+) of all ethnicities, gender identities and physical abilities.
Local, Chicagoland based hires only. We will not be considering out-of-town artists who require travel and housing.
Callbacks and Rehearsals will be at Porchlight Rehearsal Studios, 4200 W. Diversey, Chicago
Performances will be at the Biograph Theater, 2433 N Lincoln Ave, Chicago
Material to Prepare:
Please submit a video of yourself performing two (2) contrasting 32 bar song selections appropriate for either Little Shop of Horrors and/or Dead Outlaw. The pieces must be performed with accompaniment; no acapella submissions, please. Does not need to be performed with piano specifically, can be any kind of music track or recorded accompaniment available to you. Please include your headshot and resume with your video submission.
If you play an instrument proficiently—especially guitar, banjo, lap steel or mandolin—please either accompany yourself (preferable, if possible) along with a track for one of your selections, or record a separate short selection in which to show your proficiency.
VIDEOS: Please submit one (1) video file containing both songs submitted as a direct YouTube link. Multiple videos, videos requiring downloads or videos that are password protected will not be accepted.
HEADSHOT/RESUME: Please submit together as one PDF file named LastName_FirstName. (ex. Johnson_Susan.pdf). Materials containing multiple files, not submitted as a PDF or not following the requested file name format will not be accepted.
TO SUBMIT: Please send one (1) email to auditions@porchlightmusictheatre.org with your full name and "26/27" in the subject line, your one (1) video link in the body of the email and attach your one (1) PDF with your headshot & resume. Due to the volume of submissions expected, we will not be able to respond to each performer individually. You will only be contacted if we need anything further from you.
Submissions not following the above instructions may not be considered. However, if you experience technical difficulties formatting your submission as requested, please let us know and we will be happy to work with you to find an alternative solution.
Email only; no phone calls, please.
Porchlight Music Theatre is committed to diversity and encourages all its employees to engage in a policy of equal employment opportunity designed to promote a positive model of inclusion. As such, Porchlight Music Theatre encourages performers of all ethnicities, gender identities, and ages, as well as performers with disabilities, to participate in every audition.
Time Commitment:
Little Shop of Horrors
Rehearsals begin: week of September 28, 2026
Press Opening: November 8, 2026
Anticipated Closing: December 13, 2026
Dead Outlaw
Rehearsals begin: week of January 11, 2027
Press Opening: February 14, 2027
Anticipated Closing: March 21, 2027
Character Type/Restrictions:
Little Shop of Horrors
Seymour Krelborn
An insecure, put-upon florist's clerk and eventual hero. He is a genuine, well-meaning person whom others take for granted because of his clumsy ways and poor social skills.
Character Gender: male
Vocal range top: G4
Vocal range bottom: A2
Audrey
Billie-Dawn-like and Seymour's secret love. She has low self-worth and limited education, but is incredibly attractive with a sweet naive and vulnerable demeanor.
Character Gender: female
Vocal range top: D5
Vocal range bottom: G#3
Mr. Mushnik
The seasoned owner of the failing East Side flower shop and Seymour's nosy boss. He is profit-driven, greedy, and manipulative.
Character Gender: male
Vocal range top: F4
Vocal range bottom: G2
Orin Scrivello
An egotistical dentist with a passion for leather and sadistic tendencies. Audrey's abusive boyfriend, whom Seymour targets.
Character Gender: male
Vocal range top: G4
Vocal range bottom: G2
The Plant (Audrey II)
Puppet. An anthropomorphic cross between a Venus flytrap and an avocado, the plant has an appetite for human flesh that Seymour appeases. Puppeteer doubles as other sizes of the plant.
Voice Of The Plant
An actor/vocalist located offstage. The voice is that of a conniving, street-smart 'villain.' A funky Rhythm and Blues voice is best.
Vocal range top: G4
Vocal range bottom: G2
Crystal, Ronnette and Chiffon are young women of color. 1960s "street urchins," they act as the occasional Greek Chorus. Young, hip, and smart, these girls are the only ones who have a grip on reality.
Crystal
Character Gender: female
Vocal range top: F5
Vocal range bottom: Ab3
Ronnette
Ronnette
Character Gender: female
Vocal range top: F5
Vocal range bottom: Ab3
Chiffon
Character Gender: female
Vocal range top: F5
Vocal range bottom: Ab3
Dead Outlaw
Track 1: Male presenting, 20-30 yrs, any ethnicity
Elmer McCurdy: The "dead outlaw" of the title. McCurdy was a train robber whose body was put on display for paying gawkers cross-country after he died.
Track 2: Any gender/ethnicity
Band Leader: An otherwise unnamed character who narrates McCurdy's story and performs many of the show's songs live with an onstage band.
Jarrett: The leader of the Jarrett gang, a group of robber brothers. He meets Elmer in jail and teaches him the tools of the trade. He's played by the same actor as the Band Leader.
Track 3: Any gender/ethnicity
Coroner Johnson: A coroner in Pawhuska County, Oklahoma, who is the first to show off Elmer's corpse for money when no family comes forth to claim it.
(This track also plays other characters)
Track 4: Any gender/ethnicity
Louis: Elmer's bumbling coworker at a plumbing business in Kansas.
Charles Patterson: A man who poses, along with his brother James, as Elmer's brothers in order to claim his corpse and use it in their traveling carnival.
(This track also plays other characters)
Track 5: Female presenting, 20-30 yrs, any ethnicity
Helen: Elmer's adoptive mother.
Maggie: A girl with whom Elmer has a brief romance while living in Iola, Kansas.
(This track also plays other characters)
Track 6: Any gender/ethnicity
George: Elmer's adoptive father, who dies when Elmer is fairly young.
(This track also plays other characters)
Track 7: Any gender/Asian
Coroner Noguchi: A coroner in Los Angeles who oversees the final autopsy and burial of Elmer's body in 1976.
(This track also plays other characters)
Track 8: Any gender/Native American
Andy Payne: The winner of a cross-country footrace, which is accompanied by a traveling sideshow at which Elmer's body is being displayed.
(This track also plays other characters)
To apply for this job email your details to Auditions@porchlightmusictheatre.org