LENOX, MA (February 2, 2022) – WAM Theatre looks forward to holding Equity Principal and General Auditions for our 2023 Season on February 10 and 11, 2023. Auditions will be hosted by Talya Kingston, Associate Artistic Director, and Producing Artistic Director, Kristen van Ginhoven.
“We are excited to hold in-person auditions again at our new creative hub in Lenox,” shared Kristen van GInhoven, who will be directing Heidi Schreck’s WHAT THE CONSTITUTION MEANS TO ME, (a co-production between WAM Theatre and Berkshire Theater Group). “We look forward to seeing familiar faces and meeting new local actors.”
After WHAT THE CONSTITUTION MEANS TO ME in the spring, WAM Theatre’s 2023 Season will continue with a summer Fresh Takes Play Reading Series in July, and a Fall Performance and Benefit to be announced later this year. WAM Theatre works under an AEA Small Professional Theatre Contract.
Auditions: Friday February 10: noon-7pm & Saturday February 11: 10am-5pm. BY APPOINTMENT ONLY. e-mail: casting@wamtheatre.com to set up an appointment.
Where: WAM’s New Creative Hub and Offices, 55 Main Street, Lenox, MA (ground floor of the Church on the Hill Administrative Office and Chapel). Free street parking is available. Space is wheelchair accessible. Free onsite childcare will be offered on Friday February 10.
Prepare: 1-2 minute contemporary monologue.
Auditions will be scheduled in 10-minute slots. Please note that no video auditions will be accepted at this time and that we are especially interested in meeting local actors.
AEA members may request an appointment by emailing casting@wamtheatre.com with “2023 Season Auditions” in the subject line. Please indicate any time limitations otherwise you will be assigned the first available slot. Deadline to submit is February 6. All AEA actors who request an appointment will receive an appointment until slots are filled. Additionally, AEA actors may be seen as walk-ins on the day of if time permits.
Non-Equity actors will also be seen as time permits and should submit a photo and resume and indicate their non-union status in their request.
Performers of all ethnicities, gender identities, and ages, as well as performers with disabilities, are encouraged to audition. Due to the plays we have slotted, we are particularly reaching out to African-American, Black and Latinx actors.
WAM SUPPORT
England Arts Resilience Fund, part of the United States Regional Arts Resilience Fund, an initiative of the U.S. Regional Arts Organizations and the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, with major funding from the federal CARES Act for the National Endowment for the Arts. Recently, WAM was recommended for an American Rescue Plan grant from the National Endowment for the Arts.
WAM’s sponsors include Adams Community Bank, Blue Q., Berkshire Roots, Blue Spark Financial, Downright Pro, Greylock Federal Credit Union, Garden Gables Inn, Guidos Fresh Marketplace, Health Professional Coaching, Heller & Robbins Attorneys at Law, Interprint, Only in my Dreams Events, Onyx Specialty Papers, Outpost Productions, Prix Fixe, RB Design Co., T Square Design Studio, Toole Insurance, a. von schlegell & co, and the Women’s Fund of Western Massachusetts.
WAM Theatre’s 2022/2023 Season is also supported in part by grants from Berkshire Regional Planning Commission, Berkshire Bank, Berkshire Taconic Community Foundation, Bradson Education & Library Foundation, The Feigenbaum Foundation, Massachusetts Cultural Council (MCC), Mass Humanities, Mill Town Foundation, Inc., Lee Bank Foundation, Scarlet Sock Foundation and U.S. Small Business Administration’s Shuttered Venue Operators Grant; as well as grants from the Dalton Cultural Council, Lee Cultural Council, Lenox Cultural Council, Pittsfield Cultural Council, Northern Berkshire Cultural Council, Otis Cultural Council, Sandisfield Cultural Council, and Washington Cultural Council.
ABOUT WAM THEATRE
WAM Theatre is a professional theatre company based in Berkshire County, MA, that operates at the intersection of arts and activism. WAM creates theatre for gender equity and has a vision of theatre as philanthropy.
In fulfillment of its philanthropic mission, WAM donates a portion of the proceeds from their Mainstage productions to carefully selected beneficiaries. Since WAM’s founding in 2010, they have donated more than $85,000 to 25 local and global organizations taking action for gender equity in areas such as girls education, teen pregnancy prevention, sexual trafficking awareness, midwife training, and more.
In addition to Mainstage productions and special events, WAM’s activities include innovative community engagement programs and the Fresh Takes Play Reading Series. To date, WAM has provided paid work to more than 500 theatre artists, the majority of whom are female-identifying.
As a civic organization that embraces intersectional feminism (feminism that acknowledges how multiple forms of discrimination overlap), WAM understands that to address one piece of systemic discrimination means we have to address them all. This is on-going personal and professional work at WAM for the staff and board, detailed in their recently released accountability plan.
WAM Theatre has been widely recognized for having a positive impact on cultural and community development in the region. WAM is the recipient of the Creative Economy Standout Berkshire Trendsetter Award and previously, was named Outstanding Philanthropy Corporation of the Year by the Western MA Chapter of the Association of Fundraising Professionals. Kristen van Ginhoven, WAM’s Producing Artistic Director, was honored by the Berkshire Theatre Critics Association (BTCA) with the prestigious Larry Murray Award, presented at the discretion of the BTCA Board to a person or theatre project that advances social, political, or community issues in Berkshire County.
For more information, visit www.wamtheatre.com