July 20 & 24
Interested in crew? CLICK HERE
Thank you for your interest in auditioning for a GREAT show! If you’ve auditioned for us before, welcome back! If this is your first time auditioning at GREAT, we’re thrilled to have you! We are in our 27th season and are excited to add new people, new talent, and new voices to our company as well as welcome returning volunteers to our stages! Whether you’re a seasoned performer or you’ve never been on stage before, we encourage you to audition!
BE PART OF THE STORY
Auditioning for Waitress presents the opportunity to be part of one of the first community theatre productions of the show. Sarah Bareilles’ music coupled with a lyrical/contemporary dance style promises a unique theatrical storytelling experience for each performer. With rich, multifaceted characters and a complex storyline, this show offers actors the chance to dive deep into their roles whether dramatic, comedic, or quirky. While a small cast (approximately twenty), ensemble and named roles are integral to the storytelling.
KEY DATES
Information Session: July 10th from 7-8pm (via Zoom) SIGN UP HERE
Auditions are nerve-wracking whether it’s your first or seventy-sixth, so join us for an optional Zoom meeting to ask questions and learn about this specific production and audition process from the creative team. Meet the director, choreographer, and music director and hear about the vision for this show and how to best prepare. Our hope is the info session with ease some of the unknowns so you walk into auditions feeling comfortable and confident!
Audition Sign Up: SIGN UP HERE
Auditions: Located at our Helgeson Learning Lab– 710 Sundial Drive, Waite Park
Saturday, July 20th (10am-3pm) and Wednesday, July 24th (6-9pm) at the Helgeson Learning Lab Theatre
Callbacks: Saturday, July 27th (10am-3pm)
Cast Meeting: Wednesday, August 21st (6pm – 9pm)
Baking Party: Saturday, August 24th from 2:00-5:00p
Rehearsals: Every Monday, Tuesday, & Thursday (6-9pm) and some Saturdays (10am-3pm) starting on August 26th. Full list of rehearsal dates is included on the audition form. Please note that not everyone is called for every rehearsal.
Tech/Dress Rehearsals: October 14th-17th (5-10pm)
Performances:
- Friday, October 18th from 6:00p-10:00p (7:30p Performance)
- Saturday, October 19th from 6:00p-10:00p (7:30p Performance)
- Sunday, October 20th from 12:30p-4:30p (2:00p Performance)
- Wednesday, October 23rd from 6:00p-10:00p (Hold) (7:30p Performance)
- Thursday, October 24th from 6:00p-10:00p (7:30p Performance)
- Friday, October 25th from 6:00p-10:00p (7:30p ASL Performance)
- Saturday, October 26th from 12:30p-4:30p (Hold) (2:00p Performance)
- Saturday, October 26th from 6:00p-10:00p (7:30p Performance)
- Sunday, October 27th from 12:30p-4:30p (2:00p Performance)
CHARACTER LIST AND DESCRIPTIONS
JENNA – Character identifies as female. Age 20s-30s. Any ethnicity. A waitress at Joe’s Diner. A woman stuck in her life: unhappily married and unexpectedly pregnant. Finds some joy and expression through her meticulous baking of pies and her friendships with coworkers, Becky and Dawn. Lives life paycheck-to-paycheck, day by day, and wants to get away and start fresh, unbeknownst to her abusive husband, Earl. Mezzo-soprano F#3-F5.
Note: This role engages in multiple scenes of staged intimacy including close proximity, kissing, embracing, and simulated sexual activity. No nudity. This role is on the receiving end of staged violence: grabbing, shoving.
BECKY – Character identifies as female. Age 40s-50s. Any ethnicity. A waitress at Joe’s Diner. She is irreverent, snarky, been there, made it back, and somehow kept her sense of humor. She is honest and loyal to her gals at the diner. Vocal range: Eb3-E5.
Note: This role engages in a scene of staged intimacy involving close proximity, kissing, and simulated sexual activity. No nudity or undress.
DAWN – Character identifies as female. Age 20s-30s. Any ethnicity. A waitress at Joe’s Diner. Endearing and genuine. She is eccentric, wonderfully unusual, and a bit of a nerd who has spent too much time alone watching The History Channel. She sets the tables, painstakingly ensuring each salt and pepper-shaker is equidistant from the napkin holder. Vocal range: G3-E5.
Note: This role engages in a moment of staged intimacy involving close proximity and simulated sexual activity as well as moments of kissing and embracing. No nudity or undress.
CAL – Character identifies as male. Age 40s. Any ethnicity. A chef at the diner. A “Salt of the earth” guy’s guy surrounded by gals. Brash, impatient, unsentimental, but somehow charming. Vocal range: D3-F4.
Note: This role engages in a scene of staged intimacy involving close proximity, kissing, and simulated sexual activity. No nudity or undress.
JOE – Character identifies as male. Age 60s-70s. Any ethnicity. The owner of the diner where Jenna, Dawn, Becky, and Cal work. A seemingly old, curmudgeonly man who has a soft spot for Jenna (and her pie): he wants her to succeed in life and be happy. Gruff exterior but warm at heart. Joe is a sarcastic and no-nonsense guy with a keen ability to read people. Vocal range: B2-G#4.
EARL – Character identifies as male. Age 20s-30s. Caucasian. Jenna’s husband. Earl is an almost talented musician who peaked in high school. He’s handsome in a gruff way, but that face is clouded with broken dreams, drowned in cheap beer. Publicly, Earl turns on the charm but privately he is a nightmare narcissist, exploding into unexpected anger one second and turning into a sobbing mess the next. And Jenna bears the brunt of his unhappiness. Guitar playing a plus. Vocal range: Eb3-G4.
Note: This role engages in staged intimacy including kissing and embracing. This role also initiates physical violence: grabbing, shoving.
DR. POMATTER – Character identifies as male. Age 30s-40s. Any ethnicity. Jenna’s gynecologist turned lover. He’s endearing, genuine, and awkward. He is clumsy in manner and a bit neurotic, with a quirky sense of humor and a big heart. Vocal range: Bb2-Bb4.
Note: This role engages in multiple scenes of staged intimacy including close proximity, kissing, embracing, and simulated sexual activity. No nudity.
OGIE – Character identifies as male. Age 20s-30s. Any ethnicity. Absolutely smitten with Dawn after a 5-minute date, he will do anything in his power to win her over including showing up to the diner unannounced and making up poems on the spot. Extremely quirky (amateur magician, competitive clog dancer, only eats white food on Wednesdays), incredibly persistent, yet always kind. Vocal range: C3-F4.
Note: This role engages in a moment of staged intimacy involving close proximity and simulated sexual activity as well as moments of kissing and embracing. No nudity or undress.
LULU – Character identifies as female. To play 4-5 years old. Daughter of Jenna and Earl. A sweet, carefree child who appears in the last scene of the show, she is the essence of childhood joy and freedom. To be cast at a later date.
ENSEMBLE – All genders, all ethnicities, ages 20s to 60s. Essential to the storytelling of the production, the ensemble are Jenna’s muses, Joe’s Diner Customers, a trio of pregnant women, Nurse Norma, Francine Pomatter and more. Some Ensemble members will also understudy principal roles. As characters comprising the community in which the story takes place, ensemble members should be strong movers who excel at storytelling choreography.
JENNA ALTERNATE – See character description for Jenna. Jenna’s Alternate is an Understudy with a scheduled performance. Alternates are guaranteed rehearsal time, intimacy rehearsals, and one performance.
POMATTER ALTERNATE – See character description for Dr. Pomatter. Dr. Pomatter Alternate is an Understudy with a scheduled performance. Alternates are guaranteed rehearsal time, intimacy rehearsals, and one performance.
UNDERSTUDY – For Waitress, an Understudy will cover a principal role but is not guaranteed a performance in that role. IN ADDITION to understudying, you will have an Ensemble role(s) which you will perform for all shows (unless stepping in to understudy). Understudies are guaranteed rehearsal time.
WHAT TO PREPARE
A Note On Theatrical Intimacy:
Theatrical intimacy is any action on stage where the given circumstances of the scene or the overall production calls for touch, both physical and imaginative, or moments between actors of simulated sexual activity or sexual violence.
GREAT continues to learn from Intimacy Directors & Coordinators (IDC) to improve processes and incorporate safer practices for theatrical intimacy in our rehearsals.
Waitress contains multiple moments of physical intimacy between characters (Jenna/Dr. Pomatter, Jenna/Earl, Dawn/Ogie, Becky/Cal) which vary from an embrace or kiss to simulating sexual activity. Consent and actor safety are at the center of all stage intimacy, and all scenes with intimacy follow a specific set of staging and rehearsal protocols.
Characters who engage in staged physical intimacy are indicated in character descriptions.
Please prepare a MUSIC SELECTION from the option below. Please click on the title to see the sheet music and click the play button to hear track. These audition tracks will be the same ones used for your audition.
Please prepare a song from our provided list that best showcases your voice and that allows you to demonstrate a connection to the character. Remember to sing the story – you’re acting!
Jenna #15 “She Used To Be Mine” mm. 45-75
Becky #13 “I Didn’t Plan It” mm. 35-57
Dawn #4 “When He Sees Me” mm. 15-42
Cal #1 “Opening Up” mm. 62-91
Joe #14 “Take It From an Old Man” mm. 7-30
Earl #6 “You Will Still Be Mine” mm. 1-20
Dr. Pomatter #5 “It Only Takes A Taste” mm. 43-64
Ogie #11 “Never Ever Getting Rid Of Me” mm. 9-40
Ensemble #22 “Opening Up Finale” mm. 31-68
Those interested in Ensemble, please choose a voice part that best matches your range and learn your part from these ENSEMBLE PRACTICE TRACKS. Please note – the ENSEMBLE audition track does NOT include your part. The original cast recording (YouTube, Spotify, Apple Music) is another great resource for learning.
Please learn the CHOREOGRAPHY from the provided video.
Waitress will come to life with contemporary choreography and staging. Everyone is a part of the physical world and storytelling through movement is integral to the production. Please learn the choreography for “Everything Changes” in advance of auditions. At auditions, we will review the choreography together and then perform it. Please dress for movement.
Dance Audition: Step by step teaching video
Dance Audition: Choreography to Music
Synopsis:
Set against the backdrop of a small-town diner, Waitress follows the journey of Jenna, a talented pie-maker and waitress who finds herself unhappily married and pregnant. A baking contest in a nearby county and a satisfying encounter with someone new presents a tempting recipe for a chance at a fresh start. With help from her spunky co-workers, each with their own aspirations, struggles, and relatable stories, she finds the courage to take a long abandoned dream off the shelf and start fresh.
Based on the film and featuring a soul-stirring score by Grammy-nominated artist Sara Bareilles, Waitress is a celebration of resilience, self-discovery, and the family we choose. It serves up a generous helping of toe-tapping tunes and unforgettable moments, proving that even in the face of challenges there’s a chance to bake your own recipe for happiness.
PRODUCTION TEAM
Director: Kendra Norton Dando
Choreographer: Talya Dozois
Music Director: Brandon Nordhues
Intimacy Director: Elizabeth Desotelle
Scenic Designer: Mark Hennigs
Costume Designer: Dana Svensson
Lighting Designer: Grant E. Merges
Sound Designer: Steven Sanders
Prop Manager: Bonnie Bologna
Stage Manager: Grace Wright