Centenary Stage Company to hold auditions for 'In The Car With Blossom And Len'

The Centenary Stage Company, a not for profit professional equity theater located on the campus of Centenary College in Hackettstown will hold Equity Principle Auditions for its World Premiere production of Joni Fritz’s Susan Glaspell award winning "In The Car with Blossom and Len" on Tuesday, Dec. 9 in the Lackland Center.

In this funny and poignant new play, a basket full of unpaid bills for chemical engineer Lenny Gold’s laboratory is discovered by one of his adult daughters, unveiling a lifetime of secrets, a mysterious silent partner, and a few other challenges which must be met by this family. A family saga about growing up, growing older and where you put the keys.

Playwright Joni Fritz has worked in theatre and television as a writer and actress, with appearances in NYC and regional theatre, film, television and commercials. Her writing credits run the gamut from theatre to videos, documentaries, and sketch comedy for USA Network.

Most recently, Joni's play "Girl's Room," starring Broadway legends Carol Lawrence and Donna McKechnie, directed by Lynne Taylor-Corbett, had successful runs in NY and LA. Her work has been seen in several theatres in the NYC area, including Ensemble Studio Theatre, the Women’s Theatre Company and Dreamcatcher Rep. She is a member of AEA, SAG-AFTRA and the Dramatist Guild, and resides in Pompton Plains.

Directing the production is Tony Award nominated and Broadway veteran director/choreographer Lynn Taylor Corbett. Nominated for the 2000 Tony Award, Best Direction of a Musical and Best Choreography for the musical Swing!, Taylor Corbett also received a 2000 Drama Desk Award nomination for Outstanding Choreography. Her recent stage work includes both directing and choreographing the musical My Vaudeville Man! which, ran off-Broadway at the York Theatre Company from November 2008 through January 2009. She received a Drama Desk Award nomination for Outstanding Choreography with her collaborator, Shonn Wiley, for My Vaudeville Man!.

To schedule an appointment call 908-979–0900 ext. 8. Equity members without an appointment will be seen throughout the day, as time permits. Actors may perform a prepared monologue or read from sides provided at the audition. Blind/low vision performers may request an advance copy of sides when scheduling an appointment. Bring a headshot and resume, stapled back–to–back. First rehearsal is scheduled for Feb. 3 and performances run Feb. 20 through March 8. CSC operates under an SPT contract with a minimum salary of $332 per week. Specific role breakdown as follows:

Holly Gold: A divorced woman in her late 40's/early 50's. Long ago, gave up on her own career as a fiction writer to take care of her parents. Dry sense of humor, child-like quality, enormously co-dependent, conflicted.

Lenny Gold: Holly's father-must be able to play late 70's/early 80's. A scientist who owns a quality control chemical laboratory. He is hard of hearing, stubborn, easily angered/explosive, and somewhat bi-polar. Funny without meaning to be.

Blossom Gold: Holly's mother-must be able to play late 70's/early 80's. A retired town manager who has a memory problem and a clothing fetish. Bird-like quality, nervous, lovable.

Fern Gold-Dumas: Holly's older sister, early 50's. An attorney who out of self-preservation emotionally bolted from the family years ago. Type “A” personality, dry sense of humor, ability to change.

Susan Anderson: A social worker from a local senior citizen agency. 30s - early 40s. Sweet demeanor, eager to please, yet goes by the book.

All characters must have a keen sense of comedy, pathos, and a great sense of the ridiculous.