Audition Notice – “Sarah, Plain and Tall”

Adapted by Joseph Robinette
Directed by Allen Schmeltz

 

Audition is on Sunday, March 20 at 7:00pm
Location: Sutter Street Theatre Annex, 710 Figueroa Street, Folsom

Show run: May 7 – May 29 on Saturdays and Sundays at 1:00pm.
Rehearsals: Begin April 4 and are usually Mondays through Thursdays in the evenings.

There are four songs in the show, but it is not a musical.  The songs are simple period pieces and will be sung a cappella.  If the person cast as Sarah can play a guitar, she may accompany some of the songs.

 

The audition will be cold readings from the script. Please bring a headshot and resume if you have them.

 

To audition or be cast you must show proof of Covid vaccination.

Synopsis:

Set in the early 1900’s, this play brings to life the charming, heartwarming story of a Kansas farmer, Jacob Witting, a widower with two children, Anna and Caleb, who places an ad in the newspapers seeking a wife.  He receives a letter from a Sarah Wheaton of Maine who says she will visit the family for a month to see how things work out: “I will come by train.  I will wear a yellow bonnet.  I am plain and tall.”  Narrated by Anna, the story unfolds in a fascinating flashback on that often exciting, sometimes tumultuous month when Sarah and the Wittings came to know each other and learned a few things about themselves as well.  The joys and challenges of everyday life are richly depicted in this classic which the New York Times called “an exquisite, sometimes painfully touching tale.”

Cast Requirements:

JACOB WITTING (a Kansas farmer) look 30 – 40’s

ANNA WITTING (Jacob’s young daughter) a young actor who can play approximately a 10-year-old

CALEB WITTING (Jacob’s young son) an actor who can play approximately a 9-year-old

MATTHEW NORDSTROM (a neighboring farmer) adult any age

MAGGIE NORDSTROM (Matthew’s wife) adult any age

ROSE NORDSTROM (Matthew & Maggie’s daughter) actor who can play approximately 10-12

VIOLET NORDSTROM (Matthew & Maggie’s other daughter) actor who can play approximately 10-12

WILLIAM WHEATON (a Maine Fisherman) look 30 – 40’s

MEG WHEATON (William’s wife) look 30 – 40’s

ADULT ANNA (Anna Witting in her 20’s)

ONE MALE OR FEMALE ACTOR late teen through adult to play seven characters: a paperboy, a postman, a coachman, a stationmaster, a farmer, a salesman, and a neighbor of the Wittings.

The role of Sarah has been pre-cast.

For further information or questions email the director, Allen Schmeltz at aschmeltz2000@gmail.com