Auditions will take place at Prague Film and Theater Center (PFTC) at Varšavská 12 in Prague 2.

DANCER AUDITIONS: Thursday 23rd February, 6.30pm – 9.30pm
The production is seeking two dancers, one male and one female to perform ten contemporary dance pieces for the live 
theatre performance as well as to participate in the film sequences. Interested dancers should prepare a contemporary 
dance piece (max 2 mins) and bring an MP3 player or CD with their chosen music. 
For more information and to book a slot at the audition: http://www.facebook.com/events/309242459125519/

ACTOR AUDITIONS: Tuesday 28th & Wednesday 29th February, 6.30pm – 9.30pm
The production is also looking for ten actors to play the roles listed below. We are looking for a wide range of characters 
of all different backgrounds, languages, and ages. Interested actors should prepare a one-minute monologue and are also 
encouraged to bring their headshot and resume. 
For more information and to book a slot at the audition: http://www.facebook.com/events/304806919575326/

Choreographer Dagmar Spain (born in the Czech Republic and trained in Germany & New York) to help artistically embody the ten dynamic relationships, Jan Fisher, (violinist with the popular Czech band „Zrni‟) to compose an original score, and PFTC filmmaker, David West, to incorporate elements of film in this colorful round. Director Jay DeYonker from New Jersey has said of this project, “When Producer Lindsay Taylor brought up the idea of making Dokola, my heart skipped a beat! I‟ve been dreaming of this production ever since I was introduced to my favorite musical of all time, “Hello Again”. The last 2 months have been a whirlwind of ideas and I am so proud and excited to be part of such an exciting production team working on this adaptation”.

If you didn’t get a chance to come out to the audition and would like to, you can come at 13:00 on the 19th. Please email brian@pragueplayhouse.com for more details.

We are still looking for musicians, so if you or someone you know plays clarinet, trumpet, french horn or double bass, please get in touch with us!

The production will be IN ENGLISH, but all nationalities are welcome to audition. It is a great chance to work on a musical with experienced director, vocal coach and choreographer Steve Josephson, who will be coming to Prague to direct. Rehearsals should start March/April and the performances will be June/July 2012. At this point, all roles are open for audition. A list of roles and their vocal ranges (along with other information about the show) is here: http://www.mtishows.com/show_detail.asp?showid=000075 (select “casting” for the roles). The Beggar Woman, Beadle, Pirelli will also be included in the ensemble. We are especially looking for trained ensemble singers who can handle singing in harmony to sing in the chorus.

Auditions will be the week of February 15.
Callbacks will likely be the 18.2 or 19.2.

Please prepare: 2 songs: 1 ballad (slow), 1 uptempo (fast) for the audition. The songs should NOT be from SWEENEY TODD (but other Sondheim shows are welcome) and should show off your vocal range and interpretation. If you have any questions or to schedule an audition, please either email brian@pragueplayhouse.com or SMS/call 608 577 012.

Please pass this on to others who may be interested!

Auditions will be on Sunday 18.9. between 14:00 and 16:30 hrs. (2 to 4:30 pm) at the Prague Playhouse Acting Studio, Frantiska Krizka 1, 3rd floor in Prague 7. Please prepare a one-minute-monologue and a christmas carol to show your ability to tell a story through the song! To schedule an audition, please text/call Laura on 776 605 227!

We are doing something a little different with this one: We are going to have a small cast of players which will function as something like a Greek chorus: They will sing 19th century christmas carols as mood/commentary on what is going on in the play. When the scenes require it, they will step out of the chorus and act all of the characters in the play (besides Scrooge). It should be fun and challenging ensemble work for actor/singers.

We are looking forward to seeing you at the auditions!

If you are interested, please write to me (brian@pragueplayhouse.com or 608 577 012) for an audition time (please state whether you would like to come Saturday or Sunday). Prepare a 1-2 minute comedic monologue and 32 bars of a song. There will not be a piano at the auditions so please be prepared to sing A-Capella or bring an instrument with you.

The roles are:

Charlie Brown: Baritone
Lucy: Alto
Snoopy: Tenor
Linus: Baritone
Schroeder: Tenor
Patty: Soprano

Rehearsals will begin at the end of March and there will be 6 performances in May (May 13,14,20, and 21).

Thanks and hope to see you at the audition!

Brian

CASTING ANNOUNCEMENT

MICROSOFT COMMERCIAL

Shoots in Prague: 24-28 Oct, 2010

Roles:

CLAUDE: Can be any nationality. Comic. Lead Role. 20s or 30s. He is very awkward, and always says or does the wrong thing. He desperately wants to be liked but people avoid him. Need accomplished, funny actor who is physically and comically talented.

DANA. American. Mid 30s, mid- higher lever Executive. Smart, capable, not afraid to speak her mind.

ROB. American. Mid 30s. He works for Dana. Smart, nice, helpful, honest normal guy.

LIZA. American. Early 20s, study-abroad college student. Pretty, sweet, warm. Not modelly

MOM+ DAN. American. Liza’s parents. 50s. Normal wholesome Americans. Conservative types

ANNA. American. Early mid 20s. Cool and funny. Good looking and funny. Mary-Lynne Rajskub type.

DAVE. American. Her friend and also early 20s. Good looking, stylish, social, likeable.

THIEF. Any nationality. Steals laptop computer. Must have driver’s license and be able to ride Vespa.

*Fee Structure:

CLAUDE, 18,000kc/day + 120,000kc buyout

DANA, ROB, LIZE, MOM, DANA, ANNA: 18,000kc/day + 40,000kc buyout

DAVE, THIEF: 6,000kc/day + 20,000kc

*PLEASE NOTE ALL FEES INCLUDE AGENCY FEE!!!

Casting Info:

Where: Prague Film School Annex Building

Pstrossova 15, Prague 1, 4^th floor

Near Narodni Divaldo tram stop or Narodni Trida Metro

Time: 10– 18:00

Date: Monday, 18 Oct

For info please call Misa Formanova: 723 704 659

Callbacks will be: Tuesday, 19 Oct.

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Blood, Love and Rhetoric have produced Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead, The Memorandum, Chekhov and will be doing the Birthday Party June 9-12. They will be having auditions June 12 at Divadlo Inspirace (Malostranske nam 13) from 12-5pm. For more information email info@bloodloverhetoric.com or visit the facebook event:

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Local theatre company AKANDA is holding auditions on the 12th (Saturday) of June for it’s original production of Cabaret Macabre.

The performances will be held weekly and will begin on the 16th of July.

Looking for both male and female performers who can sing and act (or vice versa).
The performances are paid.

For more information, please contact Melanie Rada via mobile (723 085 650) or email (mellrada@yahoo.ca)

We are looking for:

We are open to both Czech or English speaking actors – the decision hasn’t been made on whether the film will be shot in English or Czech. Either way, we are looking for a Danish accent to whichever of the two languages is spoken. An English or Czech speaking Dane, Swede or Norwegian would be ideal.

There is no age limit. Nor is there any particular look we are searching for.

The part:

The role to be auditioned for is Kohl Larsson, a disaffected ex-power station worker who is appealing for asylum in the Czech Republic on Ecological grounds. Kohl is a man who likes his coal. He’s not happy about the changes that have taken place in his country over the last twenty years, wind turbines, solar power stations, passively heated housing and is seeking asylum in the Czech Republic, a country he sees as more in tune with his way of life.

Filming dates:

There will be three days of shooting, two in Denmark and one in the Czech Republic. We will be filming either in the week following the Easter weekend (6th – 11th April) -  or the following week (11-18th April).

Pay:

Unfortunately the funding available from the Danish government for this project is very small. All the crew will be working well below industry norms. We can offer 1,500 kc cash a day, plus a delayed payment of an extra 1,500 kc a day should we be successful in selling the film to a commercial television company in this country.

There’s a return flight to Copenhagen and two nights in a hotel there included in the film’s budget. If you’d like to fly out earlier or stay on after the shoot and have an extended stay, we’ve no problem with that (though we can’t cover the extra hotel nights).

The casting will take place at the offices of Duracfilm, Turnovská 365/5, Praha 8, on Monday March 15th. Please contact Pavlina Kalandrova, the producer, 724 328 583 or pavlina@duracfilm.cz to arrange a time for an audition and to receive copies of the texts to be read.

I’m Boris Wilke and member of the Prague Playhouse Meisner acting group. I blog about our class activities.

This entry is about how we Meisner students must be ready to invest a lot of time and energy in this work, if we want to succeed as professional actors.

Click on the “CLASSES” button above and then choose “ACTING FOR PROFESSIONALS” to read more about the class itself and where we meet!

I’ve had a “run” of “doors” and “activities” lately. I mean, they worked. And that was due to a large part to the fact that I have been investing roughly one hour per day in this work for about two months now. However, I’ve made the experience that as soon as I quit being serious about it, I encounter difficulties. And the exercise blows up in my face.

You can ask any professional who uses his whole body as an instrument, from sports- and stuntpeople via dancers and pantomimes to us actors that as soon as they take their skills for granted, those very skills are bound to fail them. “Go slack and you’ll crack!”, might be the catch phrase to that. Besides they will tell you, just as musicians would, that one mere hour of work is laughable and will not get you anywhere. Still, in my case, one hour of work each day, made a huge difference.

But what would my progress be, if I dedicated two hours a day to this work? And how much do I have to progress in order to really be able to convey to directors that I have crossed the line and have become professional – that they can rely on me?

If I knew the answer, I’d be a fortune-teller. But one thing is clear: If one wants to be taken seriously in the world of acting, one has to persevere.

I wrote about auditions and how useless they seem to newbies, as they won’t get the role anyway. (I certainly failed to get into “True West”. And I wasn’t even invited to audition for – now I’ll name the stupid title – “A Couple of Poor Polish-Speaking Romanians”! How much does that suck? Huh?!)

I wrote about how Meisner work is to acting only what push-ups are to a tennis player: It’s just one specific kind of exercise, by no means the whole thing!

I alluded to the importance of being known to people and how impossible it is to get known without acting experience. (Why did I not even get invited to the above mentioned play? Am I Robert de Niro? See!!!)

Trying to become a professional actor in Prague has the air of a vicious cycle. It seems futile.

So what is the use of all this?

If I had to seriously ask myself that question, I’d better quit – and yesterday at that!

The Meisner technique is a powerful means to get connected to your partner and to live truthfully under imaginary circumstances. Both are paramount to acting. None of the two are acting, though. Acting happens on stage. Acting happens after one wins an audition. Acting happens when one gets a script in hand, a whole script, not just a scene! Acting is (going to be) awesome!

How can one make sure to get a chance one day? How can one push for success?

My answer is: I don’t know.

“Nobody knows anything!”, is a famous saying in the art world. So how could I know?

And now what?

I say: Get to work! Get someone to rehearse with you – quick! Double-check the next exercise for Meisner class to make sure it’s good and strong! If you’re “only” repeating still, get out there, in a tram or park: Look at people, animals, trees, houses, objects, weather formations – what have you – and practice having an opinion about everything! Sharpen your senses by looking closely and paying attention to minute details! Watch movies! Go to the theater! Get inspired by books! Start a journal! Do pottery! Walk barefoot, even in winter! Do whatever it takes to nurture your inner child!

What it is, only you will be able to tell. But do it! Do it every day! Do it for its own sake! I gave enough reasons why we are all likely to fail at becoming rich and famous. But we may. And one thing is sure: If we don’t try it, over and over again and claw to it with the resolve of a chess master and the energy of a supernova, we will most probably fail.

What if it were all about doing the Meisner work and just the Meisner work? What if we just stopped worrying about it? What if looking out for the next step and taking it, would be enough?

Seen from that angle perseverance is feasible. It’s the keeping at it that counts. And I believe with all my heart that good will come of that perseverance. What good it’ll be, only time will tell. And father temps keeps us in the dark about his plans.

So let’s just keep on keeping on! All else will follow suit.

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General stuff:

Our acting class consists of some fifteen new and not so new active members, who meet every Monday and Wednesday from 6.30 pm to about 8.30. We do Meisner. And the Meisner-technique really rocks!

If you want to connect with your inmost feelings, expressing them freely in an acting environment and thus getting to know yourself better and better, feel free to join us! If you do, be prepared for some serious thrills!

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About the author:

I am Boris Wilke, a German expat in Prague.

I am a writer at large and have been studying Meisner since January 2008. If any of you know of any kind of acting work that befits a laddish, tall 40-year-old, please leave a note!