by Alice Austen directed by Sarah Arnold-Simondet Synopsis: Girls in the Boat was inspired by the true stories of the U.S. women’s Olympic rowing team. A group of smart, fiery young women fights discrimination and prejudice to compete in the male-dominated sport of rowing, finding an unlikely ally in a taciturn men’s coach. Together, they confront ridicule and overcome obstacles. The women refuse to sit on a bus and wait their turn in a battle for gender equality in a sport that makes national news and takes them to the world championships. Against the rhythm of their oars, these women forge bonds and overcome disagreements in their search for greatness. Despite their diverse backgrounds and politics, they pull together to reach their goals in a fast-paced drama that reminds us of what we can all do if we have a common purpose. As our heroines break barriers of race and gender, their newly minted U.S. women’s rowing team becomes the most-winning sports team in American history. Auditions: Auditions for Girls in the Boat will be December 4th and 5th 3:15-6:00 (with the potential of ending earlier). Auditions will be held in the Black Box. Students will use the following Google form to register for auditions: Audition Form You may be asked to read multiple sides both at auditions and at callbacks. If you would like to prepare, please take a look at the following sections. Audition Sides: Page 14: Girl 5: “My dad is a runner.” – Pg 16 Coxswain “Um…Hello… Why do you think they don’t want to run with you?” Page 26: Girl 6: “So I get in the boat..” – Page 28 Girl 5: “Not I like the quiet.” Page 28: Bow: “But the girls…” – Page 30 Girl 5:”…You girls” Page 42: Journalist: “Can you talk to us…” – Page 43 Coach: “I don’t care if a rower is male or female” Page 45: Coach: “I didn’t invent anything…” – Page 47 Coach: “You row like an egg beater” In auditions, we are looking for actors who are specific and bold with their character choices. Your character choices should show what makes the character unique while still being part of the team. Roles: Bow: first seat in the boat, smallest and quickest, shy and quiet, also plays a mother Girl 2: smallest and quickest, likes poetry and literature, also plays a mother. Girl 3: engine of the boat, artist turned rower, optimist, collaborative, hard working, also plays a mother. Girl 4: engine of the boat, goes to a prestigious university, fights for equality, Girl 5: engine of the boat,runner turned rower, all around athlete, fights for women’s sports, also plays a mother. Girl 6: engine of the boat, energetic tomboy, follows father’s and brother’s legacy, used to be the stroke also plays a mother. Girl 7: BIPOC, becomes a lawyer and activist, “skilled, smart, follows the rhythm of the stroke” Stroke: sets the rhythm and rate of the rowing, college athlete, rows all their life, “has perfect form” Coxswain: steers the boat and coaches the crew, small but mighty, loud and brash, former gymnast Coach/Dad/Man: older, coach fights for girls and wants them to win, makes hard decisions, teacher Boy/Journalist/Boy Rower: focused on themselves, younger, plays the villain in many circumstances, Announcer: calls the race, may be a voice over Callbacks will be Dec 9th from 3:15 – 6:00pm. The first read thru will be Dec 10th at 3:15pm. Standard rehearsals will begin Dec 11th and the schedule is on the rehearsal calendar.

November LoftPAC Meeting Presentation

Thank you to the Alice by Heart crew for the time you’ve put in thus far to make this production a success. There is still a long way to go, so don’t let up!

Below you will find crew assignments for the performance crew. You must send me a message via Remind or an email to accept your crew position.

As a reminder, the following dates are all mandatory for the performance crew:

Monday, October 28th from 3:15-7pm – Sit Sing w/ Orchestra (sound crew only)
Tuesday, October 29th from 3:15-7pm – Rehearsal (sound crew only)
Wednesday, October 30th from 3:15-7pm – Rehearsal (sound crew only)
Thursday, October 31st from 3:15-7pm – Rehearsal (sound crew only)
Friday, November 1st from 3:15-7pm – Rehearsal (sound crew only)
Saturday, November 2nd from 8am-4pm or later – Tech Saturday
Monday, November 4th from 3:15-7pm or later – Dress Rehearsal
Tuesday, November 5th from 9am-4pm – Dress Rehearsal
Wednesday, November 6th from 3:15-7pm or later – Dress Rehearsal
Thursday, November 7th from 3:15-7pm or later – Dress Rehearsal
Friday, November 8th at 5pm – Performance Call Time
Saturday, November 9th at 5pm – Performance Call Time
Sunday, November 10th at 12pm – Performance Call Time
Thursday, November 14th from 3:15-7pm – Pickup Rehearsal
Friday, November 15th at 5pm – Performance Call Time
Saturday, November 16th at 12pm – Performance Call Time
Sunday, November 17th at 12-7pm – Strike

If you don’t see your name on the list and want to participate on performance crew, please contact me. All those that expressed interest in participating on the performance crew, and have logged hours for a crew call, have been given a position.

Jimmy
Technical Director

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Before any form of media is consumed, many parents ask themselves an important question: “is this movie/show/play child appropriate?” While an inarguably important question, the subjectivity of the response is definitely debatable. Even with seemingly-objective measures like PG or PG-13 film ratings, there is still room for disagreement. For example, The Lego Movie is rated PG but so is Jaws. Would you show both films to your five-year-old? Deciding whether or not something is suitable for your child is a deeply personal decision, one that we would never want to coerce one way or another.

That said, there are certain aspects about our fall production, Alice by Heart, that are more mature in nature. Without spoiling the narrative here are some sensitive subjects of which potential audiences should be aware:

Setting, WWII London – The action of the play takes place in a tube station turned bomb shelter. Throughout the show there are references to war, simulated explosion sounds, and a character who navigates war-related PTSD.
Conflict – This is a coming-of-age play where characters experience normal milestones that come with it – changing bodies, romantic attraction, and self actualization.
Content – As this show is a drama, the text does grapple with some sensitive subjects. Here’s an abbreviated list of content warnings:
Illness, death, and loss
Simulated substance use – smoking
Language – there is one explicit use of language (“bitch”) and mention of anatomical terms (e.g. Alice’s blouse doesn’t fit like it used to, the word “bottom” is used several times colloquially to refer to one’s rear end, etc.)

For reference, the full libretto is available online on the MTI website. If you have any specific questions about content, feel free to email artistic director Kajsa Jones-Higgins (kjones@theloftstage.org).