pls forward to anyone you think might be right & interested. <div class="gmail_quote"><span style="text-transform: uppercase;"><font face="Arial"></font></span><div style=""><p><span style="text-transform: uppercase;"><b>----</b></span></p>
<p><span style="text-transform: uppercase;"><b>EMBERS: A jazz opera in poems</b></span></p><p><span>Composer: David Ornette Cherry</span></p><p><span>Libretto: Terry Wolverton</span></p><p style="margin-bottom: 6pt;"><span>Directed by Rose Marcario<i><u></u></i></span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 6pt;"><span><i>EMBERS </i></span><span>includes thirty-two poems; fifteen are songs, and an additional ten are spoken over a musical track.<span> </span>The final seven are spoken without accompaniment.</span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 6pt;"><span><b>CASTING NOTICE<span style="text-transform: uppercase;"> FOR A CONCERT READING, JANUARY 21, 2009 <br> </span></b></span><span style="text-transform: uppercase;">at the aloud series, Central library, </span><span>630 West Fifth Street, <br>
Los Angeles, CA 90071<span style="text-transform: uppercase;"><b></b></span></span></p><p style="margin-bottom: 6pt;"><span><b><u>Auditions:</u></b></span></p><p style="margin-bottom: 6pt;"><span>Friday, November 14, 2008, 2-7 p.m. at (TBD)</span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 6pt;"><span><b><u>Call Backs:</u></b></span></p><p style="margin-bottom: 6pt;"><span>Friday, November 21, 2008, 2-7 p.m. at (TBD)<b></b></span></p><p style="margin-bottom: 6pt;"><span style="text-transform: uppercase;"><b><u>T</u></b></span><span><b><u>hree rehearsals: </u></b></span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 6pt;"><span>Saturday, December 13, 2008, 2-6 p.m. at the Village, <br> 1125 N. McCadden Place, Los Angeles, CA 90038</span></p><p style="margin-bottom: 6pt;"><span>Saturday, January 10, 2009, 2-7 p.m. at the Village,<br>
1125 N. McCadden Place, Los Angeles, CA 90039</span></p><p style="margin-bottom: 6pt;"><span>Wednesday, January 21, 2009, 4-6 p.m. at the Central Library,<br> <a name="11d27022d460f55d_OLE_LINK7">630 West Fifth Street, Los Angeles, CA 90071<br>
</a>(run-through and tech prior to that evening's performance)</span></p><p style="margin-bottom: 6pt;"><span style="text-transform: uppercase;"><b> </b></span></p><p style="margin-bottom: 6pt;"><span style="text-transform: uppercase;"><b><u>Casting</u></b></span><span><b><u>:</u></b></span></p>
<h1 style="margin-bottom: 6pt;"><span><font size="3"><span style="font-size: 12px;">CALCUTTA </span></font></span><span style="font-weight: normal;"><font size="3"><span style="font-size: 12px;">is deceased; died at age 52, but is ageless now.</span></font><span><font size="3"><span style="font-size: 12px;"> </span></font></span><font size="3"><span style="font-size: 12px;">She's an angel.</span></font><span><font size="3"><span style="font-size: 12px;"> </span></font></span><font size="3"><span style="font-size: 12px;">She's African-American, a former prostitute who knew Marie from those days.</span></font><span><font size="3"><span style="font-size: 12px;"> </span></font></span><font size="3"><span style="font-size: 12px;">She wants to help Marie get out of Purgatory and is willing to break the rules to accomplish this.</span></font><span><font size="3"><span style="font-size: 12px;"> </span></font></span><font size="3"><span style="font-size: 12px;">CONTRALTO OR MEZZO-SOPRANO</span></font><font size="3"><span style="font-size: 12px;"></span></font></span></h1>
<p style="margin-bottom: 6pt;"><span><b>BRYN</b></span><span> is a white female boxer whose made a reputation for herself as Blazin' Bryn.<span> </span>At age 43, she's being pressured to retire, but she refuses.<span> </span>Fighting is all she knows.<span> </span>Currently living in Los Angeles, she hails from Detroit.<span> </span>Though she's cut all ties to her past and to her family, she does credit her harsh upbringing with honing her fighting spirit, her ability to take and give punishment.<span> </span>NOT A SINGING ROLE BUT MUST FEEL COMFORTABLE WITH DELIVERING POETRY.</span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 6pt;"><span><b>MARIE</b></span><span> is Bryn's grandmother (mother of Bryn's stepfather).<span> </span>After a brutal life that included teenage prostitution and decades in and out of mental hospitals, she died at age 77.<span> </span>Her soul is languishing in Purgatory; the only possibility of release is to find someone to pray for her. MEZZO-SOPRANO</span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 6pt;"><span><b>LUCIA </b></span><span>is Bryn's sometime girlfriend.<span> </span>She's ten years younger than Bryn, comes from a Catholic background.<span> </span>She adores Bryn but hates the toll boxing is taking on her.<span> </span>SOPRANO </span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 6pt;"><span><b>Costumes may come from the performers' personal wardrobes; if not, the production will provide whatever's needed.</b></span></p><p style="margin-bottom: 6pt;"><span><b>A $100 honorarium will be paid to each performer.</b></span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 6pt;"><span><b> </b></span></p><p style="margin-bottom: 6pt;"><span><b>Contact Terry Wolverton <a href="mailto:consulther@aol.com" target="_blank">consulther@aol.com</a></b></span></p> <span style="font-family: Times;"><b><div>
<br></div><br clear="all"> </b></span><p style="margin-bottom: 2pt;"><span><b>EMBERS</b></span></p><p style="margin-bottom: 2pt;"><span><b>a jazz opera in poems</b></span></p><p style="margin-bottom: 2pt;"><span><b>libretto by Terry Wolverton</b></span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 2pt;"><span><b>score by David Ornette Cherry</b></span></p><p style="margin-bottom: 2pt;"><span><b> </b></span></p><p style="line-height: 14pt;"><span><i>EMBERS</i></span><span> is a new, original experimental opera about forgiveness and redemption.<span> </span>Drawing from influences as diverse as classical Greek drama, contemporary performance art and spoken word, the story follows three women intertwined by destiny and their link to the blasted, feisty city of Detroit.</span></p>
<p style="line-height: 14pt;"><span><span> </span>CALCUTTA is an angel now, but once she was a prostitute on the streets of Detroit.<span> </span>She finds her old friend MARIE, whom she once mentored as a lady of the night, stuck in Purgatory, unable to free her soul.<span> </span>MARIE asks, "How come you're an angel and I'm locked up in here?" and CALCUTTA tells her, "'Cuz I never felt guilty 'bout what I did."</span></p>
<p style="line-height: 14pt;"><span><span> </span>MARIE's circumstance is becoming dire, because thirty years is the maximum time one can spend in Purgatory, and any unredeemed souls will go to Hell for eternity.<span> </span>CALCUTTA beseeches MARIE, "Isn't there anyone who can pray for you?"</span></p>
<p style="line-height: 14pt;"><span><span> </span>Her husbands and her sons are dead.<span> </span>Her grandchildren would never do it.<span> </span>Then she remembers the stepdaughter of her oldest son.<span> </span>She'd always seen BRENDA as a kindred spirit.<span> </span>CALCUTTA pledges to find the girl and convince her to offer the necessary prayers to save her grandmother.</span></p>
<p style="line-height: 14pt;"><span><span> </span>CALCUTTA finds the granddaughter, only to learn she has changed her name to BRYN and has become a professional boxer.<span> </span>BRYN wants nothing to do with her past, her family, or God.<span> </span>She dismisses MARIE as "crazy."<span> </span>BRYN, past forty, is primarily concerned with the diminution of her fighting powers.<span> </span>She's focused on her next fight—a make-it-or-break-it match against a much younger contender.</span></p>
<p style="line-height: 14pt;"><span><span> </span>As time runs out for MARIE's salvation, CALCUTTA transports BRYN back in time to Detroit, circa 1919, to show her the circumstances of MARIE's life in hopes of awakening BRYN's empathy.<span> </span>MARIE faced abandonment as an adolescent, prostitution for survival, ex-communication from the Catholic Church, and incarceration in a mental institution after she burned down her own house when she believed her husband unfaithful. </span></p>
<p style="text-indent: 0.5in; line-height: 14pt;"><span>When her attempt to persuade BRYN is unsuccessful, CALCUTTA forces her to look at her own history and how it has shaped her life.<span> </span>Still, BRYN will not yield.<span> </span>"Fighting is the only thing I know how to do," she insists, "If I can't fight, I'm dead."</span></p>
<p style="line-height: 14pt;"><span><span> </span>Then BRYN suggests a deal: If CALCUTTA will help her win this match, she'll "say a prayer for the old bitch."<span> </span>Choosing her words carefully, CALCUTTA agrees to "help win your fight."</span></p>
<p style="line-height: 14pt;"><span><span> </span>BRYN's match is a disaster.<span> </span>The younger boxer goes after her relentlessly and eventually knocks BRYN out.<span> </span>While she is unconscious, she revisits the 1967 riots, a time in which people burned down parts of their own city in their rage and frustration at racism.</span></p>
<p style="line-height: 14pt;"><span><span> </span>BRYN is badly hurt in the fight, but more, she's despondent.<span> </span>She can't imagine how to live any other way.<span> </span>She contemplates suicide, but CALCUTTA interrupts.<span> </span>BRYN blames her for losing the match, claims she'll never help MARIE now, but CALCUTTA insists she didn't go back on her word.<span> </span>"The fight is for your life."</span></p>
<p style="line-height: 14pt;"><span><span> </span>She tells BRYN that her fighting spirit comes from MARIE, and suggests that by opening her heart to save her grandmother, BRYN will in fact save herself.<span> </span>Finally, BRYN agrees.</span></p>
<p style="line-height: 14pt;"><span><span> </span>CALCUTTA brings her to Purgatory, and BRYN offers a prayer for her grandmother.<span> </span>It's enough; MARIE is released from Purgatory.<span> </span>The two embrace.</span></p>
<p style="line-height: 14pt;"><span><span> </span>The piece closes with a coda, an anthem for Detroit, "a city dismantling itself."</span></p> <span style="font-family: Times;"><i><br clear="all"> </i></span><p style="line-height: 150%;">
<span><i>EMBERS</i></span><span> takes place in three distinct locations and time periods: </span></p><p style="text-indent: 0.5in; line-height: 150%;"><span>• a gym/boxing arena in present day Los Angeles;</span></p><p style="text-indent: 0.5in; line-height: 150%;">
<span>• Purgatory, a timeless realm which also doubles as the mental hospital;</span></p><p style="text-indent: 0.5in; line-height: 150%;"><span>• historical Detroit (1919-1970).<span> </span></span></p><p style="line-height: 150%;">
<span>At times one or more of these environments will predominate—on some occasions action will take place in more than one simultaneously.<span> </span>Characters may address one another from one environment to another.<span> </span>The piece is performed without intermission.</span></p>
<p style="line-height: 150%;"><span> </span></p><p style="margin-bottom: 6pt; line-height: 14pt;"><span style="text-transform: uppercase;"><b><u>Characters</u></b></span><span><b><u>:</u></b></span></p> <h1 style="margin-bottom: 6pt; line-height: 14pt;">
<span><font size="3"><span style="font-size: 12px;">CALCUTTA </span></font></span><span style="font-weight: normal;"><font size="3"><span style="font-size: 12px;">is deceased; died at age 52, but is ageless now.</span></font><span><font size="3"><span style="font-size: 12px;"> </span></font></span><font size="3"><span style="font-size: 12px;">She's African-American, a former prostitute. She's an angel now in hot pants and lamé. </span></font><font size="3"><span style="font-size: 12px;"></span></font></span></h1>
<p style="margin-bottom: 6pt; line-height: 14pt;"><span><b>BRYN, </b></span><span>43, is a white female boxer whose made a reputation for herself as Blazin' Bryn.<span> </span></span></p><p style="margin-bottom: 6pt; line-height: 14pt;">
<span><b>MARIE, </b></span><span>white and also deceased, is ravaged by a brutal life that included teenage prostitution and decades in and out of mental hospitals. She died at age 77.<span> </span></span></p><p style="margin-bottom: 6pt; line-height: 14pt;">
<span><b>LUCIA </b></span><span>is Bryn's sometime girlfriend.<span> </span>She's 33, and Latina. </span></p><p style="margin-bottom: 6pt; line-height: 14pt;"><span><b>THE CUSTOMER</b></span><span> — 40s, white, 12-year-old Marie's first prostitution client.</span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 6pt; line-height: 14pt;"><span style="text-transform: uppercase;"><b>The BARTENDER </b></span><span style="text-transform: uppercase;">— </span><span>Thirties, white, he marries 14-year-old pregnant Marie out of pity; he feels bitter and ill-used after she leaves him.</span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 6pt; line-height: 14pt;"><span><b>RICHARD </b></span><span>— White, Marie's second child; his father is the bartender.<span> </span>She abandons him when she leaves his father.<span> </span>We see him at age 10.</span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 6pt; line-height: 14pt;"><span><b>ARTHUR</b></span><span> — White, Marie's oldest son and Bryn's stepfather.<span> </span>We see him at age 10.</span></p><p style="margin-bottom: 6pt; line-height: 14pt;">
<span><b>ADOLPH </b></span><span>—White, Marie's second husband.<span> </span>He gave up a promising future to be with her, and over time it wears on him.<span> </span>We see him in his early 20s and late 50s.</span></p>
<p style="line-height: 14pt;"><span><b>DANCERS/RIOTERS:</b></span></p><p style="line-height: 14pt;"><span><b><span> </span>RIOTER </b></span><span>— African-American man in his early twenties</span></p><p style="line-height: 14pt;">
<span><span> </span><b>ARSONIST</b></span><span> — African-American man in his mid-twenties</span></p><p style="line-height: 14pt;"><span><span> </span><b>SNIPER</b></span><span> — African-American man in his thirties</span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 6pt; line-height: 14pt;"><span><span> </span><b>NATIONAL GUARD</b></span><span> — White man in his late twenties</span></p><p style="line-height: 14pt;"><span><b>RECORDED VOICES:</b></span></p>
<p style="text-indent: 0.5in; line-height: 14pt;"><span><b>ANNOUNCER #1</b></span><span>— White man in his 40s</span></p><p style="text-indent: 0.5in; line-height: 14pt;"><span><b>ANNOUNCER #2 </b></span><span>— White man in his 50s</span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 6pt; text-indent: 0.5in; line-height: 14pt;"><span><b>POLICE DISPATCHER</b></span><span> — African-American woman in her 40s </span></p><p style="line-height: 14pt;"><span> </span></p><p style="margin-bottom: 6pt;">
<span><i>EMBERS </i></span><span>includes thirty-two poems; fifteen are songs, and an additional ten are spoken over a musical track.<span> </span>The final seven are spoken without accompaniment.<b></b></span></p>
</div></div><br><br clear="all"><br>-- <br>~~~~~<br>Ching-In Chen<br>THE HEART'S TRAFFIC (Arktoi Books/Red Hen Press forthcoming 2009)<br><a href="http://www.redhen.org/arktoi.asp">www.redhen.org/arktoi.asp</a><br><a href="http://www.chinginchen.com">www.chinginchen.com</a><br>