Over the River and Through the Woods
Info
Run dates: August 17-20 & 24-27, 2023
Directed by Jennifer Kingry
Description
Nick is a single, Italian-American guy from New Jersey. His parents retired and moved to Florida; his sister lives in California. That doesn’t mean he lacks family in Jersey: Nick sees both sets of his grandparents every Sunday for dinner. This is routine until he has to tell them that he’s been offered a dream job, but it will take him away from his beloved, but annoying, grandparents. The news doesn’t sit so well. How could he betray his family’s love to move to Seattle, for a job, wonder his grandparents? Thus begins a series of schemes to keep Nick around. Frank, Aida, Nunzio and Emma do their level best, which includes bringing to dinner the lovely—and single—Caitlin O’Hare as bait.
Cast requirements: 3 adult men, 3 adult women. Ages below are approximate.
Nick, male, (late 20’s-early 30’s). A young marketing professional. Intelligent, energetic, agitated and anxious. Loves his grandparents but keenly wants to grasp this new career opportunity.
Frank Gianelli, male, (played as 70- 80). Nick’s maternal grandfather, immigrated from Italy at age 14. Believes in the importance of family above all.
Aida Gianelli, female, (played as 65+ to 70’s). Nick’s maternal grandmother, equates food and care with love, family and home.
Nunzio Cristano, male, (played as 65+ to 70’s). Nick’s paternal grandfather, a fun-loving romantic, who carries within him a burden he isn’t willing to share yet. Has a pleasant singing voice.
Emma Cristano, female, (played as 65+ to 70’s). Nick’s paternal grandmother, also fun-loving. She’s “a doer”, who likes to play cards, go on trips to gambling casinos.
Caitlin O’Hare, female, (20’s- early 30’s). A nurse, charming, smart, calm. Caitlin is trying to re-enter the dating scene and is set up with an unknowing Nick on a blind date.
Special notes: Except for Frank, the other grandparents are 1st generation Americans who grew up in New Jersey, so they don’t speak with an Italian accent, though they do occasionally use Italian phrases. For reference, listen to how the Italian-descent characters speak in the movie Moonstruck or the HBO series The Sopranos.
Frank left Italy at age 14, so he could possibly have a slight Italian accent. (Or, we can pretend he’s lost his accent over the ensuing 60 years, if necessary.) He also plays the mandolin. (We can probably fake that, but some familiarity with playing a stringed instrument, like guitar, would certainly help.)
Also note: all of the characters except Caitlin deliver substantial monologues.
Audition will consist of cold reading of excerpts from the script. Nunzio should be prepared to a song of his own choosing, acapella.