Buffalo United Artists announces auditions for "The Hung Man" by Ian Bonner and Martin Shea, directed by Drew McCabe
The Play: The Hung Man by Ian Bonner and Marty Shea
The Director: Drew McCabe
Audition date: November 2, 2024
9 a.m. until 12:30 p.m.
Compass Performing Arts Factory
545 Elmwood Avenue
To arrange an audition email buffalobua@gmail.com
Performance dates: April 11th – May 3rd 2025
Fridays at 7:30 p.m.
Saturdays at 5 p.m.
Compass Performing Arts Factory
545 Elmwood Avenue, Buffalo, New York
Summary:
Get ready for a cheeky romp through a full-length ribald parody that tips its hat to Alfred Hitchcock’s cinematic gems and their deliciously homoerotic vibes!
Picture the tension of Rope and the twisty turns of Strangers on a Train.
The Hung Man is a satirical feast on the queer undertones during Hollywood’s Golden Age of cinema. Buckle up. It’s going to be a wild ride!
The Characters:
Farley:
A young aesthete, based on Farley Granger’s character in Rope.
In Rope, Granger played Phillip Morgan, one of two young men who commit murder at the beginning of the film. Unlike his calm and confident accomplice Brandon Shaw (played by John Dall), Phillip is portrayed as the more nervous and unstable of the pair. He is visibly upset, morose, and prone to drinking. He is submissive to Shaw, fearful of exposure, and wracked with feelings of guilt. He struggles to maintain his composure.
Age 25-35
Grace:
a conglomeration of the icy blondes of Hitchcock’s oeuvre, played by such actors as Grace Kelly (Rear Window, To Catch a Thief), Tippi Hedren (The Birds, Marnie), Kim Novak (Vertigo), and Janet Leigh (Psycho). These characters were known for their elegance, mystery, and psychological complexity.
Age 25-35.
(Auditioners do not need to be blonde).
Jimmy:
a conglomeration of Jimmy Stewart’s Hitchcock characters: Rupert Cadell in Rope (1948); L.B. "Jeff" Jefferies in Rear Window (1954); Dr. Benjamin McKenna in The Man Who Knew Too Much (1956); John "Scottie" Ferguson in Vertigo (1958).
In Hitchcock’s films, Jimmy Stewart tended to play morally complex, psychologically vulnerable men. Typically, these were intellectual men, driven by intense curiosity or obsession that often lead them into ethically ambiguous situations. Stewart's characters struggled with inner demons while outwardly maintaining the facade of an "everyman," allowing for a gradual descent into darker territory as the story progresses. Examples include Jeff in Rear Window who becomes fixated on solving a potential murder he witnesses; Dr. McKenna in The Man Who Knew Too Much who pursues information about an assassination plot; and Scottie in Vertigo who becomes obsessed with a woman he's hired to follow.
Age 30-40.
Sides / Scene Scripts will be provided.
All are encouraged to audition -- email buffalobua@gmail.com