I have a cast! I'm so happy! I'm still waiting to hear back from a couple actors I left messages for, but my casting is essentially done! 

I'm so excited, they're all fantastic. I think this is going to be a great show!

I now have a Borachio! All it took was a phone call to an old friend and now my show is completely cast. I still need to call a few people and offer them roles, but I should have a cast list for you soon!

Right now I am working on finalizing the insurance and the permit for our space for Much Ado About Nothing. I am going to be making my final casting calls and sending the last few who have not received them yet their scripts.
I still need a Borachio. Getting men for the show was fairly easy this time, but I need a guy who can play a scoundrel (but still behave professionally when not acting). He would also need to be available weekends July 22nd through August 15th.

For those who asked me for pictures after my last blog post, here I am dressed up as Nora Charles.

Tonight I'm going to an event where I have to dress like my favorite movie character and after much deliberation, and a helpful suggestion from the brilliant Emma Wallace (check out her new album and radio show!!!), I chose Nora Charles from the Thin Man series. I love her so much, so cool and witty and intelligent, Nora Charles is one of my favorite role models.

Sigh. Casting is hard. I look forward to the day when I can leave it all up to casting directors. Telling an actor they got a role they really wanted is wonderful, to hear their excitement (which they often try to suppress so as to sound professional) and to know you have brought them joy is always the best part of the job. Telling an actor that they got a role other than the one they hoped for is the hardest. I often have to put very talented actors in roles other than the leads for a variety of reasons, including that the smaller roles need good actors too.
I've been there as an actor. I know how heartbreaking it is to be passed over for the role you really want. I just have to concentrate on what is best for the cast as a whole and enjoy the happy phone calls as much as I can.

I'm still working on casting Much Ado About Nothing, I'm spending a lot of time moving people's audition forms around in different patterns. I have cast most of the show and have now decided that I need two more men and one woman.
I would also like to have a couple guys to play body guards to the prince, they wouldn't have any lines but they would really help give the impression I'm going for.
If anyone is interested in coming out for these roles just email me at StorefrontShakespeare@gmail.com

So, it occurs to me that I never officially announced exactly where we would be performing. So, I am excited to tell you that we will be in the same space we were in last summer! The Charles B. Wells house in downtown Geneva at 228 Third Street is a beautiful Greek revival that was Geneva's first hospital. We are on the lower level.
You walk down through this beautiful garden to this lovely yellow house with big windows that let the sun stream through to bath the earthy walls in a glow of golden light. As you open the door and leave the beautiful garden and hot sun you enter a large, cool, auburn room with two graceful pillars and a view of the garden outside. There are two back rooms with exits to outside and a bathroom in each. The landlord has just rezoned it for office space and I can't imagine a happier space for an office, we loved it so much when we performed there last year.

In other news, the auditions went really well. I just need two more women and I'll be done casting. I'm looking for two women of any age with good comedic timing for the roles of Dogberry/Margaret and Verges/Ursula. I'm doubling up some of the roles in a fun way and I am very excited to see how it turns out.
I was just thrilled with the amount of talent that came out for these auditions. Casting the role of Beatrice is turning out to be one of the most difficult casting decisions I've ever had to make, there are three very talented women that I have to decide between and all of them would be amazing and very different from eachother in that role.

Stay tuned, I'll post my cast list soon!