WHO: ACTORS
WHAT: Auditions for HARVEY
WHERE: Matthews Opera House Theater 612 N. Main Street, Spearfish
WHEN: Tuesday, January 14 and Wednesday, January 15 from 6-8 pm
WHY: Because everyone should be able to play pretend
HOW: No experience necessary! You will be asked to read with other participants from sections of the script previously selected by the directors. All auditions will be performed as a “cold read” (seeing the script for the first time). Auditions are also a great time to express your interest in backstage work, set building, lights and all of the other necessary skills that make a show great! Stop by if you have any interest in the action “behind the scenes” and visit with the directors.
PERFORMANCES: March 14, 15, 16, 18, 21, 22, 23
Harvey
by Mary Chase
Harvey is a 1944 play by the American playwright Mary Chase. She received the Pulitzer Prize for Drama for the work in 1945. It has been adapted for film and television several times, most notably in a 1950 film starring James Stewart and Josephine Hull.
Plot
Elwood P. Dowd is an affable man who claims to have an unseen (and presumably imaginary) friend Harvey – whom Elwood describes as a six foot, three-and-one-half inch (192 cm) tall pooka resembling an anthropomorphic rabbit. Elwood introduces Harvey to everyone he meets. His social-climbing sister, Veta Simmons, increasingly finds his eccentric behavior embarrassing. She decides to have him committed to a sanitarium. When they arrive at the sanitarium, a comedy of errors ensues. When Veta confesses that she has seen Harvey too, the young Dr. Sanderson commits Veta instead of Elwood. But when the mistake comes out, the search is on for Elwood and his invisible companion.
When Elwood shows up at the sanitarium looking for his lost friend Harvey, it seems that the mild-mannered Elwood has had a strange influence on the staff, including sanitarium director Dr. Chumley. Only just before Elwood is to be given an injection that will make him into a “perfectly normal human being, and you know what bastards they are!” (in the words of a taxi driver who has become involved in the proceedings) does Veta realize that she would rather have Elwood the same as he has always been – carefree and kind – even if it means living with Harvey.
Available Roles
Elwood P. Dowd: The central character of the play, a charming eccentric who’s best friend is Harvey, an invisible six-foot-tall rabbit.
Dr. William B. Chumley: An esteemed psychiatrist and the head of Chumley’s Rest. He will go to any length to protect the reputation of his sanitarium.
Dr. Lyman Sanderson: A young and highly qualified psychiatrist, he is infatuated with Nurse Kelly, though he struggles not to let on.
Wilson: The muscle of Chumley’s Rest who sets his sights on Myrtle Mae Simmons soon after meeting her.
Judge Omar Gaffney: An old family friend of the Dowds and the family’s lawyer.
Veta Louise Simmons: Elwood’s younger sister, she is intent on landing a suitable husband for her daughter Myrtle Mae. She is very concerned about fitting into society and loves her older brother Elwood very much.
Ruth Kelly: Nurse Kelly is sweet and kind and looks for the best in people.
Myrtle Mae Simmons: Veta’s daughter and Elwood’s niece, extremely self-centered.
Ethel Chauvenet: An old friend of the family She is an elite member of the town’s social circle that Veta desperately wants Myrtle to break into.
Betty Chumley: Dr. Chumley’s kind and talkative wife.
E.J. Lofgren: The cab driver.
