Finding Helena
by Finding Helena Productions
May. 09 - May. 20 (2023)
The musical is the story of Helena, the daughter of a Nazi officer in Poland, who falls in love with Ari, a Jewish resistance fighter. He helps her see the reality of why the Germans are in Poland and she eventually runs away with him. Separated in the chaos of war, they struggle to survive and keep the promise they made - finding each other in New York City, in the land of opportunity and freedom.
Casting a staged reading of Finding Helena, a rock musical. There will be no costumes, sets, or line memorization! Songs should be memorized but actors will have scripts on stage.
For consideration, prepare 32 bars of a rock musical and a dramatic monologue. If out of town, feel free to send your audition via video. In-person auditions on May 21 (1-5 p.m.) at the Barshop Jewish Community Center, 1225 Military Highway, San Antonio. To reserve a slot or for any questions, contact producer Shavonne Conroy via email (shavonneconroy [AT] gmail.com).
Finding Helena rehearses July 26 and 27; reading is July 30, 2023 (2:30 p.m. and 7 p.m.) at the JCC in San Antonio.
For more info about the company and the musical, visit www.findinghelenamusical.com.
ROLES
HELENA DANHOF – 22, (Mezzo-Soprano with Belt.) German. Blonde. Daughter of an upper-class Nazi officer. Beautiful, fiercely loyal, intelligent, and strong-willed. Typically willing to go with the crowd, until she meets Ari and a new side is awakened.
ARI ROSEN – early twenties, Tenor. Skinny and unconventionally handsome. Loves books and reads constantly. He planned to be a literature professor but he ended up with a small bookstore in war-torn Poland. He is always hoping to make his heroes (fellow resistance members) proud, but he is definitely more of a lover than a fighter.
GERHARDT DANHOF – late-forties, Baritone/Bass. Helena’s emotionally detached father. He is deputy to the Warsaw Commandant, a position that carries a great deal of power. All business. A closet alcoholic.
INGRID DANHOF – mid-forties, Soprano. Helena’s mother. A kind, maternal woman. A dutiful wife with a bright outlook despite life’s hardships.
FREDRIK BRANDT: 24, (Tenor/Bari). Helena’s fiance’. The Aryan poster child and a quickly rising Nazi officer. He was a sweet boy, which is how Helena fell in love with him - but as the war began, he quickly learned how to be a good Nazi to succeed. Cocky and sometimes tactless, but he means well.
CYREK: 33 - (Tenor/Bari) The leader of a small Jewish resistance group. A Pole who could have passed for German --- meaning he could live a good life -- yet he wanted to stay behind and stand up for justice. He is the leader and father figure to everyone in the resistance group.
EZRA: 26, (Tenor/Bari) - Polish resistance fighter. The aggressor. Lieutenant to Cyrek. His philosophy is "It’s better to apologize than ask permission". Except he probably doesn’t apologize either. His hair is always messy.
LUKASZ: 29, (Tenor/Bari) - A Pole, like Cyrek. Soft-spoken medic of the group.
GIDEON: 14, (Tenor) - Wide innocent eyes. He represents how grief-stricken Europe wanted to believe all the good things Hitler had to offer and how they lost their innocence.
MENDEL: 25, (Tenor/Bari) -A little neurotic with worry but good-natured. Wheelchair-bound by a birth defect, he tries hard to make up for it. Unruly curly hair with glasses.
DIETRICH: 28 - German soldier. Severe, angry, and loyal to Fuhrer to the point of being irrational. (Everyone who doesn’t follow should die.)
BRAUN: 18 - (Tenor/Bari) Young German soldier who looks 16 - barely. Just out of the Hitlerjugend (Hitler Youth), A sweet boy who never lets it show due to the price he would pay in this terrible society of Nazis. He grew up next door to Helena. She considers him her little brother.
YOUNGER SARAH: 8, (Soprano) - Polished beyond her years. Hopeless romantic and a bookworm, like her mother, Helena.
OLDER SARAH (13) (Soprano)
PATRICK: 25, (Tenor/Bari) - handsome, smart, freckled. Just a good guy. Son of Irish immigrants; newly minted US Army Lieutenant and grateful for the American experience.
MRS. K.: 60s. (Alto) - K is for Ruta Korostynski. Deli Owner. Loud and joyful Polish woman whose goal is to feed the world. A perfect Grandmother. Her soups are right from heaven!
MR. K.: 60s. - Viktor Korostynski. Deli cook and dishwasher for his wife. Not as loud as his wife, but he tries.
