AUDITION INFORMATION

for the

EAT (It’s Not About Food) TOUR

CASTING: The entire original cast has agreed to do the tour, however, most of them cannot do all the dates. These auditions are for alternates. Each alternate selected will be guaranteed a certain number of performances. The exact performance schedule will be determined in the near future after bookings are complete. The cast will gather with the director and stage manager at the first rehearsal in early September with their calendars and selections will be made at that time.

PERFORMANCE DATES:
The Eat (It’s Not About Food) TOUR will be presented on various dates from mid September, 2010 to May, 2011. The performance locations will be schools and organizations within fifty miles of Cleveland. Dates being offered to these groups are Tuesday and Thursday afternoons at 1:00pm (call time of Noon) and Monday evenings at 7:30pm (call time of 6:30pm). Performances will be limited to a maximum of 2 per week, with a maximum of 1 performance during the day. Actors will be able to do this production and participate in regular runs of other productions throughout the year.

AUDITION SELECTION: Please present a one minute memorized contemporary monologue OR you can read a monologue from EAT that will be provided to you when you arrive.

AUDITION DATES: Sunday, July 25, 2010 from 1:00pm – 5:00pm in five minute appointments at Fairmount Center, 8400 Fairmount Road, Novelty, Ohio. Call 440-338-3171 starting on Wednesday, July 7 to make an appointment. If you can’t make this date, please contact director Fred Sternfeld at fsternfeld@gmail.com to set up an alternate time.

Listed below are the roles as doubled in the original FPAC production:

Offstage Man's Voice in Opening / Man (TV Commercial in Opening) / Coach / Amy's Dad / Voice Offstage (in Generic TV Actress "Fiji" Scene) / Dresser
(FPAC original cast member – Douglas Kusak)

PICTURES AND REACTION TO THE ORIGINAL FPAC PRODUCTION ARE FARTHER BELOW ON THIS WEBPAGE.

“The staging is creative and meaningful.”

“Teens, their parents and teachers should go to Fairmount Performing Arts Conservatory to understand the potentially horrendous effects of Anorexia Nervosa, Bulimia Nervosa and Binge Eating.”

“Director Fred Sternfeld and his large cast of adults and teens do a very credible job of developing the play’s ideas.”

“Especially strong performances are given by Amy Pawlukiewicz, Dylan White, Meghan Grover and Alexis Floyd.”

“If you are a teenager, the parent of a teenager, or an educator of teens, ‘EAT IT’S NOT ABUT FOOD’ is required viewing. Shut off the tv, stop the texting, and go---if you are a teen, it could save your life or, if you are a parent, it could save the life of your child.”

view the complete review

“an important message to relay”

“some very effective storytelling”

“a talented cast”

“beautifully staged, well-cast and professionally executed”

Fred “Sternfeld finds the humanity ... and devises clever, fluid transitions from one vignette to the next”

“Alexis Floyd's performance as Amy, the featured anorexic whose downward spiral and struggle to recover is central to the play, is absolutely riveting”

“other teenagers ... very realistic, very honest portrayals. They are Meghan Grover, Dylan White, Stephanie Wong, Jordan Brown, Sean Cahill and Li Stebner”

Juliette “Regnier is particularly interesting as a calorie-conscious coffee drinker and an aging, long-suffering ballet dancer, as is Amy Pawlukiewicz as the generic TV actress whose guiding philosophy is "thin is not just in, it is imperative."

“if this production serves as a forum for discovery or discussion for anyone afflicted by an eating disorder, then it is certainly serving a higher purpose and needs to be applauded for doing so.”

view the complete review


"Letter to the Editor" in The Cleveland Jewish News

‘EAT’ an important play

Published: Friday, April 30, 2010 1:08 AM EDT

Kudos to Fred Sternfeld and Jeffrey Grover for bringing Cleveland their masterpiece “Eat (It’s Not About Food)” and to the Cleveland Center for Eating Disorders for having counselors available after each performance. The show runs through May 2 at Mayfield Village Civic Center (the CJN April 9 preview “When ‘you’ve lost weight’ is not a compliment,” can be viewed at http://tinyurl.com/ 3xxmasy).

It is a “must see” for parents, educators, school counselors and teens. It accurately depicts real-life scenarios, from the calorie-counting mother and the mother who turns the other cheek in denial, to the anorexic teen who exercises excessively and the pre-pubescent girls who idolize the models in Seventeen magazine and count the calories in a Popsicle. An important fact that all took home is that this disease is not contagious. While every parent may silently think, “there but by the grace of G-d go I” when they see their child’s friend suffering with an eating disorder, they need not worry that it will “rub off” on their child. Love and support go a long way in the healing process.

Debbie Garson
Pepper Pike

Fred Sternfeld (Artistic Director - Fairmount Performing Arts Conservatory, Director – Eat (It's Not About Food) most recently directed Yellowman at Karamu Performing Arts Theatre and Baby at TrueNorth Cultural Arts. At Fairmount Performing Arts Conservatory (FPAC) he directed teen productions of Into the Woods and Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat as well as the inaugural professional production of The Odd Couple. Fred is widely represented on Northeast Ohio stages through diverse projects, garnering numerous honors and awards. Recently he directed the award-winning productions of Disney’s Beauty and the Beast at Beck Center and Ragtime, the musical at the JCC. He previously served as Artistic Director at Lakewood Little Theatre - Beck Center for the Arts and the Cleveland, Seattle & Dallas Jewish Community Centers. Other selected credits: Fiddler on the Roof, Oliver! & The Sound of Music at Cain Park; The Tale of the Allergist’s Wife & The Trestle at Pope Lick Creek at Dobama Theatre; A Shayna Maidel, Jolson and Company, Man of La Mancha, Modern Orthodox, Rags, From Door to Door, South Pacific, The God of Isaac, Beau Jest, Crossing Delancey, The Twilight of the Golds, The Immigrant & Conversations With My Father for the Cleveland JCC; Bad Seed at Ensemble Theatre; Amadeus at Willoughby Fine Arts; Table Settings, Isn’t It Romantic, The Diary of Anne Frank & Broadway Bound at JCC Center Stage in Seattle; Peter Pan (1987 & 2008), On the Town, Of Mice and Men, La Cage aux Folles, Saturday Night, Foxfire, Noises Off, Children of a Lesser God & The Importance of Being Earnest at Beck Center; Proof at GLTG and All My Sons & Enter Laughing at the Dallas JCC. His next directing project after Eat (It's Not About Food) will be Children of Eden for FPAC. For pictures and reviews for any of the shows listed here you can go to this link.

Dylan White (Teen Boy #2 / Joey / Someone #2) is thrilled to be part of the production of Eat. Dylan is a 15 year old freshman from Columbiana, Ohio and an AEA membership candidate. Dylan last appeared on the FPAC stage in Romeo & Juliet as Peter and Levi in Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat. He is also an alumnus of Fairmount Performing Arts Conservatory's Summer Training. Since then he has appeared at Great Lakes Theater Festival in MacBeth as Boy McDuff. At Ohio Shakespeare Festival he was Balthazar in Romeo & Juliet, and a singing page in As You Like It. He recently won a Marquee Award for the part of Puck in A Midsummer Night's Dream at Weathervane Playhouse. Dylan's extensive resume includes Titanic, All Shook Up, Sweeney Todd, and On Golden Pond, all at Youngstown Playhouse, To Kill A Mockingbird at the Canton Players Guild, and Waiting for Godot at Kent Trumbull. He is currently touring with Canton Players Guild's Page to Stage in Alice in Wonderland as the Mad Hatter/Rabbit . Dylan also enjoys doing film work . He co-hosted smARTS for Time Warner Cable last season and has four tv shows, and five movie credits. Dylan enjoys reading and studying the real-estate market.

Stephanie Wong (Teen Girl #4 / If Girl / Jamie) is a junior at Hathaway Brown School, and is usually part of the tech crew for musicals or plays such as Funny Girl and Metamorphoses. However, she made the transition from tech to acting as a sophomore in the Hathaway Brown Playwriting Festival. Since then she has been in Once on this Island at Hathaway Brown. She attended her first year at the Fairmount Performing Arts Conservatory this past summer, and has also attended Dance for the Broadway Stage through FPAC. She ice skates regularly and has trained in ballet, jazz, hip hop and contemporary. Stephanie is thrilled to participate in Eat (It’s Not About Food).

MEDIA AND OTHER REACTION:
"A gutsy, arresting and daringly, darkly humorous world premiere … powerful … leaving open the possibility of changing and perhaps even saving lives of both young audience members and friends whom they now may recognize as needing help."
The Dallas Morning News

"EAT illuminates the struggle of those who suffer and of those who love them. I've encouraged my former patients and their families and friends to take this hour-long journey knowing they will leave with hope and an inspiration to spread the word about eating disorders. Linda Daugherty is saving lives with her brilliant work."
Stephanie Setliff, M.D., Medical Director,
Center for Pediatric Eating Disorders, Children's Medical Center of Dallas

"Linda Daugherty has never been one to avert her eyes from issues facing young people today … EAT inspires as much laughter as it does tears … The emotional impact is raw and unapologetic … awe-inspiring … It is a difficult hour to spend in the theater. But it is also one of the most revelatory plays I've seen. It makes the inevitable pain one will feel well worth it, especially if it means a deeper understanding."
People Newspapers, Dallas, Texas

"This exceptional play will forever change the way you look at the world of eating disorders and those who struggle to regain control of their lives."
Dr. Elizabeth Hughes, Executive Director, The Elisa Project, Dallas, Texas

"This is not a show about eating disorders. This is the story of American, and more recently international, obsession with food, appearance, and body image … This show is a wake-up call [that] will motivate individuals to do things differently in their own lives."
Susan Sugerman, M.D, M.P.H., Girls to Women Health and Wellness, P.A., Dallas, Texas

"Daugherty's EAT provides the audience with a powerful and insightful visual medium through which to understand the complicated and often not well understood inner world of young people with eating disorders."
Andy McGarrahan, Ph.D., Clinical Psychologist,
Center for Pediatric Psychiatry, Children's Medical Center, Dallas