Cast your minds back, mes amis, to a Paris of yesteryear. Drift over to a sidewalk cafe and break bread with a starving artist or two from the Left Bank of the Seine. Discuss art, culture, and a murder most incroyable. For Master Mystery Productions is venturing to new venues and exploring a more Surreal approach to the art of criminology as we prepare for show number 32. And we need performers to help us paint this theatrical picture. Come sit with us for un petit…

Tête-à-Tête

AUDITIONS

Friday and Saturday,
August 5 and 6, 2022
4 to 6 p.m. at Red Rock Books
206 W. Ridgecrest Blvd.

Tête-à-Tête is a new production we are creating in partnership with Goodent to perform at the newly opened Forum Theater in Lone Pine, California. Inspired by the venue, we are crafting an intimate play of two aspiring Surrealist artists whose big break is shattered by the sudden murder of their patron. Who could have done it? Well, a little upside-down thinking, Surreal imagination, and an idea with literal legs will see these artists recreate the suspects, drama, and scandal surrounding their lost patron. We’re dressing the stage in a magical set filled with hidden surprises and dressing the actors in gorgeous period costumes. A painterly, creative way to close our 2022 season.

Tête-à-Tête currently has five roles to fill. Additional roles can be created based on actor interest.

Actors need to be age 15 and older to audition. Those under 18 will need a parent/guardian signature on a permission slip AND a parent/guardian MUST attend any and all rehearsals their child attends. Actors under 18 require a parent/guardian at the show dates.

The show dates are:

Saturday, October 29th
Saturday, November 5th
Saturday, November 12th
Saturday, November 19th
at 7:30 p.m. at the Forum Theater in Lone Pine, CA

During auditions, everyone will fill out an audition form which will ask for basics such as name, email, experience, availability, etc. These are just basics to give us an understanding on who the performer is as well as contact information. Then we pair up performers for cold readings of selected scenes from the original script by Daniel Stallings. Rehearsal schedule will be finalized after auditions based on actor availability. After auditions, casting emails will be sent out to everyone who auditioned for the show.

If you are unable to attend the posted audition dates, but are still interested in trying out, message us on Facebook or email us at mastermysteryproductions@hotmail.com to schedule an outside audition.

SYNOPSIS

Paris, 1925. The City of Lights is a city of contrasts where the wealthy patrons of the arts lounge in salons with champagne and the starving artists make do with the offerings of the cafés. Yves Dufort and his friend, Salome Auclair, belongs in the latter category. His Surrealist collages have yet to make him a household name, and Salome’s work as a photographer is often dismissed by her sexist colleagues. But this huge commission they’ve landed with the wealthy heiress and art critic, Genevieve Welbourne, could set them up for life. That is…if Genevieve’s life hadn’t been taken from her that same night. But what does her murder have to do with a murdered waiter at their favorite café? At the café, Yves and Salome enjoy a little tête-à-tête to unpack the many secret lives, loves, and loathing of their ex-patron to try and hopefully salvage what they can of their big break. But as they recreate the tumultuous lives of the suspects, they’ll discover danger may be much closer than they realized.

CAST OF CHARACTERS

Yves Dufort — Surrealist artist working in the medium of collage and photomontage. He’s been commissioned, alongside Salome, to complete a major work of art for Genevieve Welbourne. A man of few words, Yves keeps his counsel close to his chest. Saturnine, pensive, and full of dry wit, he’s not one to talk endlessly, but makes his wry, witty, and clear-cut observations when he feels like it…often with a smirk. He is exceptionally focused and perceptive when it comes to untangling the knots in the mystery of Genevieve’s, a perfect yin to Salome’s yang.

Salome Auclair — An artist model and budding artist herself with her Surrealist photographs. She has been commissioned, alongside Yves, to complete a major work of art for Genevieve Welbourne. Flirty, funny, a little flighty, Salome is a passionate shutterbug with the heart rate of a hummingbird and an acrobatic mind, somehow managing to jump from one thought to the next and one shot to the next without losing the plot. She is simultaneously energized and exhausted by the art scene in Paris, her exhaustion mainly coming from dealing with men. Yves is her closest confidante. Salome is the one who instigates the tête-à-tête into Genevieve’s murder.

Monsieur Michel — Waiter at Le Dôme Café in Paris. He functions as a kind of stage manager that guides the other performers through their scenes and transformations. Part waiter, part butler, and part dresser, he is formal, polite, restrained and elegant, as detached as he is efficient. But even he manages to get sucked into the drama of the murders.

Client Un & Cliente Deux — Two clients of Le Dôme Café enjoying a coffee together who will portray a few of the suspects throughout the show. They seem oblivious to the mysterious legs poking out from under a nearby table. C’est la vie.

Celebrating artistry in all its forms, Tête-à-Tête will be an inventive production that will let us try new ideas and create a canvas to allow the voices of painters, technical artists, actors, and even the audience take center stage amidst the City of Lights. Let’s make something amazing together! Join us at auditions!

We welcome anyone and everyone who is interested to audition. No theatrical experience is necessary. We are always happy to take and develop new talent all the time. This will be a show where you can really get to play and go wild. If you have questions or concerns, email us at mastermysteryproductions@hotmail.com or message Master Mystery Productions of Facebook.

We will see you at auditions!

–Master Mystery Productions