Casting Marjorie: a brief for actresses

PART ONE: DATE NIGHT

It's a big mix up. He's looking for an actress. She's looking for a man. And just who's catfishing who?

The show in brief

The Miscasts: Date Night is a comedy two-hander with live music, about 50 minutes long, set in a bar. A songwriter (Dean Eggleston, playing himself) arrives to meet an actress about a role in his musical, The Miscasts. He sits down with Marjorie instead, who is waiting for her online date and thinks he's him. Each takes the other for who they came to meet, and neither works it out. There's a twist at the end.

It runs like a duo playing a gig: one table, two chairs.

It is the comedy teaser for the full musical, which is still coming together.

Marjorie

Marjorie is the lead and the engine of the show. She is on stage from the first minute to the last, and most of the laughs are hers.

She is blonde, and she idolises Marilyn Monroe. She has a very high opinion of her own looks and talents. She thinks she is an author, an actress, a dancer and a singer, and she is none of them. She is blunt, vain, a bit delusional, and not at all diplomatic. She is collecting bad-date stories for a book she will never write, and she makes notes on her tablet as the night goes on. She drinks steadily all evening, and the waiters keep her glass full.

Her one true love was Bruno, her late dog: "the only male who never let me down." She still carries his chewed toy in her handbag.

On the dating app she calls herself Marilyn. A girl needs a few secrets.

Her night

  • Alone at the table. She opens the show on her own, swiping through men on the app and judging every one of them out loud to the audience. "Holding a fish. Why is it always a fish?"
  • The wrong man. Dean walks in with a guitar. "Are you the musician?" "Yes." She decides she's been catfished again: he looks nothing like his photo. She plans to escape through the toilet window, but stays, because bad dates make good material for the book.
  • Bored stiff. He tells her about his musical and sings her the songs. She couldn't care less, and behind his closed eyes the audience watches her show it. She perks up only for the young bad boy.
  • The hook. She's actually walking out when he mentions the leading role, Caroline. "Tell me more." From that moment she wants that part more than anything.
  • The audition she doesn't know she's in. She claims ballet, astrology and a career on the stage. She cries real tears over her dog during one of the songs and takes the credit as acting. She sings Happy Birthday like Marilyn, into a hairbrush, and it's terrible. Then, drunker, she shows him her dancing and ends up flat on her back.
  • Alone again. Dean makes his escape. Marjorie is left at the table, sure she's got the part, until it slowly dawns on her that she's been ditched. A quiet moment, then she shrugs it off.

How she's played

  • Dead straight. Nobody on stage ever laughs at her nonsense, and she never plays her as knowing she's bad. Commit absolutely to the ridiculous things: Happy Birthday most of all.
  • Two voices. From her first line she speaks in a put-on posh voice, part of the front. Halfway through it slips, she covers it badly, and by the end she has forgotten it and is just herself.
  • The songs are hers too. Dean sings with his eyes closed, and everything Marjorie does behind him (boredom, notes, sneaky photos, refills, daydreams) is some of the funniest stuff in the show. It's silent, and it never covers the singing.
  • Getting drunker. She starts sharp and polished and gets looser, louder and messier as the night goes on.
  • The cracks. Underneath the front there's a real person, and a few small, quiet moments let the audience see her. We are never laughing at Marjorie. We are laughing next to her, and occasionally checking to see if she's alright.

What the part asks for

  • Strong comic timing, and the nerve to play it dead straight.
  • Comfortable talking directly to the audience, alone on stage.
  • A convincing posh voice, and your own voice underneath it.
  • Reacting silently for long stretches without pulling focus.
  • Singing badly on purpose. You don't need to be a singer, but if you can sing, you can join Dean in the encore as yourself, and the audience gets a lovely surprise.
  • Physical comedy, including a rehearsed stage fall, and a moment of real tears.
  • Marjorie looks about right for Caroline, the role she wants, who is 39.

There may also be some short social media videos of Marjorie in character, to promote the show.

Date Night now, Caroline later

Date Night is the role being cast now. There is potential for the right actress to also be considered for the role of Caroline in the full musical later on. The second part of this brief describes the musical and the role Marjorie is so desperate to get.

PART TWO: THE MISCASTS

The musical, and the role of Caroline

For actresses interested in Date Night: a look at what the future holds, and the role Marjorie spends the whole night trying to get.

It started with a song

Dean Eggleston created the music first. Original songs, some recorded in Nashville with top session musicians, three produced by Greg Haver, whose credits include Manic Street Preachers and Super Furry Animals. From those songs, characters emerged. Then came Harlow, a town suspended between what it was and what it might become.

The Miscasts follows five people who don't quite fit the lives they were given. When Luna disappears beneath a blood red moon, the others must discover their own voice.

The book and the songs are written. The musical is now in development.

Harlow

Harlow is an isolated mining town. When the mine closed, the whole place stopped, and nobody left, because there was nowhere to go. It only fills up again when a blood red moon rises, for the Blood Red Moon party.

The people

  • Luna (18). A singer and songwriter. Her real name is Sarah, which is what her mother still calls her.
  • Ash (18). A musician, Luna's musical partner. Bit of a temper.
  • Cole (17). Ash's little brother. Wears a full cowboy outfit everywhere and lives by John Wayne.
  • Billie (18). Watches the boat her late grandfather started, waiting for someone to agree to come with her.
  • Caroline (39). Luna's mother.

Caroline

Caroline is the most complete character in the show.

When she was young she won a scholarship to study ballet in London. She gave it up for a singer in a travelling band, and he left before Luna was born. So she has raised Luna on her own, in Harlow. She works at the medical centre, and she has a dog.

When Luna was little, Caroline taught her the stars and the constellations, and the star chart is still on the kitchen wall. These days she and Luna have a game of chess going in the kitchen, one move every few days. They never get to finish it. They argue a lot: Caroline doesn't like some of Luna's choices.

Then they have a huge argument. Things get said that can't be taken back, and Luna disappears. Caroline is left on her own. Slowly, very slowly, the local policeman becomes part of her life. One night, when she isn't looking, he moves a piece on the chess board.

It is a role for an actress who can carry a lot of feeling with very little said. Caroline is a woman who gave everything up for love and has kept going ever since.

Her songs

  • Wish, after the argument with Luna.
  • Fade Away, when Luna has gone. It is a song about holding on to someone, and it needs real emotion.
  • She also sings in the ensemble numbers.

Caroline needs a strong singer and a strong actress.

Looking ahead

Date Night is the comedy teaser that builds an audience while the musical comes together. The actress who plays Marjorie, the woman desperate to play Caroline, could be considered for the real Caroline later on.

Next step

If you're interested, get in touch with Dean and he'll send you the script. Contact me on deaneggleston@gmail.com or txt to 020 4002 1256.