With Cowboy Versus Samurai, the Boulevard Theatre may have chosen one of the more challenging shows to cast on the upcoming theatre season. A play on Cyrano De Bergerac, the play features a love story in which a young man must choose between his American and Asian cultural identities in the interest of winning the love of a beautiful, young Asian-American woman.
With Asian-American cultural identity (and the nature of cultural identity as a whole) such a central focus of the play, it’s kind of difficult to go for cultural ambiguity in casting. As a result, the casting of Asian-American actors is absolutely essential. And while Asian-Americans make-up roughly 3.2% of the population in the greater Milwaukee area, (according to a 2006-2008 American Community Survey) they haven’t been particularly present in mainstream local stage productions. Thankfully, the Boulevard Theatre has managed get the show almost fully cast with ethnically appropriate actors . . . however, the woman playing the love interest ahs backed-out for personal reasons.
And so, with a couple of months left to go before opening night, (Boulevard’s production opens October 5th) the company is looking for “An Asian-American actresses who are in their late 20's to late 30's and who are dynamic, bright, charismatic and ‘attractive.’
Now, I would imagine that lead roles for Asian-Americans in mainstream stage productions are kind of limited. This would be a really great opportunity for the right actress. Now, assuming the numbers haven’t changed that much since 2008, there are 2,014,032 people in Milwaukee. With 3.2% of that being Asian-American, that makes for 64,000 or so Asian-Americans in Milwaukee. Assuming about half of those are women, we’re looking at 32,000 women. That’s a pretty large population. The Boulvard is looking for ONE of those 32,000 in the area.
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From Mark Bucher, the Boulevard’s Artistic Director: “ In my stance, the character must appear both confident and yet vulnerable, funny and yet sensitive. Veronica is from New York City, so she is definitely ‘no babe in the woods.’ “
If you fit the bill and would like a chance to appear in what sounds like a very cleverly-written romantic comedy, please do contact Mark Bucher at:
mbucher@juno.com
or
marksaysthankyouforwaiting@gmail.com
and/or call 414-744-5757.
