Wheaton Drama is pleased to announce auditions for Hauptmann by John Logan (playwright of the Tony Award winning Red, and screenplay writer of Gladiator, The Aviator, Skyfall, and others). Hauptmann is a gripping drama about the 1932 kidnapping and death of Charles Lindbergh, Jr. and the man tried, convicted and executed for that crime, Bruno Richard Hauptmann, whose “Trial of the Century,” according to H. L. Mencken, was “the biggest story since the Resurrection.” Hauptmann tells the story from Hauptmann’s own perspective just prior to being sent to his fate in the New Jersey electric chair in 1936.  He enlists the assistance of six guards in recounting his tale who play multiple roles in the process.

Hauptmann will be performed March 20 – April 5, 2020. Show times are Thursdays-Saturdays at 7:30p, Sundays at 3:00p.

Auditions will be held on Sunday, January 19 & Monday, January 20 from 7:00p to 9:30p at the theatre, 111 N. Hale Street, Wheaton [with time extended, if necessary.] Callbacks will be conducted on Wednesday, January 22.  Auditions are by appointment at 10-minute intervals, but walk-ins will be heard, if time permits.  

To reserve an audition time, email [email protected] with your preferred date and time. We will do our best to accommodate your request, but the slots will be filled first come, first served. Audition forms can be found here. Please bring the completed form with you to your audition.

First auditions will consist of any monologue of the auditionee’s choosing, from 1:30 to two minutes in length which shows that person’s abilities to best advantage.  Callbacks will consist of readings from the script which will be available for viewing upon making an appointment for the first round of auditions.  Every effort to adjust to conflicts will be made.  Not everyone will be called back.  If auditioning for the role of Richard or Anna Hauptmann, a second monologue [or the same one repeated] will be necessary employing a German accent. Additionally, the Hauptmanns and one of the guards speak some of their lines in German. German Accent Workshops will be conducted by Mackenzie Grattan on Sunday, January 5 from 4:00p to 6:00p and on Saturday morning, January 11 from 10:00a to noon at the theatre. To sign up for the workshop in advance, click here. Walk-ins will also be allowed, but advanced notice is preferred. Attendance at the Workshops is not required. Either or both are available to those who would like assistance with performing a German accent.

All roles are available and are as follows:

Bruno Richard Hauptmann – Age 36 at the time of his execution.  A carpenter and stockbroker living in the Bronx until his arrest, he was an illegal immigrant from Germany with some criminal charges in his background.  While he had some of the ransom money in his possession, leading to his arrest, he always claimed to have been given the money to hold by another man.  He proclaimed his innocence until his death, even though his sentence would have been commuted to life in prison had he confessed.  Has some lines in German and speaks throughout the play with a German accent.  Heavy line and rehearsal commitment.  

The Guards – 4 males and 2 females – They all play multiple roles throughout, and they rarely leave the stage.  Some of the roles portrayed by the guards include but are not limited to: 

• Anna Hauptmann, Richard’s wife who proclaimed his innocence to the world and campaigned to overturn his conviction until her death in her nineties; 

• Charles and Anne Lindbergh, America’s golden couple, the famous aviator hero and his reserved, poetic wife; 

• David Wilentz, the lead prosecutor striving to obtain the death penalty; 

• Dr. John Condon who acted as the intermediary between the Lindberghs and the kidnapper(s); 

• Judge Thomas Trenchard, the police, reporters, and trial witnesses.  

Actors may or may not match the particulars of the the people they are portraying in Hauptmann’s narrative.

The Hauptmann creative team includes – Production Manager and Set Designer: Randall Knott;  Director: Ken Kaden; Assistant Director/Assistant Stage Manager: Linda Spadlowski;  Director’s Assistant:  Dee Hicks;  Director of German Language and Dialect: Mackenzie Grattan;  Fight Director: Andrew Trygstad;  Stage Manager:  Bruce Ebner;  Costumes: Ben Vargas;  Lighting:  Jim Van De Velde;  Choreographer:  Sarah Malloy.