Auditions for Lost in Yonkers set for June 28 & 29

Auditions for Neil Simon’s Lost in Yonkers will be June 28 and 29 at the theatre starting at 7:00 PM.

Directed by Pamela Lambert, auditions will consist of cold readings from the script. Bring your resume and headshot. Any COVID-19 guidelines that are in effect at that time will be observed. Rehearsals will begin July 12. Performances are August 20 to September 5 on Friday, Saturday (matinee and evening), and Sunday (matinee). We look forward to seeing you at the auditions!

Redlands Footlighters is located at 1810 Barton Road in Redlands.

Characters Lost in Yonkers

Jay is Eddie’s older son. He is (15½) years old and is described by his Uncle Louie as having his late mother’s eyes. In terms of personality, he is strong-willed and is struggling to figure out how to take on the responsibilities of a man. He is characterized as a good student and a responsible young person. 

Arty is Eddie’s younger son and is (13½) years old. Of the two brothers, he is more outrageous and comical in his outlook. 

Grandma Kurnitz (70) is mother to Louie, Eddie, Bella, and Gert, and grandmother to Jay and Arty. She escaped Germany during the first World War with her husband and her six children, two of which, Aaron and Rose, died. She is calloused by her struggles in life, incredibly strict, and a proponent of “tough love.” 

Eddie (40s) is one of Grandma Kurnitz’s sons, father to Jay and Arty, and brother to Louie, Bella, and Gert. As the play begins, it is revealed that he recently lost his wife to cancer, and in paying for her to have treatment, he now finds himself with a massive amount of debt. This forces him to leave for 10 months to earn money to pay off his debts, leaving his boys with his mother and his sister, Bella. He is described as being a loving father to his sons and is an emotional, sensitive man, tearing up and crying on multiple occasions. 

Louie  (30s) is the youngest son of Grandma Kurnitz, uncle to Jay and Arty, and brother to Bella, Gert, and Eddie. The play introduces Louie with Jay speculating about Louie’s occupation, believing him to be a henchman or perhaps a bagman for the mafia. He acts as the boys’ male authority figure while their father is gone. Louie is smooth-talking, erratic, and clearly mixed up in some crooked schemes.

Bella (30s-40) is a daughter of Grandma Kurnitz, aunt to Jay and Arty, and sister to Gert, Louie, and Eddie. She is described as, “in her mid-thirties…neat and sweet and pretty, although looking a little older than her age. She is warm and congenial as she is emotionally arrested.”

Gert  (30s) is one of Grandma Kurnitz’s daughters, aunt to Jay and Arty, and sister to Bella, Louie, and Eddie. She has a breathing condition which causes her to suck in her breath in the middle of her sentences. She developed this condition as a child out of fear of her mother.