auditions

CHARACTER BREAKDOWNS

 

OLDER THOMAS DORSEY | (50+) A reflective, griot-like presence who serves as narrator, guide, and witness. He moves fluidly through memory—offering commentary, redirecting moments, and revealing the emotional and spiritual costs of his journey. He is wise, burdened, and seeking peace through remembrance and testimony.

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MIDDLE THOMAS DORSEY | (20s-30s) Ambitious, passionate, and torn between two worlds: the sacred and the secular. He is the artist in full bloom, caught in the tension between his gospel upbringing and his deep love for the blues. Driven by music, misunderstood by his family, and searching for his true calling.

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YOUNG THOMAS DORSEY | (10 - 14) Imaginative, sensitive, and musically gifted. He observes the world around him with curiosity and caution, internalizing both trauma and joy. He is shaped by his family, church, and his community.

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MOTHER DORSEY/ETTA PLANT SPENCER | (Late 30's - late 40's) Devout, gentle, and emotionally driven. She is the spiritual heartbeat of the family, torn between pride and disappointment. Her love for Thomas runs deep, but so does her fear that he is straying from God’s light.

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REV. DORSEY/THOMAS MADISON DORSEY | (40s) A stern but loving man of the cloth. Rooted in scripture and tradition, he struggles to accept his son’s path. He represents the voice of religious authority and generational expectation—unwilling to compromise what he believes is righteous.

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NETTIE HARPER DORSEY | (20s-30s) A thoughtful, grounded woman of faith and creative spirit. As a costume designer and Thomas’s eventual wife, she brings emotional wisdom, moral clarity, and quiet strength. She sees past Thomas’s turmoil to the heart of his calling, challenging him to integrate both sides of his musical soul.

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GRANDMOTHER/SILVEY PLANT | (50+) Elder matriarch and keeper of generational wisdom. A spiritual wellspring who bridges ancestral memory with the present. She is connected to the unseen, and her presence suggests a deep link to the Ancestors.

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MISS DORINDA | (30s - 40s) A blues singer with presence and soul. Flirtatious, warm, and direct, she represents the freedom and emotional honesty of the blues world. She knew Thomas when he was just starting out and sees him as part of that lineage.

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BAR MAID/JENNIE MAE | (40s - 50s) A sharp, no-nonsense working woman who sees everything from behind the bar. She is witty, observant, and deeply connected to the community of the juke joint.

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JELLY ROLL | (30s - 40s) Blues pianist at Jennie Mae’s Juke Joint. An icon in his own right—boisterous, opinionated, and full of swagger. He embodies the theatrical, larger-than-life spirit of early jazz and blues scenes. Becomes Young Thomas’s blues mentor.

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MA RAINEY | (40s-50s) Fierce, wise, and bawdy, Ma Rainey carries the weight of Black Southern womanhood, survival, and song. She is no one's fool, no one's pet project. Her voice is her business, her weapon, and her sanctuary.

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MAHALIA JACKSON | (20s - 30s) A young but rising gospel powerhouse. Passionate, devout, and uncompromising in her vision of sacred music. She becomes a musical partner and spiritual anchor for Thomas in his later years.

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AUNT HANNAH | (40s - 50s) Bold, spirited, and rooted. The kind of woman who raised generations with one eyebrow and a frying pan. Comic timing is key, but heart and conviction underneath.

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REV. JAMES SPARKS | (40s - 50s) A commanding church leader who questions Thomas’s past and tests his sincerity. Rejects Thomas’s gospel music, labeling it as “worldly” and too much like the juke joints and clubs. Represents the institutional gatekeeping of the gospel world but soon gives in, recognizing change is inedible.

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PROFESSOR DUBOIS | (40s - 50s) Mahalia Jackson’s voice teacher.A classically trained opera singer with a rigid, formal demeanor. Stern and dismissive, he embodies the philosophy that success and acceptance in white society require assimilation and adherence to European artistic standards.

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ANCESTORS ENSEMBLE | A collective presence—ageless guides, witnesses, and silent participants in Thomas’s journey. They hum, sing, dance, and/or move like memory itself. Their music shifts between spirituals and blues, underscoring the sacred duality of Thomas’s life.

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TAMPA RED | (20s - 40s) Band member; guitar playing collaborator 

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BARTENDER | (40s - 50s) Chicago blues scene

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DOCTOR | (30s-40s) Clinical but caring