AUDITION INFORMATION:

Hey, everyone! Thanks for being interested in Ride the Cyclone. Izzy, Josh, Ian, and I are so
excited to see what you bring to the room. Below is audition information, including character
breakdowns, initial audition materials, and, if you want to get a sneak peek, callback monologues
are attached to the email. A few pieces of information for your brains first:

 This show is unique from a lot of other shows. All of the characters have distinct features and
personalities that make them unlike any other character in musical theatre canon. Because of
this, we ask you sing from the show for initial auditions. Those cuts are found below under
“Audition Materials.”
 The more memorized you are, the better. Not to say we’re expecting you to be flawless,
but the more comfortable you are, the freer you’ll feel to make choices. Which brings me
to…
 Ride the Cyclone takes place in a purgatory of sorts, therefore all of these characters
experience heightened circumstances with huge stakes. All of this is to say, be bold and
make strong choices. If you don’t buy into the ridiculousness of the characters, no one will.
If you think you’re going too far, you’re not.
 Seriously. Ocean values her best friend as nothing more than an organ donor. Noel wants to
live in a dreary French noire. Mischa raps with a heavy Ukrainian accent. Ricky sees life as if
he’s a womanizing space messiah. Constance never catches a break. Jane is… well, Jane’s
decapitated. Just go for it!
 Some people may be asked to sing for more than one character. Some may be asked to read
from the show. Don’t look too much into it! As a fellow actor, I know what it’s like to
overanalyze these situations. If it puts your mind at ease, I have no idea what I’m doing
either.

CHARACTER BREAKDOWNS:

The Amazing KARNAK: Role has been cast. Congrats Josh!

THE CHOIR (Character descriptions pulled from the script)

OCEAN O’Connell Rosenberg—The most successful girl in town. Ambitious by nature,

OCEAN considers herself the “white sheep” of her family. She is the high school president, a
straight A student. She thinks very highly of herself and does a poor job hiding it. Think
Heathers and/or Mean Girls. Catchphrase: “Democracy rocks!”

MISCHA Bachinski—The angriest boy in town, MISCHA was adopted from Ukraine. Like
most teenage boys, he began an inexhaustible rage, the only solution for which is “self-
aggrandizing commercialized hiphop.” He fell in love with Talia, a local girl and fellow
Ukrainian transplant. MISCHA knows two emotions: rage and passion. Catchphrase: “My
gangsta persona is just armor to conceal that I am a naked child wandering through the
wilderness holding in my hands my wounded fragile heart.” (Eastern European accent, some
Ukrainian, and must be comfortable rapping.)
NOEL Gruber—The most romantic boy in town. Passionate, nihilistic, and openly gay, NOEL
was born “in the wrong town, in the wrong country, in the wrong era.” In his dreams, he’s a
prostitute in Post-War France. NOEL wants to wallow in melodrama and passion; or, to borrow
his own words, be “that f*cked up girl.” Catchphrase: “Being the only gay man in a small rural
high school is kind of like having a laptop in the Stone Age. I mean sure you can have one, but
there’s nowhere to plug it in.”

RICKY Potts—The most imaginative boy in town, RICKY was born with a rare generative
disease which caused him to lose his speech. Isolated, except by his fourteen cats, he became his
own best friend and “developed an elaborate playground in his synapses.” RICKY wants his life
to emulate his deepest fantasy, where he’s Monkey Love Drop, rival prophet from the Zolarian
Starcluster. Catchphrase: “Level up.”

CONSTANCE Blackwood—The nicest girl in town, CONSTANCE is polite to the point of

being a pushover. Real salt of the earth type with self-esteem issues. She was raised by the only
family proud of living, working, and dying in Uranium, and seems to be the only girl who likes
living there, much to her secret shame. CONSTANCE wants to enjoy life, finding happiness in
the little things. Catchphrase: “Sorry.”

JANE Doe—The most mysterious girl in the choir. No one knows who she is, where she came
from, or if she was even in the choir to begin with. She was decapitated by the Cyclone accident,
leaving her to carry her own head throughout the course of the play. She embodies a different
energy than the other five, almost from beyond the grave. JANE wants to participate, no matter
how out of place she is. Catchphrase: “When a lioness has children, she stops making love to the
lion. The lion gets jealous, sometimes so jealous he eats the children. You’d think this would
upset the lioness. Far from it, they make love again, like the children never existed. I find that
idea terrifying.” (Yes, seriously. She’s an odd bird.)

AUDITION MATERIALS:

Please find the cuts for each character below. Please pick one, but be familiar with the other
two. For example, if you audition with Ocean, take a look at Constance and Jane too. I’ve also
added timestamps from the World Premiere Cast Recording (found on Spotify but also other
streaming services/iTunes/YouTube). A note as you’re learning/preparing: We are not concerned
with you making the same vocal choices the cast does on the recording. That was their choice.
We want to hear how you interpret the song!

Note: I never thought in my 27 years I would type “futher muckin’,” “short-ay,” and “you’re my
catnip.” But, to reiterate, that’s the nature of this show, so own it!

We will follow up with sheet music soon!

OCEAN:
What the World Needs:
“Seriously? This one here?” to “what the world needs is a futher muckin’ hero!”
1:05-2:19
MISCHA:
This Song is Awesome:
“It’s time to start the party” to “short-ay”
1:44-2:14
Talia:
“Ko-hai-yu-oo” to “oh my love!”
1:20 to 1:56

NOEL:
Noel’s Lament:
“A hooker with a heart of black charcoal’” to “I want to be that f*cked up girl”
0:21-1:42

RICKY:
Space Age Bachelor Man:
“You’re my catnip” to “Bach! Lor! Man! Meow!” (and the lines in between)
4:00-5:14

CONSTANCE:
Sugar Cloud:
“I see the world with all its backwards upside down” to “now that I’m here on my sugar cloud”
1:10-2:14

JANE:
The Ballad of Jane Doe:
“A melody floats through the air” to “Jane Doe”
3:30-4:59