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MCC Theater is seeking four actors to fill leading roles for its upcoming developmental workshop of What’s Eating Gilbert Grape, a new musical adaptation of the novel by Peter Hedges.
The Off-Broadway project is seeking Equity actors for four principal roles: Amy Grape, Ellen Grape, Mrs. Betty Carver, and Arnie Grape. Casting is being conducted through an Equity Principal Audition, with all Equity stage management positions already filled.
The musical adaptation features a book by Peter Hedges, with music and lyrics by Adrian Enscoe, Christopher Sears, Sydney Shepherd, and Regina Strayhorn, and is directed by Anne Kauffman.
Previous casting notices have described the project as an “actor-singer-instrumentalist show” in which each performer will play multiple characters and instruments.
Set in Endora, Iowa, during the summer of 1991, the story follows the Grape family in the days leading up to the 18th birthday of Arnie Grape.
Originally published in 1991, What’s Eating Gilbert Grape was adapted into a 1993 feature film directed by Lasse Hallström. The film starred Johnny Depp as Gilbert Grape and Leonardo DiCaprio as Arnie Grape, with Juliette Lewis and Darlene Cates completing the principal cast. DiCaprio received an Academy Award nomination for his performance.
