Pitt's Kuntu Repertory Theatre Seeks African American Performers for Two Productions

September 5, 2001

PITTSBURGH—the University of Pittsburgh's Kuntu Repertory Theatre is holding auditions for its first two productions of the 2001-2002 season, Murderer on the Hill District (Oct. 18-Nov. 3) and Whispers Want to Holler (Jan. 24-Feb. 9).

Casting needs include nine African American women, eight African American men, and one African American female teenager. Interested individuals will be asked to perform cold readings from the script. They should bring a photo (head shot) and resume if possible.

Auditions will be held from 6 to 10 p.m. Friday, Sept. 7, and from 4 to

10 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 8, in the seventh-floor auditorium of the Masonic Temple, 4227 Fifth Avenue.

Murderer on the Hill District, written by Rob Penny and directed by Eileen J. Morris, is a crime drama, with Sergeant Kumako Victorious, an African American of Maroon lineage, who must prove whether a minister murdered his lovely young wife's lover. With a number of killings in the Hill District, Victorious investigates a murder that takes place in the parking lot of the Pittsburgh International Airport.

Whispers Want to Holler was written by a Pitt graduate, Marta Effinger, and its original music was composed by international jazz saxophonist Billy Harper. Directed by Kuntu founder and artistic director Vernell A. Lillie, Whispers is about a Black woman who is on the verge of succumbing to urban renewal. Several unexpected guests visit her and cast a spell over her home. In this dramatic musical, she hears calls so mysteriously and sensually divine, "whispers want to holler." Suddenly her basement is filled with the natural sounds of children's laughter, women's wails, and men's testimonials.

Kuntu also needs assistant stage managers, crew, house managers, and costume designers for the 2001-2002 season.

For more information about Kuntu, the auditions, or other openings, call

412/624-7298, or visit the Web site at www.kuntu.org.

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