Audition or interview for Waiting for Lefty: A Sylmar Sonata

LA Mission College Theatre Arts will present Waiting for Lefty: A Sylmar Sonata as its Fall 2026 production.

When Clifford Odets’ Waiting for Lefty debuted in 1935 it pierced the heart of the capitalist greed that fueled the Great Depression, inspiring audiences into action. Seven scenes unfold, revealing the intersecting lives of working class characters and their experiences with exploitation, corruption, and social injustice. The LA Mission Theatre production takes this one step further, interlacing Waiting for Lefty with the script of Salt of the Earth, a 1954 film about a New Mexico mining strike, and stories from our student community about working conditions in the Northeast San Fernando Valley. 

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We are looking to cast around nine actors to play roles from both Waiting for Lefty and Salt of the Earth. 

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We are seeking students for all design and production roles in areas of scenic, lighting, costumes, painting, props, and stage management. 

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Auditions will be held on Wednesday, September 9  from 1:00-3:00 

Interviews for design and production positions will held on Tuesday, September 8 from 1:00-3:00

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To get an audition or interview slot, you must first fill out this form. Once submitted, you will be contacted in the days before the auditions and interviews by our Production Manager, Aaron Blokker, via email.

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Waiting for Lefty: A Sylmar Sonata will be directed by Brian Tichnell, with scenic design by Dorothy Hoover, costume design by Julianna Sanchez, and lighting design by Bri Pattillo. It will play November 13-21, 2026 in the LA Mission College AMP Theater​

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GENERAL INFORMATION

Before auditioning or interviewing, it's important to read all of the following information and then fill out the info form linked here:

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 WAITING FOR LEFTY: A SYLMAR SONATA INFO FORM ​

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If you are interested in auditioning for an acting role or participating behind the scenes, you need to first fill out the info form. After filling it out, you will be contacted prior to the audition or interview day at the email you provide with a link to sign up for a time slot. To be considered you MUST fill out the info form before your audition or interview, AND sign-up for an audition or interview time slot.

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1. Read through all the information below

2. Fill out the info form

3. Expect to receive an email with audition and/or interview slots

4. Sign up for your slot/s

5. Audition or interview

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IF YOU'RE INTERESTED IN PARTICIPATING...

COLLEGE ENROLLMENT REQUIREMENTS

To participate in this production you must be enrolled as a student at LA Mission College and have no academic holds or over-enrollments. You can be a full- or part-time student, or even only be enrolled the one class required for the production.

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Actors and stage managers

If you are cast in a role or a stage manager, you will need to enroll in the course Rehearsals and Performances TH291 (1 unit) or Rehearsals and Performances TH293 (3 units), depending upon the amount of time you will be required to work each week.  Generally, actors and stage managers are enrolled in Rehearsals and Performances 293 (3 unit) and are required to commit to around 15 hours of rehearsal a week.

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Design and production team members

If you are added to the design and production team, you will need to enroll in the course Technical Stage Production TECTHTR 342 (2 units)

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Rehearsals and production schedule

Rehearsals and production begins in the third week of the semester. We try to maintain a consistent schedule through the rehearsal process, which will be determined once the show is cast. Once the show goes into technical rehearsals, around the beginning of the month that the show is being presented, the schedule changes and the amount of time required increases.​

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Tech and dress rehearsal schedule

All company members must to be available for full technical rehearsals in the week leading up to opening. In the info form, you will see the production schedule.

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FOR ACTING ROLES

​AUDITION INFORMATION FOR ACTORS

For the auditions, select one of the roles below and prepare the audition side.

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JOE

Joe audition side
A New York taxi driver and committed union man who has come to help organize and support the workers’ cause. Joe still believes deeply in the promise of the American Dream, but he’s beginning to understand that the dream means little if working people are denied a fair chance at it. He isn’t looking for a revolution.  He simply feels he can no longer sit back and wait for things to get better.

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EDNA
Edna audition side
Young mother who is fed up with struggling to keep her children fed, healthy, and safe while her family works itself to the bone. She has little patience left for excuses, fear, or waiting for someone else to make things better. Her frustration becomes a source of courage, pushing both her family and the people around her toward action.

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ESPERANZA

Esperanza audition side
A New Mexico miner’s wife who discovers a sense of purpose by joining the fight for dignity and justice. Initially accustomed to standing behind her husband, she finds a strength and conviction she didn’t know she possessed when circumstances call her forward. The struggle becomes more than her husband’s cause; it becomes her own.

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RAMON

Ramon audition side
A miner who is fed up with exploitation and ready to fight for something better. Proud and stubborn, he is suspicious of the Anglos who arrive to help and holds tightly to traditional ideas about the roles of men and women. Through the struggle, Ramon comes to understand that solidarity means equality, and that the fight cannot be won unless everyone stands together.

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MILLER

Miller audition side
A researcher pushed out of his own field by economic forces beyond his control, he finds himself pressured to betray the very principles he has built his life around. Unlike the workers around him, he does not come from the working class.  But witnessing how power is wielded against ordinary people has radicalized him. He must decide what he is willing to sacrifice, rather than become complicit in a system he now understands to be unjust.

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FAYETTE

Fayette audition side
A powerful industrialist whose interests stretch across mining, weapons, poison gas, and any enterprise capable of turning human need into profit. He rarely gets his own hands dirty, yet his influence reaches into nearly every corner of the workers’ lives. He is the Invisible Hand made flesh. Unlike anyone else in the world of the play, Fayette can manipulate the theatrical space itself, appearing, disappearing, and reshaping the action as though the world belongs to him.

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FATT

Fatt audition side
Tasked with handling and appeasing the grievances of workers while ensuring that nothing actually changes. He relies on empty promises, bureaucratic excuses, and veiled threats to protect the system that keeps him slightly richer and more comfortable than the people beneath him. At his core, he is a coward. He is willing to betray his peers and enforce the will of more powerful men as long as it preserves his own small piece of privilege.

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FLORRIE

Florrie audition side
A young woman whose dreams of love and a better life are slowly crushed by economic hardship and circumstances beyond her control. At a union meeting, she discovers her brother Irv lying to the workers for money and makes the decision to expose him, ending the ruse herself. In that moment, her private disappointment becomes political conviction, and she throws herself fully into the fight!

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SID

Sid audition side
A young dreamer in love with Florrie and eager to begin a life of their own together. He believes that if they work hard enough, happiness and a modest piece of the American Dream should be within reach. Then, economic reality kicks him in the head. Forced to watch their simple hopes become impossible, Sid begins to understand why his parents’ (Ramon and Esperanza) fight must become his fight too.

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BARNES
Barnes audition side
An older physician who has spent a lifetime watching the wheels of human conflict grind endlessly toward the same inevitable confrontation between those with power and those without it. Too old and weary to lead the charge himself, he recognizes the pattern and urges the younger generation not to mistake submission for peace. “Fight, you youngsters! The powerful intend to make your lives hell, so give ’em hell right back!”​​

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FOR DESIGN AND PRODUCTION POSITIONS

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To be considered for a design or production position you must first fill out an info form here.

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We are seeking students to join the company in the following positions:

Stage management —  assist with the running of rehearsals and performances

Production assistance — general assistance in all areas

Sound operator — assist in rehearsals with sound design and operation

Scenic design and construction — assist with building, fabricating, and organization of scenic elements

Props design and construction — assist with building, fabricating, and organization of props

Projection design — assist with creating video projections

Lighting —assist with hanging, cabling, focusing, and programming lights

Costumes — assist in the shopping for and construction and organization of costumes

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INTERVIEW INFORMATION

After filling out the info form, you will be contacted at the email you provided in prior to the interview day.

 

To be considered you MUST fill out the info form before your interview and sign up for an interview time slot.

 

DESIGN AND PRODUCTION SCHEDULE

If you are assigned a position in stage management, you will be required to attend all rehearsals.

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All other design and production team members will fulfill their hours during "shop hours," which will be determined.

 

These days and times are all tentative and any positions in the company should be prepared to fulfill their responsibilities at other times that they are available.​​​​​​​