Auditions: Dusty & The Big Bad World
3/29 3–6 PM | 3/30 5-8 PM
The audition will be held at the Cosmos Theatre, 222 North Marina St., Prescott, AZ, on 3/29 from 3 – 6 p.m. and on Monday, 3/30 at 5 -8 p.m.
Call/Text Janet Bontrager at 928-963-6505 or email janetbontrager@gmail.com for information.
Please prepare a short comic monologue and be prepared to read from the script.
Show Dates:
- Thursday 6/18 7 p.m.
- Saturday 6/20 2 p.m. & 7 p.m.
- Sunday 6/21 2 p.m.
- Friday 6/26 7:00 p.m.
- Saturday 6/27 2 p.m. & 7 p.m.
- Sunday 6/28 2 p.m.
Characters: Looking for 5 actors:
- Jessica – Early forties, driven, focused, a TV producer,
- Karen – Twenties, edgy, neurotic, was an addict, is barely keeping it together, is deeply self-interested because she has to be – smarter than she lets on.
- Marianne – Late Forties, early -fifties, Southern, very Christian, driven, seemingly soft but secretly hard as nails – has a super maternal side.
- Nathan – late thirties to early forties, neurotic, wants to be heroic, but it’s not easy for him; becomes monomaniacal as the play progresses.
- Lizzie Goldberg-Jones – An honest, somewhat precocious 11-year-old – not an annoying kid. She speaks the truth more than anyone else in the play.
Synopsis of the Play:
Dusty and his animated friends hold a competition to find a model family based on letters written by children. The winning family will receive a visit from Dusty and will be filmed for an upcoming episode. Out of the 15,000 letters received, the producers pick Lizzie Goldberg-Jones and her family to be featured on the most popular animated PBS show in America. Her parents are exemplary role models – and they are two men. When word of that selection and the resulting episode reaches Marianne, Secretary of Education, she exercises her authority, deciding that the program should not be aired on public television because of its possible influence on children. Her decision, calling the episode “special interest TV”, is a blow to Jessica and Nathan, the producers/writers of the show and to Karen, Marianne’s secretary. Karen admires her boss’ tenacity in overcoming a self-destructive past, but feels her decision to cancel the episode is definitely wrong. She secretly reveals that self-destructive past to Nathan and almost brings Marianne down, but not quite. Based on an actual incident that happened in 2005, Dusty and the Big Bad World is a very funny, no-holds-barred yet even-handed look at PBS, government bias, gay marriage, the right to privacy, children’s allergies and the ability to survive in a small-minded world.
Make A Donation Today
Support Cosmos Theatre
Help bring Cosmos Theatre to life! Your donation fuels a bold, inclusive arts community in Prescott—one that sparks conversation, fosters empathy, and pushes creative boundaries. Every contribution—big or small—moves us closer to our vision.
Thank you for being part of this journey. We can’t do it without you!
A UNIVERSE OF POSSIBILITIES
FIND US
Cosmos Theatre
222 North Marina St.
Prescott, AZ 86303
