NEW LINE SEEKS DIVERSE CASTS
FOR FOUR POWERHOUSE SHOWS
IN ITS 2026-27 SEASON
New Line Theatre is always eager to cast actors of color, nonbinary actors, and actors new to our company!
Click here to schedule your audition.
New Line Theatre will hold open auditions on two
Monday nights, June 15 and 22, 2026, for the company's 35th season of adult, alternative musical theatre, including the American premiere of
ZM (zombie musical), the two-night concert event
HEROES & VILLAINS, the Gershwin's razor-sharp comedy
OF THEE I SING, and the American Tribal Love-Rock Musical
HAIR.
All four shows require strong fearless actors with strong singing voices. Chris Moore will direct Heroes & Villains, and Scott Miller and Chris Moore will direct the three mainstage shows.
New Line is always looking for casts that are diverse in terms of race, body type, age, etc., people who are intelligent, fun, fearless, singing actors. We are very eager to cast actors of color, and we are open to cross-gender casting. We do not cast anyone under 17.
Auditions will be held
by appointment at the Marcelle Theater, 3310 Samuel Shepard Drive (63103), just three blocks east of
Grand in the Grand Center Arts District.
You can sign up to audition here.
Performers should prepare a contemporary theatre song, in rock or pop style (
no R&H, please), with printed piano music for our pianist (no karaoke tracks and no
a cappella). We do not accept video auditions. Performers may be asked to sing from the score. There may be a dance audition. New Line is a non-union professional theatre company. Performers will share a guaranteed 10% of box office receipts, with a minimum of $100 per actor for the run.
If we need to call actors back (we don't always have the need for callbacks), it will be
on the same night. New Line continues its
long-standing policy of considering people of all
backgrounds for all roles that are not ethnically specified. We are proud to
be part of a diverse community, and our stage represents that inclusivity. To read New Line's Diversity Statement,
click here.
Click here to schedule your audition.
For directions to the theatre,
click here to go to our FAQs.
THE SHOWS
ZM will run twelve performances over four weeks at the Marcelle Thrater, Oct. 1-24, 2026. All roles are open. You can find the character breakdowns and vocal ranges
here. And you can read more about the show on our
ZM webpage.
HEROES & VILLAINS is a two-night concert event at the Sheldon Concert Hall in Grand Center, Jan. 8-9, 2027. We are looking for 12-16 female+ performers, all vocal ranges. You can read more about it
here.
OF THEE I SING will run twelve performances over four weeks at the Marcelle Theater, March 4-27, 2027. All roles are open. You can find the character breakdowns and vocal ranges
here. And you can read more about the show on our
Of Thee I Sing webpage.
HAIR will run twelve performances over four weeks at the Marcelle Theatre, June 3-26, 2027. All roles are open. You can find the character breakdowns and vocal ranges
here. And you can read more about the show on our
Hair webpage.
We are tentatively considering our two male leads, Berger and Claude, swapping roles each weekend. This decision will be made when we cast those roles. We did this with Jesus Christ Superstar in 2006 and it worked really well.
●
A Note About the Nudity: New Line's prodction of HAIR will include the show's traditional nude scene. It's a single 10-15-second moment of dimly lit nudity at the end of the first act, under the final chord at the end of “Where Do I Go?” when the tribe sings “Freedom!” As it was in the original production, the nudity is TOTALLY OPTIONAL, full, partial, or not at all. To be clear, this moment is not
at all meant to be sexy or erotic; it’s meant to communicate and embody freedom and escape from the unthinking rules of mainstream society. It connects directly to a foundational idea to the hippies – our bodies are not dirty or shameful; instead they should be celebrated.
REHEARSALS
New Line rehearses on
Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday evenings from 7:00 to 10:00 p.m., plus every night the week the show opens. Most rehearsals are at
Wydown United Church, in Clayton. For some shows, there are also dance rehearsals on Sunday or Wednesday nights at the
Saint Louis Dance Theatre studio on Washington, around the block from the Marcelle.
Rehearsals begin in early August for ZM, running in October; rehearsals begin in October for HEROES & VILLAINS, running Jan. 8-9 only; rehearsals begin in early January for OF THEE I SING, running in March; and rehearsals begin in early April for HAIR, running in June.
NEW LINE'S 18-MONTH RULE
Any actor who has performed with New Line Theatre during the last eighteen months, does not have to audition for us, to be considered for casting. As playwright James Kirkwood has said, "The audition system, especially for musicals, is the closest thing to the Romans throwing the Christians to the lions. It really is brutal." So instead of throwing our actors to the lions, New Line actors just have to contact artistic director
Scott Miller before the last night of auditions to tell him that they want to be considered. On the other hand, if an actor wants to be considered for a role that's very different from what they've done for New Line before, then they are more than welcome to audition and show us how perfect they are for that role.
To learn more about New Line, read our
Statement of Philosophy and browse our
past shows.
For more information, call us at 314-773-6526 or
email us.
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
All auditions for future shows will be announced on this page. All details will be posted here when they become available.
What should I bring? You should prepare a song (sometimes we have preferences about what kind of song, noted in the audition announcement), and you should bring a legible copy of the piano music for our accompanist, in the key you want.
THIS IS IMPORTANT: If you want our accompanist to play your music well, do NOT bring unattached pages of sheet music. Do NOT bring a lead sheet (music with only vocal lines, no piano part). You should either put your music in a three-ring binder or bring a published book. Mark clearly any cuts or changes. If you're bringing a published music book, please break the binding ahead of time so your music lies flat on the music stand. If you put your sheet music into plastic sleeves, make sure the sleeves have a matte finish, not shiny.
Can I sing something from the show? The answer is almost always YES at New Line. Other companies often have different preferences.
Do you want me to sing only 16 bars, or more than that? Our best advice is to find a great piece of music about 32 bars, so we don't have to cut you off if we're running late...
What if I have conflicts with the rehearsal schedule? If you have one or two schedule conflicts, we may be able to make accommodations in the schedule. If it's more than that, we will not cast you.
Can I submit a video audition if I can't make it to the scheduled auditions? No, we do not accept video submissions. We audition only in person, and only on the dates announced.
Do I need a picture and resume? If you have those, bring them. If you don't, it's not a problem.
I've never worked with New Line before -- can I still get a lead? Yes! We often give leading roles to actors who have not worked with us, and we regularly practice colorblind casting.
