HFC holds auditions for “Dear Harvey” September 9
HFC Theatre will hold auditions for its play Dear Harvey on Monday, September 9, from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. in the Studio Theatre (Room F-161) of the MacKenzie Fine Arts Center (Building F on the main campus).
Auditions are open to any current HFC students, Henry Ford Early College students, dual-enrolled high school students, HFC theatre alumni, and University of Michigan-Dearborn students. No prior acting experience is necessary. Prepared monologues and résumés are welcome but are not required.
Once the cast is chosen, required rehearsals for Dear Harvey will be every Monday and Wednesday from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. Rehearsals will begin Monday, September 16, and run through Wednesday, November 13 in Room F-161. The play will debut Friday, November 15, and run through Sunday, November 23, in the Adray Auditorium.
“Dear Harvey is such a lovely, accessible show, celebrating the good that Harvey Milk accomplished and the lives he changed. The characters are based on the real people who knew and worked with him. They focus on how a single, brave person can make a huge impact. It's a play about compassion, about lifting each other up, and, above all, about hope,” said HFC Director of Theatre Dr. John Michael Sefel.
Who was Harvey Milk?
Written by Patricia Loughrey, Dear Harvey is based on the life of Milk, the first openly gay man to be elected to public office in California, where he was a member of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors. His political campaigns were ostentatious, which elicited media attention and votes. He and his allies engaged in fierce, public opposition to anti-gay initiatives.
On November 27, 1978, Dan White assassinated both Milk and San Francisco Mayor George Moscone in their offices. Both Milk and Moscone had supported a bill banning discrimination in public accommodations, housing, and employment on the basis of sexual orientation. The San Francisco City Supervisors had passed the bill 11-1, with White being the only dissenting vote. White subsequently resigned as a Supervisor, then unsuccessfully petitioned Moscone to be reinstated.
Despite his short career in politics, Milk became an icon in San Francisco and a martyr in the LGBTQ+ community. There have been many tributes in his memory. Actor Sean Penn earned his second Oscar for his portrayal of Milk in 2008’s Milk. In 2009, President Barack Obama posthumously awarded Milk the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
For questions or more information about Dear Harvey, contact Sefel at jsefel@hfcc.edu or Dr. Chelsea Lonsdale at calonsdale@hfcc.edu.