Watch this space for audition details
WCP/BHCT is committed to a policy of open auditions. Our success depends on the full participation of talented and committed people, regardless of their race, creed, color, age, gender, sexual orientation, national origin, disability, or any other characteristic protected by law. Neither experience nor membership is required to audition.
Unless otherwise indicated, auditions will be held in the WCP/BHCT Walker Building at 224 Commercial Street in Waterloo. Interested individuals need only attend one audition session.
Scripts will be available for a week-long perusal with a $10 deposit. Please stop by the WCP/BHCT Walker Building during normal business hours (Tuesday-Friday, 11am-5pm) to pick up a script.
Laughter on the 23rd Floor
A play by Neil Simon
Directed by Joe Frenna
​
AUDITION DATES:
Tuesday, December 9 at 6:00
Saturday, December 13 at 2:00
​
AUDITION LOCATION
Hope Martin Stage
Waterloo Center for the Arts
! Please enter through stage doors !
​
Lucas Brickman is the new kid in a writers room that’s less “collaborative workspace” and more “intellectual bar fight.” It’s 1953, and The Max Prince Show is one of the hottest variety shows on TV—if you define “hot” as “held together by caffeine, nicotine, and sheer panic.”As Cold War paranoia fuels McCarthy-era blacklists, network executives slash budgets in pursuit of sanitized entertainment, and the mercurial host spirals into substance-fueled unpredictability, Lucas must prove his worth in a room full of eccentric, brilliant, and deeply flawed colleagues. Lucas just wants to write jokes. Instead, he’s dodging verbal grenades from a hypochondriac, a Russian perfectionist, a guy who may or may not have sold a screenplay to his own ego, and a woman who’s outnumbered but never outgunned. It’s chaos, it’s brilliant, and it’s barely legal. Welcome to comedy in the Cold War.
CHARACTER LIST
LUCAS BRICKMAN (Male, 20s-early 30s) The newest and youngest member of the writing staff. Nervous, observant, and earnest, Lucas serves as the audience’s lens into the world of the show. Often narrates the action with dry wit and growing insight. Based on a young Neil Simon.
MILT FIELDS (Male, 30s-40s) Flashy, fast-talking, and full of bravado. Milt loves a loud suit and a loud joke. He’s a born showman and provocateur, always stirring the pot but deeply loyal to the team underneath the bluster.
VAL SLOTSKY (Male, 40s–50s) A senior writer with a heavy Russian accent. Stern, deadpan, and perpetually exasperated, Val brings a European intellectualism to the room and often plays the reluctant voice of reason. Formerly a political refugee, he keeps his emotions tightly in check.
BRIAN DOYLE (Male, 30s-40s) A heavy-smoking, heavy-drinking Irish American writer with a sharp tongue and darker sense of humor. Brian masks his cynicism with biting wit and often challenges authority. There’s a sense that he’s too smart for his own good.
KENNY FRANKS (Male, 30s) The most grounded and even-keeled member of the team. Intelligent, dry, stylish, and efficient, Kenny is often the quiet observer who steps in with reason when the room spins out. He takes his work seriously but avoids the drama.
CAROL WYMAN (Female, 30s) The lone woman on the writing staff. Smart, ambitious, and fast on her feet, Carol constantly has to prove herself in a male-dominated room. She matches the men joke for joke and brings a sharper awareness of how the outside world views them.
MAX PRINCE (Male, 40s) The star of the variety show. Brilliant, magnetic, and mercurial. Max is passionate about smart comedy and deeply protective of his writers, but his temper and paranoia grow as network pressure mounts. Inspired by Sid Caesar.
IRA STONE (Male, 30s–40s) Neurotic, hypochondriacal, and always late. Ira is a brilliant comic mind, but he’s a mess—physically, emotionally, and mentally. He thrives in chaos and brings plenty of it with him.
HELEN (Female, 20s–30s) Max’s secretary. Efficient, professional, and often overlooked by the writers. Helen is more perceptive than she lets on and occasionally cuts through the nonsense with dry humor or quiet disapproval. A small but memorable role.
AUDITION DETAILS
Auditions will consist of performing scenes from the script. These “cold readings” are expected to be acted out but do not have to be memorized.
​
PRODUCTION DATES: February 27-March 8, 2026
​
​