EAST PEORIA — When a Colorado baker refused a gay couple’s order for a wedding cake in 2012, it set off years of controversy that culminated in a 2018 U.S. Supreme Court backing the baker’s refusal on religious grounds.
That moment in U.S. history is revisited in “The Cake,” a play for which Illinois Central College is seeking auditioners this weekend.
Five roles are up for grabs in “The Cake,” which was written by a member of the team that created “This Is Us,” the award-winning NBC drama that aired for six years. The characters include Della, the North Carolina baker whose views resemble those of Masterpiece Cakeshop owner Jack Phillips, whose refusal to bake a wedding cake for a gay couple in 2012 was backed by the U.S. Supreme Court.
If you’d like to try out for the role of Della; her husband; the lesbian daughter of Della’s late best friend; the daughter’s fiancee; or a baking contest judge, this weekend is your chance. Illinois Central College in East Peoria is holding auditions for the roles. Rehearsals for the play will begin Aug. 19, and performances take place Oct. 9 to 13.
While preference will be given to students enrolled at Illinois Central College, the auditions are open to everyone.
The play is written by Bekah Brunstetter, formerly on the writing team for “This Is Us.” Brunstetter started work on the play before Masterpiece Bakeshop hit the headlines. Also, her focus in the play is on empathy rather than the controversial stance taken by Phillips and Della, Brunstetter said in an interview with Breaking Character.
“We live in a time where it is really easy to quickly judge people and make assumptions about them, and I was feeling… I wanted to write a play in which a person like her was the hero and then put that character on a journey of change,” Brunstetter said. “But I also, to speak out of the other side of my mouth, as protective as I feel about that character, I also have my own anger and frustration with her values. I also wanted to give myself an opportunity to put myself in conversation with her and challenge her. It wasn’t just about supporting her. It was like lifting her up and also challenging her in a debate.”
Brunstetter based the lead character of Della on conservative women in her own life; she was raised by conservative Christian parents who still do not share her own support for gay marriage, she told Durham, N.C.’s The Herald-Sun in 2017.
“Della is kind of a hybrid of relatives and women I’ve met at church,” said Brunstetter. “… She’s a voice in my head representing these really warm, loving women who are hilarious in their own way and have an emotional strength and intelligence that is not acknowledged very often. There’s an assumption that conservatives like her are idiots. As much as I want that to be true, in my liberal pocket of New York theater and L.A. TV, I know in my heart that’s not true.”
You can sign up to audition for The Cake during three windows this weekend.
The character of Della was portrayed on off-Broadway by Debra Jo Rupp, best-known as the doting, absent-minded mom on “That ’70s Show.” Rupp shared Brunstetter’s conflicted approach to the play, she said in a 2021 interview. Like Brunstetter, she disagrees with the main character’s starting views, and also shared a desire to bring humanity and humor to the conflict Della faces.
“It’s funny, and it’s warm …. the characters are great,” Rupp told KTLA in 2021, “This is not who I am, this character is very conservative … but it was funny. And I thought, ‘you know what, i’m going to pour myself into this to get just a little bit to the other side, maybe … it’s been a wonderful experience.”
The off-Broadway production of “The Cake” featured other actors who have gone on to visible roles. They include Marinda Anderson (New Amsterdam) and Genevieve Angelson (The Handmaid’s Tale). Dan Daily, an experienced stage actor whose movie credits include “Seabiscuit,” portrayed Della’s husband.
To audition in Illinois Central College’s production of “The Cake,” you can choose from three audition windows over two days. Saturday, the time slots are from 1 to 3 p.m., and from 3 to 5 p.m. On Sunday, the audition window is 1 to 3 p.m. To sign up, choose your audition time at this link.
Auditions are on the first floor of the Lecture Recital Hall of the ICC Lecture Recital Hall, 1 College Dr., Room 127F, East Peoria. You’ll be asked to perform excerpts from the play’s script; prepared monologues are also allowed but not required.
For more information, reach Travis Olson at Arts@icc.edu.
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