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"TORONTO \u2014 Residents of Toronto could be forgiven for thinking their embattled mayor was back in town.\nDozens of Rob Ford doppelg\u00E4ngers, with their protruding bellies, red faces and spiky blonde hair, auditioned for the title role in Rob Ford The Musical: The Birth of a Ford Nation at an open casting call in downtown Toronto on Monday.\nSee also: Toronto Mayor Rob Ford to Take Leave of Absence, Get Help for Substance Abuse\n\"Sometimes I can get drunk, and be a little bit of a loudmouth and stumble around. So I figured if Rob can do it, so can I,\" Matthew Garlick told Mashable. Garlick, 38, has been a professional actor for 10 years, and came all the way from Vancouver to audition. (Watch his six-second impression of Ford, below.)\n\nFrom Monday morning to early afternoon, a steady stream of hopefuls entered the audition room in the Second City Training Centre, as several reporters looked on. Composer Anthony Bastianon and co-writers P. Joseph Regan and Brett McCaig sat behind a folding table, assessing potential Rob Fords who could sing, act and dance. By the end of the day, the three men saw 40 to 50 auditions for Ford, his brother and Toronto city councillor Doug Ford, as well as several smaller roles.\nSet to debut at Toronto's Factory Theatre on September 16, Rob Ford The Musical is an \"unabashed, take-no-prisoners comedy,\" according to a release. It continues:\nPromising [to] lampoon everyone and anyone who has been involved with the mayoral chaos, this urban satire follows the personal and political journey of Rob Ford as he ascends to power and global attention. The media, the police chief and the city itself are not off limits.\nMcCaig developed the idea for a Rob Ford musical one year ago, after rumors of a video that showed the mayor smoking crack surfaced in May 2013. Ford later admitted in November 2013 that he used crack cocaine while in office. He has been getting treatment at a Muskoka, Ontario rehab clinic since last month, after new videos that allegedly showed him smoking crack emerged in April. Ford is currently on temporary leave from his job and the mayoral election campaign.\n\"This Rob Ford story is taking the world by storm. There's a lot of people who have a lot of interest in it, and a lot of people are affected by it, a lot of people have opinions. And when something gets that big, as artists, you start to have your own perspective and your own angle,\" Bastianon told Mashable. \"The angle is to show the different sides of the whole story from our perspective. A lot of the times, Rob Ford is being shown in the media as a two-dimensional character with just little bites of information. But obviously, there's more to it.\"\nKevin Jollimore, who auditioned to be Rob Ford while wearing a pillow to simulate his girth, also sees the mayor as a fascinating character. \u201CIt\u2019s a great Shakespearean kind of character, sort of tragic and comic at the same time,\" Jollimore, 55, told Mashable. \u201CThat\u2019s really compelling for people to sort of follow a soap opera.\"\nHowever, the Toronto-based actor and singer, added that he doesn't support Ford's behavior. \"He's behaving in a criminal manner ... He needs help.\" (Watch his six-second impression of Ford, below.)\n\nOther hopefuls, including Geoff Stone, hoped to take advantage of the media frenzy surrounding Rob Ford The Musical and the mayor's continuing saga, to get publicity for their work. Stone, a singer-songwriter from Ottawa, was the first person to audition Monday morning. The 32-year-old performed his original song \"Drunken Stupor,\" which was inspired by Ford's admission to smoking crack \"in one of my drunken stupors.\" (Watch his six-second impression of Ford, below.)\n\nPeople who showed up at Monday's open call ranged from trained union actors to those with no professional acting experience, Bastianon said, adding that they plan to hold more auditions in the near future.\nWhile the audition process is still underway, the script for Rob Ford The Musical is complete, with McCaig and Regan revising it as the real-life Ford story continues to unfold. The musical will debut before Toronto's mayoral election on Oct. 27, but its creators don't expect to have a huge impact on public opinion. \n\"I think if anything, people will come to the show, enjoy the evening and perhaps maybe something's been presented to them that they didn't think of before as far as a perspective of the whole story,\" Bastianon said.\nHe and his co-creators are just hoping to fill seats, and everyone \u2014 including the Ford family \u2014 are welcome.\n\"We'd be more than happy to have them come,\" McCaig said. \"They're invited. We'll give them some tickets.\"\nCheck out photos of the open casting call, below:\n\n\n'Rob Ford The Musical' Open Casting Call\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nA sandwich board advertising Rob Ford The Musical outside The Second City Training Center in downtown Toronto.\n\nImage:  Mashable, Anita Li\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nMarcel Peeter auditions for the role of Toronto Mayor Rob Ford in  Rob Ford The Musical.\n\nImage:  Mashable, Anita Li\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nP. Joseph Regan (left) and Brett McCaig (center), co-writers of Rob Ford The Musical, watch auditions, along with composer Anthony Bastianon (right). \n\nImage:  Mashable, Anita Li\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nKevin Jollimore auditions for the role of Toronto Mayor Rob Ford in  Rob Ford The Musical.\n\nImage:  Mashable, Anita Li\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nKevin Jollimore auditions for the role of Toronto Mayor Rob Ford in  Rob Ford The Musical.\n\nImage:  Mashable, Anita Li\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nGeoff Stone is one of the hopefuls who auditioned for the role of Toronto Mayor Rob Ford in  Rob Ford The Musical.\n\nImage:  Mashable, Anita Li\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nGeoff Stone is one of the hopefuls who auditioned for the role of Toronto Mayor Rob Ford in  Rob Ford The Musical.\n\nImage:  Mashable, Anita Li\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nGeoff Stone is one of the hopefuls who auditioned for the role of Toronto Mayor Rob Ford in  Rob Ford The Musical.\n\nImage:  Mashable, Anita Li\n\n\n\n\n\n\nHave something to add to this story? 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