Another audition

Threw together an audition this afternoon for shows that don't actually run until February and March of next year! Not sure why the company's auditioning so very early, but I dusted off "I Hate Men" and trotted off to sing it for the audition panel. The panel consisted of the directors & MDs for both shows (Music Man and Iolanthe) and the Music Man choreographer.

I had only planned to audition for Iolanthe, as Music Man runs opposite another company's Merry Widow, which I'd love to do again! (I love the music in that show - Lehar's a genius!) However, the Music Man MD teased me about that - "what, you don't care about Music Man?", as did the director, so I told 'em that, well, I would love to play Eulalie McKechnie Shinn (the mayor's wife).

The accompanist was good - followed very nicely, didn't have a lick of trouble with the music, both of which I've learned not to take for granted. I thought I sang pretty well, considering I'd settled on my audition piece maybe 2 hours before I got there and that the air quality the past several days has had my lungs full of crud. The room had cinderblock walls, which seemed to make it pretty "live" acoustically - great fun to sing in. On the whole, I'm actually satisfied with how I sang.

The dance audition was another matter. This was a comeuppance for me, as I generally fret about the singing but take it for granted that I'll be able to hold my own in any dance audition not designed for trained dancers. I can usually get most of a combination, but not this time. Maybe because it started on the left foot, but when it came right down to it, I forgot the first step or two, which put me behind, and I completely messed up the final bar of the combination. Worse, the choreographer only ran it once after she had us do it on our own, so I didn't get a chance to redeem myself. I walked outta there rather taken aback that I'd actually screwed up a dance audition. That's never happened to me before, and I've had some pretty fancy footwork thrown at me in dance auditions.

I requested the Fairy Queen in Iolanthe but don't expect to get it, simply because of the caliber of the mezzos who tend to audition for this company. I also don't expect to be offered chorus, since they've tended to cast 20-something women and it's gotta be a pretty big house for me to read that young. I don't expect to be offered Eulalie, either, for the same reason. If they offer me chorus, I won't take it because if it comes down to chorus in Music Man or Merry Widow, it's no contest - Lehar wins, hands down. And because Iolanthe opens only a couple of weeks after Music Man closes, people can't do both shows, so the directors may find themselves doing a bit of horsetrading in their casting meeting.

The Chief and I were discussing this over dinner tonight (when we weren't lamenting the food and the service). The Chief repeated what he's said before, that I should audition for plays as well as musicals. I reminded him that I've already done one play and a non-singing, non-dancing role in a musical, and showed him my spreadsheet of shows I'm considering auditioning for - plays outnumber musicals 2 to 1.