This entry was started in May 2007 but not posted because... well I can't remember why not. Anyway, here it is although I have updated it a bit.Riding on the crest of the wave from my dramatic success with "Gary", I immediately threw myself into the process of auditioning all over again. "It's all right," I said to myself, "musicals are just plays with the odd song, it'll be fine."
I really wasn't sure about publicly using my vocal chords in a singing capacity - my last public performance was singing the first verse of Once In Royal David's City as an 11 year old soprano soloist. Thirty years on and my voice now was, well I wasn't sure what it was to be honest. I had sung in public as an adult, but there was almost always alcohol involved, and lots of it. Notable performances included an ill chosen rendition of Dream On by Aerosmith at a karaoke sponsored by Wild Turkey whisky and a guest spot at my own wedding, treating the asembled masses to Just a Gigolo / Bring Me Sunshine, fuelled by champagne, adrenaline and euphoria. Don't ask why I chose those songs as the detail escapes me. I suspect it was all the band and I actually knew between us...
So - back to the audition. It was goodbye to Gary and hello to Henry - Dr Henry Jeckyll to be precise - as we all waited, seated in a circle nervously clutching our loaned copies of the Jeckyll and Hyde libretto, (which I discovered is neither a type of moped nor a cheap Italian wine). The hall we were in had served as our local theatre, staging (for three nights only) a reasonably funny drama. Now it was just a village hall again, and soon we would be called into the room used by Slimming World every Thursday to read through our audition pieces.
The spoken auditions went well enough, and these were followed a few days later with the singing auditions in the hall of a local junior school. We were all taught a Lloyd Webber song titled Whistle Down the Wind from scratch and were then asked to sing it repeatedly in various ways - in chorus, individually, acapella, as a jazz number...
So - back to the audition. It was goodbye to Gary and hello to Henry - Dr Henry Jeckyll to be precise - as we all waited, seated in a circle nervously clutching our loaned copies of the Jeckyll and Hyde libretto, (which I discovered is neither a type of moped nor a cheap Italian wine). The hall we were in had served as our local theatre, staging (for three nights only) a reasonably funny drama. Now it was just a village hall again, and soon we would be called into the room used by Slimming World every Thursday to read through our audition pieces.
The spoken auditions went well enough, and these were followed a few days later with the singing auditions in the hall of a local junior school. We were all taught a Lloyd Webber song titled Whistle Down the Wind from scratch and were then asked to sing it repeatedly in various ways - in chorus, individually, acapella, as a jazz number...
Tremendous fun, and although I proved to myself that I could hold my own in the chorus - dancing and singing - I decided to give myself the summer off and perhaps audition for the panto instead...
Postscript: Since writing the draft for this entry, the musical has been and gone and was quite spendid (my contribution was just to work Front of House). Mere Players have now found out that their production has been awarded the National Operatic & Dramatic Association award for 2007 Best Production in the Eastern Region.
