Male vocal roles and ranges Oct 20
2018, 09:56:36 PM
Because traditional vocal ranges and types were designed for classical singers, and musical theatre now encompasses every type of music, it’s becoming more and more of a moot point. The more vocally versatile a performer is, the more roles they will be able to play. Keys might be changed occasionally, but modern day musical theatre performers tend to fare best if they have a wide vocal range and can sing classical music, rock, and pop. And now with Hamilton, rap and R&B as well!
“Correct. This is why Joel Grey does not have a Tony for Chicago."
It’s been twenty years, and I still can’t believe he didn’t get nominated for the Tony Award he would have won because (allegedly) some assistant failed to file the petition paperwork.
The Tony committee is not as crazy anymore though, and now frequently makes its own decisions regarding Leading or Featured regardless of whether or not a petition was filed.
Laura Benanti to replace Lauren Ambrose in MY FAIR LADY Oct 12
2018, 06:27:58 PM
Tony Roach’s About the Artists profile is very impressive. He is mostly a classical actor (with an MFA from Harvard) and has done many productions at the prestigious Shakespeare Theatre in Washington D.C. He is listed as a swing but really appears to be the standby for Higgins...as well as a million other parts. Seems like he would be just as good as HHP.
Good audition pieces for baritone/bass? Oct 11
2018, 10:05:12 PM
Wait...hold on...this thread is from 2012?!?!? Well Steve, wherever you are...hope you got into a good school...
Good audition pieces for baritone/bass? Oct 11
2018, 09:50:10 PM
I’m also a bass-baritone. I find Sondheim wrote a lot of great low baritone roles. I would look at Buddy’s Blues (as a solo piece with funny girl voices) instead of The Road You Didn’t Take. The latter is SO hard for pianists to play, and even if they can play it, it’s hard to do without practicing it with them ahead of time so you can stay together. I’ve stopped doing it for auditions. For a videotaped audition though, it might be okay. However, in general, your audition songs should be from ro
Yeah, Writers' Theatre is a top tier Chicago theatre, up there with Chicago Shakespeare, The Goodman, Steppenwolf, etc. They used to be in a small space but they recently opened into a huge multi-million dollar facility.
Interesting approach with the Goodman family members all being different races. Might as well do something "new" with it I guess.
Bringing on yet another set of book revisions to make it less sexist - coupled with some painfully strained casting decisions with a Cole Porter musical about a theater company in the 1940’s putting on a musical based on a Shakespeare play - make it seem like this revival is apologizing for its very existence before it even opens.
I don’t blame them however. The Stokes-Mazzie production was perfection, and this is bad timing for a revival of this piece.
Chosing a College Program Oct 2
2018, 10:47:24 PM
Yes, on the other hand, there are many highly successful actors in all mediums who did not major in it in college, or go to college at all. Training does not have to occur in a college or university.
Also, having a particular degreee from a particular school is no guarantee of anything. There are plenty of people who went to Juilliard whose careers never went anywhere.
While double majoring in Theatre and English, I appeared in ten productions and also spent a year in a sketch comedy group. It can be done. This was Indiana U. Most theatre majors did a double major with something else.
Applying for a day job with ANYTHING other than just theatre will help your chances a lot, unless you just want to wait tables. Besides, it will help you keep your options open, and in the very least, give you a better education.
Chosing a College Program Oct 2
2018, 01:05:34 AM
U of M is great, but I don’t think you can double major there with theatre or music and a liberal arts subject. I recommend against BFA programs because I think going to undergraduate school for ONLY theater is very, very limiting. You can get a BA double majoring in theatre and history, psychology, math, etc. and supplement your theatre training in other ways if you wish. That is, IMO, the best way to go.
Chosing a College Program Oct 1
2018, 11:44:47 PM
I could go on forever, but honestly, no one in the audition room is going to care if it’s a BA in Theatre, a BM in Music, or a BFA in Musical Theatre. All they will care about is what you can do. A degree from a top program might help you get an agent or an audition, but it won’t get you the job.
I got a BA double majoring in Theatre and English (I recommend against majoring in English though - have you seen Avenue Q?), and then, deciding I wanted more training, got an MFA in Acting. I’
Glad to hear this. I posted on his FB page asking him to bring it to Phoenix when he was touring it in its early gestation period, but he never came. Hopefully he will continue to tour it after the Broadway run. I really want to see him live, and if this is the one that finally brought him to Broadway, it must be pretty good.
I love Mike Birbiglia. Sleepwalk With Me, My Secret Public Journal, and especially My Girlfriend's Boyfriend are brilliant, and I have listened to the audio recordings of them countless times. I was not a fan of Thank God For Jokes, in which he did what felt like a 180 from his previous work, which were made up of deeply personal stories that were alternately hilarious and very moving, and instead did more standard "stand up co
BERNHARDT/HAMLET Reviews Sep 26
2018, 12:11:40 AM
This seems like an interesting play, but even at the Roundabout, this seems like a tough sell. It lloks like a “for theater people only” type of show. Last week’s grosses were pretty low, but the NYT review might help.
Letts and Bening are great actors. All My Sons is a flawed but still excellent play. That said, I feel like there are so many other things that $8M could be used for. What is the reason for this revival? Why not have them star in a new play, rather than one of the dustiest chestnuts of American theatre?
I would Google audition notices from Backstage. Also, many licensing companies have a role breakdown with vocal ranges for each of their shows on their websites - Music Theatre International, Tams-Witmark, Rodgers and Hammerstein Organization, etc.
Amar Ramasar (Jigger in CAROUSEL) suspended from NYCB over Sep 18
2018, 09:50:56 AM
I think it’s been well-established that he sent the topless pic. That’s why he was fired. He really should have just made a public apology for his part while distancing himself from Finley. His long, vague follow-up statement did him no favors.
Titanic AND The Unsinkable Molly Brown? Sep 18
2018, 09:44:30 AM
The Unsinkable Molly Brown revival has been “in development” for so long, I doubt its happening anymore. Also, Beth Malone and Marc Kudisch, who were both already too old for the leads, have also aged out at this point. I think they’ve finally let the planned revival, um, sink.
It sounds like you are letting your admiration for Ramasar’s dancing to cloud your view of this. He deserved to be fired. However, this doesn’t necessarily make him a bad person if it was an isolated incident. Maybe he’s generally a really nice guy - but it doesn’t matter. Sending a topless pic of an employee to another employee is absolutely grounds for termination. I’m baffled at how this is even an argument for some peop
