For our first little production at the Oval Upstairs coming up at the end of November we are completing auditions tomorrow.
The puppeteers are all scheduled for the morning and the afternoon will have the Narrator and the men for Edgar and Jasper’s voice.
For those interested in the process, it went like this:
The director put a casting call about London. Many people responded and i listened to lots of audition songs.
If you’re an aspiring singer, i cannot overstress the need to have an example of you singing online somewhere. There are so many places to put a recording, soundcloud, youtube (with still image if you want), etc. A singer responding to say that they’re interested but without a recording for me to hear is useless. Their CV is useless at that point. Stuff like prior experience, past shows and roles will come into play later. The first thing that matters, the primary thing that matters is being able to see or hear your work. For the record, there were many recordings that were FAR from professional and which i liked anyway and sent onto round 2. Something is always better than nothing.
Round two. Round two is where everyone was asked to record themselves singing one of the songs from the show. For the Narrator it was New Albion 1, for Jasper it was Elysian Night, for Edgar it was a bit from Bring You Down and a bit from Edgar Builds A Business.
This is where the ranks really got cut. It quite interesting hearing someone sing a song, sound great and then hear them sing a song from the show and realize the fit is completely off. Any of you familiar with theater know that it’s not always about a great voice. The fit between voice and character means more.
So now it’s round 3. I’ll be present on Skype during the singing auditions. I might sneak a peak into the puppeteer auditions in the morning, (i mean, how cool is that?) but since i’m not there in person, i would just be over a computer and it might be a bit of an interruption to the director, so this may not happen. You must remember, the puppeteers are not my immediate concern. Oh i’m INTERESTED. Hell yeah i’m interested, but they’re not my decision to make so i can always just wait until rehearsals to see what’s going on. (although i’m sure i’ll be sent a vid of the final candidate to check out.)
My main role in the audition process ended at the end of round 2. Obviously the director and i will talk very closely about the final singers, but for the most part, if i sent them onto this 3rd round, i think they can do it, although we’ll know for sure after tomorrow. There are still questions i have about a few, depending on whom the director ends up liking and i have definite favorites who i may push for if asked. But it will be nice and illuminating to see them in action, and that can change opinions.
So, big day!
See y’all on the flipside.
