theatremomma

Jeffandann- That is a fabulous role! Thinking good thoughts for her!

mom2them

Good luck mtandbassmom to your D!

My D's school did Spelling Bee last year and she really wanted the role of Olive!!! But another sophomore got it...the girl who had also got a speaking role as a freshman in the huge school production of Wizard of Oz, is an officer of dance team, in every club....get the picture?. While, my D who limited her involvement to just dance team and theatre was in ensemble as a "lollipop guild ballerina".

In Spelling Bee, she didnt get Olive, but got cast as Marcy Park instead and enjoyed it.

The girl who was cast as Olive last year realized that she has too many commitments and couldn't really commit to either Audrey nor the urchins in Little Shop, and was just a "hobo" in the ensemble.

And while my D got cast as Audrey as a junior, the main senior we thought we get it was cast as an urchin, but she has the big soul voice necessary. (And she was Rona Lisa Peretti in Spelling Bee.)

So her competition one year may not always be there the next.....but whatever part she gets, she should own it completely and do her best!!

"There are no small parts, only small actors...."

alwaysamom

jeffandann, best of luck to your D! Might I suggest that you hurry on over to Amazon and order this:

http://www.amazon.com/Miserables-Rog...7984932&sr=8-1

Lulu63

My D was cast as Madame Thenardier last year. She was initially disappointed cause of course she wanted Eponine. She ended up loving her role and she stole the show with Master T. It is a wonderful experience for these kids! Best show ever!

jbehlend

jeffandann .... quick one about DS, who is now in his second year @ Tisch (acting, not MT). DW was taking him to the airport two weeks ago to return for spring semester. Out of the blue, he says to her, "Thank you for NOT being Theater Parents. I really want to do this on my own". It took a lot of work to find the right balance of support, not influence, to help him along, but we all think it worked out for the best. Break a leg.

mom2them .... DS was Seymour his senior year in LSoH. The director chose a different approach re: Audrey's outfits. When Audrey says, "I used to wear cheap and tasteless outfits, not nice ones like this", she actually was wearing a very nice, conservative dress. For me, it made the scene more powerful, showing a maturing Audrey as the play progresses. Send me a PM if you're interested, and I'll send you the YouTube link and you can see for yourself.

soozievt

I know this is off topic, but responding to jbehlend.....my D played Audrey in Little Shop while at Tisch and the costumes for Audrey ALSO were not the typical ones seen in most productions, but were more in line with what you are saying was done at your S's high school too.

tracyvp

My kids have done Les Miserables twice (so far) and casting for that show is always an emotional minefield. I think it's just such a powerful show and the kids get so emotionally caught up in all of the intensity that it just spills over into casting. The great news is that because they're all SO passionate about the show, they end up having an amazing time no matter where they're cast.

Having said that, we're anticipating more casting drama this summer (doing it for the 3rd time)! S is officially too old so he's really struggling with NOT being a part of it at all (He played Enjolras last time and it was his favorite theatre experience of ALL TIME) and D has already played Eponine twice (also her fave role of all time) so she's pretty sure they're going to HAVE to give it to someone else this time around and it's killing her to have to stand by and watch someone else play "her" part! She's due for an ensemble part and that really is totally fine with her, but it's still going to hurt, especially since it will officially be her last musical in high school (even though it's with an outside group, not a school). Or, they could give her Fantine or Cosette (or even Eponine again) and we'd all have to deal with the fallout of people complaining how unfair it is, (true) blaming her for being "teacher's pet," (not true) etc. Oh, the drama of Youth Theatre!

alwaysamom

Is this the same theatre group that's done Les Mis three times? Why on earth would they do that?

tracyvp

This one has only done it twice. Where is the one that's done it 3 times located? Our group has done it twice in 5 years because the kids all LOVED it so much and because they limit it to high school students, so those kids in Jr. High who have been waiting and waiting to be old enough keep begging for them to do it again!

I look at it this way, LOTS of ballet companies do The Nutcracker every single December and no one complains!

alwaysamom

Maybe I misunderstood, but it appears from your earlier post that this will be the third time your D is doing the show. That just seems unfortunate to me that they don't explore other shows and allow the kids to experience something new, when there are so many wonderful options out there. Just my opinion.

megpmom

My kids refuse to repeat shows. By the time they finish one run, they are so sick of the music that they don't even want to hear it again. There have been a couple exceptions. S did a tour of Seussical when he was younger and a couple years later he agreed to repeat his role (jojo) for a regional company. And D has done Joseph...Dreamcoat a couple times - once at a camp and once at school. Fortunately, we live in an area with an abundance of performing opportunities (even for my kids who don't do the "pay to play" thing).

tracyvp

No, it was I who misunderstood! I thought you were talking about a company that had ALREADY done it 3 times. After this summer, yes, this particular company will have performed Les Miserables 3x.

I don't disagree with you at all. I've noticed a somewhat sad and disturbing trend in musical theatre among kids in our area. While the high schools can and do often produce new (or old) works that are unfamiliar and will expand their students' exposure to the MT canon, unfortunately among the Youth Theatre (pay to play) companies, whenever one tries to do something different, the kids won't sign up. If it's not something they're familiar with, they decide that is a good one to "sit out." And also unfortunately, producing really good quality shows is so expensive that the companies have to rely on tuition to cover the lion's share of the costs. There is a critical mass below which it becomes unfeasible to do the show! In addition, when you're dealing with young children (most groups here have casts from ages 8-18 or thereabouts) you have to be a bit more sensitive to the appropriateness of the material.So it's no wonder these companies keep repeating the same 10-15 shows over and over.

Another, perhaps less obvious reason is because when you have young kids in the show, they will invariably end up playing ensemble roles while the lead parts go to the teens. So, every year, you have a new crop of teens who have been patiently waiting for their turn to vie for the great parts, and they, (being the real customers, not the audience members) tend to demand their favorite shows so they can try for Belle, or Peter Pan or The Cat in the Hat or Eponine. Even more unfortunate is that there seems to be a trend to reject old standards! There was one local company that pretty much went out of business because they tried to do "Annie Get Your Gun" and they couldn't get enough kids to sign up for it. They thought it was "old" and "boring" so they took that show off. BUT they wanted to do something, so they went out among the other companies in the area that were doing "Seussical" and "Beauty and the Beast" and other more contemporary but SO OVERDONE shows, and just sort of never went back to the first company.

So these companies have to keep their families happy and coming back or risk going under. It's a complicated and kind of depressing situation. Having been involved with several of these different companies throughout the years, I know that the artistic directors would love to do other shows but they are rather stuck. And they truly have a desire to educate their students and give them the experience of participating in theatre. They believe in the value of theatre for "regular" kids, some of whom don't fit in anywhere else. It is amazing to watch a 9-year-old who is too shy to say "boo" to anyone, gain confidence and poise through theatre.

Now, back to my kids. They have done 3-6 (or more) shows per year, nearly every year since they were 6 & 8 years old. They don't stick with just one company and they do other things besides youth theatre. So they have had the opportunity to do some different shows that they have loved. However, neither one would EVER pass up an opportunity to do a well-done production of Les Miserables, no matter how often they had done it in the past, especially since for all practical purposes, currently it is ONLY available for youth companies and schools. Once you graduate from high school you can't ever do it again unless you're fortunate enough to be cast in a professional production of it, (which hopefully my D will be one day but my S will not).

jeffandann

They announce call backs today or first thing tommow morning. The director told my D that he was very impressed with her audition, so we'll see.

Looking ahead to next year, my daughter will be a senior and there are about 4-6 senior girls that all are pretty talented. As a general rule they've always tried to focus on seniors as it's their last hurrah. What musicals are out there that would have several featured girls parts? So you know in recent years they've done Oklahoma, Hello Dolly, 42nd Street, The Wiz, Singing in the Rain, and the junior highs have done Seussical (my daughter was Gertrude), Beauty and the Beast, Thoroughly Modern Millie, Pirates of Penzance so they wouldn't repeat those either. They always do shows with large ensembles so they can get more kids participating.

Any thoughts? And Nunsense doesn't count.

soozievt

There are several featured female roles in such shows as Once On This Island, Fiddler on the Roof, Fame, Grease, Sweet Charity, Leader of the Pack, Bye Bye Birdie, Nine (though not enough male parts), Hair, Spelling Bee (no large ensemble), Aida, R&H's Cinderella, Urinetown, Babes in Arms, The Boyfriend, Into the Woods, Hairspray, Chicago, Rent, Peter Pan.

theatremomma

Jeffandann. Please post results so we can congratulate or commiserate! I feel like these kids are family!