G&S is like opera - if you know the aria from the operetta for the
character you want to play, sing that. If you don't, sing another G&S aria
for a similar character in another of their operettas - e.g., if you're
auditioning for Ruth in PIRATES sing another buffa-contralto aria from
G&S. If you know no G&S arias at all, sing an operetta-like song with a
similar sensibility. I have auditioned for G&S using G&S, Ivor Novello,
Noel Coward, Frederic Norton (who wrote Chu Chin Chow), and Lerner &
Loewe. I've had positive responses to all of these. I remember when I was
cast as Little Buttercup, my original audition piece was "Fly Home Little
Heart" by Ivor Novello. I've never had much success, on the other hand,
using Katisha's "Alone and Yet Alive" in an audition because unless the
audition pianist already knows it, it is apparently quite difficult for
many PIANISTS (vs. true accompanists who know how to listen to and
"follow" singers) to sight-read effectively. But then, I've had to
struggle through so many auditions where the pianist was totally inept at
sight-reading, I've stopped slapping my forehead in wonderment that the
director would even consider USING such a pianist, and instead learned to
be forthright enough to politely stop singing to ask the auditors whether
they wouldn't rather hear me _a capella_ instead of struggling to be
heard over excruciatingly bad piano playing. So far, 2 out of 3 music
directors have taken me up on the offer, and I've been called back
because they were able to hear that *I* was able to perform the song even
if the pianist wasn't.
KM
............................
NEIL SHICOFF, TENORE SUPREMO
http://www.radix.net/~dalila/shicoff/shicoff.html
My Own Website
http://www.radix.net/~dalila/index.html
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+ I sing hymns with my spirit, +
+ but I also sing hymns with my mind. +
+ - 1 Corinthians 14:15 +
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