Elizabeth Finkler wrote:
> I've been told by a couple of places that although they couldn't offer me a > principal role, they'd LOVE to have me in the chorus. Trouble is, I've > pretty much decided that I don't want to take unpaid chorus gigs, especially > if they involve driving an hour each way to rehearsals.
> I've had a couple of principal roles, which may have deluded me into > thinking that I've left unpaid chorus behind. But then again, I saw an > *excellent* "Sweeney Todd" on Saturday night which I auditioned for (and was > called back for Mrs. Lovett), and can't help thinking that even an ensemble > bit in that would have been good.
That's a tough one. I generally don't get cast in non-chorus roles (I have an ingenue's voice in a matron's body!), so that's mostly my only stage option. I've done a number of them now, and while I enjoyed them and am glad I did them, I kind of now feel like "been there, done that".
I won't do Broadway show choruses ever again, unless it's as a favor to a very good friend. This is because that's not the type of singing I want to be doing and because the music is no longer interesting enough to me that I want to spend my time with it (the exception, if you can call it a chorus, is being one of the Liebeslieder Singers in Little Night Music, which I'd pay somebody money to let me do, and Sweeney Todd with a good music and stage director). I've done some G&S choruses with good groups, and though I had fun, I think I've had my fill in terms of the time it takes. I won't audition for any more of those shows, but if someone I like were to ask me to sing in one without having to audition, I would probably say yes. I still like to do opera choruses, if it's for an opera with chorus music I like, or if it's with people I like.
Peggy
-- Margaret Harrison, Alexandria, Virginia, USA "Music for a While Shall All Your Cares Beguile" mailto:peggyh@i...
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