Olivia
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Bye Bye BirdieHello, my name is Olivia, this website seems extremely helpful, so I made my account and and am hoping that my I can get some help.
My high school is holding auditions for BBB in early December. The entire cast will be made up of high school students. I am a senior, 5'9, olive skin, with green eyes and brown hair. I sing first soprano and am hoping for either Kim or Ursula. I would go for Rosie, but I do not have a decent alto voice. I feel like I have a pretty good shot at either roles. I have a problem though. I don't want this to sound conceited but I feel like my talent in dance is my down fall.
The musical director knows for a fact that I am the only one auditioning for this play that has skills in tap. I know that in the second act of this show Gloria Rasputin has a tap solo. I am afraid that because of her knowledge of this, I will automatically get the role of Gloria Rasputin and not even be considered for a lead. I have never seen this show, so I have two questions: 1) what is Gloria's role like? and 2) how do I address my concern with the directer, or should i even do that? It's my senior year and I would like something a little more challenging. They know I am a strong dancer but I would really like to play a larger role (such as Kim) Any suggestions? It would be much appreciated. Also maybe some ideas on what to sing that would blow them away for the part of Kim? Thanks so much, sorry this is so wordy
Olivia
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pinkstiletto510
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do the audition sheets allow you to write down what you'd like to be considered for? if so write down that you'd like to be considered for Kim
the very bad way of getting out of something like that would be to A) write down that you have no dance experience and if you're asked about it, deny everything...........or B) if theres a dance callback and they have you tap, do an awful job
but I wouldnt suggest doing those
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Olivia
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yes, on the sheet it will ask what roles you are interested in, so i definitely plan on putting Kim down
I think that is a bad idea to do as well. They know I'd be lying because I'm the dance captain at the school and I basically live in my dance sweatshirts. They know too much.
Do you have any song suggestions, more information on the role of Gloria, or anything else that could help? I would appreciate it so much
Thanks again,
Olivia
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Missnewbooty
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| pinkstiletto510 wrote: | do the audition sheets allow you to write down what you'd like to be considered for? if so write down that you'd like to be considered for Kim
the very bad way of getting out of something like that would be to A) write down that you have no dance experience and if you're asked about it, deny everything...........or B) if theres a dance callback and they have you tap, do an awful job
but I wouldnt suggest doing those |
I have a experience of doing this and it didnt work out for me.
I was auditioning for Oliver and wanted the part of Nancy real bad, but at callbacks the director kept having me read for Mrs. Sowerberry and it sucked. So after the first couple of readings I pretended to suck at this role...and read really good for Nancy.
The results?
I got casted as Ms. Bedwin. In the end I was recasted as Mrs. Sowerberry after the original Mrs. Sowerberry dropped out because the director saw something "fresh and new" at callbacks.
Dont try to be something your not. 
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Olivia
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| Missnewbooty wrote: | | pinkstiletto510 wrote: | do the audition sheets allow you to write down what you'd like to be considered for? if so write down that you'd like to be considered for Kim
the very bad way of getting out of something like that would be to A) write down that you have no dance experience and if you're asked about it, deny everything...........or B) if theres a dance callback and they have you tap, do an awful job
but I wouldnt suggest doing those |
I have a experience of doing this and it didnt work out for me.
I was auditioning for Oliver and wanted the part of Nancy real bad, but at callbacks the director kept having me read for Mrs. Sowerberry and it sucked. So after the first couple of readings I pretended to suck at this role...and read really good for Nancy.
The results?
I got casted as Ms. Bedwin. In the end I was recasted as Mrs. Sowerberry after the original Mrs. Sowerberry dropped out because the director saw something "fresh and new" at callbacks.
Dont try to be something your not. |
Oh I totally agree, whatever part I'm asked to read, I will do it 100%
I was wondering if you knew any information about Gloria's role? Does she have a lot of lines, is it a comical role, etc. Any info you have would be fabulous! Thanks
Olivia
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MsDivaKate
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| Olivia wrote: | | Missnewbooty wrote: | | pinkstiletto510 wrote: | do the audition sheets allow you to write down what you'd like to be considered for? if so write down that you'd like to be considered for Kim
the very bad way of getting out of something like that would be to A) write down that you have no dance experience and if you're asked about it, deny everything...........or B) if theres a dance callback and they have you tap, do an awful job
but I wouldnt suggest doing those |
I have a experience of doing this and it didnt work out for me.
I was auditioning for Oliver and wanted the part of Nancy real bad, but at callbacks the director kept having me read for Mrs. Sowerberry and it sucked. So after the first couple of readings I pretended to suck at this role...and read really good for Nancy.
The results?
I got casted as Ms. Bedwin. In the end I was recasted as Mrs. Sowerberry after the original Mrs. Sowerberry dropped out because the director saw something "fresh and new" at callbacks.
Dont try to be something your not. |
Oh I totally agree, whatever part I'm asked to read, I will do it 100%
I was wondering if you knew any information about Gloria's role? Does she have a lot of lines, is it a comical role, etc. Any info you have would be fabulous! Thanks
Olivia |
Gloria Rasputin appears in one scene at the end of the first act. She is an airheaded woman whom Albert's mother has met on the train and is trying to set him up with her as his new secretary. Gloria Rasputin is quite the comical role. She doesn't have any lines other then in that one scene (its a cameo role) and the dance that she does is supposed to be comical, as she's supposed to not be a good dancer-though she wants to be in show business.
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Olivia
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Oh I see.......so do they typically cast Gloria as a good dancer? Is she supposed to be a crummy dancer on purpose? If so, then perhaps I have a shot at another role. I'm a little confused.
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MsDivaKate
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| Olivia wrote: | | Oh I see.......so do they typically cast Gloria as a good dancer? Is she supposed to be a crummy dancer on purpose? If so, then perhaps I have a shot at another role. I'm a little confused. |
In our cast, the girl playing Gloria happened to be a good dancer, which made it easier for her to make up the bad dancing.
The character is a bad dancer for comic relief, she wants to break into show business but she's not that good, though she is supposed to be very attractive. Her dance usually ends with a split from which she can't get up from, which is why it might help to have a dancer in the role who can land a split.
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Olivia
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| MsDivaKate wrote: | | Olivia wrote: | | Oh I see.......so do they typically cast Gloria as a good dancer? Is she supposed to be a crummy dancer on purpose? If so, then perhaps I have a shot at another role. I'm a little confused. |
In our cast, the girl playing Gloria happened to be a good dancer, which made it easier for her to make up the bad dancing.
The character is a bad dancer for comic relief, she wants to break into show business but she's not that good, though she is supposed to be very attractive. Her dance usually ends with a split from which she can't get up from, which is why it might help to have a dancer in the role who can land a split. |
So the tap is supposed to be crummy. I see. I was hoping at least if i got the role then i could show off some mad tap skills, haha. But maybe this is good, and I can be considered for a larger role. Does Ursula do a lot of dancing? I know she doesn't sing but she seems to be such a fun character to play.
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MsDivaKate
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| Olivia wrote: | | Does Ursula do a lot of dancing? I know she doesn't sing but she seems to be such a fun character to play. |
Ursula dances in all of the ensemble numbers with the other sweet apple teen girls and since the character is so energetic you can really get into the choreography in these scenes. In my opinion, Ursula is probably the most fun character in this show for females, regardless of whether or not she sings (in some productions the director may purchase the rights for the song Bye Bye Birdie, which Ursula would then sing).
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Olivia
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I'm thinking I might give it a try for Ursula. Exaggerating movements and being obnoxious is a piece of cake for me! And if our director decides to buy the rights for the extra song, that's great too. I think the best thing is to go into this audition with an open mind.
Thanks again for the info and all of you help
If anyone else has anything to add, I'd love to hear your input!
Olivia
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pinkstiletto510
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when I did the show the girl who played Gloria was a wonderful dancer but they wanted her to be awful (the show was really campy....we had a drag mama) it went over really well
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InaraSanguine
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In the show, Gloria is supposed to be a BAD tapper. Our Gloria had never tapped a day in her life.
The good tapper is traditionally cast as the Sad Girl in Put on a Happy Face, or if there is no one who taps...they just cut it altogether...
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BroadwayBud
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[quote="InaraSanguine"] The good tapper is traditionally cast as the Sad Girl in Put on a Happy Face, or if there is no one who taps...they just cut it altogether...[/quote]
Not necessarily. Our "Put On A Happy Face" had no tap dancing at all. The song does not have to be...tapped...
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jackissensational
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Well, in our production, we had Gloria's dance just be a joke. We made it look like she couldn't dance at all. So she got a lot of laughs. Kim, on the other hand is a slightly more serious role. So in auditions, along with everything else, show your abilities in drama, not so much humor.
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