Brigantine
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Female roles... agesI've seen the show and have the CD, but especially regarding the other 2 women's roles, Nellie and Lady whoever, what are the ages supposed to be? What does Nellie do in the show? (it's been a long time since I've seen it)
And while I'm at it, what are your thoughts on how "minimal" the show could be and still be good, regarding cast size? I'm auditioning in the spring, but the last show I saw at this theater was really minimal and blech. I'm hoping they do better for J&H.
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Anita4ever
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Re: Female roles... ages | Brigantine wrote: | What does Nellie do in the show? (it's been a long time since I've seen it)
...what are your thoughts on how "minimal" the show could be and still be good, regarding cast size? |
I played Nellie in a semi-professional production of the show, and the role was LOTS of fun. She's the madam of The Red Rat (the brothel where Lucy and the girls work). She has two featured scenes that require good comedic timing, sexual innundeno, and a Cockney accent. (On Broadway, Nellie was called Guinevere and doubled as Lady Beaconsfield. The licensed version of the show is different.)
I performed (as Nellie) with the girls in "Bring On the Men" and "Dangerous Game"; played several ensemble roles in "Facade," "Murder, Murder" and Emma's engagement party; and sang the many off-stage vocals.
In addition to the specified leads, our ensemble had about 16 (4 on each voice part - SATB). For the vocal demands of the show, I wouldn't suggest a smaller cast - unless you have very capable singers who can sing 4-8 part harmonies with a solid, full choral sound.
Hopefully this answers some of your questions. If you have any more, just let me know.
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AnnieER25
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Because the musical isn't as well known where I live we didn't have a big turnout at auditions and even then some people were only willing to take the leads so we lost even more people due to that. We had 21 people. The director couldn't get the sound she wanted from the ensemble and ended up cutting the big numbers down and removing most of the harmonies.  It was frustrating, but I knew from their lack of progress that there was a need to make the cuts. Plus I was already sad that she wouldn't let me or Lucy sing in Facade  The show definitely would have been better had there been a larger cast. When I saw it in the Chicago area they had a huge cast and the show was amazing. Much better production overall. Plus I got to see BwayJuvinile without a shirt. The poor guy was in skin tight pants/tights, not sure which, and a bow tie for the Red Rat scenes.
Anyway, Nellie and Lady B are usually played older. There are two different versions of the show available, or else they have made changes to the one available in August of '05 vs. the one we did a few months ago. Our Nellie was played as being a drunk that wasn't supposed to be all that attractive. She was hilarious and stole every scene she was in.
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Brigantine
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Ah... the one time I saw it (community theater) Nellie was played by a younger twenty-something who looked maybe 30. maybe.
Thanks, both of you, that helped a lot!
I was worried about the cast size because the theater that will be doing this did a VERY minimal production recently, and I just hope they don't try to do that with J&H.
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