[BroadwayBabyEddy1]

My neice is going to soon be auditioning for the sound of music but I'm afraid is not old enough to be any of the lead parts. She is very talented and has an impressive resume and wants the largest part she can get for her age. What daughter (besides leisle) would you recommend... or is there another part that would suit her? thanks a banana bunch! - BBeddy1

[ConverseSneaker]

Gretal's pretty big for a little girl, really it depends on how you play the character, but I'd vote for Lousia or Brigetta.

[Fantine]

Their correct names are:
Liesl
Gretl
Louisa
Brigitta

[Baker]

How old is your niece? That definitely plays a part in casting...

In terms of the biggest roles, I would say:

1 - Liesl
2 - Brigitta
3 - Louisa/Gretl (they're about the same)
4 - Marta

[BroadwayBabyEddy1]

She is either thirteen or fourteen but she can look younger than that or older than that if needed.

[LisaKitty]

I'd say she should go for Louisa, the second oldest daughter. Your niece is the perfect age to play her.

[musikal_geek]

But how tall is she?

[BroadwayBabyEddy1]

I'm not really sure how tall she is. I only see her about once a year and we only communicate by phone and e-mail. Like I said though, she could pass as both a younger or an older child if needed though.

Oh, and if this helps she has PHENOMINAL dance training.
GOOD SOLID Acting training
GOOD SOLID singing training
PHENOMINAL Performance records.

Thanks so much for your reponses this far!

[Baker]

Dance training really isn't needed for The Sound of Music... Vocals help though, and Brigitta especially needs to be a good actress.

[BroadwayBabyEddy1]

Thanks so much for all your help! My neice recently called, in tears, because her voice teacher recommended a very overdone song for her audition. Anyone have any song ides that aren't In My Own Little Corner Thanks so much in advance!

[Kitness]

For kids it's tricky - because a lot of songs suited to a younger person's vocal range/training/ability/whatever ARE overdone songs (off the top of my head "On My Own", "Castle on a Cloud", "Tomorrow" and pretty much anything from a Disney movie. I think every kid who was in my production sung one of those songs).

Some suggestions: "Journey to the Past" or "Once Upon a December" from Anastasia, "You'll Never Walk Alone" from Carousel or (my personal favourite - if I was an under-fourteen-year-old I would sing this in a heartbeat) "The Girl I Mean to Be" from The Secret Garden (actually, anything from Secret Garden as Mary has quite a few decent songs).

My opinion though - it's not so much WHAT she sings as how she sings it. If your niece is really comfortable doing a certain song but fear it's overdone, she may still be better to do that song - especially if she can really "wow" the audition panel.

[BroadwayBabyEddy1]

Okay.. thanks so much... I think I'll call her with those songs. Thay sound good. I'll report back on how it all went when I hear!

[Sammy_beck]

I wouldn't say that she was too old to play Brigitta. It's a really good part, I would have to venture to say that it's even better than Liesel. Brigitta has some of the best lines in the entire show.