Aida auditions

[iLiVeOnAvEnUeQ]

Posted: 1/13/05 at 12:40pm

Hey, so my crazy director decided that we're doing Aida for our spring musical. yea. in high school. wow. anyway, i don't want to do a song from the show for auditions, but i have NO IDEA what would be a good audition song. I'm trying out for Amneris or Mereb (because he's changing Mereb to a girl) I'm most comfortably a mezzo-soprano, but could be a soprano too. Any tips would be VERY MUCH appreciated. thanks!

[iLiVeOnAvEnUeQ]

Posted: 1/15/05 at 1:13pm

Aww come on, please !¿!


Any help at all?

[touchmeinthemorning]

Posted: 1/15/05 at 1:19pm

I'd go in and sing something else Sherie Rene Scott has done. I'm thinking specifically of something from Last five Years would be appropriate...assuming you'll have a good accompanist. If he/she is not good, anyone can play the opening number from Last Five Years, so that would work.

The trick, I think...is to show funny AND heart/dramatic. Whatever song gives you both is best. =)

[jacobtsf]

Posted: 1/15/05 at 4:12pm

"(because he's changing Mereb to a girl)"

um...Mereb was written to be a guy, and must stay a guy according to copyright laws. If he actually does this and gets caught (which is very possible) it could lead to a lot of trouble for your school, your director, and yourself(if you want to go into acting)

[kangaroo]

Posted: 1/15/05 at 4:14pm

And I don't think that Mereb should be a girl anyway... why do you think they have Nehebka?

Does your director plan to do this musical correctly? Becuase the underlying theme of the story is how two people from different countries and races fall in love.

[AnothaPartofMe]

Posted: 1/15/05 at 4:25pm

I would suggest for an Amneris audition, if we're still thinking a Sherie Rene Scott-performed song, "One Step Closer" from DEBBIE DOES DALLAS.

[BrdwayBaby]

Posted: 1/15/05 at 4:28pm

i would not sing something from the last five years if i were you, simply because it is not in the same style as aida. i would say something from the lion king (shadowland), but for amneris you could sing something a little more pop. "life of the party" from wild party would be OK...but its not quite the right stlye.

[kangaroo]

Posted: 1/15/05 at 4:31pm

Is my school the only one that actually uses the songs from the actual musical we are performing to audition? How are the directors going to know who fits the part best if each person sings a different song? I think that our way is easiest and fairest becuase each person sings the same song, and gets graded on how they do compared to each other.

Not to offend you... just wondering this for a while now.

[jacobtsf]

Posted: 1/15/05 at 4:37pm

kanga- The reason you sing songs from different shows is to not get pigeonhole(sp?) yourself into one role that another person could perform better.

If you have anymore questions just PM me.

[kangaroo]

Posted: 1/15/05 at 4:41pm

thanks jacob

[Bird7887]

Posted: 1/15/05 at 4:51pm

Hey, I'm also in high school in Palm Beach, Florida, and we are doing Aida next year (2006) for our spring musical. I'm a huge Aida and know very much about the show, please instant message me and I will give you some pointers for auditioning for Amneris. She is a belter, so if you can't belt then you are screwed. Why would your teacher make mereb a girl? that is just dumb. Well IM me my s/n is [e-mail]. I'd love to help u with this

[Schmack]

Posted: 1/15/05 at 4:58pm

you are a huge Aida?

what does that mean?

[kangaroo]

Posted: 1/15/05 at 5:03pm

LOL Schmack.

I am a huge Aida [fan] too.

[Bird7887]

Posted: 1/16/05 at 6:01pm

Huge Aida fan, lol sorry bout that

[timote316]

Posted: 1/16/05 at 9:23pm

Changing Mereb to a female isn't that bad. The copyright laws don't allow bringing in new music, or drastically changing the show. I believe when shows are liscensed to high schools they are granted some room to change things to be able to do a show (its not always possible for a high school to supply the right number of males and females for roles; changes like that happen all the time, or at least they do around here). However, I know jacob knows more about this stuff than I do, as he's directing a show of his own, but that just makes sense for me. Either way, good luck on your audition!

Oh, and kangaroo, what my high school music director did was teach us a song from the show (for Fiddler we learned the round in 'Tradition'; for Guys and Dolls they were tought 'I've Never Been in Love Before') and then sing it in groups (FOTR was in quartets and GaD was in duos). Then, if they need to know how people sing the other songs, they bring them back in, for call-backs. It makes sense that way, if you ask me.

[Type_A_Tiff]

Posted: 1/16/05 at 9:25pm

Whew, for a second I was picturing Star Jones in an Aida outfit.

[DestinyBeckoned]

Posted: 1/16/05 at 9:25pm

There are really rules about changing the gender of characters? What about minor characters? Do they count too?

[jacobtsf]

Posted: 1/16/05 at 10:59pm

" There are really rules about changing the gender of characters? What about minor characters? Do they count too?"

This is from the MTI website:

"Responsibilities of the Producing Organization

During rehearsals, the director or producer may find that some changes are required to make the show work in their theatre. Or they may feel making "minor adjustments" to a show (such as changing the gender of a character or changing the name of a town to give it local significance) is inconsequential to its integrity, or believe they have the right to "experiment" with the authors' intentions as an expression of their artistic vision.

This is not the case.

When you are granted a performance license, by law the show you license must be performed "as is." You have no right to make any changes at all unless you have obtained prior written permission from us to do so. Otherwise, any changes violate the authors' rights under federal copyright law. Without prior permission from MTI, your actions may subject you to liability - not only to the authors, but also to us - for breaching the terms of your license agreement, which clearly forbids you to make any changes or deletions. Occasionally, new versions of shows are created when the authors or someone the authors have approved reconceives the piece. However, only the authors have the right to make these revisions, and they rarely grant third parties permission to do so. If you feel you must experiment with reconceiving a show, there are many already in the public domain (Shakespeare, Gilbert and Sullivan) which are no longer protected by U.S. copyright law. It's important to remember that under Federal copyright law, not only can the director or producer who decided to change the work be held liable, but the entire production staff, cast and crew -- even the owner of the building, can be held liable, whether or not they knew they were part of a willful violation of copyright law."



A few years ago a middle school did a production of "Music Man" and had Harold Hill changed to a Harriet Hill. MTI found out about the changes and sued the school district. That school is NO LONGER alowed to perform any MTI show, and MTI has told both R and H and Tams-Witmark about that school.

[iLiVeOnAvEnUeQ]

Posted: 1/16/05 at 11:45pm

WOW. i had NO idea about that. i don't know if my director knows that.

Thanks for the tips everyone! i think it would be easiest just to do every story... because i dont' have time to learn a new song, and my director would probabaly like to hear a song from the show anyway. Thanks though!

[jacobtsf]

Posted: 1/17/05 at 9:50am

You should probably confront your director with this information (just to be safe)

[iLiVeOnAvEnUeQ]

Posted: 1/17/05 at 10:21am

ok. thanks.

[Bird7887]

Posted: 1/17/05 at 3:03pm

Be different and make yourself distinctive so he and the judges (if there are any) remember your performance. "Every Story.." is good but expected b/c it's from the show. Find a belty song that you haven't heard that anyone is doing and work on that. Look at "The Wild Party" there are big belty songs and soothing ones also that might be of some help b/c Amneris has huge songs like "My Strongest Suit" but also slow emotional ones like "I Know the Truth" just an idea. Good luck..when are your auditions and what school are you at?

[DestinyBeckoned]

Posted: 1/17/05 at 10:12pm

This worries me...am I likely to get in trouble for being a female Herald in Cinderella?

[jacobtsf]

Posted: 1/17/05 at 10:16pm

You personally probably won't, but your director, producer, etc. etc.

You will, however, probably be tainted for causing such a disturbances.

[jonartdesigns]

Posted: 1/17/05 at 11:38pm

hmmmm i get the feeling that my former high school director could get in a hell of alot of trouble for her choices along these lines- in the wizard of oz she had the farmhands be seperate actors, and in annie completely removed certain characters.

on a seperate note does anyone know if mti allows for using alternate versions of their shows? For instance in how to succeed how they redid a secretary is not a toy, and the added reprise of how to succeed from the revival?