Canadian Auditions

[Hoof]

Posted: 2/24/06 at 10:03am

I know that this is a predominantly American board (surprise surprise lol) and we often mention overdone audition songs/musicals such as L5Y and Millie etc. Are those same musicals taboo for Canadian auditions? Or are there different no-no's?

In my personal experience, I find that the Canadian contemporary scene of musical theater is very limited to only the big commerical shows like Wicked, Mamma Mia, Lion King etc.

To make a long story short- are off-broadway musicals like Lippa's "Wild Party" and JRB's "L5Y" very wrong to do in an professional audition?

-Carina Updated On: 2/24/06 at 10:03 AM

[erinrebecca]

Posted: 2/24/06 at 10:18am

I'm curious why you think that the Canadian MT scene is limited to big musicals. Unless maybe you're not in Toronto? Shows like L5Y, Ain't Misbehavin', John & Jen, Rocky Horror, Bat Boy, tick..tick..Boom, Songs for a New World, Godspell, Side By Side By Sondheim, Amadeus, Cookin' at the Cookery, Sweeney Todd are all 'non-large' shows(and that isn't ALL of them by any means) which have been done in Toronto in the past few years. :)

As for audition songs, I'm sure the lists on both sides of the border are quite similar. The theatre world is pretty small and you'll find LOTS of Canadian/American crossover in both the acting community and the creative community.

[Hoof]

Posted: 2/24/06 at 10:23am

Hm, it could just be a lack of advertising in my city (about an hour outside of Toronto). I mean, I went to see "John and Jen" a couple of weeks ago, but then it seems like that is the only contemporary thing playing. At least, so MTI tells me.

I really need to move to Toronto after I graduate. . .

Thanks for your response, I suppose I am just living in a box. :)
Updated On: 2/24/06 at 10:23 AM

[Hoof]

Posted: 2/24/06 at 12:13pm

Alright, so even though I'm pretty much discussing with myself, I keep thinking about this question of why I think the scene is small and limited.

Maybe it's a consistency thing- that although we do perform shows, we aren't doing them on a regular basis. It's usually a one time engagement, and then never again. For example, how long did it take for us to have a Toronto premiere of John and Jen? A while. And maybe it's a budget or general interest thing, in the fact that since the community is so concentrated, it is the same people bringing and doing these shows and that can be costly.

Sorry, I've been reading a lot of hardcore literary and philosophy critics for class lately, so maybe their dense theorizing is rubbing off on me.

Just some food for thought. Or in the end, like I said before, maybe I'm just unaware of shows that are going on. Someone, anyone, keep me in the know
Updated On: 2/24/06 at 12:13 PM

[erinrebecca]

Posted: 2/24/06 at 12:39pm

Sorry, again, I have to disagree. :) No city, anywhere, brings back the same shows over and over so I don't really understand your comment about "never again". There is a ton of theatre in Toronto so perhaps it's just a matter of keeping up with advertising for you. The shows I listed in my previous post were just a sample of the shows done in the city over the past few years, certainly not a comprehensive list.

Get yourself on the mailing list for Canstage or Acting Up Stage or Hart House, or even Mirvish. There is more theatre in Toronto than you could possibly go to on a regular basis! Canstage does a couple of musicals every year in addition to workshopping and giving readings of new musicals. There are a huge number of straight plays produced every year in Toronto, too, both with the companies I've already mentioned and Soulpepper, Tarragon, Factory Theatre, etc. etc. U of T has drama productions running almost every week all school year long. Terrific acting and beautiful theatre facilities, not to mention CHEAP ticket prices! :)

And if that's not enough to keep you busy, there's always the Shaw Festival and Stratford!

[Hoof]

Posted: 2/24/06 at 1:47pm

Maybe I'm just being greedy, because I know of all of those places lol I think in my heart of hearts I just want someone to do Lippa's "Wild Party."

And maybe it all goes back advertising. I know that I shouldn't compare Les Mis to the Last 5 Years, but it seems that everyone is doing the former and no one is doing the latter. I don't literally mean "never again" but it seems like we'll have a two week run of a show and then no one attempts ir for years and years, and they will recycle the same plays over and over again. There are about five productions of Les Mis going on that I know of, and none of anything that I really want to see.

Then again, maybe this is just the case where I am. . .it just seems like we get crap lol
Updated On: 2/24/06 at 01:47 PM

[erinrebecca]

Posted: 2/24/06 at 2:01pm

Oh, I think we all have favorites that we'd love to be done. Mine is Ragtime and it's been a lot longer since that was playing anywhere than The Wild Party!

I would love to see Canstage do L5Y again. Tyley Ross was superb! Better than Norbert, in my opinion.

I'm wondering what the five productions of Les Mis are that you mentioned. Other than the current national tour and the occasional school version in a high school, who else is doing it?

[Hoof]

Posted: 2/24/06 at 2:13pm

I think that we should ambush them into doing what we want

As for Les Mis, the only other productions of it that are going on that I know of (apart from the tour and highschool that you already mentioned) is in Guelph. I'm not entirely sure what the company is called that is doing it,but one of my good friends is in it and will be performing in June. I think it is a low budget production, but even still. Might be good.

[em22]

Posted: 2/24/06 at 4:24pm

Just to weigh in for fun...

I am the Artistic Producer of Acting Up Stage. I wish that some of the smaller off-Broadway shows could run longer in Toronto but the market just isn't there yet.

John & Jen had a really good turnout and great reviews, but I think it ran the right amount of time to meet the demand. tick, tick...BOOM! arguably could have ran a week or two longer if word of mouth continued to spread.

But overall, there just aren't tens of thousands of people "like us" who would kill to see these shows. There are enough people with interest to get them up for a few weeks and break even (hopefully).

But unless our audience can grow a lot, doing Wild Party would be nearly impossible as it has a cast of 15 and would need to sell MANY more tickets than a john & jen in order to survive financially.

In my ideal world... each year that we/CanStage/etc. etc. do these types of shows we can continue to build a market for them and ultimately run them longer. In the meantime though, all of us musical theatre freaks have to be very thankful whenever a company in the city takes a risk on one of these lesser known (to non-musical theatre people) shows.

Mitchell

[Hoof]

Posted: 2/24/06 at 4:53pm

I would definitely agree with both of you, and I really do appreciate what companies like yours do. It's a matter of money and general turnout- things that I understand you can't control.

And it is a shame that the market isn't large enough. I'm feeling it first hand, as I'm losing my local theatre company due to financial debt.

So, you've answered my questions very well. I'm glad that there are people in our small community willing to do these things, and now that I know they do in fact exist, I will spread the word. Spread the MT power!