wizard odd-ition q & a
We are super pleased that people are excited about the upcoming odd-itions for The Wizard is… Odd!? and even more so that folks took the time to request more information.
Here’s a list of questions (and the answers thereto) from our Facebook page:
1) When and where will odd-itions be held?
When:
- Saturday, April 13 from 1–3pm
- Monday, April 15 from 7–9pm.
Where:
- The multi-purpose room at the Mississippi Mills Textile Museum (3 Rosamond Street East, Almonte). Use the Coleman Street entrance on the east side of the building.
2) Do I need to reserve / book an audition time?
No, you don’t need to book a time. You will be greeted as you arrive and asked for your name and contact details. You will also be given short scripts of select scenes from the play and called into the MVTM room in small groups where you will be assigned a role in a scene, which you will read through with other members of your group. Our director, Kris Riendeau, may make some suggestions or requests and/or ask you to reread the scene as a different character.
Everyone will also be asked to sing individually. Other group members will leave the room while you sing. If you have a particular piece you would like to present, you are welcome to bring sheet music and our musical director, Ian Guenette, will accompany you. He will also be happy to accompany you if you choose to sing something as simple as Happy Birthday. The process will repeat until everyone who shows up has a chance to read a part and sing a tune. The objective is for Kris and Ian to get an idea of everyone’s abilities.
3) I don’t read music. Will that be an issue?
Not necessarily. It would be helpful if you can carry a tune (see question #4 below), and we will be looking for cast members who can harmonize, but you will have plenty of opportunity to learn songs “by ear”.
4) I’m not a great singer. Should I bother auditioning?
There are a few parts that require acting but not solo singing, so if you’re willing to sing in a group we would love for you to come out! And as long as you are enthusiastic about acting, you could even mouth the words of the songs. However, there are several parts that require strong singing voices.
5) How many parts are there and what are they?
We have twenty roles to fill — most of which can be performed by adults of almost any age. Some of the parts require strong singing voices, and several include a significant number of lines to memorize. There are also two roles for younger women (over eighteen) who are confident singers with good recall for lengthier dialogue.
6) When, where and how long will the rehearsals be?
We will have two ‘flights’ of rehearsals – one in spring and a second in the fall.
Spring rehearsals will take place Sunday afternoons from 1–4pm and Wednesday nights from 7–9pm starting on April 21 (with a table read) and running until June 23. There will be no rehearsals on Mother’s Day (May 12) or Father’s Day (May 16).
Everything pauses for summer and restarts on September 4 (the first Wednesday after Labour Day), then continues in October and runs through the beginning of November right up until the show opens on the evening of November 8.
We will have a few three-hour rehearsals in the fall on Wednesdays from 6:30-9:30pm in the Almonte Old Town Hall and every night the week of the show opening (for technical, dress and open dress rehearsals).
This is a big commitment of time and effort. Our director, Kris Riendeau, asked us to emphasize that we need people to commit to almost every pre-show rehearsal and ALL of the opening-week rehearsals (technical, dress and open dress) as well as all the performances, of course.
In addition to the opening night on November 8, we have a second evening performance on November 15 and four matinées scheduled for November 9, 10, 16 and 17 respectively.
Kris sent us an actual snippet from our play to illustrate the importance of being committed if you are offered and accept a part.
The exchange in the scene below is between Eric, who has a role in the play (The Wizard of Oz) within our play (The Wizard is… Odd!?); Fee, who is directing the play within our play, and Tracy, who is the stage manager of the play within our play. (It will all become crystal clear in the fullness of time!)
~~~~~~~FEE and TRACY are talking backstage. Enter ERIC.
ERIC: Oh! Fee, I’m glad I caught you. You know my sister? Well, she needs a babysitter so she can go to her wine and paint nights, so I’m going to have to miss every second rehearsal except for the third Wednesday of the month. But I promise I’ll try to be there for most of the shows!
FEE: Right…
ERIC: Thanks Fee!
~~~~~~~ERIC exits.
FEE: Tracy? How about a small re-write?
TRACY: (Pulls out notebook) Yep, Eric dead by scene three. Re-distribute his lines.
~~~~~~~~Exit FEE and TRACY
7) Will you accept video auditions?
This is a tough one. We don’t want to exclude anyone who wants to audition but who may not be available on April 13 or 15. On the other hand, a big part of the audition process is giving our creative team an opportunity to see how you read and interpret parts as well as how you interact with other potential cast members. These key aspects can’t be observed in a video. We would prefer to see you in person, but we won’t disallow video submissions.
8) What can I do to prepare for the audition?
We are creating a separate answer post for this final question. Stay tuned. It won’t be long in coming…
Please let us know via the comments on our Facebook page if you need any other information or have additional questions.
Thanks and we hope to see you at the odd-itions.
© 2023 Susan Macaulay. I invite you to share my poetry and posts widely, but please do not reprint, reblog or copy and paste them in their entirety without my permission. Thank you.
