Acerca de
TRICKS
-or-
TEASERS!
AUDITIONS
for:
Our Halloween"teaser" performance: a sampler of shows upcoming in our 2022-23 season
Auditions happening now!
OperAvant, Inc. is currently casting for our Halloween show"Tricks-or-Teasers", a concert production of previews of various shows to be produced in our 2021-22 season. Production Info/Casting Requirements below:
TRICKS-or-TEASERS will be presented October 31, 2021, @ 3 p.m. in Marc Scorca Hall at The National Opera Center, 330 7th Avenue, 7th floor, NYC, 10001. Act I of Verdi's MACBETH, and Act I of Timothy Lee Miller's THE BIRD LADY, will be performed. A short film of composer Tamara Cashour's FORBEARANCE, the "Live" version of which will be performed in Spring 2022, will also be shown.
AUDITIONS BY APPOINTMENT only, the last week of September, 2021. All interested parties should send immediately: an mp4 video, mp3 or link to an online performance to: Whatsup@operavantinc.com.
CASTING NEEDS (ALL ROLES PAID):
WORK #1: MACBETH ACT I (with cuts) only. By Giuseppe Verdi
LEADS:
Macbeth--Baritone. A Scottish general, thane of Glamis, overwhelmingly theorized in literary/cultural analysis as "extremely ambitious". He ascends by nefarious means to the rank of King in line with the predictions of a trio of Witches, who serve as his unofficial career "advisors".
Lady Macbeth--Dramatic Soprano or Mezzo with high extension (to Db above high C). Macbeth's wife, also possessing of a hefty dose of ambition, which fuels her cravings for power and political authority.
2ND LEADS:
Banquo--Bass. Macbeth's friend and military general. Stable and rational, even in the face of the Occult, i.e. the Witches predictions, which forecast his bloodline as reigning over Scotland in future.
Macduff--Tenor. Role of Macduff is cast.
CHORUS:
Three Witches: First Soprano, Second Soprano, Mezzo. NOTE: These are chorus roles with many singers on a voice part in the original Verdi. For"Tricks-or-Teasers", there is but one Witch to a part. You will have an opportunity, and are encouraged, to develop an original character. NOTE: Concerning music where Witches are needed: only #3 "Macbeth e Banquo Scena e Duetto" and #4 "Coro di Streghe" will be musically essayed. The opening witches chorus will be replaced with the Dialogue, Act I sc. i from the original Shakespearean play. NOTE: The Witches will also sing the chorus parts in the Act I Finale, beginning with "Schiudi, inferno".
Audition Requirements:
1. PLEASE PREPARE: An aria from the opera, sung in Italian, OR, an Italian opera from the same general musical period by any composer.
2. PLEASE ALSO PREPARE: a spoken monologue from either a Shakespearean play (may use the NO FEAR SHAKESPEARE modern translation) or other work of your choice.
NOTE: For the above roles, it is helpful if you know it, have performed it prior, or can learn it quickly.
*********************
WORK #2: THE BIRD LADY, ACT I only. A new opera by composer Timothy Lee Miller, libretto by Germaine Shames
Listen here: https://soundcloud.com/timothymillermusic/the-bird-lady-act-i-condensed?in=timothymillermusic/sets/the-bird-lady
View score here: https://www.flipsnack.com/AE7BDC97C6F/the-bird-lady-act-i-vocal-piano-score.html
LEADS:
Annabelle--Lyric Soprano. An enigmatic and flighty young woman in her late teens to mid-twenties, Annabelle, traumatized in childhood by a family tragedy, has retreated into a pastoral world of her own making, where birds are her closest companions and greatest solace. Vocal range: Annabelle: D4 to B5
Marcus--Lyric Tenor. A brash young materialist in his mid-twenties to early thirties, Marcus, accustomed to getting what he wants, wavers between a bottomless hunger for more and the redeeming spark of first love. Vocal range: Marcus: C3 to Bb4
Percy--Baritone. Annabelle's gardener and surrogate father, Percy, an older man in his mid-fifties to late sixties, personifies devotion, heroism and self-sacrifice. Vocal range: Percy: G2 to G4
CHORUS:
Chorus Roles (4 singers needed)--SAAB. Chorus Members impersonate 3 birds and a bee. Opportunity to develop a non-human character!!! Note: Chorus singers for The Bird Lady have an opportunity to double smaller roles in MACBETH, such as the Messenger, and the Dama.
Audition Requirements: PLEASE PREPARE ONE ARIA IN ENGLISH. No monologue necessary.
SYNOPSIS:
THE BIRD LADY, A chamber opera in two acts
An eccentric young woman known as the Bird Lady lives a life of timeless simplicity in a well-tended garden with only her equally eccentric gardener for human company — until a brash young man determined to build his dream home buys the adjoining lot. When the Bird Lady and her new neighbor clash over the felling of a tree planted squarely on the property line, sparks fly.