
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:
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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.
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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.
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CASTING NEEDS (ALL ROLES PAID):
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WORK #1: MACBETH ACT I (with cuts) only. By Giuseppe Verdi
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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".
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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.
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2ND LEADS:
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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.
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Macduff--Tenor. Role of Macduff is cast.
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CHORUS:
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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".
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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.
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NOTE: For the above roles, it is helpful if you know it, have performed it prior, or can learn it quickly.
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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:
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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
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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.
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Audition Requirements: PLEASE PREPARE ONE ARIA IN ENGLISH. No monologue necessary.
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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.
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