DAY THIRTY EIGHT - Wednesday May 2
Today was kind of a funky day. I ended up getting a very bad stomach from very wonderful food. Not sure if they are related, but maybe the onions in the borscht. It was all absolutely delicious - but something felt very funky in the tummy today. And for the next few days.
We finally had our Bondy auditions - which were not ideal. We saw a young actor who, from pictures, I did not think was a very good Bondy type. Young leading man - sure, but young character guy not in a million years. I was happy to audition him but I felt there was a guy in a smaller part in the show already who could move up. In fact, I suggested that guy weeks ago when we did the big switcheroo and was told his voice might not be strong enough. But I have seen him in many shows here and he does these odd, quirky character roles and he is amazing in them. Granted, they have not been vocally demanding - but he's great actor and mover.
But we saw the first guy - the younger one - in the ballet studio. He sang one of Bondy's songs and then cold read one of the scenes - opposite Grisha. For a young leading man - he's fantastic. In fact, he should play Prince Sandor one day. But Bondy - he's not. He does have funny in his bones - like the other guy does - and his voice was nice, tenor-y - but not all that interesting. Again, great for a young leading man - which he plays here in other shows. He is also a student of Kirill's - the artistic director.
It was time for rehearsal to start but I wanted to solve this Bondy situation ASAP so I pulled the other guy, Aleksei L (the one in the show already who I thought would make a good Bondy) out of rehearsal to audition him. Again a very frustrating communication breakdown. These auditions were supposed to be Monday but when that was cancelled, nobody told this guy about it being rescheduled. Which made me very angry because he was at a disadvantage for lack of preparation. Now, he did know we were considering him for the role so he could have taken the initiative to learn it. But to be fair, they don't get full scripts. Just their parts. Trying to save paper? That explains why some of them have no idea what their function is in the piece, nor what scene they follow, nor what comes next and need the director to spell it out for them.
Anyway, we auditioned him in the associate conductors studio - which is small. It was 11AM, he was not warmed up - and he had never looked at the song. The top notes were a bit of a stretch, but each time he hit them they sounded better and better. I thought. I don't think Victor and Gregg agreed with me. I didn't even read him because in my opinion, he was far better in all categories - I think is voice was fine. And far more interesting - he has a gravelly baritone and I want contrast between Bondy and Sandor. But Victor mentioned he has never sung without a mic on this stage and that he couldn't carry over an orchestra. Luckily, we will NOT have those annoying rock and roll microphones - we'll have overhead mic's - I guess. Anyway, I felt this guy had lots of resonance in his chest voice and that he had plenty of power - granted we were in a small room.
He may not have the singing training of the other guy but he is far better in terms of age, acting, nuance, depth - and he's just plain ole' more interesting in the role. So being better in all those categories to me says let's stretch him in the vocal department - let him grow - and use him.
Grisha and I got into our most heated argument on this topic. There was no question in any of our minds that he could act the role wonderfully. Gregg just thought I was discounting the vocals wholesale. I wasn't. And he thought I was prejudiced against the younger actor simply because he was younger. I wasn't. I certainly had an assumption/prediction going in, but if the kid impressed me and I felt he was better for the role - he would have been better for the role. But my intuition was right and there was no comparison in my mind.
So now we will meet with Kirill tomorrow to make a final decision.
In the first session, I worked act one but swapped teams of performers in and out. It felt very disjointed. Afterwards, I asked if they preferred the switcheroo thing or if it was better to use one team at a time even if it meant the others don't work. They did prefer the latter method.
Me too.
There's something odd, though, with this system. I think they are auditioning for 1st team (first opening) for the entire eight weeks of rehearsal. How nerve-wracking is that? And, contrary to my desire, we don't make our decision as to who will play in which casts until later in the game - and one of our romantic couples (since that role is triple-cast) won't ever get to do the role!!! There are only two performances - then this show won't be back in the repertory until October since the theatre is closed for the summer.
All of today was made worse by the fact that I feel terrible. My stomach has been very odd - I think I may be allergic to Borscht. So I cancelled my evening rehearsal and stayed in bed all night. I told Grisha and Pisha that they may be suffering from IDS. Irritable Director Syndrome.
So I went to bed, stomach aching, spending far too much time in the bathroom, still with no Bondy replacement. Hopefully we can solve all of the above tomorrow.
Today was kind of a funky day. I ended up getting a very bad stomach from very wonderful food. Not sure if they are related, but maybe the onions in the borscht. It was all absolutely delicious - but something felt very funky in the tummy today. And for the next few days.
We finally had our Bondy auditions - which were not ideal. We saw a young actor who, from pictures, I did not think was a very good Bondy type. Young leading man - sure, but young character guy not in a million years. I was happy to audition him but I felt there was a guy in a smaller part in the show already who could move up. In fact, I suggested that guy weeks ago when we did the big switcheroo and was told his voice might not be strong enough. But I have seen him in many shows here and he does these odd, quirky character roles and he is amazing in them. Granted, they have not been vocally demanding - but he's great actor and mover.
But we saw the first guy - the younger one - in the ballet studio. He sang one of Bondy's songs and then cold read one of the scenes - opposite Grisha. For a young leading man - he's fantastic. In fact, he should play Prince Sandor one day. But Bondy - he's not. He does have funny in his bones - like the other guy does - and his voice was nice, tenor-y - but not all that interesting. Again, great for a young leading man - which he plays here in other shows. He is also a student of Kirill's - the artistic director.
It was time for rehearsal to start but I wanted to solve this Bondy situation ASAP so I pulled the other guy, Aleksei L (the one in the show already who I thought would make a good Bondy) out of rehearsal to audition him. Again a very frustrating communication breakdown. These auditions were supposed to be Monday but when that was cancelled, nobody told this guy about it being rescheduled. Which made me very angry because he was at a disadvantage for lack of preparation. Now, he did know we were considering him for the role so he could have taken the initiative to learn it. But to be fair, they don't get full scripts. Just their parts. Trying to save paper? That explains why some of them have no idea what their function is in the piece, nor what scene they follow, nor what comes next and need the director to spell it out for them.
Anyway, we auditioned him in the associate conductors studio - which is small. It was 11AM, he was not warmed up - and he had never looked at the song. The top notes were a bit of a stretch, but each time he hit them they sounded better and better. I thought. I don't think Victor and Gregg agreed with me. I didn't even read him because in my opinion, he was far better in all categories - I think is voice was fine. And far more interesting - he has a gravelly baritone and I want contrast between Bondy and Sandor. But Victor mentioned he has never sung without a mic on this stage and that he couldn't carry over an orchestra. Luckily, we will NOT have those annoying rock and roll microphones - we'll have overhead mic's - I guess. Anyway, I felt this guy had lots of resonance in his chest voice and that he had plenty of power - granted we were in a small room.
He may not have the singing training of the other guy but he is far better in terms of age, acting, nuance, depth - and he's just plain ole' more interesting in the role. So being better in all those categories to me says let's stretch him in the vocal department - let him grow - and use him.
Grisha and I got into our most heated argument on this topic. There was no question in any of our minds that he could act the role wonderfully. Gregg just thought I was discounting the vocals wholesale. I wasn't. And he thought I was prejudiced against the younger actor simply because he was younger. I wasn't. I certainly had an assumption/prediction going in, but if the kid impressed me and I felt he was better for the role - he would have been better for the role. But my intuition was right and there was no comparison in my mind.
So now we will meet with Kirill tomorrow to make a final decision.
In the first session, I worked act one but swapped teams of performers in and out. It felt very disjointed. Afterwards, I asked if they preferred the switcheroo thing or if it was better to use one team at a time even if it meant the others don't work. They did prefer the latter method.
Me too.
There's something odd, though, with this system. I think they are auditioning for 1st team (first opening) for the entire eight weeks of rehearsal. How nerve-wracking is that? And, contrary to my desire, we don't make our decision as to who will play in which casts until later in the game - and one of our romantic couples (since that role is triple-cast) won't ever get to do the role!!! There are only two performances - then this show won't be back in the repertory until October since the theatre is closed for the summer.
All of today was made worse by the fact that I feel terrible. My stomach has been very odd - I think I may be allergic to Borscht. So I cancelled my evening rehearsal and stayed in bed all night. I told Grisha and Pisha that they may be suffering from IDS. Irritable Director Syndrome.
So I went to bed, stomach aching, spending far too much time in the bathroom, still with no Bondy replacement. Hopefully we can solve all of the above tomorrow.
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