<p>My D was cast as Young Sally in Follies. I am not familiar with this Sondheim show, but I just picked up the cast recording from the library and I am looking forward to seeing it. I know it will be great!</p>
<p>Congrats to both of you. I've never seen either show but I hear both are great and How to Succeed is hysterical. A little off topic but I've heard rave reveiws of Light in the Piazza. What is it about?</p>
<p>Ok guys..D. managed to borrow a phone to let me know she was so very disappointed in her part and show. She said her auditon went very well and she just doesnt get it. She said she went to the first meeting and there appeared to be kids in it who didnt understand music..it took all morning to go through one page.
Now she is a very very easy to get along with gal, and she enjoys just about everything..so judging by this it must be pretty disappointing for her.
What do you all suggest?
I want her to be challenged and excited.
She seems to like everything else..but this really puts a huge damper on the program.
She is a real bubbly person and she said it was so awful she didnt even want to go to the next cast meeting. Thats just not like her.</p>
<p>DefyingGravity,
There is a thread here devoted to discussing The Light in the Piazza. If you want more specific info regarding the show go to the Lincoln Center Theatre site. I don't remember the exact web site address but you can Google it.</p>
<p>Just tell her that she tried her best and she gave it her all and thast all that SHE can do. She did her best but the casting was in other peoples hands. Mabye you could treat this as a learning experince for her. Just remind her that shes a very talented girl and no matter what part she got and what play shes still a star to you. I understand what she is going through. I tried out for Grease my freshman year hoping for Sandy. They didint give me anything, not even ensemble. Of course I was competing against a girl who is in the business and all (if you count a few eppys of Law and Order) and she is our Big Fish so to speak. I was devistated and cried throughout the whole day. I even went to the director (my english teacher) and cried. Yes my english teacher is the drama director but thats another story alotoghther. Well Im going to rap this up and say two things to your daughter. One is that there are no small parts only small actors. i know thats so overused but its true. Even if she got a "bad" play and dance girl #1 she can work really hard at that part and show them that she is dedicated and they will def. see that for next year. I have never gotten a lead in my life so I dont know how it feels to have them alot and then go and get one but remember its alot of talented kids in one place and a small amount of parts. Sometimes I think casting is unfair and bias but all I can say is she should really work up the part she has and show them it doesnt bother her even if inside it does. Also another thing is that if the director sucks that jsut sucks, but hopefully she can bond with her castmates and really enjoy it. Unless they put her in the kiddie show which than I dont know. I know if that was me I would do exactly what your daughter did. I would be crying and beating myself up but im often times better at giving advice than following my own. Just ell ehr to have fun and enjoy her classes b/c I knwo she was looking forward to those. Did she get callbacks for OTC or PLayers Ensemble?
-Just a little off topic question. Do they do understudys at Stagedoor? Like lets say you get dance girl 1 and understudy to the lead.
Ps. When you said Angst half the kids cant read music do you mean sightread or like read musical notes? If so I cant. <em>Runs over to friends house that plays piano and starts learning</em></p>
<p>Defying you are sweet. I dont know if you need to sight read at SDM or not but it sure helps when you are in plays and such. My D. knows how to sightread and its a handy skill to have in MT etc. so you may want to learn it.</p>
<p>Ya. I should shouldn't I? What play did your daughter get into if you don't mind me asking? Or did she not tell you?</p>
<p>angst. my S was in the ensemble the first year he went and he was also disappointed that he didn't get a meatier role (he always had leads in high school and regional theater productions) but by the end, he had learned so much, bonded with the kids (he still keeps in touch and gets together with several of them) and had so much fun that it didn't matter. All the kids that go to SDM are talented so there is a vast competitive pool to choose from. Sometimes we don't know what goes on in the director's minds and how they can know and place someone in a show after only hearing them sing 16 bars of a song. But they do and it just is what it is. Tell your daughter to relax and have fun. It is a learning experience and after all it is camp and she is doing something she loves. She will become immersed in the whole process-classes, kids etc. and she shouldn't get down on the whole experience.</p>
<p>Soozie-thanks for your congrats. I will tell M.. He is very happy and also to be working with Larry since he took Fosse dance with him 2 summers ago. Again, he is not happy it is in the Cabaret theater after having been in the Elsie last time for Les Mis but sometimes it can't all be perfect. Just came back from Fed Exing a copy of the CD to him so he can hear the music.
I think they will find out tonite about OTC and Players. Yes, he told me he couldn't do both and would rather be in OTC but it was an honor to have callbacks to both so he was happy.</p>
<p>Angstridden--I'm so sorry your daughter was disappointed, and hope she can move past it to enjoy the next couple of weeks. As other posters have mentioned, there are so many kids at SDM with really extraordinary talent that even 12 shows can't begin to provide leads for all of them. For example, in the Stagedoor production of "Jekyll and Hyde" that featured Soozievt's daughter this past weekend, there were members of the ensemble whose voices were so strong that they would have been leads in most student productions. They ended up with extremely brief solos in one of the numbers, and otherwise blended with the crowd. But the whole production was so terrific that I suspect that any initial disappointment about the casting soon gave way to excitement.</p>
<p>Def Grav - I can't be sure of this, but I never heard of understudies. Because it is only 3 weeks long, I guess it takes that long to get the show ready and it would be hard to have double coverage for the leads. Perhaps it has been done however, just never heard of it happening. I guess a kid could step in for another if need be since they are learning it all so intensely.</p>
<p>Umm she is NOT disappointed to have not gotten a lead. She understands that. She is fine to be in ensemble. She was just disappointed in the meeting for the play she was cast in and how it went. And the play itself is not one of the plays she was excited about.</p>
<p>One of the leads told her they did not really want to sing and had asked for drama..but they were asked if they would do a musical if they did not have to sing...they said yes and were given solos and they were uncomfortable with it. And here she is ripe and ready to sing..or do something and nada...</p>
<p>So I think its a combination of factors going on here...</p>
<p>So we shall see what happens..but not getting the lead is ok !!!</p>
<p>Angst..I can totally understand her frustration. It does seem odd to me about the whole lead/drama/singing thing. And I can also see her frustration that the meeting didn't go exactly to her liking. Let's hope it gets better in subsequent meetings. Can I ask which show she is cast in? I am not that familiar with Baker's Wife or Follies so I can't comment on them. I saw Aida and Miss Saigon and How to Succeed on Broadway so I am familiar with those.</p>
<p>Is this Follies or Will Rogers Follies?</p>
<p>Also if I have it correct and the 5 plays Audi listed are the musicals, that means there is 8 dramas. With the Dramas far outweighing the musicals the musical kids kinda get jipped so that theres less parts for them. Just my observations. Is it like this alot in that some sessions the dramas outnumber musicals and sometimes vice versa or do they normally try to make them equal and kinda went a little lopsided this session?</p>
<p>Def Grav- i think it is Follies but couldn't swear to it. If you go on the stagedoor main web page and go to message board, Konnie (one of the administrators at the camp) posted all the shows for second session. i am not familiar with all of them. But perhaps you will recognize which ones are dramas and which are musicals.The last time my S was there there were more musicals I think. I don't know if this is always the case but maybe it depends on the directors they have each summer and also how they obtain the rights to the shows. There is always a mix because some kids prefer musicals and some prefer straight drama and some comedy.</p>
<p>They are also doing Let the Good Times Roll and Big River (musicals, I think) and for plays (?) Lucky Stiff, The Heart Rising, Just So Stories, Anastasia Trials in the Court of Women, 9 Girls and Ring Round the Moon. So there are like 7-8 musicals and 6 plays, I think</p>
<p>My bad I was counting Let the Good times roll and Big River as Dramas.</p>
<p>Lucky Stiff is a musical.</p>
<p>It turns out Big River is the musical adaption of Huckleberry Finn, . Do anyone know what Let the good times roll,and big stiff are about? Bakers Wife is Sondhiem (sp?) so thats always a good bet.</p>
<p>Follies is the Sondheim musical with "I'm Still Here" and "Broadway Baby." That's the one SDM is doing.</p>
<p>Lucky Stiff, a muscial comedy, is playing at one of our community theaters and I've been wanting to see it. I hear it is hilarious.</p>