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Um.....musical madness??

Fri, 22 Aug 2008, 10:00 pm
jmuzz36 posts in thread
Thought I'd look at the auditions coming up in Perth theatre. Lessee...... A Chorus Line - Melville Black and White Cabaret Performance - Adhoc Fame the Musical (what else would it be?) - Wanneroo Phantom of the Music Hall - Kwinana The month before.... The Sound of Music - Roleystone Sing On - Stirling I'm guessing Murray Music and Drama involves some singing and dancing given its a pantomine. Billy Connolly once likened his voice to that of a goose farting in the fog. Mine's worse. Don't complain to me that we have a shortage of male auditionees if you're all going to try and be this year's "Eurobeat" or "Cabaret". Topic for discussion - Is dramatic/comedic theatre facing a certain extinction because musicals pull an audience? Well, no, we know there have been quality dramatic productions this year. Right? As a non musical actor is it all in my head that there seems to be an ever increasing bias toward musical productions? Am I cynical enough to suggest amateur theatre may be leaning toward the quick buck a musical can generate? Many of the people who populate this forum are on club committees - please tell me it's all coincidence that there is not one non-musical audition to be had in Perth during September. Please!!! Guess I can concentrate on the garden and other thoroughly enjoyable activities next two months. I'm gonna say it because I've hinted at it before in previous posts - we will see more of this and we will see more of the same production in the same year perfomed ad nauseum by any number of clubs and for God's sake, how fricking stagnant will amateur theatre be in 5 years!!!!! Guess I'll be auditioning exclusively at KADS and Garrick (I know there was a recent exception)because their stages don't accomodate musicals (although I'd pay to see The King & I perfomed at KADS - the equivalent of one of those rubber guys folding himself into a cardboard box) It's in my head right? No more musicals than in previous years? Right? Grrrrrrrrrr

Here's something to ponder.

Mon, 25 Aug 2008, 05:22 pm
Here's something to ponder. Has Daniel Day Lewis or Katherine Heburn, who hold the record for most Best actor/actress oscars, ever been in a professional musical production? To quote Darren verbatim, "I apply all the same techniques and abilities to my performances in musicals as I would in a non-musical show". How would method acting apply to musicals? Surely it could not because musical performance is unnatural. How are the actors able to emotionally replicate how they would feel breaking out into song in the middle of the street, when it is completely unrealistic to do so? Let's face it, musicals and plays are inherently different and should be approached as such. I personally perfer plays simply because it challenges me more as an actor, rather than a performer like it would in musicals. And before the musical theatre horde respond... I respect your choice to enjoy and perform in musicals, but BRING ON THE PLAYS DAMNIT! :)

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