Auditioning for Characters within Theatre

Discussion in 'Discussion' started by LARiA, Aug 21, 2014.

  1. LARiA Twilight Town Denizen

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    Discuss your experiences here.

    There are many roles which I would like to play but cannot, the primary reason being they are outside of my vocal range or capability to portray sufficiently in that they are men. What is beautiful, and liberating about the medium however is that it allows for a degree of autonomy or freedom on the part of the actors and actresses therein; character interpretations can vary widely depending on the production. The verity thereof is proved with the existence of cross-gender acting. Although still, whilst I could manage as the Artful Dodger in a production of Oliver! I probably could not play Javert. This disappoints me. The lack of identifiable, interesting, relatable female characters within theatre leads into another topic of discourse entirely, there are exceptions of course but at least in my case my interests lie in the male leads (which is unfortunate when you are restricted by your vocal range/physique).
     
  2. Calxiyn Keyblade Master

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    The problem I find when trying to audition for a role, is even though my vocal rang will surpass that of said character, and my acting skills are able to play that character emotionally, I'm always too young for the role. This mostly happens at school or community theater because there are older kids that have been waiting to get major roles since they started auditioning at that theater or at the school. Eventually I go watch these plays and realize I could have done a better job. (Not trying to be self-centered or anything, but this tends to end up happening). Imo if you're still able to move the audience with the emotions the character should be getting across, then age really shouldn't matter.

    I've also found problems with finding female characters that are interesting or that I can relate to. Even in my vocal lessons I tend to lean towards male songs, though my vocal teacher won't let me sing them.
     
  3. LARiA Twilight Town Denizen

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    That's terrible. I had this one vocal instructor who changed the pronouns within a love song (Scarborough Fair) without my asking for it, although at least I was allowed to sing... Do you know why she wouldn't allow you to? I suspect she could have just as simply altered the pitch, so it cannot reasonably be an issue of vocal range.