Valley Light Opera 2008 Princess Ida Auditions May 10th and 11th

Welcome!

Valley Light Opera has been bringing exceptional productions of Gilbert & Sullivan and other operettas to the Pioneer Valley since 1975. Along the way we've developed some very special traditions -- an adventurous (and slightly irreverent) spirit, an emphasis on fun and community, and a wonderful mixture of newcomers and company veterans working together. Each year nearly a third of our cast and crews are new to the organization. Everyone volunteers his or her time, and everyone works together to create the best show possible. If you like to sing, come to auditions and try out for one of the principal roles or chorus. If you'd like to get involved behind the scenes, give us a call -- there are always plenty of jobs for every level of skill and time commitment. (See below for a list of crews and positions.) Join us for VLO's Fall 2008 annual autumn production -- you'll have a great time!

Princess Ida
or
Castle Adamant

For our 34th annual fall production (performances on November 7, 8, 9, 14, and 15), VLO is reviving Gilbert and Sullivan's Princess Ida which we last produced in 1995. Princess Ida involves a feud between two families whose offspring were married in infancy. After reaching her teens, the precocious bride has decided to found a women's university and forswear the company of men. The men find this seeming indifference hard to take.

Michael Greenebaum returns to VLO as music director. He was music and stage director for VLO's first Princess Ida production in 1981. He was also VLO music director for Ruddigore ('82), H.M.S. Pinafore ('84), The Yeomen of the Guard ('90), Orpheus in the Underworld ('94) Patience ('98), and The Mikado ('77 & '07); and has been stage director for Iolanthe ('76), The Gondoliers ('80), Princess Ida ('81), H.M.S. Pinafore ('93), The Vagabond King ('97) and The Merry Widow ('05).

Steve Morgan returns to VLO for the second time as stage director. He directed a touring production of Trial By Jury and has performed on the VLO stage as Arac (Princess Ida), Bunthorne (Patience), The Pirate King (The Pirates of Penzance), Sgt. Merryll (The Yeomen of the Guard), The Lord Chancellor (Iolanthe), and Sir Roderick (Ruddigore). A smattering of roles with other companies includes Don Pasquale (Don Pasquale), Wilde Irish Women (stage and technical director), Harold Hill (The Music Man), Ben Weatherstaff (The Secret Garden), Emil de Becque (South Pacific), Doolittle (My Fair Lady), Tevye (Fiddler on the Roof), The King and I (director), and Hampshire Shakespeare Company (13 years as production manager and technical director).

The producers for this year are Glen Gordon, Kurtiss Gordon, Nina Pollard, Lucy Robinson, Elaine Walker, and Jim Walker, all veterans of many, many positions both on stage and off with VLO shows.

Questions about Auditions? Call or e-mail us!

We will provide an accompanist, and will have vocal scores available for all G&S operas. If you wish to sing something else, please bring a copy for the accompanist and one for yourself. We will ask all auditioners to sing on the platform facing the audience.

A Princess Ida vocal score and CD will be on reserve at the Jones Library in Amherst, and numbers from the score may be for copied there.

Callbacks: If we feel we need more information in some cases to cast principals, we will hold a callback session on Monday evening, May 12, at a location to be announced to participants. We expect to notify all those auditioning for principal roles of the results of their auditions by Tuesday evening (May 13) at the latest. Chorus notifications may take a bit longer but should be completed by the end of the week.

Directions to First Congregational Church: From the traffic light in the center of Amherst (Bank of America on one corner, Subway sandwich shop diagonally across), take Main Street east two blocks. The church is on the right, just beyond the police station. You may park in the lot at the rear of the church, or on the street. You'll be greeted in the hallway near the sanctuary.

Chorus Ladies: In Act I, courtiers in King Hildebrand's palace. In Acts II and III, college students and a few "daughters of the plough" who act as servants and guards.

Chorus Men: Soldiers throughout. Most from Hildebrand's court, two or three from Gama's. Hildebrand's troops should be good at storming castle walls, Gama's at tending and perhaps imitating horses and carrying heavy weights.

Princess Ida: Soprano (d#' to B-flat", high tessitura) The heroine of the show; married at age one, College President at 20. Determined, single-minded, must deliver long speeches with conviction. Ida requires a noble presence and a voice of dramatic quality, able to sustain a high B-flat for three bars over a full chorus. Somewhat serious; a bit of a tragic heroine; her sense of humor comes through at the play's end.

Lady Blanche: Mezzo/Alto (g to E-flat') Professor of Abstract Science and second in command. A few or quite a few years older than Ida, she has higher ambitions which are finally realized at the end of the play. Blanche sings, with Melissa, one of the most beautiful duets in the G & S repertoire. She has more than a moderate amount of dialogue.

Lady Psyche: Soprano (c' to A-flat") Professor of Humanities; she also superintends the laboratory and sings a couple of memorable songs in Act II. Her voice need not be as operatic or consistently high as Ida's. Her role calls for a good stage whisper or at least the art of projecting at a softer sound level. Moderate amount of dialogue.

Melissa: Soprano or Mezzo (c' to E-flat") As Lady Blanche's daughter, Melissa may be at Castle Adamant without choosing. Upon discovering Hilarion and his buddies, it takes her mere seconds to decide that men are really quite wonderful (written by a man). She becomes the clever ally of the three men. Nice music, fun scenes.

Saccharissa: Soprano (g' to E-flat") One of the students who heads the Mobile*Army*Surgical*Hospital in Act III. A small part with dialogue and a solo line.

Chloe: (Sings either soprano or alto with chorus) Chief of fusiliers in Act III. A small part with dialogue.

Ada: (Sings either soprano or alto with chorus) Act III Bandmistress. A small part with dialogue.

King Hildebrand: Baritone (B-flat to e') A blustering monarch and father, able to hold his own with authority over a full chorus. He has very little patience with others, especially uppity young women and their undependable parents. Power and diction will help him.

Hilarion: Tenor (c to A-flat', fairly high tessitura) 22-year-old son of Hildebrand who was married at age two. He is the hero of the show who, after considerable effort, finally gets to take his wife home. Has a solo and lots of small ensemble work. Must be agile on stage. Sincere.

Cyril: Tenor or high baritone (c to a') Chum of Hilarion who needs to command a lustrous high A and get progressively tipsy during a scene (careful of this). Lots of comedy and small ensemble singing. Cocksure and agile. The trouble-maker of the trio of friends.

Florian: Baritone (B to e') Chum of Hilarion who is involved in many small ensembles. A sincere and loyal man, unaware of his charms. Must be agile.

King Gama: Baritone (c# to e') King of a court we never see but from which Ida fled, father of Ida and her three brothers. Blind to his own defects and brilliant in pointing out those of others, he must be able to project well during patter songs. Dialogue as well must be delivered rapidly but clearly and with inflection.

Arac: Bass/Baritone (G to E-flat') One of Gama's three sons, a large, imposing person (or maybe not), agile though appearing to be clumsy and lumbering. He has a few solos, some rapid singing, and one spoken line. Must be capable of handling the Handelian coloratura of the solo he sings while ungirding his loins for battle.

Guron and Scynthius: Bass/Baritones (G to E-flat') Gama's other offspring, but with slightly less leadership ability than Arac. No dialogue. Again, need to be reasonably agile but appear to have two left feet.

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