“Princess Ida” AUDITIONS
AUDITIONS HAVE CONCLUDED FOR PRINCESS IDA!
Please check back in fall of 2023 for audition information for our next production.
Contact gaslocoli1954@gmail.com for any questions.
Principal Auditions:
Please prepare to sing 16 Bars of a song in operatic style in English. (Gilbert and Sullivan preferred)
You may all be asked to fill out a brief performance history.
Auditions will take place by appointment. Please email our Director, Gayden Wren at wreng@nytimes.com to do so.
CLICK HERE FOR DIRECTIONS to our East Meadow United Methodist Church rehearsal location. CLICK HERE FOR DIRECTIONS to our Chatterton School rehearsal location.
Princess Ida Chorus Auditions:
To become a member of the company, a fairly basic audition is required: It’s been known to be as simple as singing “Happy Birthday” several times for the music director. These auditions are not competitive—anyone qualified to perform with the company is accepted, anyone not qualified to perform is not accepted, without regard to other auditionees. You may also be asked to sing scales to place your SATB voice part.
These auditions can take place at any time in the season, but the best time to join the company is in the fall, so that you can be with the next year’s production from the beginning, avoiding the necessity of catching up. That said, many of our best members have joined well into a season, so judge for yourself.
Email gaslocoli1954@gmail.com or call/text (516) 619-7416 for more information.
Role Descriptions:
- King Hildebrand (bass-baritone)
- Hilarion, King Hildebrand’s Son (tenor)
- Cyril, Hilarion’s Friend (tenor)
- Florian, Hilarion’s Friend (lyric baritone)
- King Gama (comic baritone)
- Arac, King Gama’s Son (bass-baritone)
- Guron, King Gama’s Son (bass-baritone)
- Scynthius, King Gama’s Son (bass)
- Princess Ida, King Gama’s Daughter (soprano)
- Lady Blanche, Professor of Abstract Science (contralto)
- Lady Psyche, Professor of Humanities (soprano)
- Melissa, Lady Blanche’s Daughter (mezzo-soprano)
- Sacharissa, Girl Graduate (soprano)
- Chloe, Girl Graduate (speaking role/chorus)
- Ada, Girl Graduate (speaking role/chorus)
- Chorus of Soldiers, Courtiers, “Girl Graduates”, “Daughters of the Plough”, etc.
For more information or questions please e-mail gaslocoli1954@gmail.com
MONEY: The Light Opera Company is a nonprofit organization, and none of its participants is paid. There are no dues or other membership fees.
THE COMPANY: Founded in 1954, the Gilbert & Sullivan Light Opera Company of Long Island is one of the region’s oldest and most respected theatrical and musical organizations. A 501(c)3 charity, the company appears at parks, schools, libraries, churches, temples and fraternal organizations throughout the Island.
Auditions for principal roles are competitive, with each applicant for a role judged against all of the other applicants for that role. They are not strictly competitive, however: The best applicant doesn’t automatically get the role—if, in the judgment of the director or music director, none of the applicants is sufficiently capable of the role, none will be accepted, and the company will hold further auditions.
Exactly when and how principal auditions are held varies, because it’s up to each director/music director team to decide for themselves how best to identify the performers they want for the parts in their show. Typically, an audition includes a verse of a Gilbert & Sullivan song (chosen by the auditioner) and a reading of a scene from the show (chosen by the directors). Auditioners will have their voices checked through scales, arpeggios and such, and may be asked to learn a simple dance step, if the part they are seeking involves dancing.
The directors may at their discretion choose to double-cast key roles, especially if a large number of performances is anticipated; and they may designate understudies as they see fit.
The one rule underlying all the company’s auditions is a simple one: The directors choose the best person for each role, based solely on their own judgment. How long someone has or hasn’t sung with the company does not figure into that decision; nor does whether someone serves on the company’s board or in any other position in its administration, or is a friend or relative of any such person. There have been innumerable instances in which a longtime company principal has been beaten out for a role by a stranger who’s just walked in the door.
It isn’t that we don’t appreciate our veterans; it’s simply that we have an obligation to our directors to give them freedom of choice, and an obligation to our sponsors and audiences to present the best show we’re capable of. Our directors occasionally have made casting mistakes in the past, and may well do so again—but in every case such mistakes have been and will be based on simple misjudgment, not favoritism.
Gilbert and Sullivan Light Opera Company of Long Island 