Room 29 Auditions

Jul 4 2021 | By More

Casting Call for Songs for a New World

Edinburgh amateur musicals company Room 29 Theatre has put out an urgent casting call for its August 2021 filmed production of Songs for a New World.

The audition process will be online and auditions are open this week only, from today, Sunday 4 July, until a week today, Sunday Sunday 11 July 2021 at midnight.

Room 29 Theatre is presenting Songs for a New World during August

The production will have initial online rehearsals, moving to in person rehearsals in central Edinburgh during the week beginning Monday 2 August 2021. There will be a technical rehearsal on Friday 6, followed by filming on Saturday 7 and Sunday 8.

The production will be directed by Neil Lavin with musical direction from Jamie MacDonald. The resulting film is scheduled to stream on the Room 29 website during August.

Songs for a New World was the  first musical from Tony Award winner Jason Robert Brown, who pulled together sixteen of the songs he had written for various projects. Director Daisy Prince found a common theme to make a show from the pieces which premiered in 1995.

transition

The theme is the moment of decision, the point at which you transition from the old to the new, and the show is not quite musical theatre but something more than a song cycle.

Brown transports his audience from the deck of a 1492 Spanish sailing ship to a ledge 57 stories above Fifth Avenue to portray stories ranging from a young man who has determined that basket-ball is his ticket out of the ghetto to a woman whose dream of marrying rich nabs her the man of her dreams.

The musical travels through time and space to meet a startling array of characters – every one of them very different, but all representing our world today and our hopes for a new world… a better world.

acting through song

Room 29 say that in a show like Songs for a New World, acting through song is crucial and will be a consideration when reviewing audition videos.

They say: “Each song in the show represents a character’s entire plot arc, and therefore we are specifically looking for performers with the ability to not only sing beautifully, but also convey the range of emotions woven into the score.

“While a song in itself only offers us a brief glimpse at a specific moment in any character’s life, please give consideration to what has lead to your performance.”

Full details of the casting call and how to submit an online audition are in the online audition pack here.

Cast details

Man 1 Tenor (D3 – C5) Youthful, intelligent with energetic optimism about what is ahead.

Man 2 Baritone (F2 – Ab4) Worldly wise – with subtle opinions and vulnerabilities.

Woman 1 Mezzo (G3-F5) A youthful and energetic yet sensitive ingénue with great vocals.

Woman 2 Mezzo (F3 – F5) Character actress with great vocals, excellent comedic timing and dramatic sensibility. Dialect work plus.

Links

Online audition pack, with audition sides and notes to download: https://drive.google.com
Room 29 Website: www.room29.co.uk
Facebook: @Room29Theatre
Instagram: @room29theatre
Twitter: @room29theatre

The original cast recording is available on Amazon:

ENDS

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