Production Team

Director: Noel Browne

Musical Director: Ben Hudson

Assistant Director: Wayne Robinson

Auditions for

Little Women

Will be held in the week beginning 18th  Jan. 2010

for
 
All Roles and Ensemble
 
A cast of 11 Female roles & 7 Male roles plus an ensemble is required, with plenty of interesting work for both males & females.

Call Lyn NOW to book your audition time
9727 0192
Auditions for all roles and ensemble will be held shortly.

Please note: We are unable to book auditions via e-mail.

Rehearsals are held on Monday & Thursday Evenings and on Sundays in Box Hill.

All Auditionees Please Note:

• Bring two contrasting songs not from show
  • Please bring music in the correct key, No Backing Tapes or acappella
  • Please supply a passport size photo (for ID purposes)
  • Arrive 10 minutes prior to the audition time
  • You may not get to sing right through both your songs completely. .............this does NOT mean that we are not interested, only that we have heard as much as we need to at this time.
  • You may be asked to read a selection from a scene in the show.
  • Recalls IF required, will be advised.
  • Times for recalls will be advised.
  • Those required may be given music from the production to learn & to read from a scene for that recall.
  • The fact that you do not get a recall does not mean that you are not being considered.
  • Persons who are interested in ensemble (chorus) will not be required to read or for recall
  • All auditioneers will be advised either by phone and/or mail of the outcome of their audition after the process has been completed. Please do not call us or email us.
  
  Thank you for auditioning for us.
  Break a leg!

Character list

   * Jo – A passionate young woman. This is her story and her journey. The story centers around her life, from the Christmas that it all started, to the publishing of Little Women and her engagement to Professor Bhaer.
 
    * Laurie(Theodore Laurence III) – A young, and often hopeless, boy-next-door. He loves Jo dearly during Act One, but quickly is rejected when he proposes. He later travels to Europe and meets, Amy, who he falls in love with.
 
   * Meg – The oldest sister. Yearns for a great life. She has twins during the course of the Musical, and marries John Brooke.
 
   * Amy – The young and rather whiney individual, she has a rather pompous manner, and by that, she rides into society. She marries Laurie.
 
   * Beth – The second youngest sister. Dies of Scarlet Fever. She is a peace-maker, and always sees the good in everyone.
 
   * Marmee – The strong mother. She is the backbone of the family. Her songs show how truly trying this is, however.
 
    * Mr.John Brook – Laurie's Tutor, a rather stiff man, but capable of showing emotion. Marries Meg.
 
    * Mr. Laurence - Laurie's grandfather. He is a stiff elderly man, but he eventually shows his softer side.
 
    * Professor Bhaer – A German man, 35, who falls in love with Jo.
 
   * Mrs. Kirk – The owner of the Boarding House at which Jo stays.
 
   * Aunt March – An old woman who is the Matriarch of the March Clan. She is very rich, but apparently close to death, revising her will toward the end of the play.
 
In the Operatic Tragedy

·     Rodrigo--A character in Operatic Tragedy
 
·     Clarissa--A character in Operatic Tragedy
 
·     Braxton--A character in Operatic Tragedy
 
·     Troll--A character in Operatic Tragedy
 
·     Hag--A character in Operatic Tragedy
 
·     Knight--A character in Operatic Tragedy
 
·     Small Ensemble

All vocal ranges are indicated in treble clef, men (of course) sounding an octave lower than written.

Jo – Strong Belt – Low D up to E at top of the treble stave (one high A to sing)

Laurie – Tenor – Bb below middle C up to high Bb

Meg – Soprano – Bb below middle C up to High Bb

Amy – Mezzo Soprano – Ab below middle C up to Gb at top of the treble stave

Beth – Mezzo Soprano – Ab below middle C up to G at top of the treble stave ("Ability to play piano could be useful.")

Marmee – Alto with strong belt – Low Eb up to Eb at top of the treble stave

Mr John Brooke – Baritone – Middle C# up to E at the top of the treble stave

Mr Laurence – Baritone – Middle C# up to C# in the stave

Professor Bhaer – Baritone – Low G up to F at the top of the stave

Aunt March – Alto – Low D up to F# at the top of the treble stave

 
In the Operatic Tragedy

Rodrigo – Tenor – G above middle C up to high A

Clarissa – Soprano – F# in the stave up to high B

Braxton – Tenor/High Baritone – D above middle C up to high G

Troll – Low F# up to C in the stave

Hag – Alto – B below middle C up to C in the stave

Knight – Baritone – Middle C up to E at the top of the stave

Song list

Plot Summary

Act I

Jo March, a 19-year-old woman from Concord, Massachusetts, moves to New York City in 1866 to take work as a governess, though her real dream is to write thrillers. She is angry when Professor Bhaer, one of the other boarders in her boarding house to whom she reads her stories ("Operatic Tragedy"), thinks they are beneath her. Her response brings to life her memories ("Better").
 
In flashback, Jo returns to various moments in her youth, beginning three years earlier in the attic of her family home where she and her sisters prepare for a public performance of a Christmas melodrama she has written ("Our Finest Dreams"). Marmee enters with a letter from their father, an Army chaplain in the Civil War. As Marmee writes a response, she reflects on how difficult it is to pretend in her letters that all is well when she feels very much alone ("Here Alone").
 
At this point of her life, Jo's goal is to go to Europe with her Aunt March, for whom she works, but Aunt March will only take her if she becomes more lady-like ("Could You?"). Jo is anxious about her abilities to do so, but is convinced by her family to try at a St. Valentine's Day Ball. There, Jo befriends her new acquaintance, neighbor Laurie, while Meg dances with his tutor, Mr. John Brooke. Their relationships are complicated by the fact that Laurie would secretly like to be more than just friends with Jo ("Take A Chance on Me"), while his grandfather, Mr. Laurence, wants no connection between Laurie and the Marches at all until he is won over by Jo's younger sister Beth ("Off to Massachusetts"). Jo's feelings for Laurie are more familial than romantic, a fact she pronounces after Laurie saves Amy from a fall through the ice ("Five Forever").
 
But Jo's life goes into crisis after Mr. March's illness calls Marmee away. Aunt March refuses the trip to Europe after Jo cuts her hair, which she has sold to help raise money to get Marmee to Washington. She loses Meg to Meg's engagement to John Brooke ("More Than I Am") and Laurie to her own refusal to become engaged. Realizing that her life is not going to be as she had imagined, she decides to seek out a new path where she can be ("Astonishing!")
 
 Act II

Back in the present, Jo has cause to celebrate with Professor Bhaer and her employer, Mrs. Kirk, as she has made her first sale as an author ("The Weekly Volcano Press"), but word of Beth's Scarlet Fever calls her away. The Professor acknowledges to himself that he has fallen in love with Jo ("How I Am"), while Beth says goodbye to Jo ("Some Things Are Meant To Be"). Thereafter, youngest sister Amy and Laurie come to share the news of their pending marriage ("The Most Amazing Thing"). Marmee encourages Jo to carry on in spite of her grief over Beth's death ("Days of Plenty"), and Jo comes to understand that her memories of her sisters and family are themselves astonishing ("Fire Within Me"), inspiring her to write Little Women.
 
Professor Bhaer comes to Concord on the day that Amy and Laurie are to be married. He professes his feelings to Jo ("Small Umbrella in the Rain"), and Jo accepts his offer of marriage. He then tells her that he has shown the manuscript of the novel Little Women, which she had sent to him, to The Weekly Volcano Press, which wants to publish it. Jo declares her happiness ("Sometimes When You Dream")

NOVA Music Theatre Inc.
Postal Address: 532 Springvale Rd Nunawading, Vic, 3131