OperAvant, Inc. is currently casting for our Halloween show"Tricks-or-Teasers", a concert production of previews of various shows to be produced in our 2021-22 season.  Production Info/Casting Requirements below:

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TRICKS-or-TEASERS will be presented October 31, 2021, @ 3 p.m. in Marc Scorca Hall at The National Opera Center, 330 7th Avenue, 7th floor, NYC, 10001.   Act I of Verdi's MACBETH, and Act I of Timothy Lee Miller's THE BIRD LADY, will be performed.  A short film of composer Tamara Cashour's FORBEARANCE, the "Live" version of which will be performed in Spring 2022, will also be shown.

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AUDITIONS BY APPOINTMENT only, the last week of September, 2021.  All interested parties should send immediately:  an mp4 video, mp3 or link to an online performance to:  Whatsup@operavantinc.com.

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CASTING NEEDS  (ALL ROLES PAID):

 

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WORK #1:  MACBETH ACT I (with cuts) only.  By Giuseppe Verdi

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LEADS:

Macbeth--Baritone.   A Scottish general, thane of Glamis, overwhelmingly theorized in literary/cultural analysis as "extremely ambitious".  He ascends by nefarious means to the rank of King in line with the predictions of a trio of Witches, who serve as his unofficial career "advisors".  

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Lady Macbeth--Dramatic Soprano or Mezzo with high extension (to Db above high C).  Macbeth's wife, also possessing of a hefty dose of ambition, which fuels her cravings for power and political authority.

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2ND LEADS:

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Banquo--Bass.  Macbeth's friend and military general.  Stable and rational, even in the face of the Occult, i.e. the Witches predictions, which forecast his bloodline as reigning over Scotland in future.

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Macduff--Tenor.  Role of Macduff is cast.

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CHORUS:

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Three Witches:  First Soprano, Second Soprano, Mezzo.  NOTE:  These are chorus roles with many singers on a voice part in the original Verdi.  For"Tricks-or-Teasers", there is but one Witch to a part.  You will have an opportunity, and are encouraged, to develop an original character.  NOTE:  Concerning music where Witches are needed:  only #3 "Macbeth e Banquo Scena e Duetto" and  #4 "Coro di Streghe" will be musically essayed.  The opening witches chorus will be replaced with the Dialogue, Act I sc. i from the original Shakespearean play. NOTE:  The Witches will also sing the chorus parts in the Act I Finale, beginning with "Schiudi, inferno". 

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Audition Requirements:  

1.  PLEASE PREPARE:  An aria from the opera, sung in Italian, OR, an Italian opera from the same general musical period by any composer. 

2.  PLEASE ALSO PREPARE:  a spoken monologue from either a Shakespearean play (may use the NO FEAR SHAKESPEARE modern translation) or other work of your choice.

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NOTE:  For the above roles, it is helpful if you know it, have performed it prior, or can learn it quickly. 

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WORK #2: THE BIRD LADY, ACT I only.  A new opera by composer Timothy Lee Miller, libretto by Germaine Shames

Listen here:  https://soundcloud.com/timothymillermusic/the-bird-lady-act-i-condensed?in=timothymillermusic/sets/the-bird-lady

View score  here:  https://www.flipsnack.com/AE7BDC97C6F/the-bird-lady-act-i-vocal-piano-score.html

 

LEADS:

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Annabelle--Lyric Soprano.  An enigmatic and flighty young woman in her late teens to mid-twenties, Annabelle, traumatized in childhood by a family tragedy, has retreated into a pastoral world of her own making, where birds are her closest companions and greatest solace.  Vocal range:  Annabelle: D4 to B5

 

 

Marcus--Lyric Tenor.  A brash young materialist in his mid-twenties to early thirties, Marcus, accustomed to getting what he wants, wavers between a bottomless hunger for more and the redeeming spark of first love. Vocal range:  Marcus: C3 to Bb4

 

Percy--Baritone.  Annabelle's gardener and surrogate father, Percy, an older man in his mid-fifties to late sixties, personifies devotion, heroism and self-sacrifice.  Vocal range:  Percy: G2 to G4

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CHORUS:
 

Chorus Roles (4 singers needed)--SAAB.  Chorus Members impersonate 3 birds and a bee.  Opportunity to develop a non-human character!!!  Note:  Chorus singers for The Bird Lady have an opportunity to double smaller roles in MACBETH, such as the Messenger, and the Dama.

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Audition Requirements:  PLEASE PREPARE ONE ARIA IN ENGLISH.  No monologue necessary.

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SYNOPSIS: 

 

THE BIRD LADY, A chamber opera in two acts

 

An eccentric young woman known as the Bird Lady lives a life of timeless simplicity in a well-tended garden with only her equally eccentric gardener for human company — until a brash young man determined to build his dream home buys the adjoining lot. When the Bird Lady and her new neighbor clash over the felling of a tree planted squarely on the property line, sparks fly.

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