Joining the Cast of an HRG&SP Production
Casts for HRG&SP's productions are chosen through the HRDC's Common Casting (see sidebar). The process of Common Casting is explained in great detail on the HRDC website. Here's the basics of what you need to know to audition for HRG&SP:
- Bring a completed Common Casting audition form (24 KB Word Document). Please make sure you include a photo—it really helps during the callback and casting process when we're trying to remember who you are.
- Be prepared to read over an audition side (a selection of dialogue from the show) that we will provide you at the audition. You do not need to prepare a monologue or dialogue before your audition.
- Before you come to Common Casting, prepare a song to sing at the audition. The song need not be from the show, but it is generally best to choose a song composed for musical theater which shows off your particular voice range. It is not necessary to bring sheet music, but if you have it, do—it will help the music director see how you sing with accompaniment.
Callbacks are held in the days immediately following Common Casting. More information about callbacks and cast lists will be given to you when you audition.
Roles Found in (Most) Gilbert and Sullivan Operettas:
- A lead soprano:
Angelina (Trial By Jury), Aline Sangazure (Sorcerer), Josephine Corcoran (Pinafore), Mabel (Pirates), Patience (Patience), Phyllis (Iolanthe), the Princess Ida (Princess Ida), Yum-Yum (Mikado), Rose Maybud (Ruddigore), Elsie Maynard (Yeomen), Gianetta (Gondoliers), Zara (Utopia), Julia Jellicoe (Grand Duke) - A mezzo-soprano "soubrette" role, originally written for the
contralto Jessie Bond:
Constance (Sorcerer), Cousin Hebe (Pinafore), Edith (Pirates), the Lady Angela (Patience), Iolanthe (Iolanthe), Melissa (Princess Ida), Pitti-Sing (Mikado), Mad Margaret (Ruddigore), Phoebe Meryll (Yeomen), Tessa (Gondoliers), Lisa (Grand Duke) - A principal comedian, who must, like the original George
Grossmith himself, have remarkably distinct diction:
The Learned Judge (Trial By Jury), J.W. Wells, Esq. (Sorcerer), the Rt. Hon. Sir Joseph Porter, K.C.B. (Pinafore), the Major-General Stanley (Pirates), Bunthorne (Patience), the Lord Chancellor (Iolanthe), King Gama (Princess Ida), Ko-Ko (Mikado), Robin Oakapple (Ruddigore), Jack Point (Yeomen), the Duke of Plaza-Toro (Gondoliers), Grand Duke Rudolph (Grand Duke) - The usual tenor hero:
Edwin (Trial By Jury), Alexis Pointdextre (Sorcerer), Ralph Rackstraw (Pinafore), Frederic (Pirates), Strephon (Iolanthe), Prince Hilarion (Princess Ida), Nanki-Poo (Mikado), Richard Dauntless (Ruddigore), Colonel Fairfax (Yeomen), Giuseppe/Marco (Gondoliers), Captain Fitzbattleaxe (Utopia), Ernest Dummkopf (Grand Duke) - The contralto which Gilbert tends to treat unsympathetically,
plot-wise:
The Lady Sangazure (Sorcerer), Little Buttercup (Pinafore), Ruth (Pirates), The Lady Jane (Patience), The Fairy Queen (Iolanthe), Lady Psyche (Princess Ida), Katisha (Mikado), Dame Hannah(Ruddigore), Dame Carruthers (Yeomen), the Duchess of Plaza-Toro (Gondoliers), the Baroness von Krakenfeldt (Grand Duke) - Prominent baritone roles:
Dr. Daly, Sir Marmaduke Pointdextre, Captain Corcoran, the Pirate King, Archibald Grosvenor, the Earl of Mountararat, King Hildebrand, the Mikado, Pooh-Bah, Despard Murgatroyd, Roderic Murgatroyd, Wilfred Shadbolt, Sergeant Meryll, Don Alhambra Del Bolero (the Grand Inquisitor), King Paramount, Ludwig, the Prince of Monte Carlo, and others...
There are generally a handful more supporting roles for both male and female voices. And of course, not less importantly, the equal-balance choruses for the men and women (after all, everyone does get married in the end). There are occasionally some non-speaking roles, such as Mr. Bunthorne's solicitor and the executioner of the London Tower.