gilbert and sullivan yay!

[fox]

friend from college is playing Dr Daly in the G&S Society production of The Sorcerer (note to oxonians:  the production is good, and so what if the chorus is a little thin -- the principals are all excellent!  and if you don't believe me, ask osymandias), so i went to see that this evening, and happened to be sitting behind the director of next term's iolanthe, and she just about talked me into auditioning.  not like i'm loaded down with free time, but hey, i'll have a look at my Great Big Choir rehearsal schedule -- actually, i'm looking at it now; the question is, how much do i want to sing bach's st john passion?  this is a legitimate question -- at the moment i'm feeling the G&S love enough that i might give up the st john passion -- but return to the choir the following term -- in return for being able to be in iolanthe.  hmm.

anyway.  my voice is in the G&S soprano heroine area, but my body type is not.  the queen of the fairies is exactly right for my look and my attitude, and i could sing it, sure.  so, here's the question:  setting aside "oh foolish fay", what song from the G&S canon would you recommend for someone auditioning to play the fairy queen?  (see, and then if i don't get the part, i can go ahead and sing the st john passion after all.  spoiled for choice, i am.)

Comments

[foreverdirt.livejournal.com]

Chorus should be much better on Saturday evening, as a bunch of old hacks will be coming back to swell its ranks.

Of the top of my head, "Alone, and yet alive" from The Mikado might be good for auditioning for the Fairy Queen.

[darthfox.livejournal.com]

it was the costumed chorus i was talking about, really, more than the seated chorus (which, when i was in high school, we used to call the 'vocal minority' -- hee!). granted there's not a lot of room on the stage for a whole homogenous chorus, as anna russell would have said; but three on a side felt anemic. (also, why were the boys wearing their socks?)

i thought of "alone, and yet alive", but i find katisha so unsympathetic. [makes a face] i was also thinking last night, you know, there's no reason i can't get there and say Look, this is where my voice is, but this is what i think, and then, you know, let them make their own decision. :-) i mean -- iolanthe says strephon is "extremely pretty, but he's inclined to be stout". but there's no real reason she has to be all willowy herself, is there? etc. letting directors make their own decisions: usually a good option, before auditions. :-)