Joseph Auditions!!

First day of Term is the 14th of September

 ”Joseph and his Technicolour Dreamcoat” will be returning to the Darlington Civic Theatre for 6 days, starting on Monday  November 3rd (it doesn`t seem 5 minutes since it was last here).

The musical director was very complimentary about our choir last time and so we have been asked to supply a choir for this next run too.  We are looking to choose students who have never done the show before to spread the opportunities. NEW STUDENTS STARTING THIS TERM WILL ALSO BE CONSIDERED  and because the lead-in time is short, we will have to audition on the very first week of term and start the training on the second Tuesday of term. 

There will be training on every Tuesday evening until 28th October - between 7pm and 9pm (hopefully at Teesside High School but to be confirmed later). The training will go across the half term holiday so if the family will be away during half term and the child would miss the Tuesday evening rehearsal then this would prevent the child from being selected. That week is the last one before the show and because this will be a raw choir of newcomers then it is essential that no-one misses the dress rehearsal and is available should we need to call extra rehearsals across half-term week.

The calibre of student required for the Joseph choir is very high. Not only do they have to sing in a very high range and be able to hold their own harmony line against others in the choir,  but their discipline has to be impeccable. They have to sit on stage throughout the whole performance and stay focused and not “twiddle and fiddle” under the heat of the lights and not watch the performance but stay looking out at the audience - a tall order! Therefore if your child is selected, it is a an impressive achievement.

The audition song that we are going to use is “I Have a Dream” from Abba. It is to be sung in the head voice - some versions use the chest voice.

If your child is in main school (it is too difficult for Early Stages)and is interested in being auditioned and they are available every Tuesday until the show - even during half term week, then you could let them get familiarised with the song “I Have a Dream” so that when the time for the audition comes, they will sing out confidently and show us some good facial expression - another criteria for selection (the child must be watchable).

It is also important to note that once selected the choir has a really heavy task in getting up to speed in time. The material is hard and they have to practise at home regularly with a cd and learn their lyrics. Initial selection does not guarantee that they will end up in the final choir. If they fail to learn their work at home or show that they cannot perform in a disciplined way then they would be dropped (better for us to do it earlier  than for the company to do it later).

There is no pay for being a part of the choir. Kenwrights pay us a fee to train them, which does not cover our costs, so every time “Joseph”  comes the Teesside Stagecoach principals are out of pocket. They do get a certificate, T shirt and a signed programme though. Those students chosen also have to get a license from the local authority, which is dependent upon the Headteacher of the child`s school giving permission for them to take part. Most heads consider that this is a part of a wider education and agree but they don`t have to.

So:-  If your child would like to perform in “Joseph” then make sure that they

a>  Are there on the first week of term (Wed 10th, Thurs 11th, Fri 12th, Sat 13th, Sun 14th September). We cannot put off the auditions until any later