Musical Chess, mate
Audition details for double dose of Chess
Details for the Edinburgh Music Theatre’s March 2015 production of Chess the Musical at the Church Hill Theatre have been announced, with open auditions taking place next week.
Meanwhile the Edinburgh University Savoy Opera Group has announced that it, too, will be performing Chess. The Eusog production will be taking place this November 18-22 at the Pleasance Theatre, with auditions this week.
Originated by lyricist Tim Rice, who brought in the ABBA boys Benny Andersson and Bjorn Ulvaeus to write his tunes, Chess is set during the Cold War. It sees an American and a Soviet grandmaster taking their battle from the chess board into real life as they fight over the woman who manages one and falls in love with the other.
The EMT production will be directed by Michael Davies, musical direction will be in the hands of Neil Metcalfe and the choreographer will be Sarah Aitken. Running from March 10-14 2015, EMT say they are looking to recruit a strong company of singers, dancers and actors at their auditions next Wednesday 17.
According to Michael Davies: “Edinburgh Music Theatre are back with a bang, and whilst Scotland faces the biggest decision in its history, EMT will be bringing you one of the most politically poignant musicals ever written.
“Set under the dark cloud of the Cold War, Chess tells the story of two grand masters – an American and a Russian – both battling for world supremacy and, of course, the love of a woman. But to what ends will the political propaganda shape their futures… sound familiar?
“EMT is a fun, dynamic amateur theatre company with professional standards and high aspirations and as such, we are always on the lookout for new talented performers. If you are an actor, singer or dancer… or hey, even if you have all three, we’d love to see what you’ve got.”
Audition notes
The Eusog production will be directed by Ethan Baird with musical direction from Jay Cameron and choreography by Samuel Burkett. Auditions take place this week on Thursday and Friday 10 and 11 September at the Pleasance. To get an audition time allocated contact auditions@eusog.org.
Eusog is running a blog, The Story of Chess, outlining the process of staging their production of Chess to “give insight into the creative decisions and practicalities of producing the show we have fallen in love with”. The current entry carries audition notes on all the characters – useful research to anyone thinking of auditioning for either theirs or the EMT production.
Audition details for EMT
Introduction and company casting workshop
Wednesday 17 September 7pm – 10pm
Barclay Viewforth Church Hall, 1 Wright’s Houses, Edinburgh, EH10 4HRBe prepared to learn a dance and a musical number during this session which you will then perform in small groups at the end of the evening to the production team as an audition for a place in the Company.
Principal Auditions
Saturday 20th September (Times tbc)
The Scout Association, 15 Valleyfield Street, Edinburgh, EH3 9LPFollowing a successful audition for a place in the Company, you will be eligible to audition for a principal role. For this, you should prepare a monologue and a song (this should not be from Chess).
Full details on the EMT chess audition facebook event page: https://www.facebook.com/events/858430494175004/
LINKS
Edinburgh Music Theatre
Website: www.edinburghtheatre.co.uk
Facebook page: www.facebook.com/edinburghmusictheatre
Auditions facebook event page: www.facebook.com/events/858430494175004
Edinburgh University Savoy Opera Group
Website: http://eusog.org
Facebook page: www.facebook.com/eusavoy
Production blog The Story of Chess: eusogchess.blogspot.co.uk
ENDS
