AUDITION REP BOOK BUILDING!

Hello everyone! With me currently on summer break for college, I decided that I kind of need money. But I want to make everything super affordable, with me being a student as well I know how expensive everything can be.

SO… I decided to create a service to help people in the Theatre community to build their audition books.

For the price of $15, you will get: 2-3 monologues (both comedic and dramatic), 2 shakespeare monologues, 2-3 contemporary uptempo, 2-3 contemporary ballad, 2-3 sondheim, 2-3 golden age ballads, 2-3 golden age uptempo, 2-3 jazz standards, 2-3 50’s songs, 2-3 wild card songs, 2-3 pop/rock songs, 2-3 indie folk songs. Song links and PDF’s for all songs and monologues!!

Some requirements: a method of communication (preferably email so i can send you PDF’S), answering some questions, and venmo or paypal!

The Rat of All My Dreams?

On August 10 of 2020, TikTok user @e_jaccs decided to make an ode to one of Disney’s most famous rodents! No, not Mickey or Minnie Mouse, she made an ode to the little rat with big dreams of becoming a chef! Yes, the one and only, Remy. Suddenly the 15 second “Ode to Remy” spiked in people’s hearts and minds. People became obsessed with the ode, they created dances, memes, and even art related TikToks using the sound which garnered the sound with 1.0 Million views and 18.7K videos. One person after hearing @e_jaccs TikTok, decided to take that 15 second ode, and turn it into a show-stopping Act II finale for a Broadway musical. That person was TikTok user @danieljmertzlufft. Which some of you may know him as the Grocery Store: The Musical creator, or where he takes catholic hymns as broadway songs. And from there, it skyrocketed. 

Users from all around the world created costumes, choreography, songs, set designs, etc. Even Broadway performers like Kevin Chamberlin who is known as Horton in Seussical the Musical, JJ Niemann who was a swing in Book of Mormon. The cast was announced late december, which featured Dear Evan Hansen’s Andrew Barth Feldman as

Linguini, Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt and The Little Mermaid’s Tituss Burgess as Remy, Kevin Chamberlin as Gusteau, Hadestown’s Andre De Shields as Anton Ego, Mean Girls’s Ashley Park as Colette, Adam Lambert as Emile, and more!

The songwriters featured in this show are TikTok users @chamberline_kevin and @malindamusic for “Anyone Can Cook”, @blakeyrouse for “The Rats Way of Life”, @fettuccinefettuqueen for “Trash is Our Treasure”, @rjthecomposer for “Anyone Can Cook (Reprise)”, @blakeyrouse @aaacacia_ for “Kitchen Tango”, @sophiajamesmusic for “I Knew I Smelled a Rat”, and @rjthecomposer for “Ratatouille”. 

My favorite songs in the show have to be A Rat’s Way of Life, Anyone Can Cook (reprise), and Remember My Name! My overall score on this show is 10/10! 

Here is more links to check out the show 

https://www.playbill.com/ratatouillemusical

https://www.broadwayworld.com/article/Whos-Who-in-RATATOUILLE-THE-TIKTOK-MUSICAL-20210101

The Mad Ones

In the split second decision where Samantha Brown decides whether or not to go to college, all of her memories of her senior year come flooding back. Originally titled “The Unauthorized Biography of Samantha Brown”, writers Kait Kerrigan and Brian Lowdermilk have tackled writing a musical about the phenomenon of teenage auto-accidents. Some of Kerrigan and Lowdermilk’s other works include “Wrong Number” , “The Woman Upstairs” and “Party Worth Crashing”. This show opened at Prospect Theatre Company 59E59 on November 17, 2017. It starred Krystina Alabado as Samantha Brown, Ben Fankhauser as Adam, Leah Hocking as Samantha’s Mom, and Emma Hunton as Kelly.

The writing team have won many awards with Lowdermilk including, a Larson Award, Alan Menken Award, Richard Rodgers Award, and a Dramatists Guild Fellowship. And Kerrigan having won a Kleban, Larson, Theatre Hall of Fame Most Promising Lyricist. Some of the actor’s more well-known roles include Krystina Alabado as Gretchen Wieners in Mean Girls on Broadway, Teenage Girl 1 in Lazarus (by David Bowie). Ben Fankhauser as Davey in Disney’s Newsies: The Musical, and Barry Mann in Beautiful: The Carol King Musical. Leah Hocking as Donna Sheridan in Mamma Mia!, and Marty in Grease. And Emma Hunton as Elphaba in the first national tour of Wicked and Natalie in the 1st National Tour of Next to Normal.

My favorite songs on the soundtrack are: Run Away With Me, Say The Word, Freedom, and Go Tonight. My overall rating of this show is a 10/10!

here are some links to check out the show more:

https://www.concordtheatricals.com/p/66212/the-mad-ones

https://kerrigan-lowdermilk.com/shows/the-mad-ones

https://themadonesmusical.com/

Rebecca Luker

She unfortunately passed away at the young age of 59 with ALS. I wish the best for her family and loved ones. I just wanted to share a glimpse into her career and hope that her legacy lives on for years to come! Her most well known roles include Christine Daae in The Phantom of The Opera, Winifred in the Original Broadway Cast of Mary Poppins, Helen in Fun Home, Marian Paroo in The Music Man, Lily Craven in The Secret Garden, Fiona in Brigadoon, and so much more! Rebecca was born and raised in Birmingham, Alabama and received a Bachelor of Music degree as well as an honorary Doctorate of  Fine Arts degree from the University of Montevallo. She received several award nominations for her work in shows such as The Secret Garden, Show Boat, The Sound of Music, and more! She won a Bistro award for her solo concert Feinstein’s at the Regency. 

Here’s some links for more information about the wonderful Rebecca Luker

https://www.playbill.com/article/rebecca-luker-3-time-tony-nominated-performer-passes-away-at-59

http://www.rebeccaluker.com/

A Christmas Carol

For the first Musical Monday, I am covering A Christmas Carol loosely based on the Charles Dickens novel of the same name. With music by Alan Manken, Lyrics by Lynn Ahrens, Book by Lynn Ahrens and Mike Ockrent. The first production of this show premiered at Madison Square Garden from December 1, 1994 to December 2003. This production was directed by Mike Ockrent with choreography by Susan Stroman, sets by Tony Walton, costumes by William Ivey Long, lighting by Jules Fisher and Peggy Eisenhauer, sound by Tony Meola, projections by Wendall K. Harrington, and musical direction by Paul Gemignani. Notable roles from this production, Walter Charles as Ebenezer Scrooge, Nick Corley as Bob Cratchit, Ken Jennings as Lamplighter/Ghost of Christmas Past, Michael Mandell as Ghost of Christmas Present/Sandwichboard Man, and Theara J. Ward as Ghost of Christmas Yet-to-be.

The next production of this show was the made for tv special, produced by Hallmark in 2004. This film was directed by Arthur Allan Seidelman. This production features Kelsey Grammer as Ebenezer Scrooge, Jason Alexander as Jacob Marley, Jesse L. Martin as the Ghost of Christmas Present, and Jennifer Love Hewitt as Scrooge’s former fiancée, Emily.

The next productions spanned over the years from 2016 to 2020, on London’s West End. Played at the Lyceum on Monday December 19, 2016. Which starred Robert Lindsay as Scrooge, Alex Gaumond as Bob Crachit, Carrie Hope Fletcher as Emily, Giovanna Fletcher as Mrs. Crachit, Madalena Alberto as Ghost of Christmas Past, and Hugh Maynard as Ghost of Christmas Present. In 2018, there was a cast change for Scrooge where Griff Rhys Jones took over the role. 2020: starring Brian Conley as Scrooge, Matt Willis as Bob Cratchit, Jacqueline Jossa as Emily/Ghost of Christmas Future, Lucie Jones as the Ghost of Christmas Past, Sandra Marvin as Mrs Fezziwigg, Martyn Ellis as Mr Fezziwigg, Cedric Neal as Ghost of Christmas Present, Jeremy Secomb as Jacob Marley, Rebecca Lock as Mrs Cratchit and Sam Oladeinde as Fred Anderson/Young Scrooge.

My personal favorite songs in this show are A Place Called Home, Finale Ultimo, and Abundance and Charity. My rating of this show is a 9.5/10!

here’s some links to check out surrounding the production.

Hello Everyone!

This is Meet at the Mezzanine!

Why do this?

  • Because I want to share my love of musical theatre with the public
  • I am blogging publicly, rather than keeping a personal journal because there might be a chance that whatever I post, has the potential to help someone learn more about Musical Theatre.
  • Some of the topics I will talk about are Racism in the industry (with special guests), a zoom seminar on how to create the perfect audition packet, how to find underused audition songs, composing musicals, and more!
  • I am so excited to get started on this!

Fun Facts about musical theatre!

  • Waitress is the first musical to have an all-female creative team!
  • In 2012, there were 12.4 million tickets sold for broadway shows!
  • Since Phantom of the Opera opened, they have created 300 custom masks!
  • The longest running show is… The Phantom of the Opera with over 11,400 since it opened it 1988.
  • Disney’s The Lion King is the first Broadway show to gross $1 Billion in revenue.
  • For the 2016-2017 season, total Broadway attendance reached 13,270,343 people, and the shows grossed $1,449,399,149. This was the highest grossing season in Broadway history, and the second-best attended.
  • Norm Lewis made history by being the first African-American actor to perform the titular role!
  • It took over 37,000 hours (the equivalent of about 4.22 years) to build all of the puppets and used in The Lion King musical.
  • The show-stopping song “Memory” from Cats has been recorded more than 150 times. 
  • Belle’s yellow ball gown in Beauty and the Beast is one of the most memorable costumes in musical theatre: The original gown worn by Susan Egan in the Broadway production weighed nearly 40 pounds and was a mix of hoop, silk, brocade, flowers, beading, and bows. The dress was so elaborate that it didn’t even fit down the stairwell to Egan’s dressing room!

My show recommendations this week!

  1. Daddy Long Legs (soundtrack available on YouTube, Spotify, and Apple Music)
  2. The Prom (OBC) (soundtrack available on YouTube, Spotify, and Apple Music)
  3. 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee (soundtrack available on Spotify, YouTube, and Apple Music)
  4. The Light in The Piazza (soundtrack available on YouTube, Spotify, and Apple Music)
  5. Dogfight (soundtrack available on YouTube, Spotify, and Apple Music)
  6. Bare: A Pop Opera (soundtrack available on YouTube, Spotify, and Apple Music)
  7. Wonderland (soundtrack available on YouTube, Spotify, and Apple Music)