A show set in a brothel? Risqué numbers? Sultry voices and sexy costumes?
Sounds very musical theatre!
After being in “RENT’s” infamous “contact” scene last year back at the University of Kent, I thought this would be nothing I couldn’t handle. Black lacy lingerie, smoky eyes and character shoes have become a necessity for any musical theatre showcase I’ve been in, especially if I’ve been cast in numbers from “Chicago” or “Sweet Charity!” My friends within the Musical Theatre Society at Kent are my closest friends at uni; it’s safe to say that I am missing each and every one of them! I knew that the American equivalent couldn’t be too different – surely the people would be just as overdramatic and charismatic.
One’s thing for sure, being cast in a show is a definite way to meet new people and make friends. So in the middle of a strange new city on the other side of the world, I knew that I would have to put myself out there. Back in August I decided to bite the bullet and audition to be in the autumn production – a showcase called “Off, Off Brothel” put on by the University of South Carolina’s musical theatre group Off Off Broadway. Interestingly, this showcase was raising awareness and money for the Polaris Project, an organization against sex trafficking. The aim was to open the eyes of the viewers to an important social issue whilst also showing the audience a bit of hidden talent lurking around the USC campus.
I was cast in two musical numbers with a few solo parts and I even got some lines. I’m not sure how to describe my character without being brutally blunt and putting it down in black and white; the character I played was called Gigi, also known as the head prostitute! Classic! Typecast much? Bet they only cast me because of my accent!
It turns out the show was a huge success. Not only did the society raise lots of money for the Polaris Project, but I got to meet some amazing, like-minded people and have a wail of a time rehearsing and performing. Although I’m still catching up on sleep from the dress and tech runs which lasted until ridiculous o’clock in the morning!
I’m hoping to audition for the spring musical next term,“Legally Blonde,” which I’m sure will be tremendous amounts of fun. But for now, I’m happy to have left my mark on USC’s Off-Off Broadway. This was purely down to the fact that I was nominated to lead the vocal warm-up one night of the show, so I decided to teach the cast the song lyrics, “I like the flowers, I like the daffodils, I like the mountains, I like the rolling hills and I like the fire-side when the lights are low, singing a do-wap a do-wap a do-wap-a,” which we do back at home as part of a round. Turns out these guys absolutely loved the song and have been singing it non-stop backstage during the shows trying to imitate my British accent.
I wonder how many of them actually know what a daffodil is, though?