West Side Story - Anita - 2008/04/21 20:03Hey y'all! It's been a while since I've been on here, hadn't it? What can I say, junior year takes over your life. Anyway, I've got an audition coming up In a bit for West Side Story and I'm aiming for Anita. As for songs, I'm really liking either "Buenos Aires" from Evita, but I'm totally open to suggestions. Monologues on the other hand, I'm totally lost. Can anyone thin of plays or musicals with characters similar to Anita? She's definitely one of my dream roles but I'm just happy to be in the show, it's one of my faves. Everybody wants me to play Graciella cuz apparently I have great chemistry with the guy we all know is gonna play Riff. (I was his wife in Xmas Carol) Also, I seem to be very good at playing a ditz. But I need to show them I can do more so I gotta find a killer monologue. Thanks in advance. Love y'all!
Post edited by: broadwaybaby09, at: 2008/04/23 10:38-Georgia
Current Show: West Side Story - Clarice Recent Shows: Carousel - Principal Dancer, Ensemble, A Christmas Carol - Lily, Charwoman, Charitable Gentleman, Principal Dancer, Ensemble; Rootabaga Stories-multiple roles; Joseph... Dreamcoat -Wives Chorus
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myshipp
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Re:West Side Story - Anita - 2008/04/21 20:38Anita was created by Chita Rivera, and she played a lot of similar characters. Maybe check some of her other shows out. I can think of lots of songs she sang: Nickie's parts in "Baby, Dream Your Dream" and "There's Gotta Be Something Better than This" from Sweet Charity, anything from Kiss of the Spiderwoman, even Rosie's songs from Bye Bye Birdie ("Spanish Rose" could show off an accent). She also created the role of Velma Kelly, but everybody should probably stay away from Chicago songs for awhile. Maybe some of those shows have monologue material, too, though I can't think of any offhand.
"One Hundred Easy Ways to Lose a Man" from Wonderful Town might also work. Ruth is not exactly like Anita, character-wise, but she is a belter and it is by the same composer as WSS.
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broadwaybaby09
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Re:West Side Story - Anita - 2008/04/22 21:21Thanks, I can't believe that I didn't think of Spanish Rose. All of those shows sound like great sources, I've got some serious research to do.-Georgia
Current Show: West Side Story - Clarice Recent Shows: Carousel - Principal Dancer, Ensemble, A Christmas Carol - Lily, Charwoman, Charitable Gentleman, Principal Dancer, Ensemble; Rootabaga Stories-multiple roles; Joseph... Dreamcoat -Wives Chorus
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JIJane
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Re:West Side Story - Anita - 2008/04/23 05:51Agree with the above and would avoid Webber and Evita - too modern. You want to show off your classic MT voice (not classicAL, just classic MT ).
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broadwaybaby09
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Re:West Side Story - Anita - 2008/04/23 10:37I'm really loving Spanish Rose but if I do use it, how much of the accent should I do? I'm not sure because its really key to the comedic effect of the song but I normally avoid accents in auditions, since that's the advice I always get.-Georgia
Current Show: West Side Story - Clarice Recent Shows: Carousel - Principal Dancer, Ensemble, A Christmas Carol - Lily, Charwoman, Charitable Gentleman, Principal Dancer, Ensemble; Rootabaga Stories-multiple roles; Joseph... Dreamcoat -Wives Chorus
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myshipp
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Re:West Side Story - Anita - 2008/04/23 12:05Okay, just listened to "Spanish Rose" for the first time in awhile, since I didn't remember a lot of it. It sounds like you do the intro part in your regular voice, so the casting people can hear what that sounds like before you switch to the accent.
I think in the case of West Side it would be great to show you can do an accent (I'm assuming you can!) since the females with singing solos are all Puerto Rican. Just don't chicken out! If you choose to do an accent, commit to it and make it as authentic and consistant as possible. If you only do it on a few words or just roll your r's a few times, the CD might wonder if you could pull it off for an entire role. Rosie is from a Hispanic family, so even though she doesn't normally speak with an accent, she should be able to adopt a convincing one.
Break a leg!
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broadwaybaby09
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Re:West Side Story - Anita - 2008/04/26 01:24Thanks, I think what I've decided to do is do an accent on some lines (esp. the ones with Spanish phrases) and some without. Luckily, I've been speaking Spanish my entire life so the accent comes pretty naturally. Plus, I can ad lib which is always helpful. Thanks again for all your help. Now I just need a monologue, any suggestions?-Georgia
Current Show: West Side Story - Clarice Recent Shows: Carousel - Principal Dancer, Ensemble, A Christmas Carol - Lily, Charwoman, Charitable Gentleman, Principal Dancer, Ensemble; Rootabaga Stories-multiple roles; Joseph... Dreamcoat -Wives Chorus
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MademoiselleMusicals
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Re:West Side Story - Anita - 2008/04/26 06:44I played Nickie inSweet Charity and Chita Riviera helped me so much.... Good luck, I went for a production of West Side but didn't get to sing or act, they kicked me out in the dancing.... which is digusting seeing as I danced in Sweet Charity! Anita is a dream role, so no way I'm letting them kill my confidence! Good luck!
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