Broadway Does Divas: A Cabaret

AUDITIONS OPEN FOR

March 27 at 8 PM

Broadway Does Divas is an upbeat cabaret-style performance tailor made for Macon in the social distancing era. Presented outdoors on our industrial fire-escape stage off of Mulberry Street, The Grand will blend Broadway-inspired vocal stylings with the eclectic atmosphere of an intimate lounge show in downtown Macon. The campy revue will be an ode to the prima donnas you know and love in their full glory like Aretha, Celine, Whitney, Barbra, and more. Get ready to belt your heart out and let our singers bask in the spotlight, honoring the famed voices that have defined the 20th century.

WHAT TO PREPARE

Please prepare about 16 bars of two contrasting songs from the same diva (i.e. if you are picking Whitney Houston, both songs need to be Whitney songs) either a cappella or using a backing track to be considered for the show. Creativity, humor and adding some Broadway flair is encouraged in interpreting and re-interpreting your diva, and song selection is not limited by gender. Performer selection may be especially competitive for this event, though we know Macon is bursting with valuable talent, due to the theme and the attention from being free and during the Cherry Blossom Festival. We have a list of diva suggestions below that we are considering if you’re unsure of what to sing. It’s easy with this theme to look up karaoke backing tracks online or sheet music to help you in your preparation.

Of course, we do also welcome other diva songs/ideas if you have an original one. Feel free to have as much fun in your audition video as you can – these can be fresh, campy, funny interpretations of these songs!

If you need help with audition material, please email us or message us on Facebook with questions.

SUGGESTED DIVA LIST:

Pop Divas:

~~Celine Dion~~ – TAKEN
Mariah Carey
Cher
Aretha Franklin
Whitney Houston
Madonna
Barbra Streisand
Diana Ross
Beyonce
Dolly Parton
Patti Labelle
Judy Garland

Broadway Divas:

Ethel Merman
Patti Lupone
Angela Lansbury
Gwen Verdon
Bernadette Peters
Chita Rivera
Liza Minelli
Julie Andrews
Audra McDonald
**Note for Broadway Divas: You can mix and match diva-esque roles that these divas have played, as several of these divas have played the same roles. We’ll know it when we see it, mmmkay?

HOW TO SUBMIT

Auditions will all be submitted virtually for the health and safety of our performers. There are two easy ways to submit your audition video:

Transfer the file to us directly. Fill out the audition form here and upload your file. Please note there is a 1 GB upload limit. If your file is larger, use the option below or contact us by email for more instructions.
Or upload to a streaming site like YouTube, Vimeo, Google Drive, etc. and send the link to Julia via email here or by private message on our Facebook page.

Please submit your audition by March 1st at the latest. With any questions about video submission or about the production, please feel free to reach out to Julia at rubens_ja@mercer.edu – she will be happy to talk through getting the video audition to us.

COMMITMENT FOR THE SHOW

Once you create your virtual audition, we should be in touch within three days with more information. If selected for the cast:

We will confirm your show material and with the music director so you will be able to begin practicing your song(s) on your own.
You will have two rehearsals scheduled at your convenience with the music director at The Grand Opera House: One on March 24 and one on March 25. These dates are flexible if you need to rehearse on a different day.
The show is March 27 at 8 PM, and there will be a brief technical rehearsal on our outdoor stage on the day of the performance.
Please be available on the rain date of the performance, March 28, as well in case of inclement weather.

WHAT WILL THE CABARET BE LIKE?

Well, the cabaret atmosphere is a little hard to describe… but a few words that might help would be a relaxed, bawdy variety performance. Oftentimes, cabaret is used as a stripped-down version of American musical theatre, where talented vocalists show off a few songs in pared-down staging.

Here are some highlights from the first fire escape cabaret we performed:

Our outdoor cabarets are trying to do “Broadway versions” of popular music as well as show tunes giving a more “Glee” feel and enhanced acting choices to your favorite songs. All musical numbers will absolutely be rehearsed and performed in a socially distanced manner, with a single vocalist on stage at a time and sanitation procedures in place between each song.

Here are some examples of cabaret staging that turns pop music into a Broadway-style performance: