h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Well, the slow march towards Canterbury Operatic Society's production of Kiss Me, Kate has begun. We're two rehearsals in, and things are not good. There has been a fascinating administrative mess-up (bot sure whether it's ours or not), which has meant that the rights holders seem to be confused about whether we're doing the original version or the updated version of the show. So we have a mixture of materials, and are still waiting to here which one they'll give us the whole lot for. Fingers firmly crossed for the updated version, which is what we wanted, but we can cope with the original.

Auditions were originally supposed to be today, but have been pushed back two weeks in the hope that we'll soon know what's going on and we can audition with the correct keys and arrangements of songs. I'm still not entirely sure which roles to go for, but I think I shall go for Bill Calhoun/Lucentio and the subordinate gangster. Both would be fun, but both would also stretch and challenge me. Quite happy with a smaller role or to be in the chorus, though.

We had a sing-though (of the old version) last week, and this week we tried to learn the chorus bits of the Act One Finale, as that's the one number that appears to be exactly the same in the two versions. Hopefully all will be clear by the next rehearsal, this coming Friday, and we can start work in confidence!

I can't recall what Bill Calhoun does in the story. The gangsters have the potential to steal the show - I'd go for one of them myself

with getting a consistent set of scores and libretti. Even if you do you'll probably find inconsistencies between them - I've spotted about a hundred in Jekyll - and the libretto and score are in the *same* book

Is that tea still hot? I could do with a cup.

You do always get inconsistencies, you're right. We had quite a number with Me and My Girl, but it was normally fairly obvious which one to go with.

The differences between the versions are many. There is one song that's in the new version but not the old, plus most of the songs have different arrangements, with a different division between chorus and principals etc. One of the characters is very different as well (from a doddery old man to a hugely successful General with presidential ambitions), with subtler differences with regard to the others.

Bill Calhoun is Lois' lover. He sings 'Bianca', and is a part of 'Why Can't You Behave' (more in the new version than the original), 'Tom Dick or Harry' and 'We Open in Venice'. The gangsters are clearly the best roles, though!

with the auditions, and hope everything gets sorted out with the versions, David .

Bill seems quite a fun part from the bits I've seen our lot rehearsing recently. And the gangsters might be good parts but we still had to pressgang some people into doing them - I don't know what it is with the men in our group (apart from the fact that there are so few of them).

Really? Practically every male with a pulse in our group will be going for the gangsters! Thankfully, the director wants a midele aged one and a young one, so at least I'd be in a smaller pool for the young one!

Bill does seem fun. I think I could do a lot with the part, and he's very likable.

I hope you get the part you want!

I know - I just don't understand it. And it's particularly frustrating when the few womens' parts are fought over tooth and nail. That's what concerns me a bit about the Scarlet Pimpernel - apparently there are lots of character parts for men...

Yep. One of my main aims now that I'm an official committee member is to make sure that future show choices are ones with lots of female parts - we have more talented women than talented men, so it seems only sensible!

Do you have many untalented of either gender?

No comment.

He's such a gentleman!

Well, quite aside from the question of whether any untalented people have crept in to the Society, any group of this nature will have a number of people who are great in the chorus (and you do need good people inthe chorus), but don't quite have what it takes to play a large part. We have more potential female principals than potential male principals in my opinion. Many more!

Do you do the play with American accents?

We will. This will be challenging - knowing how bad some American actors are at British accents, I don't want to be culpable of the same crime. Add in the additional problems that come with a range of different accents (NY, 'gangster' [ie Chicago, probably!] and generic Southern drawl) needed for the various characters and it becomes extra hard.

For the auditions, I am just going to go for relatively subtle accents. No drawling, no over-emphasis. Just alter key vowel sounds. Vowels are almost always the key to accents. Well, subtle for Bill (who is from New York). The gangster needs to be somewhat less subtle, but again, no drawling! Only the Southern general should drawl.

Any advice from the American readers of this thread? Anything you've noticed about New York and Chicago accents I should take into account. Am I right in thinking that New Yorkers generally have a faster pace of speech than Chicagoans?

For gangster speak, you can try substituting 'these' and 'those' with 'deeze' and 'doze'.

South Carolinians are the slowest speakers in the nation, followed by Texans, I think. And then people from Lake Woebegon.

What I noticed when I came back to the US after 15 years in England was how the southerns make two vowels where one usualy resides. Example (a football cheer):

Keeyick Thayat Bowel! Keeyick thayat bowel!

The accent is on the first syllable of each word.

A New York gangster ought properly to speak with a Brooklyn accent. It's not any faster than how East Lunnun talks, and is kind of nasal.

Central Park -- the 'par' is exactly as you'd pronounce the 'a' in 'flatten' with your British accent.

The problem with the gangsters is that we don't know where they're from. They currently 'work' in Baltimore, and once served time in Atlanta, but they could be from anywhere. I'll go with Brooklyn.

I shall certainly be singing 'de poet of dem all' for the gangster.

I said the "park" with a flat a and it sounded Liverpudlian. Am I doing something wrong?!