Paco's POV

Paco’s POV:
Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat (Week 5)

Francisco José “Paco” Cosió Marron

YAA is excited to have the return of a beloved blog column called Paco’s POV. Our wonderful Orchestra Manager, Francisco José “Paco” Cosió-Marron, will be writing these regularly to give you a bit more background on the production we are currently working on, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat. Check back often to get your fill of Paco’s POV!

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Good morning all!

Here is an interesting tidbit of history evoked by one of MCYO's pieces in the repertoire of this fall's concert that I thought you might find interesting and enjoy. We are doing the overture to Adolphe Adam's opera: Si j'étais roi (if I were a king.)

 If you have had the opportunity to follow the music scene at the Strathmore the past few years, you may remember that the Young Artists of America did a musical, Les Misérables, based on a Victor Hugo novel of the same name that told the story of life in Paris between 1815 and the early 1830s. In many ways, it details the youth of Adolphe Adam and the miseries that he survived to become a prolific composer of operas and ballets. As the saying goes: “that which does not kill us makes us stronger” may well have applied to our composer.

He was a mere 12 year old when Wellington beat Napoleon at Waterloo and brought down the French Empire which caused Paris several years of incredibly difficult economic times and started a series of “revolutions” which culminated in Adam’s life with the 1848 revolt that shut down the theaters and cultural scene in Paris and across France leaving our composer destitute with massive debts that he attempted to pay off in the last eight years of his life. In between these cataclysmic events he wrote many popular numbers for vaudevilles in his early years, a large number of piano arrangements, transcriptions and potpourris of favorite operatic arias, and numerous light songs and ballads as well as several grand operas and ballets.

In France, during Adam's lifetime, Le chalet was his most popular opera. Other operas he wrote included Le postillon de Lonjumeau, Le toréador and Si j'étais roi. The last being a tongue-in-cheek commentary on how life might have otherwise been, if only.....

Although he was a prolific composer of opera, Adam wrote ballet music even more fluently. He commented that it was fun, rather than work. Giselle is the best known though he wrote four others that have survived till today and are performed by ballet companies around the world including La jolie fille de Gand, La filleule des fées and Le corsaire. Little of Adam's religious music has entered the regular repertory, with the exception of his Cantique de Noël, "Minuit, chrétiens", known in English as "O Holy Night".

His greatest operatic success, Le Chalet, actually opened just a year and a half after the barricades of the June rebellion of 1832 that Hugo highlights and uses as the denouement in his novel occurred. That he continued to compose through all that befell him and Paris speaks volumes to his strength of character and his deep creative desire.

The prospects of cross pollination between YAA and MCYO grow as both of these organizations continue to flower and develop.

Enjoy!

P

Paco's POV

Paco’s POV:
Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat (Week 4)

Francisco José “Paco” Cosió Marron

YAA is excited to have the return of a beloved blog column called Paco’s POV. Our wonderful Orchestra Manager, Francisco José “Paco” Cosió-Marron, will be writing these regularly to give you a bit more background on the production we are currently working on, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat. Check back often to get your fill of Paco’s POV!

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My dear YAA Community,

By now you should have heard/listened to a rendition of our Fall production several times to get it in your ears, on your lips and fingers and in your soul. And, I am sure, you are practicing. Here is one YouTube link of the whole opus:

Here are some fun factoids that will give the scale and breadth of impact that our musical and biblical themes have had on humanity and civilization. From Genesis to Judges, there's hardly a story in the books of the Old Testament which hasn't inspired an opera or oratorio, or a verse that hasn't been set to music. It is good to remember that for a greater part of the last five millennia, a majority of people did not know how to read and write and, if they were to be reached by “influencers” of their day, it was done through the arts, paintings, buildings, theater and music. Hence ‘civilization’ is reflected in the pyramids, temples, basilica and cathedrals that were built and adorned with gorgeous art and which served as a venue for the musical compositions that related the stories and ideas to the masses.

Just in the past 500 years, composers created theater and oratorios retelling the stories of the bible in a way their audiences could relate to. Some were born from the “new found” interest in lands and discoveries of their time. Étienne Méhul: La Légende de Joseph en Egypte was written after Napoleon's expedition to Egypt in 1798, when all of France was intrigued by this ancient land and its stories. Méhul’s opera was a critical success and in 1810 it was awarded a prize for the best piece staged by the Opéra-Comique in the previous decade. It was rarely staged however until there was a new French production in Paris to mark the bicentenary of the French Revolution in 1989. This invasion by the French in North Africa rendered a critical clue to our pasts with the find of the Rosetta stone which allowed folks to translate and make comprehensible ancient texts.

The Rosetta Stone is a granodiorite stele inscribed with three versions of a decree issued in Memphis, Egypt in 196 BC during the Ptolemaic dynasty on behalf of King Ptolemy V Epiphanes. The top and middle texts are in Ancient Egyptian using hieroglyphic and Demotic scripts respectively, while the bottom is in Ancient Greek. The decree has only minor differences between the three versions, making the Rosetta Stone key to deciphering the Egyptian scripts.

Our story was taken up about two centuries prior to these events by Handel who wrote an oratorio titled: Joseph and his Brethren which was based on Joseph’s complicated filial relationships, as told in the final thirteen chapters of the Book of Genesis, contains all the makings of good theater: jealousy, violence, sexual predation, trickery, imprisonment, mistaken identities, deception, and an exotic locale. Handel and his librettist, James Miller, made the story too complicated to be recounted in a single musical evening, and the glorious music of Handel’s oratorio on the subject, Joseph and His Brethren, is seldom played.

Webber and Rice knew their target audience very well and created an opus with lyrical themes to cover most popular interests and kept the story clipped and short which is why this production continues to be performed. Now PRACTICE.

See you soon.

Paco

Paco's POV

Paco’s POV:
Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat (Week 3)

Francisco José “Paco” Cosió Marron

YAA is excited to have the return of a beloved blog column called Paco’s POV. Our wonderful Orchestra Manager, Francisco José “Paco” Cosió-Marron, will be writing these regularly to give you a bit more background on the production we are currently working on, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat. Check back often to get your fill of Paco’s POV!

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Greetings YAA Community!

I am loathe to distract you from what 'I am sure' is a day of study, reading and PRACTICE but since Mr. Sanz raised the question yesterday which made it a bit evident that you hadn't read the script synopsis before practice, I thought I would break down some of the queries he posed. He asked if anyone could name the colors on Joseph's gold lined 'technicolor' coat. As you don't have the script/score here they are:

The colors of Joseph’s coat: “It was red and yellow and green and brown and scarlet and black and ochre and peach and ruby and olive and violet and fawn and lilac and gold and chocolate and mauve and cream and crimson and silver and rose and azure and lemon and russet and grey and purple and white and pink and orange and red and yellow and green and brown and blue. 

Did you know that Jacob and his sons are mentioned and honored in all three great religions of the “book” (the stories of the Torah, Pentateuch, and Koran): Judaism, Christianity and Islam. The Muslims hold as a holy site Jacob’s well in Nablus as well as the home of Abraham in Hebron. They know Jacob as Yaqub ibn Ishaaq ibn Ibrahim (Jacob son of Isaac, grandson of Abraham.) Jacob’s twelve sons lend their names to the twelve tribes of Israel and, as Mr. Sanz was most interested in listings yesterday at rehearsal, here are the 12 brothers in order of birth: Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Dan, Nepthali (sometimes spelled with an a instead of the e), Gad, Asher, Issachar, Zebulon, Joseph and Benjamin. Joseph was the first born of Jacob’s favorite wife, Rachel (he had four wives: Leah, Bilhah, Zilpah, and Rachel) who bore her two sons (Joseph and Benjamin) late in Jacob’s life.

I hope this will tickle your interest today. Remember the original story of Joseph can be found in most bibles in Genesis 37:2 thru 50:26.

Enjoy a restful and mentally stimulating day.

Paco

Paco's POV

Paco’s POV:
Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat (Week 2)

Francisco José “Paco” Cosió Marron

YAA is excited to have the return of a beloved blog column called Paco’s POV. Our wonderful Orchestra Manager, Francisco José “Paco” Cosió-Marron, will be writing these regularly to give you a bit more background on the production we are currently working on, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat. Check back often to get your fill of Paco’s POV!

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My Dear YAA Community,

It was a pleasure getting together with you and hearing you "live." We have a very interesting musical adventure ahead of us and not much time to get the material under thumb, breath, heart, mind and soul so please take the time to read the synopsis below, listen to the musical and practice. We have only 10 rehearsals and just under 7 weeks to get this prepared (and three of those rehearsals will be with the singers) which is a very compressed time frame. I am sending you the synopsis again so that you can know the story that you are telling through music.

Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat (often colloquially known as Joseph) is a musical comedy with lyrics by Tim Rice and music by Andrew Lloyd Webber. The story is based on the "coat of many colors" story of Joseph from the Bible's Book of Genesis. The show has only a few lines of spoken dialogue; it is almost entirely sung-through. Its family-friendly story, familiar themes and catchy music have resulted in numerous stagings.

The original story of Joseph can be found in most bibles in Genesis 37:2 thru 50:26

Synopsis of the script and score of this musical is from Wikipedia

Act I

A Narrator opens the show by introducing Joseph, the dreamer ("Prologue"). Joseph sings an inspiring, but seemingly meaningless song to the audience ("Any Dream Will Do"). The Narrator then draws the audience's attention to Joseph's father Jacob and his 12 sons ("Jacob and Sons"). Jacob favors Joseph over his other sons, and he gives Joseph a multi-colored coat to show his affection for him. Joseph is ecstatic about this gift ("Joseph's Coat"), while his brothers look on with jealousy.

The brothers’ jealousy is compounded by Joseph's dreams, which suggest that he is destined to rule over them ("Joseph's Dreams"). To stop this from happening, they try to kill him by throwing him down a well, before changing their minds and selling him as a slave to some passing Ishmaelites. The Narrator comments on how powerless Joseph was to stop this ("Poor, Poor Joseph").

To hide what they have done, Joseph's brothers and their wives tell Jacob that his beloved son has been killed. As proof, they show him Joseph's coat, which they have torn to pieces and covered in goat's blood ("One More Angel in Heaven"). When the devastated Jacob exits, the brothers and wives cheerfully celebrate Joseph's departure (“Hoedown”).

Meanwhile, Joseph is taken to Egypt, where he is bought as a slave by the wealthy Potiphar. He works hard and is promoted, eventually running the household. Joseph catches the eye of Mrs Potiphar and although he turns down her advances, Potiphar sees them together and jumps to the wrong conclusion ("Potiphar"). Heartbroken, he throws Joseph in jail.

A miserable Joseph laments his situation ("Close Every Door"). Two prisoners, both former servants of the Pharaoh, are put in his cell. Joseph interprets their strange dreams and predicts the Butler will return to Pharaoh's service, while the Baker will be executed. As Joseph questions his predictions, the other prisoners encourage Joseph to follow his own dreams ("Go, Go, Go Joseph").

Act II

The Narrator opens the second act with news that there's a glimmer of light for Joseph in jail: Pharaoh himself had a run of crazy dreams and nobody can interpret them (“Pharaoh Story”). Pharaoh's (now freed) Butler tells him of Joseph's skills deciphering dreams ("Poor, Poor Pharaoh"). Pharaoh has Joseph brought to him and describes his dream involving seven fat cows, seven skinny cows, seven healthy ears of corn, and seven dead ears of corn ("Song of the King").

Joseph deduces that there will be seven plentiful years of crops followed by seven years of famine ("Pharaoh's Dreams Explained"). Impressed with what he hears, Pharaoh puts Joseph in charge of preparations for the famine and the former slave becomes the second most powerful man in Egypt, Pharaoh's right-hand man ("Stone the Crows").

Meanwhile, Joseph's family back home is now starving and poor, having lost their farm and living off of scraps in a brothel. Joseph's brothers regret what they did to him and how they lied to their father, thinking that things might have turned out differently if Joseph was still with them ("Those Canaan Days"). Hearing that Egypt still has food, they travel there to beg for supplies ("The Brothers Come to Egypt").

In Egypt, the brothers beg for food from Joseph, not realizing who he is ("Grovel, Grovel"). Joseph gives them sacks of food, but plants a golden cup in the one belonging to Benjamin, his youngest brother. When the brothers attempt to depart, Joseph stops them, accusing them of theft. Each brother empties his sack ("Who's the Thief?”), and when the cup is found in Benjamin's sack Joseph accuses him of stealing. The other brothers beg Joseph to take them prisoner instead and let Benjamin go free ("Benjamin Calypso").

Joseph sees that his brothers have changed and reveals who he really is ("Joseph All the Time"). Joseph sends for his father Jacob ("Jacob in Egypt"). Upon meeting Jacob for the first time in years, Joseph sings "Any Dream Will Do" again, and the lyrics are revealed to be a vague overview of the story. Jacob gives Joseph his coat back ("Give Me My Colored Coat")

Thank you for your enthusiasm and cooperation today as we got most administrative issues resolved. See you on Thursday. Remember, according to the COVID protocols YAA administration has set up and presented in the informational meeting Friday evening, if you are absent for "any illness" that may have similar symptoms to COVID you must get a negative result PCR test before being allowed back in to rehearse. These often take 48 to 72 hours for the results to return, so plan accordingly.

Biblical stories have served as the basis or platform for many musicals including Webber and Rice’s Jesus Christ Superstar, Stephen Schwartz’s Godspell, The Prince of Egypt and Children of Eden, Richard Rodgers and Martin Charnin’s Two by Two (Danny Kaye played Noah), King David by Menken and Rice, Les Dix Commandements, a French-language musical comedy written by Élie Chouraqui and Pascal Obispo just to name a few. The tradition goes back to before Handel’s The Queen of Sheba and has been a staple of both the theater and church productions ever since.

Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat (often colloquially known as Joseph) is a musical comedy with lyrics by Tim Rice and music by Andrew Lloyd Webber. The story is based on the "coat of many colors" story of Joseph from the Torah, Qur’an, and the Bible's Book of Genesis. The show has only a few lines of spoken dialogue; it is almost entirely sung-through (think popular or comic opera). Its family-friendly story, familiar themes, and catchy music have resulted in numerous stagings.

The original story of Joseph can be found in most bibles in Genesis 37:2 thru 50:26

Synopsis of the script and score of this musical is from Wikipedia

Act I

A Narrator opens the show by introducing Joseph, the dreamer ("Prologue"). Joseph sings an inspiring, but seemingly meaningless song to the audience ("Any Dream Will Do"). The Narrator then draws the audience's attention to Joseph's father Jacob and his 12 sons ("Jacob and Sons"). Jacob favors Joseph over his other sons, and he gives Joseph a multi-colored coat to show his affection for him. Joseph is ecstatic about this gift ("Joseph's Coat"), while his brothers look on with jealousy.

The brothers’ jealousy is compounded by Joseph's dreams, which suggest that he is destined to rule over them ("Joseph's Dreams"). To stop this from happening, they try to kill him by throwing him down a well, before changing their minds and selling him as a slave to some passing Ishmaelites. The Narrator comments on how powerless Joseph was to stop this ("Poor, Poor Joseph").

To hide what they have done, Joseph's brothers and their wives tell Jacob that his beloved son has been killed. As proof, they show him Joseph's coat, which they have torn to pieces and covered in goat's blood ("One More Angel in Heaven"). When the devastated Jacob exits, the brothers and wives cheerfully celebrate Joseph's departure.

Meanwhile, Joseph is taken to Egypt, where he is bought as a slave by the wealthy Potiphar. He works hard and is promoted, eventually running the household. Joseph catches the eye of Mrs Potiphar and although he turns down her advances, Potiphar sees them together and jumps to the wrong conclusion ("Potiphar"). Heartbroken, he throws Joseph in jail.

A miserable Joseph laments his situation ("Close Every Door"). Two prisoners, both former servants of the Pharaoh, are put in his cell. Joseph interprets their strange dreams and predicts the Butler will return to Pharaoh's service, while the Baker will be executed. As Joseph questions his predictions, the other prisoners encourage Joseph to follow his own dreams ("Go, Go, Go Joseph").

Act II

The Narrator opens the second act with news that there's a glimmer of light for Joseph in jail: Pharaoh himself had a run of crazy dreams and nobody can interpret them (“Pharaoh Story”). Pharaoh's (now freed) Butler tells him of Joseph's skills deciphering dreams ("Poor, Poor Pharaoh"). Pharaoh has Joseph brought to him and describes his dream involving seven fat cows, seven skinny cows, seven healthy ears of corn, and seven dead ears of corn ("Song of the King").

Joseph deduces that there will be seven plentiful years of crops followed by seven years of famine ("Pharaoh's Dreams Explained"). Impressed with what he hears, Pharaoh puts Joseph in charge of preparations for the famine and the former slave becomes the second most powerful man in Egypt, Pharaoh's right-hand man ("Stone the Crows").

Meanwhile, Joseph's family back home is now starving and poor, having lost their farm and living off of scraps in a brothel. Joseph's brothers regret what they did to him and how they lied to their father, thinking that things might have turned out differently if Joseph was still with them ("Those Canaan Days"). Hearing that Egypt still has food, they travel there to beg for supplies ("The Brothers Come to Egypt").

In Egypt, the brothers beg for food from Joseph, not realizing who he is ("Grovel, Grovel"). Joseph gives them sacks of food, but plants a golden cup in the one belonging to Benjamin, his youngest brother. When the brothers attempt to depart, Joseph stops them, accusing them of theft. Each brother empties his sack ("Who's the Thief?”), and when the cup is found in Benjamin's sack Joseph accuses him of stealing. The other brothers beg Joseph to take them prisoner instead and let Benjamin go free.

Joseph sees that his brothers have changed and reveals who he really is ("Joseph All the Time"). Joseph sends for his father Jacob ("Jacob in Egypt"). Jacob gives Joseph his coat back ("Give Me My Colored Coat").

Getting this show into our ears, minds and souls is going to take very focused time and effort. As that is the one thing we are short of, TIME, please take a moment to listen to the music and become familiar with the story before rehearsal tomorrow.

We are so looking forward to seeing, hearing and evolving with you this fall. It will be an amazing experience.

Paco

Paco's POV

Paco’s POV:
Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat (Week 1)

Francisco José “Paco” Cosió Marron

YAA is excited to have the return of a beloved blog column called Paco’s POV. Our wonderful Orchestra Manager, Francisco José “Paco” Cosió-Marron, will be writing these regularly to give you a bit more background on the production we are currently working on, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat. Check back often to get your fill of Paco’s POV!

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My Dear YAA Community,

Welcome to the marvelous adventure we will prepare (live and in person) this fall for presentation at the The Clarice in November. As we are on a short schedule, we have to hit the ground running!

There is much to be said about this show including talking about the fun that Webber and Rice had creating it. They used several "styles" of music including the Rock and Pop of the King, French cabaret, western ballad, and more. If you have not yet listened to the show, there are several renditions available on YouTube including the one below:

Biblical stories have served as the basis or platform for many musicals including Webber and Rice’s Jesus Christ Superstar, Stephen Schwartz’s Godspell, The Prince of Egypt and Children of Eden, Richard Rodgers and Martin Charnin’s Two by Two (Danny Kaye played Noah), King David by Menken and Rice, Les Dix Commandements, a French-language musical comedy written by Élie Chouraqui and Pascal Obispo just to name a few. The tradition goes back to before Handel’s The Queen of Sheba and has been a staple of both the theater and church productions ever since.

Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat (often colloquially known as Joseph) is a musical comedy with lyrics by Tim Rice and music by Andrew Lloyd Webber. The story is based on the "coat of many colors" story of Joseph from the Torah, Qur’an, and the Bible's Book of Genesis. The show has only a few lines of spoken dialogue; it is almost entirely sung-through (think popular or comic opera). Its family-friendly story, familiar themes, and catchy music have resulted in numerous stagings.

The original story of Joseph can be found in most bibles in Genesis 37:2 thru 50:26

Synopsis of the script and score of this musical is from Wikipedia

Act I

A Narrator opens the show by introducing Joseph, the dreamer ("Prologue"). Joseph sings an inspiring, but seemingly meaningless song to the audience ("Any Dream Will Do"). The Narrator then draws the audience's attention to Joseph's father Jacob and his 12 sons ("Jacob and Sons"). Jacob favors Joseph over his other sons, and he gives Joseph a multi-colored coat to show his affection for him. Joseph is ecstatic about this gift ("Joseph's Coat"), while his brothers look on with jealousy.

The brothers’ jealousy is compounded by Joseph's dreams, which suggest that he is destined to rule over them ("Joseph's Dreams"). To stop this from happening, they try to kill him by throwing him down a well, before changing their minds and selling him as a slave to some passing Ishmaelites. The Narrator comments on how powerless Joseph was to stop this ("Poor, Poor Joseph").

To hide what they have done, Joseph's brothers and their wives tell Jacob that his beloved son has been killed. As proof, they show him Joseph's coat, which they have torn to pieces and covered in goat's blood ("One More Angel in Heaven"). When the devastated Jacob exits, the brothers and wives cheerfully celebrate Joseph's departure.

Meanwhile, Joseph is taken to Egypt, where he is bought as a slave by the wealthy Potiphar. He works hard and is promoted, eventually running the household. Joseph catches the eye of Mrs Potiphar and although he turns down her advances, Potiphar sees them together and jumps to the wrong conclusion ("Potiphar"). Heartbroken, he throws Joseph in jail.

A miserable Joseph laments his situation ("Close Every Door"). Two prisoners, both former servants of the Pharaoh, are put in his cell. Joseph interprets their strange dreams and predicts the Butler will return to Pharaoh's service, while the Baker will be executed. As Joseph questions his predictions, the other prisoners encourage Joseph to follow his own dreams ("Go, Go, Go Joseph").

Act II

The Narrator opens the second act with news that there's a glimmer of light for Joseph in jail: Pharaoh himself had a run of crazy dreams and nobody can interpret them (“Pharaoh Story”). Pharaoh's (now freed) Butler tells him of Joseph's skills deciphering dreams ("Poor, Poor Pharaoh"). Pharaoh has Joseph brought to him and describes his dream involving seven fat cows, seven skinny cows, seven healthy ears of corn, and seven dead ears of corn ("Song of the King").

Joseph deduces that there will be seven plentiful years of crops followed by seven years of famine ("Pharaoh's Dreams Explained"). Impressed with what he hears, Pharaoh puts Joseph in charge of preparations for the famine and the former slave becomes the second most powerful man in Egypt, Pharaoh's right-hand man ("Stone the Crows").

Meanwhile, Joseph's family back home is now starving and poor, having lost their farm and living off of scraps in a brothel. Joseph's brothers regret what they did to him and how they lied to their father, thinking that things might have turned out differently if Joseph was still with them ("Those Canaan Days"). Hearing that Egypt still has food, they travel there to beg for supplies ("The Brothers Come to Egypt").

In Egypt, the brothers beg for food from Joseph, not realizing who he is ("Grovel, Grovel"). Joseph gives them sacks of food, but plants a golden cup in the one belonging to Benjamin, his youngest brother. When the brothers attempt to depart, Joseph stops them, accusing them of theft. Each brother empties his sack ("Who's the Thief?”), and when the cup is found in Benjamin's sack Joseph accuses him of stealing. The other brothers beg Joseph to take them prisoner instead and let Benjamin go free.

Joseph sees that his brothers have changed and reveals who he really is ("Joseph All the Time"). Joseph sends for his father Jacob ("Jacob in Egypt"). Jacob gives Joseph his coat back ("Give Me My Colored Coat").

Getting this show into our ears, minds and souls is going to take very focused time and effort. As that is the one thing we are short of, TIME, please take a moment to listen to the music and become familiar with the story before rehearsal tomorrow.

We are so looking forward to seeing, hearing and evolving with you this fall. It will be an amazing experience.

Paco

Leayne's POV: Into the Woods

BY LEAYNE DEMPSEY, YAA’S DRAMATURG FOR INTO THE WOODS

In advance for this weekend’s premiere of Into the Woods, Leayne Dempsey, our production Dramaturg, brings us this fascinating take in her blog column, Leayne’s POV. Read it below and get your tickets for this weekend’s premiere at www.yaa.org/tickets.

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Into the Woods

This spring, Young Artists of America entered into the fairytale world of Stephen Sondheim’s, Into the Woods. This “fairytale musical quest,” introduces us to two new characters: The Baker and his Wife, who journey alongside timeless classics such as: Cinderella, Jack in the Beanstalk, Rapunzel, and Little Red Riding Hood. 

As the dramaturg for this show, my responsibility was to provide historical context for our company of performers. From learning about the Brothers Grimm Museum and the Grimm’s fairy tales, to a virtual fairy tale tour of Rapunzel’s tower in Germany, to Sondheim’s musical composition style, we used our virtual setting as an opportunity to explore what the world had to offer to this creative process.

Exploring “Happily Ever After” in 2021

At the start of the show, the audience is introduced to the three main storylines all at once. Immediately, the audience learns of each character’s desire, the thing they wish for more than anything. Sondheim seamlessly uses the music to transition between characters and the commencement of their journeys. This is the moment, he describes, when the audience is at, “the edge of the diving board, and ready to go.” As their worlds collide in the woods, we quickly realize that this “fairytale quest” is not what we thought it was, and we are taken on a journey of what it means to live happily ever after.

So, what does it really mean to live happily ever after? Does it mean that we get what we’ve wished for? Do we need others to get to our happily ever after, or can we get there on our own? In 2021, these questions have become even more prevalent as we live our lives through a historic pandemic. The changes in our everyday routines, the interrupted plans of our celebrations, and the postponement of opportunities we felt were once in a lifetime, make the idea of being “out of the woods” and into our “ever after” even more palpable, and possibly even more desirable.

Learning that We’re All Connected

And maybe, it’s the second act that we need to see and hear the most. (Don’t worry, no spoilers here.) It’s the moment when we realize it takes more than ourselves to get to where we want to be. The moment when one becomes two, and when your dreams and wishes become as important as my own. Into the Woods is a beautifully woven musical that reveals that we  are all connected, and despite our ambitions to succeed alone, we have to take the journey together.

This creative team has worked tirelessly to create this production. All of the rehearsals, sound mixing, filming, and editing have culminated into a stellar debut of shear talent. So I invite you to come into the woods with us, let yourself be as enchanted with this story as we have been this spring. Who knows, you may even find that you too wish for something more than anything.

Sincerely, 

Leayne C. Dempsey

Dramaturg, YAA production of Into the Woods

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Cited Source: 

Hobson, F. (2016, May 30). Into The Woods: Composer Stephen Sondheim Interview. Retrieved from https://thecarousel.com/beauty/fashion/celeb-style/woods-composer-stephen-sondheim-reveals-score-lyrics-behind-musical-masterpiece/

HIRING: YAA Alumni Engagement Intern

Are you our new YAA Alumni Engagement Intern?

Forward-thinking, fast paced performing arts non-profit, based at Strathmore Music Center in North Bethesda, MD, is seeking an alumni engagement intern with a strong interest in arts marketing and development. Young Artists of America at Strathmore (YAA), brings professional-level performance and training opportunities to some of the most talented young performing artists in the Mid-Atlantic.

The intern will assist with marketing and development tasks targeted at increasing YAA’s engagement with its growing alumni and alumni parent community.

Responsibilities include but are not limited to:

• College graduate

Engaging with alumni on social media

• Helping plan and organize alumni-engagement events

• Developing a calendar of alumni-engagement activities

• Creating an alumni database

The ideal candidate will be a creative thinker, have strong research and writing skills, be comfortable working with new databases and software, have excellent oral communication skills, and be proactive in follow-through of timely work. A YAA alum is strongly preferred.

Students applying for this internship should be undergraduate, graduate students, or recent graduates with an interest in arts administration. Work with Word, Excel, and Google Drive is expected. Previous work with Vendini, Tessitura or similar database software is highly desirable.

This internship is non-salary, but a modest honorarium is available. Parking available; average of 10 hours per week, including occasional evenings and weekends for performances and special events.

For more information on our organization, visit YAA.org.

Send resume and cover letter to: lisa@yaa.org.

MATILDA at Olney Theatre Center Spotlights YAA Talent

YAA students, Ellie Coffey and Ella Coulson on Opening Night of MATILDA

Until July 28th, Olney Theatre Center will be performing MATILDA. We here at Young Artists of America are particularly excited about this production because 7 YAA-affiliated creatives are part of the show. This includes two current students (Ellie Coffey and Ella Coulson), two YAA Alum ( Tiziano D’Affuso and Michael Mainwaring), and three current/recent YAA faculty members (Rayanne Gonzales, Tracy Lynn Olivera, and Chris Youstra). On July 4th, 70 of our students attended the performance.

To honor this great relationship with Olney Theatre Center, we sat down with their Associate Artistic Director of Music Theatre and MATILDA’s Music Director, Chris Youstra (who was recently profiled in The Washington Post by Nelson Pressley), to learn more about the show and what he loves about YAA.

Chris Youstra

Why did you all choose this production now?

We thought it would be a fun summer show for our audiences! Jason (Loewith, Olney’s Artistic Director) and I are both big Roald Dahl fans and Tim Minchin's (MATILDA’s Composer and Lyricist) music is so much fun.

Have you found a certain quality in working with the YAA alum and current students in the production? If so, can you elaborate?

YAA alumni tend to be VERY professional and quite talented singers. I have been impressed with all of them!!!

For whom is this production best suited?

Probably for children who are at least 7 or 8 but we are finding that adults enjoy it a lot as well. The humor is so smart and we have top actors in this production (as we try for all of our productions).

To our students reading this looking to get cast in your next productions, what would you tell them?

Continue to work in all 3 disciplines of singing, acting AND dancing and make sure to show off your own uniqueness in the audition. Directors want talented actors but also interesting people as well.

Anything else you'd like to articulate about YAA and Olney's partnership?

We always love having you join us -- your work is wonderful and I always enjoy your performances!!!!

70 YAA students at the July 4th show

YAA Good Neighbor Grant from the Jack Kent Cooke Foundation

Young Artists of America at Strathmore Among 12 DC Area Nonprofits Awarded $250,000 Good Neighbor Grants from the Jack Kent Cooke Foundation

Targeted funding will help 7,500 local students pursue high-quality academic programs, college access initiatives, and arts education

Lansdowne, VA — Today the Jack Kent Cooke Foundation announced that Young Artists of America at Strathmore is among the 12 nonprofit organizations from Virginia, Maryland, and Washington, DC that will receive a total of $250,000 from its annual Good Neighbor Grant program. Since 2012, the Foundation has provided 74 Good Neighbor Grants totaling over $1.7 million to 57 local youth-serving organizations. The 2019 Good Neighbor Grant recipients will collectively serve over 7,500 students in a broad variety of programs focused on providing high-quality academic programs, college access initiatives, and arts education.

Young Artists of America at Strathmore — is awarded $25,000 to support the Reach for the Stars program, which awards scholarships for participation in the Summer Performing Arts Intensives (SPAI) to enable promising young performing artists from low- and moderate-income families to study with top teaching artists. Young Artists of America at Strathmore offers world-class training in a professional and nurturing environment, providing a gateway for students to reach the highest levels of professional success in their chosen field of study.

“Though we have a national focus, the Foundation remains committed to supporting high-ability students in our own backyard,” said Seppy Basili, executive director of the Foundation. “Students who have the potential to achieve at a higher level need opportunities to reach that next level of academic excellence. The Foundation is proud to support high-quality programs in our region through the Good Neighbor Grant program.”

A detailed listing of 2019 Good Neighbor Grant recipients is below. Programs marked with an asterisk(*) represent continued Foundation investment in a program or organization.

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The Jack Kent Cooke Foundation is dedicated to advancing the education of exceptionally promising students who have financial need. Since 2000, the Foundation has awarded $190 million in scholarships to nearly 2,500 students from 8th grade through graduate school, along with comprehensive counseling and other support services. The Foundation has also provided over $100 million in grants to organizations that serve such students. www.jkcf.org  

YAACompany Performed with Kristin Chenoweth!

On Monday night, dreams came true. In case you missed it, students from our YAACompany performed alongside the Broadway legend, Kristin Chenoweth, at her Strathmore concert. The students rehearsed with Ms. Chenoweth for nearly two hours before the evening show. They posed for photos and got to speak with her about her incredible career. In addition to performing two songs with her on stage, she spent a significant portion of the show discussing how inspired she was by all of them and the YAA program. We couldn’t be more honored and excited about this incredible moment!

Read the glowing Broadway World review of the show here and browse through photos of the rehearsal and show below.

Photos by Carmelita Watkinson

Young Artists of America Named: "Best Performing Arts Education for Young Artists"

We are thrilled to announce that we have been named “Best Performing Arts Education for Young Artists” by Maryland Theatre Guide’s Readers’ Choice Awards. An enormous thank you to everyone who voted for us! We won by miles thanks to you! Now, when you’re talking about YAA, you can officially say, “we’re the best!”. ;)

Want to help us win again? Voting for Washington City Paper’s Best Of DC Reader’s Poll ends March 3rd. Vote for us for “Best Summer Camp” in the People & Places Category here.

Thank you!!!!!

Les Mis Inspires Activism Off the Stage

We’re Launching Our “Hear the People Sing” Civic Engagement Project in Tandem with Our Spring Production of Les Miserables

We are proud to announce that the Greater Washington Foundation’s (GWF) Donors InVesting in the Arts (DIVAS) Fund has awarded them a grant for a civic engagement social media project titled "Hear the People Sing!" The project will take place in conjunction with YAA's spring production of Les Miserables at the Music Center at Strathmore on March 16, 2019 at 3pm.

Titled after one of the most rousing songs in the score, YAA’s “Hear the People Sing!” project will examine the themes in Les Miserables to inspire students to make connections between the social challenges in Victor Hugo’s time and those in today’s world. Whereas young people during the French Revolution saw injustice between populations and classes and decided to take action through insurgencies, this project will empower YAA students to use non-violent means to identify the injustices seen both in Les Miserables’ and in modern time — including immigration, class inequity, gender-based oppression, and imperfect justice. Peaceful methods of engagement and dialogue will be modeled by teachers and encouraged throughout the musical theatre rehearsal process, as well as throughout the social media component of the project.

Specifically, YAA artistic staff will lead student group reflection and social media journaling, primarily via Instagram posts. YAA staff will also create and post a “students voices” video of final lessons learned that will be made available on their YouTube channel, and an edited version displayed on screen before the performance for audience members to participate with as well. Community members can follow along with the project by searching #HearthePeopleSingYAA and #WhoAmIYAA on social media platforms.

"It is YAA’s hope that this project will deepen students’ understanding of the material we are performing, as well as spark additional dialogue among their peers about contemporary issues," says YAA's Artistic Director, Rolando Sanz. "We are incredibly grateful to GWF's DIVAS."

The final production on March 16th will feature 300 young performers (middle to high school age) and an audience of 1600+. What will make this performance artistically unique will be the scope of this student collaboration, including a full 60-piece youth symphonic orchestra, Seneca Valley High School Chorus of 150, and 80 singers/dancers/actors from YAACompany and YAAjunior. Tickets (on sale next week) and more information can be found at www.yaa.org/spring-production.

PACO's POV: The Synopsis of Our Musical

YAA is excited to bring you a new blog column called Paco’s POV. Our wonderful Orchestra Manager, Francisco José “Paco” Cosió Marron, will be writing these every week to give you a bit more background on the production we are currently working on. Check back often to get your fill of Paco’s POV!

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The convict Jean Valjean is released from a French prison after serving nineteen years for stealing a loaf of bread and for subsequent attempts to escape from prison. When Valjean arrives at the town of Digne, no one is willing to give him a job or shelter because he is an ex-convict. Desperate, Valjean knocks on the door of M. Myriel, the kindly bishop of Digne. Myriel treats Valjean with kindness, and Valjean repays the bishop by stealing his silverware. When the police arrest Valjean, Myriel covers for him, claiming that the silverware was a gift. The authorities release Valjean and Myriel makes him promise to become an honest man. Eager to fulfill his promise, Valjean masks his identity and enters the town of Montreuil-sur-mer. Under the assumed name of Madeleine, Valjean invents an ingenious manufacturing process that brings the town prosperity. He eventually becomes the town’s mayor.

Fantine, a young woman from Montreuil, lives in Paris. She falls in love with Tholomyès, a wealthy student who gets her pregnant and then abandons her. Fantine returns to her home village with her daughter, Cosette. On the way to Montreuil, however, Fantine realizes that she will never be able to find work if the townspeople know that she has an illegitimate child. In the town of Montfermeil, she meets the Thénardiers, a family that runs the local inn. The Thénardiers agree to look after Cosette as long as Fantine sends them a monthly allowance.

In Montreuil, Fantine finds work in Valjean/Madeleine’s factory. Fantine’s coworkers find out about Cosette, however, and Fantine is fired. The Thénardiers demand more money to support Cosette, and Fantine resorts to prostitution to make ends meet. One night, Javert, Montreuil’s police chief, arrests Fantine. She is to be sent to prison, but Madeleine intervenes. Fantine has fallen ill, and when she longs to see Cosette, Madeleine promises to send for her. First, however, he must contend with Javert, who has discovered Madeleine’s criminal past. Javert tells Madeleine that a man has been accused of being Jean Valjean, and Madeleine confesses his true identity. Javert shows up to arrest Valjean while Valjean is at Fantine’s bedside, and Fantine dies from the shock.

After a few years, Valjean escapes from prison and heads to Montfermeil, where he is able to buy Cosette from the Thénardiers. The Thénardiers turn out to be a family of scoundrels who abuse Cosette while spoiling their own daughter, Eponine. Valjean and Cosette move to a run-down part of Paris. Javert discovers their hideout, however, and they are forced to flee. They find refuge in a convent, where Cosette attends school and Valjean works as a gardener.

Marius Pontmercy is a young man who lives with his wealthy grandfather, M. Gillenormand. Because of political differences within the family, Marius has never met his father, Georges Pontmercy. After his father dies, however, Marius learns more about him and comes to admire his father’s democratic politics. Angry with his grandfather, Marius moves out of Gillenormand’s house and lives as a poor young law student. While in law school, Marius associates with a group of radical students, the Friends of the ABC, who are led by the charismatic Enjolras. One day, Marius sees Cosette at a public park. It is love at first sight, but the protective Valjean does his utmost to prevent Cosette and Marius from ever meeting. Their paths cross once again, however, when Valjean makes a charitable visit to Marius’s poor neighbors, the Jondrettes. The Jondrettes are in fact the Thénardiers, who have lost their inn and moved to Paris under an assumed name. After Valjean leaves, Thénardier announces a plan to rob Valjean when he returns. Alarmed, Marius alerts the local police inspector, who turns out to be Javert. The ambush is foiled and the Thénardiers are arrested, but Valjean escapes before Javert can identify him.

Thénardier’s daughter Eponine, who is in love with Marius, helps Marius discover Cosette’s whereabouts. Marius is finally able to make contact with Cosette, and the two declare their love for each other. Valjean, however, soon shatters their happiness. Worried that he will lose Cosette and unnerved by political unrest in the city, Valjean announces that he and Cosette are moving to England. In desperation, Marius runs to his grandfather, M. Gillenormand, to ask for M. Gillenormand’s permission to marry Cosette. Their meeting ends in a bitter argument. When Marius returns to Cosette, she and Valjean have disappeared. Heartbroken, Marius decides to join his radical student friends, who have started a political uprising. Armed with two pistols, Marius heads for the barricades.

The uprising seems doomed, but Marius and his fellow students nonetheless stand their ground and vow to fight for freedom and democracy. The students discover Javert among their ranks, and, realizing that he is a spy, Enjolras ties him up. As the army launches its first attack against the students, Eponine throws herself in front of a rifle to save Marius’s life. As Eponine dies in Marius’s arms, she hands him a letter from Cosette. Marius quickly scribbles a reply and orders a boy, Gavroche, to deliver it to Cosette.

Valjean manages to intercept the note and sets out to save the life of the man his adopted daughter loves. Valjean arrives at the barricade and volunteers to execute Javert. When alone with Javert, however, Valjean instead secretly lets him go free. As the army storms the barricade, Valjean grabs the wounded Marius and flees through the sewers. When Valjean emerges hours later, Javert immediately arrests him. Valjean pleads with Javert to let him take the dying Marius to Marius’s grandfather. Javert agrees. Javert feels tormented, torn between his duty to his profession and the debt he owes Valjean for saving his life. Ultimately, Javert lets Valjean go and throws himself into the river, where he drowns.

Marius makes a full recovery and is reconciled with Gillenormand, who consents to Marius and Cosette’s marriage. Their wedding is a happy one, marred only when Valjean confesses his criminal past to Marius. Alarmed by this revelation and unaware that it was Valjean who saved his life at the barricades, Marius tries to prevent Cosette from having contact with Valjean. Lonely and depressed, Valjean takes to his bed and awaits his death. Marius eventually finds out from Thénardier that Valjean saved Marius’s life. Ashamed that he mistrusted Valjean, Marius tells Cosette everything that has happened. Marius and Cosette rush to Valjean’s side just in time for a final reconciliation. Happy to be reunited with his adopted daughter, Valjean dies in peace.

The synopsis of our musical is from Spark Notes - https://www.sparknotes.com/lit/lesmis/summary/

Strathmore Chats: Meadows and Nasar

Welcome our new column, “Strathmore Chats”! Throughout the year YAA students and alumni will get the chance to interview professional artists performing at Strathmore and we’ll publish it here for you to read.

Our first entry is by Sam Nasar, a recent alumnus of our YAACompany. He interviewed jazz musician, composer and vocalist, Mark G. Meadows, a recent Strathmore Artist-in-Residence. Sam and Mark performed on stage together this past fall for Strathmore Founder, Eliot Pfanstiehl’s Farewell Celebration.

Mark G. Meadows

Sam Nasar (in YAA’s Ragtime in Concert)

Read their chat:

Sam: Who is your favorite jazz artist of all time and why?

Mark: Herbie Hancock and/or Quincy Jones - they always stay current, even to this day, all the while upholding their jazz foundation. 

Sam: Why should young people have a love for jazz?

Mark: Because it always goes hand in hand with the social climate. If the world is protesting, jazz is protesting. If the world is cool, jazz is cool... jazz reflects the times.

Sam: What’s your favorite gig that you’ve played?

Mark: Wow! That's tough. Probably a gig I did with Rochelle Rice at All Soul's Church the day after Eric Garner was murdered by a police officer. We played "Wholly Earth" by Abbey Lincoln during a church service, and the energy in the performance was reflective of our sentiments. It was unearthly.

Sam: When did you start writing your own music?

Mark: When I was 13, my first song was "In the Groove". ;) Haven't played it in a long time! :(

Sam: What makes you also enjoy teaching so much?

Mark: It's my way of giving back. I didn't have an "easy road" learning this music, so I love shedding light on others to help them with their process. I think I'm a good teacher not because I am great, but because I have learned from my mistakes, and have a good way of explaining what I did and didn't do that will ultimately help my students.

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Want to catch Mark on stage? Check out his website at for shows and/or follow him on all social media platforms at @markgmeadows.
Want your chance to interview a professional artists for this column? Email us!

Paco's POV: An Intro to Les Mis

YAA is excited to bring you a new blog column called Paco’s POV. Our wonderful Orchestra Manager, Francisco José “Paco” Cosió Marron, will be writing these every week to give you a bit more background on the production we are currently working on. Check back often to get your fill of Paco’s POV!

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As we prepare to attack this colossal show based on an immense classic novel, we need to ask ourselves a couple of questions to begin to understand the theme(s.)  The two most obvious subjects we need to probe are: 

1.       Who are these miserable ones?  Why are they and their lives depressingly wretched and distressing. To introduce ourselves to our cast, we will need to look at where and when they lived and how their lives came to be so melancholically hopeless.  This bleak introductory query raises the second subject we will visit:

2.       The author of Les Misérables and his epic work, Victor Hugo. Who was he? Where and when did he live?  What did he intend to represent in this five book - 1,500 page historical fiction.  It is said that histories are written by the winners and too often reflect a very one-sided view of the events. This is clearly a work about the losers, a novel not too loosely based on history.

To address the latter concisely first:

Victor Marie Hugo (26 February 1802 – 22 May 1885) was a French poet, novelist, and dramatist of the Romantic movement. Hugo is considered to be one of the greatest and best-known French writers. His most famous works are the novels Les Misérables, 1862, and The Hunchback of Notre-Dame, 1831. Besides these two novels, Hugo is known primarily for his poetry collections, such as Les Contemplations and La Légende des siècles (The Legend of the Ages.)  Though a committed royalist (think conservative) when he was young, Hugo's views changed as the decades passed, and he became a passionate supporter of  republicanism (which was a liberal tendency in the 19th century;) his work touches upon most of the political and social issues and the artistic trends of his time. He is buried in the Panthéon in Paris, an honor accorded to those who impact French culture and history for the ages.

Hugo, himself, explaining his ambitions for the novel to his Italian publisher tells us who the miserable ones are: “I don't know whether it will be read by everyone, but it is meant for everyone. It addresses England as well as Spain, Italy as well as France, Germany as well as Ireland, the republics that harbor slaves as well as empires that have serfs. Social problems go beyond frontiers. Humankind's wounds, those huge sores that litter the world, do not stop at the blue and red lines drawn on maps. Wherever men go in ignorance or despair, wherever women sell themselves for bread, wherever children lack a book to learn from or a warm hearth, Les Misérables knocks at the door and says: open up, I am here for you. “

So, in his five books, he wrote about his fellow citizens, the suffering people around him in France whom he observed were representative of the suffering people around the world.  He extrapolated life lessons from these vignettes and, by telling their stories, hoped to give these wretched miserables the recognition and place in history that he felt all humans deserved.  Set in the period beginning in 1815 (with the final collapse of Napoleon’s dreams of empire at Waterloo) and culminating in the 1832 June Rebellion in Paris, the novel follows the lives and interactions of several characters, particularly the struggles of ex-convict Jean Valjean and his experience of redemption.  Jean Valjean is a French peasant who, after serving nineteen years in jail for having stolen a loaf of bread for his sister's starving child, decides to break his parole and start his life anew after a kindly bishop inspires him by a tremendous act of mercy, but he is relentlessly tracked down by a police inspector named Javert. Along the way, Valjean and a slew of characters are swept into a revolutionary period in France, where a group of young idealists make their last stand at a street barricade in  the center  of Paris 17 years after we met our protagonist.

That is as concisely as one can open the first pages of our adventure.  Please begin listening to the music: 

Get it in your ears, minds, hearts and souls. Imagine life in Paris in the early 19th century with the collapse of the economy and political structures after the ignominious defeat at Waterloo and the subsequent days and weeks of hardships and privations as your world has been turned upside down.  That is where our musical and we begin.  Enjoy the weekend and what, I promise, will be a life changing enterprise.

There's No Place Like Home!

Yesterday, a group of lucky Young Artists of America performed at The Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History to celebrate the opening of their third floor renovation and Ruby Slipper Display return! They sang from The Wizard of Oz in Concert. Thank you so much to The Smithsonian for having us!

You can watch the performance here:

And the EMMY goes to...YAA!!!!!!!!!!!

On Saturday, June 23rd, Young Artists of America’s televised performance of Young Artists of America: The Songs of Tim Rice that premiered on Maryland Public Television (MPT) in June of 2017, won a regional Emmy® Award in the category of Best Lighting.

The honor was awarded at the 60th Annual Emmy® Awards presented at the Bethesda North Marriott Hotel & Conference Center and hosted by the National Capital Chesapeake Bay Chapter of the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (NATAS). The annual competition is open to any television station, company, production house, or independent producer in Washington, D.C., Maryland and Virginia.

“We couldn’t be more thrilled about this news,” says Rolando Sanz, YAA’s Co-Founder and Producing Artistic Director. “It’s not every day that middle and high school students get to be the stars of an Emmy® winning production, and we are honored to give them this opportunity and so grateful to our gifted and committed production team and partners at MPT.”

Rolando Sanz (Artistic Director) & Lisa Larragoite (Executive Director) at the Regional EMMY Awards on June 23rd.

The one-hour performance, hosted by Sir Tim Rice and featuring the talents of over 150 YAA students, was conceived for YAA/MPT and directed by London theater director Hugh Wooldridge (Chess in Concert, An Evening with Alan Jay Lerner, The Music of Andrew Lloyd Webber).

Watch the announcement at 3:41:37:

Notes from the Maestro: Rolando's Tips for Vocal Auditions

With vocal auditions for YAACompany and YAAjunior coming up on September 14, 15, and 16th, we sat down with Rolando Sanz, our Artistic Director, to talk best practices for vocal auditions. Learn more about our vocal program and register here. And, if you're an instrumentalist, learn what our Maestro, Kris Sanz, has to say about nailing your audition here.

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Kids always get so stressed out for auditions. How should they approach nerves, and how do you approach your nerves?

I have always found that we get most nervous, whether for an audition or a test, if we are either not prepared or if we prepared at the last minute. Preparation far in advance is key. This is one of the things that drives how we rehearse at YAA, for example. We always front load our rehearsals early on in each production, so that by the time we get closer to performance and things get busy, everything is well learned and prepared.

I believe it's the same for auditions. If you're choosing your audition selection, even two days before your audition, it's probably too late to perform a successful audition that you're comfortable with and to keep those pesky nerves at bay. So what I do personally is that at least two weeks before an audition, I decide what repertoire I'm going to be performing Then I start prepping it with my teacher, and run through it with my collaborative pianist, always making sure my music is in the right key for my voice. These are all the little details that sometimes you don't think of it until an hour before an audition that can cause stress and nerves.

The students who come to audition at YAA and are most successful are the ones who've done their prep work ahead of time?

Yes, absolutely! Another tip for a successful audition is making sure the repertoire is appropriate for the student as well as for the show being auditioned for. So if you are a 15-year-old ingenue soprano (think Julie Andrews), and you come in to an audition for Rent singing Anita's music from West Side Story...there are so many things wrong with that. And yes, who doesn't love singing Anita's music from West Side Story, but it's not appropriate for the situation or for the student. So if it's a rock show, it has to be pop or rock music, and it also has to be in the right 'vocal zone' for you. So just because you like a song, that doesn't mean that it's the right song for you to audition with for that specific show.

So five minutes before an audition is there anything that you do to get yourself in the right space before you go in?

I usually go into a corner, often it's a bathroom, especially if I am in New York City where space is at a premium. I seek out a stairwell or a quiet corner and think of the character I'm auditioning for. I shouldn't at that point to have to run through my lines or my music because I prepared it so far in advance that it's ingrained. If I've had to learn something last minute for whatever reason, I will run through lines in the corner and hope for the best. However, I found that if I am working to remember text or music five minutes before the audition, it makes me nervous, so I tend to try to avoid that that. And I just remember that I'm going into an audition just to show them who I am. And it's not about nailing this song. It's about showing the best you that you are in those five minutes.

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Learn more about our Performance Ensembles (both vocal and orchestra) here, and register for your audition here. Learn more about how to nail an orchestra audition here.

Notes from the Maestro: Kris Talks Audition Prep

Maestro Kristofer Sanz

With YAAOrchestra auditions coming up September 14th and 16th, we sat down with Maestro Kris Sanz to hear his tips on nailing the audition and why you should eat a banana! Register now for orchestra or vocal auditions. Also, check out this blog to hear what our Artistic Director, Rolando Sanz, has to say about nailing your vocal audition here.

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What should students do to prepare for an audition for orchestra?

The best way to prepare for an audition is the same way you prepare for a concert. You need to know the music so well that it comes to you like breathing. I always recommend kids perform in front of their peers if they can, or teachers, or parents. Even sometimes for the younger kids, we recommend they set up their stuffed animals for a concert, just so they can get a feel of performing and being under that pressure. Then, when you get into the audition room, it helps to ease that pressure.

And then my secret, which I pass on to all my orchestra kids, is bananas. Bananas have natural beta blockers in them. So most musicians usually eat a banana before they go out on stage. It fills your stomach if you're hungry, but it also has those beta blockers in there to kind of calm you down.

Besides bananas, any other tips for alleviating your nerves before an audition?

Before auditions for high school age groups, they usually put all the musicians into one room. And this can be very intimidating because kids could be playing more difficult solos in front of them, or there are some kids who will actually posture in the middle of the room and play really loudly and intensely to kind of scare off the competition. So I always recommend finding whatever corner you can, come up with some kind of routine before the audition, whether it's playing through scales or just playing some of the softer passages. 

What I don't recommend is to go into the practice room and find the hardest part and just sit there and play it over and over again. Because since it is the hardest part, by the time you get into the room, you will be tired and that's all you'll be focusing on. And whoever is judging you knows kids make mistakes, and so they're expecting that. But if you focus all your energy on that one passage, all the other passages will suffer. 

Make sure that whatever you do is highly musical. I know personally for me, that's what I'm looking for. Because anyone can learn technique over time. But being musical is something that is inherent and harder to learn.

What are lessons that can be learned from an audition, especially if it didn't go well or if you didn't get in?

I think this is true for both the orchestral and the vocal side, and that is-- the wrong repertoire. You want to pick some repertoire that actually shows off your strengths. A lot of kids try to come in and play these really fast pieces. And they can kind of play them. But at the same time, it doesn't come off. To me it shows a lack of preparation and a lack of maturity, because they are auditioning to show off and not to show what they can actually do. 

We don't need to be impressed. We just need to know that they are musicians and they are musical on the inside. Because a big part of our job is teaching them, and so we want to find someone who is teachable.

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Learn more about YAAOrchestra and how to register for your audition here. Or, if you're a vocalist, learn more about how to nail that audition from our Artistic Director, Rolando Sanz, here.

Alumni Check-In: Chani Wereley (2013)

Name: Chani Wereley

Year of Graduation: 2013

Current School: Catholic University of America

What's your news!?: I currently work in DC in the fitness community while pursuing my career in musical theatre. This summer, I'm working on Bonnie and Clyde with Monumental Theatre Company as a member of the ensemble and as the Bonnie understudy. One of my recent shows, American Idiot (The Extraordinary Girl), played at Keegan Theatre and was nominated for a few Helen Hayes Awards, including best production and best ensemble. This past year, I did a show at school, a couple cabarets, and a reading of Water by the Spoonful at Olney Theatre Center. I also had the opportunity to come back to YAA as a mentor for The Circle of Life concert at Strathmore!

Chani (center in red skirt) on stage at YAA's The Circle of Life.

Tell us about something you learned at YAA and applied to your life today.: I learned to never give up. The last show I did with YAA as a student was as Kim in Miss Saigon/Madama Butterfly. During that process, I was rejected from the musical theatre programs I applied to. Rolando and Kris helped teach me to accept my failures with grace, and to use them to keep pushing towards my victories. Through their guidance, I learned resilience. I learned patience. I learned humility. I watched Rolando and Kris build YAA from the ground up (not without a lot of help and support, of course), and their work ethic inspired me then, and continues to drive me now.

Are you an alum? We'd love to spotlight you. Just fill out this form!