On January 7 Voice Afire will begin our first Broadway run - one week at the 45th Street Theater for Butterfly's Trouble, our revamped Big Apple version of The Pocket Madama Butterfly.
Rehearsals start Nov. 14, and it has been quite a journey. Along the way we have learned heaps. We now know how to advertise and find rehearsal and audition space, and find and rent theaters both on and off Broadway. We know how to advertise for actors, publicists, booking agents and singers - especially sopranos.
Butterfly's Trouble is being done on a very modest budget, although for us it is quite a stretch. We are renting a theater, renting 4 weeks of rehearsal space, and paying to showcase at the 2012 APAP Conference here in New York. We have hired a director, a stage manager, a designer, a lighting designer, a publicist, and a booking agent. Our performers are donating their time for an embarrassingly small amount that we call an "honorarium". And the time is considerable: 4 weeks of rehearsal and one week of performances. The money restrictions prevented us importing our talented Canadian crew.
So we advertised on the internet. And 50 sopranos applied to sing Cho-Cho-San! Of these we actually heard 20. And some were really wonderful. It was a difficult decision to make, but we wound up not only with a terrific Cho-Cho-San, but even a terrific understudy for Cho-Cho-San.
Here's where we advertised:
- http://www.playbill.com/jobs/find
- Yvonne's Audition Postings on Facebook
- http://www.starnow.com/
- http://www.backstage.com/bso/index.jsp
- www.classicalsinger.com
- www.yaptracker.com
Hope this is helpful to someone else. Let me know if it is.
Ray
