more thespiness

[helenic]

I've been given a part in the CULES "A Diary of a Nobody", playing Frank, a young Victorian gent who's a bit of a cad (I said I'd quite like to cross-dress (the other part I was offered was a mischievous cockney maid - yeah right) and Jon said, "yes, that seems to be the case with most female thesps" ... !). It's quite low-profile - we're playing in old people's homes and hospitals - and the rehearsal schedule isn't exactly intensive, so hopefully if I get Dame Carruthers I should, theoretically, be able to accept that as well. After my singing lesson today, which as always left me feeling simultaneously good about myself and a bit overwhelmed by a (perhaps misplaced) sense of my own potential and exactly how little I'm doing with it, I rang up the Gilbert & Sullivan people and asked if the part was still available. It was, and I've arranged to see them later in the week. I shall sing Ruth's solo from Pirates. I doubt I'll get recalls for "Smorgasbord" or the radio play, and even if I do I'd much rather be in something that involves singing. I think I'm better suited to G&S than serious drama. I've got a good voice, and I could probably do that sort of melodramatic, tongue-in-cheek acting, whereas I have doubts whether I could do a "serious" character performance; particularly not Shakespeare or a tacky Eastenders-style rent girl.