He was dissapointed that he only read for Medel and Avaram. He has a beautiful voice and decent acting skill but gets nervous in auditions, can anyone tell me anything about these 2 roles? He has been in several plays he was a towns person in Music Man, ,Drake in the Jr Broadway production of Honk Jr, Sir Studley in OUAM and in Godspell. He works very hard to try to get the supporting roles but has always seemed to fall short except in Honk. He is young but loves all aspects of the theatre. He has teched Sound of music, Oklahoma, and A Man Who Came to Dinner. He is up against alot of talent but it seems that the same ones continue to get the lead roles and this is frustrating him. I don't want him to lose his passion because of this do any of you have any suggestions?

Both are among Fiddler's "intellectual" characters. Mendel, the Rabbi's son who is quite possibly being groomed to become a Rabbi himself, often challenges Tevye's quotations from the Good Book, and sets Tevye straight. Avram, the bookseller, is the villagers' main source of news (mostly bad) from the outside world. Neither does any solo singing, but both usually sing "Anatevka".

I played Mendel a while back. It's a fun part. tell him not to be sad if he gets that

How old is he?

I think he should know a lot of people don't even get supporting roles, just chorus again and again. Also, if the same people always get the same roles the theatre company is obviously biased and you should search for a new one for him to perform in. If he doesn't want to change, he should be happy with whatever part he gets.

He is 15

This is for a school of the arts for kids through high school.

He is always happy with whatever role he gets, he is just frustrated that the same people get the leads and supporting roles time and time again. He seems to always get chorus and cameos.

Oh, I definitely understand what you mean. Many school directors play favorites among their students. I hate to suggest this, but maybe he should try to be the favorite. A little sucking up never hurt anyone.... Also, if he's unhappy with his part he should talk to the teacher or director.

Just one quick question: Is he unhappy with the part or are you unhappy with it? If he's unhappy with it then, by all means, have him talk to the teacher. But if he is happy with the role, then you should be happy for him.

Please make sure you don't get all stage-mothery on him. That will only make him feel bad that he didn't get the lead role. Trust me. I am like him in the fact that I always get chorus and cameo. My mother is an extremely talented actress, always playing the leads, and she sometimes gets like that, thinking I'm unhappy because I have a part she is unhappy with. Its annoying and usually brings down my morale. If there's no problem, you don't want to create one.

I wouldn't have your son talk to the teacher about the casting, as it may make him look like a sore loser when he is not cast in a lead. Politics are very big in all theatre and especially are very prevelant in high schools. Seniority plays a factor when directors cast shows. At 15 I would guess that your son is either in grade 9 or 10 and that there are still 2 or 3 classes above him and perhaps many of the roles go to the older ones.

You can keep his spirits up by reminding him that in a a few years he will be in that oldest class age bracket and may find himself being cast and that the casting that is done now has very little to do with actual talent. You should also remind him that even though he is in the chorus or a small supporting role he can still work to the best of his potential and stand out. For many years my sister had only been cast as a dancer in youth theatre shows and there were people in the audience who would approach her afterwards to tell her how much they enjoyed her performance. Even though she had no lines or solos, she still was able to shine enough to merit aknowledgement.

As for Fiddler, Mendel is not a bad role. As someone mentioned he often challenges Tevye and he may be chosen as one of the boys to dance in The Bottle Dance during the Wedding, in my production Mendel was featured here. He also has some one liner solos during Anatevka I believe. Avram is a bit smaller but he is usually around when the men of the town are conversing and during Anatevka. The male ensemble for Fiddler can be quite enjoyable with the Bottle Dance and To Life. The Rumour and Tevye's Dream are also fun ensemble numbers as well as the big number that everyone knows, Tradition. No matter what, your son will enjoy himself and that is the most important part of the theatre, no matter what your part is.

Thanks for that advice and I can appreciate it but It is he who is unhappy, not so much about the part but that he feels there is no chance to get anything different. He enjoys the roles once he starts doing the play but he knows he isn't going to get much more. It is not really about favorites I think it goes deeper than that. Thanks so much for the advice though because when your child gets upset it is easy to become "stage mothery"

Thanks so much for the input. He was cast as Mendel and he is happy to have the role he said he will be more prepared next audition and knock their socks off.

Id say that is great and that as a young person he is getting a great role as an underclassman. If he is good and works hard I almost guarentee he will get good parts. I dont thinl sucking up to a director is always good. I dont think you have to. Just listen and obide his direction and thats good enough. If your son wants some tips I wrote a HIGHSCHOOL AUDITION GUIDE in the auditions forum. I do some Highschool directing and I compiled a bunch of dos and donts I have compiled over the years.

You know it's the nature of the beast.

I am new to the area. I blew the socks off at auditions for "Fiddler on the Roof" and impressed the directors, I made call backs-- went all the way out of 100 or so people. And, I ended up doing mainly chorus. And the only reason is there are people that were more connected with the director than I was. Not only that, They love how my range is high, and I am a very strong tenor--so they needed me to sing the solo on "To Life" so, when the director told me that. I saw it as a victory, and they love me...which means, I will probably be casted again for bigger roles--and I am making my mark in the theatre community in my area.

Your son is only 15 years old, my gosh--how much I had wished, that my high school had a strong theatre program and had a lot of music stuff, so I could have been more prepared. He's in a good place, dont let him get discouraged.

Wow! Today I found out that i am understudying the part of Avram in our production. He is the bookseller, and is very well educated, he sings a solo in "The Rumor" and is part of alot of the Chorus songs. Mendel is the Rabbi's son, also sings in "The Rumor" and has a fair amount of lines. Tell him to have fun no matter what he gets. I was originally just ensemble in our show but as I said our director pulled me in the hall today and asked if I would like to understudy Avram.