Blog: Theatre Night Fever, November 6, 2011

November 6, 2011

Just The Right Song

by Howard Dai

I’m always searching for a good baritone song for musical theatre auditions that fits me. For me - a 14 year old dramatic baritone who looks like 16 – it’s kind of difficult to find songs that suit me.

“Empty Chairs at Empty Tables” from Les Miserables was the one song I used for auditions for the past 3 months. It’s written by Claude-Michel Schonberg, for the character Marius, a really emotional and powerful number, about how he misses and feels guilty about all his friends’ deaths. The range of the song is an A below middle C to two Gs above middle C (A3 – G5). I had a bit of a struggle hitting that high G in full voice, it’s getting easier as I’m currently working on the upper register of my voice.

Blog: Theatre Night Fever, October 30, 2011

Judge Dee and The Haunted Garden

October 30, 2011

by Howard Dai

For the past week leading up to Halloween, I’m volunteering for Seven Tyrants Theatre in Vancouver, for this Halloween site-specific production named “Judge Dee and The Haunted Garden”, re-written from the famous Judge Dee series by Robert van Gulik. We transformed Dr. Sun Yat-Sen Chinese Garden in Chinatown to make it look haunted-house-like, but instead it’s a haunted garden. The show features nearly 30 actors, dancers, and musicians, with an awesome site and amazing soundscape.  Arguably it's the best Halloween theatre this year in Vancouver.