Pittsburgh Savoyards

The Pittsburgh Savoyards will be holding string auditions on January 6, 2019
from 4 to 6 pm.  For a time appointment, please email
orchestra@pittsburghsavoyards.org

If you would like to audition but can’t make that day or time, please email
us.

Auditions will be held at Our Lady of Victory Maronite Church, 1000 Lindsay
Avenue, Carnegie, PA 15106.

 

Please be prepared to play 2 contrasting pieces.  We may ask you to sight-read a
short passage from our upcoming show, The Gondoldiers.

The Pittsburgh Savoyards, Inc. is a semiprofessional, community-based,
non-profit theater company.  We are funded primarily by local contributions and
ticket sales plus we are an Allegheny District Asset!  We are Pittsburgh’s
oldest performing Theatrical Company, since 1938, now in our 81st season, The
Gondoliers is the second show this season running March 15-17 & 21-24, 2019.  We
operate for the purposes of perpetuating the heritage of Gilbert & Sullivan
comic operas, and providing a hands-on educational opportunity for interested
persons to learn about and experience musical theater. While our focus is the
performance of the comic operas of Gilbert and Sullivan, we occasionally perform
non-Gilbert and Sullivan concerts and other composers’ comic operas. We are
informally affiliated with a number of similar groups throughout the country.

The name “Savoyards” comes from the Savoy Theater in London, where many of
the operas premiered and were performed for many years, and is used by groups
throughout the world to indicate their devotion to these works. The comic operas
of Gilbert and Sullivan are historic treasures and only the works of William
Shakespeare are performed more often in the tradition of the English theater.
Productions are performed and produced, for the most part, by dedicated
volunteers from the greater Pittsburgh area under professional direction. The
fully-orchestrated performances also feature many local professional musicians.
Our on-stage vocalists have included members of the Pittsburgh Opera Chorus and
Mendelssohn Choir, principal vocalists in CLO performances and Off-Broadway
productions.  From our inception, the Savoyards have showcased some of the
finest amateur and professional talent in the community.  Our Main Stage
productions feature a full orchestra, rare in today’s prepackaged and
prerecorded music accompaniment.  Our performers represent a spectrum of
professions, including professional singers, lawyers, builders, nuclear
physicists, teachers, bus drivers, computer programmers, designers and more;
all united by an ongoing love of the works of Gilbert & Sullivan, the joy of
performing and the friendly atmosphere engendered within the group.

Audition to be a part of our Spring 2019 production – Gilbert & Sullivan’s The Gondoliers. With music director Guy Russo, stage director Andy Hickly, choreographer Kelsey Wells, and show consultant Robert Hockenberry. We will be auditioning for lead and ensemble roles.

Wednesday, November 14th from 7:30 to 9:00 pm
Monday, November 19th from 7:30 pm until 9:00 pm

Location (NEW, LOCATION HAS CHANGED):

St. John’s Lutheran Church
601 Washington Avenue, Carnegie, PA 15106

Before your audition:

Prepare no more than two minutes of a song that best showcases your voice. Opera (in English), Operetta, or more Traditional (not pop) Broadway recommended.

You may also be asked to do a cold reading.

No Appointment is necessary; auditions will be conducted in order of arrival.

We now have a digitally fillable audition form. Please fill it out ahead of time and email it to auditions@pittsburghsavoyards.org. Please also bring a printed-out copy if possible, especially if you email it to us on the same day that you’re auditioning (we need a hard-copy for reference at the audition). In case you’re unable to fill out a form ahead of time, forms will also be available on-site to fill out by hand.

Please bring:

• Sheet music for our accompanist (and a second copy for yourself if not memorized).
• A printout of your audition form (see above).
• Resume and head-shot, if available.

Contact

For questions about auditions, email auditions@pittsburghsavoyards.org or call: 412-734-8476 (voice mail).

A reminder that this Thursday’s performance of Yeomen of the Guard is a “Pay What You Will” performance – as low as $0! If you have friends and family who are not sure if they would be interested in G&S or not, here is a perfect opportunity for them to see. Get your tickets here!

In addition, we continue our practice of having our Thursday performance be fully Super-titled for the Deaf and Hard of hearing, including all song lyrics and dialogue. We hope to see you there!

The Pittsburgh Savoyards would like to offer a very special thank you to the JOANN Fabric store in Bridgeville for their generous donation of fabrics for our upcoming performance of Yeomen of the Guard! Every donation helps keep our company up and running and performing classic operetta in the Pittsburgh area. Again, thank you!

If you would like to donate or volunteer to help the Savoyards (including ushering, event help, and more),  please email donations@pittsburghsavoyards.org or volunteers@pittsburghsavoyards.org.

The Pittsburgh Savoyards are now accepting applications for the position of Stage Director for our Spring 2019 production: Gilbert & Sullivan’s The Gondoliers.  Resumes and Letters accepted through Monday, October 15, 2018. Interviews to be held Saturday, October 20, 2018 by Appointment.

Performances will be March 15-17 and 21-24, 2019 at the Andrew Carnegie Free Library & Music Hall.

Gilbert & Sullivan or other Operetta experience preferred. Send letters of interest, resumes (MS-WORD; PDF; or Text) and contact information to:

directorsearch@pittsburghsavoyards.org

Or mail to:

DIRECTOR SEARCH – GONDOLIERS
Pittsburgh Savoyards
P.O. Box 44065
Pittsburgh, PA 15205-4065

For additional information or inquiries, email directorsearch@pittsburghsavoyards.org or call 412-734-8476 to leave voice mail.