Audition Notice

UTOPIA, LIMITED

Libretto by WS Gilbert Music by Arthur Sullivan

Director: Alan Needham Music Director: Bayden Adams

Production company: The Gilbert & Sullivan Society of WA

Casting Lead roles and Chorus – all ethnicities welcome!

Audition dates:
• Saturday, 14 December 2024
• Sunday, 15 December 2024
• Sunday, 19 January 2025

Show season: 30 May – 7 June 2025 (6 performances) at Dolphin Theatre, Crawley.

To express interest or book an audition time contact:
Roger Starbuck – 0428 763 468 – auditions@gandswa.org.au

If you are unavailable on the weekend of 14 / 15 December 2024 or 19 January 2025, please send an email to Roger expressing your interest and he will advise further.
Please note the minimum age requirement for auditionees is 15 years of age as at the date of the auditions.

SYNOPSIS
The lovely South Seas island of Utopia is populated by a peaceful, languid people who are happy to be ruled by their benevolent king. In theory, he is an absolute monarch. But in practice, he himself is governed by two Wise Men, judges who have the power to denounce him for any impropriety to the Public Exploder, who then has the authority to explode him right then and there.

The present king is an avid admirer of all things British, including the British governess he has employed to train his youngest twin daughters to be proper English ladies. However, the governess wants nothing at all to do with him, owing to the scandalous articles the king has been forced by the Wise Men to write about himself and publish in the tabloid newspaper, The Palace Peeper. Lady Sophy believes the king to be too far below her in terms of respectability and spurns his advances.

Meanwhile, the king’s eldest daughter, Princess Zara, is returning home after graduating from an English college. She is distraught by her father’s current position and formulates a plan. She has brought back with her to Utopia six Flowers of Progress, including Captain Fitzbattleaxe, with whom she is in love. They are shining examples of English culture, and it is their task to completely reform and Anglicize Utopia and all its institutions. One of these Flowers of Progress is a Company Promoter. Under his advice, every citizen of Utopia declares himself to be a Company Limited, complete with Prospectus, and is now liable only for the amount of his declared capital… which does not include explosion.

The Wise Men and Public Exploder are displeased when they realize what has happened, and rouse the Utopian citizenry to revolt. They argue that under the new governance, the citizenry is so healthy that the doctors are being put out of work. Everyone is so well behaved that the lawyers have nothing to do. The new laws are so effective that crime has been extinguished, making law enforcement officers redundant.

Princess Zara, however, realizes that something very important has been left out – governance by party! She argues that once they implement a party system, no political measures will endure because they will constantly be undone by the opposite party, ensuring plenty of sickness, lawsuits, criminals, and incarceration.

Satisfied, the Utopians agree and the Wise Men are led off in defeat. As is customary in Gilbert and Sullivan, everyone gets married and they all live happily ever after.

Audition notes:
Auditions will take place at the G&S WA Hall, corner Lemana Rd & Ravenswood Court, Nollamara unless otherwise advised.

Please prepare a song that is in the style of Gilbert & Sullivan or similar operetta and bring a copy of the piano accompaniment for our pianist to play. If you are auditioning for a principal role, please prepare two songs of contrasting styles.

Audition Format
Please arrive 10 minutes before your audition time to allow time to register.
– Arrive to register and warm up.
– Individual readings and vocals.

Rehearsals and additional notes:
Rehearsals are scheduled for Mondays and Thursday evenings and Sunday afternoons unless otherwise advised. You may not be required for all of these scheduled times; all cast and crew will receive detailed rosters during the rehearsal period. The first call will be a “Meet & Greet” on Monday, 3 March 2025.

If you would like to volunteer to help out behind-the-scenes i.e. props, costumes, set, bump-in etc. we would love to meet you! Please send an email to Max Page, Production Manager: productions@gandswa.org.au or Roger Starbuck Co-Production Manager to discuss further. Thank you.

Characters:

KING PARAMOUNT (baritone or bass-baritone): Supposedly an autocratic despot but actually controlled by Scaphio and Phantis. An anglophile and romantic, he is genial, pleasant and gullible.

SCAPHIO (baritone): Judge of the Utopian Supreme Court. One of two wise men whose duty it is to keep the king’s despotic power in check.

PHANTIS (bass-baritone or baritone): Judge of the Utopian Supreme Court. One of two wise men whose duty it is to keep the king’s despotic power in check, and they fully enjoy doing so.

TARARA (baritone): The Public Exploder. His official duty is to execute the King via dynamite if Scaphio and Phantis so order. A nervous character intimidated by the gravity of his responsibilities.

CALYNX (speaking role): The Utopian Vice-Chamberlain. He has a decent amount of stage business, but no vocal solos.

PRINCESS ZARA (soprano): The eldest daughter of King Paramount who has been educated in England, she brings the Flowers of Progress and wants Utopia to become more English. A strong, assertive character.

PRINCESS NEKAYA (soprano): One of two younger daughters of King Paramount. Though a native Utopian, she has been raised as a paragon of Victorian English refinement. Young and naïve.

PRINCESS KALYBA (mezzo-soprano or soprano): One of two younger daughters of King Paramount. Though a native Utopian, she has been raised as a paragon of Victorian English refinement. Young and naïve.

PHYLLA (soprano): Utopian maiden. Solo in Opening number.

SALATA (small speaking role): Utopian maiden.

MELENE (small speaking role): Utopian maiden.

LADY SOPHY (contralto): The English governess to the two younger princesses. It is her job to make sure that Nekaya and Kalyba conform to the English ideals of maidenhood.

LORD DRAMALEIGH (baritone or tenor): A British Lord Chamberlain. He represents all the pride and elegance of the English aristocracy.

CAPTAIN FITZBATTLEAXE (tenor): Of the First Life Guards. In addition to his job of improving the Utopian military, he is Princess Zara’s love interest.

CAPTAIN SIR EDWARD CORCORAN K.C.B (bass-baritone): Of the Royal Navy. A familiar character from H.M.S. Pinafore, who returns to the G&S canon as a bass-baritone.

MR GOLDBURY (baritone): A shrewd businessman, it is his idea to turn Utopia into a giant corporation (thus making him responsible for the title, Utopia, Limited).

SIR BAILEY BARRE Q.C. M.P. (tenor): A British lawyer whose task is to institute the British legal system in Utopia.

MR BLUSHINGTON (baritone): Of the County Council. He is in Utopia to introduce local government.

ENSEMBLE – Company of sopranos, altos, tenor and bass singers and dancers; citizens of Utopia (all any age, any ethnicity, any gender presentation)