Hi,

We are one of the few selected societies to be granted the rights for Witches of Eastwick in October, does anyone know where I can find/or list them out for me some character biogs for the show?
I know it's about three women (witches) who wish for the ideal man and when he turns up he is the devil, but that is about it!!

Would also like to know, what each character sings and their rough age range if poss.
Ta,
Aims

http://www.nodanw.com/shows_w/index.htm

Aims - the Noda NW website has a synopsis and song list - but not sure how close this is to the Amdram version you'll be doing.

have you heard the music ? I can lend you the CD if you need it.

Thanks Grooveymover,

I've got the CD on order, and that was more helpful than anything I found on thenet - don't know why I didn't think of it myself!!!

The am dram version is the same as the west end one - we have had to have assesments to be able to do it. It's gonna be so expensive!!

Do you know if there is much dancing in it?

I haven't seen or read the amateur version but if it's the same as the West End one, yes there is a lot of dancing (men and women) but for the chorus rather than the 3 witches. Although I guess the dancing can be "toned down" to suit.

I can't remember the character names of the 3 witches so I'll refer to them by the cast names! All 3 parts are supposed to be played by older women - mid to late 30s to mid 40s I'd say. They are not pretty little chorus girl parts!

Maria Friedman - Scatty nervous character - a bit shy. Talks very fast - one of her songs is Words Words Words - duet with Darryl - which is almost a modern-day patter song. Then has a solo ballad.

Joanna Riding - More aggressive, hard-nosed woman. Plays the double bass (am I remembering the instrument correctly?) in her song (duet with Darryl). Don't think she has a solo.

Lucie Arnaz - Hippy, kooky type. Duet with Darryl and, in my opinion, the best solo - Another Night at Darryl's. I think this is the lowest part (but suspect Mezzo, not Alto - but I'm not a musician!).

Much of the joy of the music comes from the ladies' harmonies so all 3 cast members MUST be able to harmonise.

If you haven't listened to the CD, you really must. There is some wonderful music on there.

I wish you luck with auditions. The parts are absolutely superb!

It's been ages since I saw it but I do remember there being quite a lot for the company to do.
The big numbers for the company were:
Eastwick Knows
Little Town
Dirty Laundry
Dance with the Devil

The three "Witches" didn't do a great deal of dancing.

I'd be interested to hear how you get on with this as your auditions and rehearsals come up - I would have loved our company to have applied for the rights As you're the closest production to me I'll hopefully come to dartford to see your show

Sorry, just realised, you may be asking about parts OTHER THAN the 3 witches? There are two more good parts.

Felicia - Woman older than the 3 witches. Late 40s to 60s. She is a bossy nosey woman who sees herself as the guardian of moral principle for the town and heartily disapproves of Darryl and the way the 3 women are behaving. She needs to have a high operatic voice and has a great solo number. She is killed by her long-suffering husband.

Jennifer - Pretty little girlie. In love with pretty little boy (with whom she has a pretty little duet) but is seduced by Darryl. The kind of part that would normally be the romantic lead except that in this show the 3 witches dominate. In my view, very much a "secondary" principal.

And I'd just say that this remains one of my all time favourite musicals. I adore the music and thought the show was WONDERFUL on the West End.

Grooveymover - come and join us!! we have new member auditions coming up.
That's if you don't mind the treck to Dartford twice a week.

Thanks though girls. Don't think I'll be going for a part, I'm not the greatest singer...so will just stick to the dancing! Glad to hear there's a bit in it

There are several shows that I'd gladly travel an hour to be part of and Witches is definitly one of them (my own group is a 45 minute drive away from where I live so I am used to it) but Dartford is just that little bit too far away

I'm sure it'll generate a lot of interest for your group though

Maureen - We could do our own virtual version for the board - You can be Alex (Lucie Arnaz) and I'll cast myself as Sukie (Friedman) as I love both her songs. Aims can do the twirlying

Any other offers ??

I'd love to play the young guy. I've forgotten his name. Sings 'Something' with Jennifer and 'Dance With the Devil' with Darryl. I'd need some kind of spell cast on me to make me able to dance frantically enough for that number, though!

In a few decades, I think Clyde would be a great role as well. I'm definitely not a Darryl, though!

David

I actually like the sound of the role of Felicia - I love those annoying busybody roles! only I'm about 20 years too young!! I guess in a virtual world though.........

Ooooh yes. Alex is MYYYYY part. Per-lease!

"The night commences
My spirit soars..."

Ready for our rendition of I Wish I May? Who can be Joanna Riding - think Pamela's up for it?

I hope this isn't considered as advertising (it's not my group, and I'm not in it), but at the end of Feb, a group from Paisley is doing Witches at the Theatre Royal in Glasgow. I had no idea the rights were so restricted. Was it written after the film?

Yes. It's a comparatively new musical and has only been off West End a couple of years. It's going to be a cause of celebration and a curse for any society that does it. The former because so few groups will be granted rights to do it (because you HAVE to be able to fly the witches) and because it is a wonderful show and a curse because...well, you HAVE to be able to fly the witches...! It'll end up being a very expensive show for amateurs to put on.

I've heard figures of ?20k mentioned for the hire of a flying rig - would a group be able to re-coup costs like that from their ticket sales ? is it really a show worth that much of a loss ?

I love it so of course i'm going to say YES !!! but I can see why my lot aren't doing it, we'd have to play full houses for a month straight to re-coup the costs involved.

We are worried about costs (but not sure about that ?20K figure) although you do HAVE to fly (and use the reccomended set, full orchestra etc.) you do not have to "fly out" over the audience (this was branded about when we were first approached)
It is going to be a very expensive show, but we are trying to plan by arranging "big" older musicals to drive up ticket sales before and after we have just done 42nd St, now King & I then witches then Fiddler. hopefully the three other shows will be able to make us some money to cover the losses for witches.

Good plan. And 3 excellent choices of "bums on seats" shows. If I were your audience, I'd be delighted with your offerings!

I saw it done by amateurs in Bristol-it was amazing. VERY professional. Loads of dancing. Not a weak member on stage at all. Every chorus member put 100% effort in and it showed. You could easily think it was a professional company. I think the pole dancing upset a couple of prudes near us-who disappeared, which I thought was strange-what did they think the show was about?
I'd love to see it again. When and where is your show?