music is my life!!!
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Fantine: characterisation in an audition...So I've decided that when we do les mis school edition next year (auditions in May) my main focus will be on getting Fantine.
I know all her material, and the chances are we'll have to sing i dreamed a dream in the audition, or at least part of it.
If you guys have any ideas about how i can go about performing it, without overacting, but still "performing" rather than just "singing".
I've done alot of research and watched as many versions as i could on youtube as i could, and the only one that I've found i really liked was Lea's.
What are your opinions on this?
How should i be performing this in an audition?
(yes i know this is early preperation,but i started preparing over a year ago  )
ALSO... anyone who's played Fantine (or any role), school edition or not, can you tell me your experiences, so i know kinda what to expect from the show.
(I'm going to go for Eponine, Madame T and Cosette [if i can reach those top C's comfortably!])
EDIT:... everone else is going to be fighting it out over Eponine and Cosette, and no one else wants to play Fantine (from what I've heard!) so I think I might stand a chance on getting the part if my audition's good enough. In my MFL audition, the new director was watching in, and he seemed to like all 4 of my auditions, so that's a good start! 
Thankies!
x x x
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Pylades Laconic
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Well, I don't know the musical, but I do know the book.
Fantine always struck me as a someone who would've been addicted to the books you see in convenience stores, now a days, that go for a dollar each, and are all about abused- but- really- fun- not- to- mention- ultra- gorgeous- if- only- she- could- come- out- of- her- shell woman and the gorgeous guy who loves her to death. You know, a romantic type. And judging from the title "I Dreamed A Dream," the musical doesn't seem much different on that account.
So, try to make yourself like that. You're surrounded by poverty, and misery, but at that moment you are alright. Because the heroine always wins. You'll want to try to capture that 'fallen from grace' type of look.
Hope that helps and wasn't just a bunch of rambling.
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Brunnhilde
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I'll do Fantine is September.
What I can counsel you to dare sing "hard" sometimes. Fantine needs dramatic power, not only being a poor lyrical victim.
Okay, I don't spit in the arrest scene, but that's only because I don't feel it right with that music.
Now we have a lot of rehearsals and our dresses are also ready. I made mine and my husband's, and also �ponine's. First I was to play �ponine and she (Helga) Fantine, but she's younger than me and I am a mother (since June 19th! *happy*), so we changed our roles.
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SmallTownIngenue
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I just finished playing Fantine in the student edition...I didn't really start my characterization of her until I got the role and I was already in rehearsals, because during the auditions, I was actually going for Cosette. Playing Fantine never really crossed my mind until I sang for her at the callbacks, and I was a bit surprised I got the role because I've never played anyone like her before.
But as for experiences, our director really made us (me and the other actress playing Fantine, since the role and many others were double cast) think about every lyric in the song and what the meaning behind her words were. It really opened my eyes to the role, that she was simply a girl who believed in fairy tales and a happy ending and a night in shining armor and wasn't prepared for the harsh reality. She needs a character arc and a visible change during Lovely Ladies from a soft ingenue to a harsh, dying prostitute. My friend's mom told me that the time she cried the most was during the "Don't they know they're making love to one already dead" line, and that was where I really made my character change noticeable.
I hope that helps with the character a bit, break a leg on the audition!
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