Historical movies, no matter what the time period, have always been a favourite of mine. When younger I used to be in awe of moves like Cleopatra, Sparticus and Ben Hur. Cecile B. DeMille's name meant an epic movie with a cast of thousands and back then there were thousands of real people in the crowd and battle scenes, not computer generated figures. Of course, Hollywood was Hollywood with too many sequins, clean faces and changed story lines, but they did bring the interest in history alive.
Today the interest in historical epics is flourishing once again with Troy and Alexander, so my forth coming musical Esther, The Concubine Queen is right in keeping with the times and actually set between those two time periods.
Many exciting stories about Greece have lived through the millennium, but what most people don't realize was that Greece and the rest of the known world, including Egypt were at one time captured by Darius, Shah or King of Persia. Esther takes place during the rein of Darius' son Xerxes, who in 479BC began to lose his hold over the rebellious Greeks. Minor wars had been fought to keep the Persian Empire but on the whole by the time Xerxes was in power the Persians had become too complacent and too wealthy.
Xerxes had fought the Greeks many times and at one point captured Demaratus, a king of one of the provinces, which we now consider Greece. Although treated royally, Demaratus was still a prisoner and used by Xerxes for information on his former countrymen. Unfortunately Xerxes, being the ruler of the world, had a few personality issues and did not like to be crossed, whether wrong or right. Demaratus has the difficult job of telling Xerxes what it would be like to fight the Greeks, especially the famous Spartans, without having Xerxes get mad and cut his head off. Not an enviable position to be in and one made even worse when Demaratus' predictions of Xerxes' losing to a handful of Spartans came true!
In Esther we meet Demaratus and visit the Straits off Salamis where Xerxes loses the first of many battles with the Greeks. Well, I would like you to meet Demaratus, but in fact I do not have the part cast and I am looking for a man for this role.
Demaratus has some speaking lines in the first two scenes of the show and is seen in various scenes throughout the show although he no longer has any lines. Esther is a musical and although Demaratus has no solos it would be nice if he could carry a tune, as we need his presence in a couple of chorus numbers. (Please notice I said carrying a tune would be nice but I will consider non-singers also). The person in this role would, later on in the show, change characters, to a guard for one scene.
We have been rehearsing chorus numbers for a few months but will start the final rehearsal schedule on Aug 29th. We are rehearsing specific scenes with leads on Monday nights, the repeating the same scenes with leads and all chorus people on Thursdays. Some leads will be required out one week but not the next. As of October we will be having run throughs of the show
and everyone will be required on both Mon and Thur. The show goes on the first two weekends in November.
I need to cast this role immediately as Demaratus is needed August 29th. I would prefer a more mature man for the role but will also consider just about any age as with the help of the makeup and costume department we can age the cast member.
This is an excellent role for someone new to theatre. Just enough to cut your teeth on and not too big to be terrifying. Please help spread the word.