The Play of my Discontent

Bitter, party of one.

Yes, that's me - I am a little bitter. I am using this entry to blow off a little steam, so in a little while I will probably be fine, but for now, I am bittter.

Let me explain.

At my church, they are putting on the musical Joseph, and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat. And they have encouraged everyone to participate. I did theatre throughout high school and I love performing in musicals - so of course I wanted to try out. And I think I'm pretty talented, so I wanted to get a good part.

Here's the bitter part. There is only one, count 'em, ONE woman's part worth having. I'm not kidding. There is one - the Narrator. The rest of the other women's parts are chorus and dancers (oh yeah, and Potipher's wife has one line). And guess what? 70 percent of the roughly 100 people who tried out for the show are women. That's right, you have 70 women vying for one spot.

Can someone say - pick another musical to do??? Yeah. Come on, folks. Think about who your demographic is. Why not pick another musical that has more substantive women parts. The list of possible plays that would fit this requirement is extensive (Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, Les Mis, Children of Eden, etc.)

But, no. They had to pick Joseph. Don't get me wrong, I don't have a problem with Joseph in general. I just think that it is the wrong fit for a play that is meant to involve many people. A better selection could have been made.

As a disclaimer, I will admit that I did audition and as you might suspect - I did not get the Narrator role. But I promise I would feel the same way about this issue even if I had. Simply because there were a lot of wonderfully talented women that tried out - several of whom deserve to have a major role, but unfortunately there is only one to fill.

A very poor choice was made.