Looking for some advice.....

If you are not in the mood to read a lot of text thoroughly you may not want to read this right now. Here goes.....

Above all else in life, I am a musician, a singer to be exact. I have been singing for pretty much all of my life. I have memories of being at a music camp and the teacher having to read me the words on the music because I was too young to know how to read (I was probably about four). Ever since then, I have been pursuing music. I was in the school chorus every year I could be (third grade to now), although now I am in an advanced choral group (this is my second year in the group) which requires a rigorous audition to gain entrance. I have been taking private voice lessons since eighth grade and piano lessons since my freshman year of high school. I have also made the district chorus every year of high school, entrance to this group is done by a scored audition, this year I was four points from a perfect score. I have also made the all state chorus this year and last year, the auditions are incredibly competitive (the 96th percentile of sopranos, my voice part, make it in) and I happen to know through a few connections of mine that I had one of the top scores in the entire state this year. On top of all of this, I am also applying to colleges as a voice major. I just wanted to put this first to give you an idea of all that have done with singing but that I have had to work for this. I have always had to earn these opportunities, nothing has ever been "given to me".

One of the other things I have worked hard for is the school's musical. I have participated every year, up to this one. I have always been in the ensemble. However, I was fine with this because I know how our director casts his shows. He gives roles based on seniority, essentially pretty much only seniors are cast as leads. This kind of stinks if you are are an underclassman but I chose not to be negative about it, knowing that I would be cast a senior. So I spent my Freshman, Sophomore, and Junior year in the background and I was fine with it. Not only did I play in the ensemble, I also helped building sets. I spent a lot of time working in this musical, working towards my senior year.

This year the musical was announced as the Wizard of Oz. I was excited until I realized that I had no hope of getting Dorothy. I am a tall, heavy-built girl with thick, wavy, golden blonde, hair while Dorothy is petite with curly hair. The only other senior girl is this adorably short and slender girl with dark blonde curly hair and freckles to top off the cuteness. I was fine with here being cast as Dorothy because, like me, she had waited for three years to get a lead. When I thought about it I realized that I would be better as Glinda, which made me a little upset, but I would still get to be singing a lead, like I had hoped for my senior year. Auditions came around and our director had me read for Glinda, which was promising. He had the other senior read for Dorothy. All was well.

At callbacks he had me read for Aunty Em which I assumed was just because Glinda and Aunty Em are supposed to be played by the same person. Then, after everyone had left I went in to get something that I had forgotten and my director told me that he was going to give me the part of Aunty Em. I was devastated. My senior year, when I was supposed to be a lead, and I was given a non-singing supporting role who is onstage for barely five minutes. Again, I had spent three years in the ensemble waiting for my senior year. Needless to say, I spent that night crying. When the cast list was posted I was cast as Aunty Em, the other senior was cast as the Wicked Witch while Dorothy was a sophomore, and Glinda played by a freshman. I just want to say that I hold no resentment against those people for getting cast as those roles. They are both talented people but they will have so many other chances to play lead roles whereas the other senior girl and I will not.

I was so incredibly upset. I wanted to quit because of what they had done to me with casting. I didn't want to quit because I have been committed to the musical forever. I wrestled with this decision until I finally decided to try out the first few rehearsals to see how awful it would be to be Aunty Em. These rehearsals only intensified my internal conflict. I enjoyed spending time with the other wonderful people and I truly enjoy singing and dancing. However, my desire to quit was intensified by the musical director (who I am much closer to than the regular director) when he placed me in the alto section. Nothing against altos, you are lovely people but I am just not an alto. It's not that I have trouble hitting the notes (I have a nearly four octave range) its just uncomfortable and annoying for me to sing there. The musical director did place me in a special selected "women's chorus" and although I suppose that could be considered a featured singing role, it's miles away from a solo of any kind. I did talk with him about this afterwards and he has agreed to switch me to the soprano part on the ensemble but he can't really do anything about the solo thing....

I feel as though I am unimportant to the show and they just gave me a throwaway role to appease me. Being there makes me feel worthless. At the same time, I am committed to the idea of the musical and I love the other people in the show and don't want to screw things up for them by leaving.

So in the end I guess this is the big question. Should I quit or should I stick with it? Any help is appreciated. Thank you for taking the time to listen to my problems.

I know it sucks and it's painful, but I would suggest sticking with it. Some elements of your story echo stuff I dealt with as a flute player my senior year. I'm still kind of bitter about it, but more because I know the director had a lot of favoritism going on and possibly a touch of racism - 6 years over junior and senior high and he never did bother to learn how to say my two-syllable name right. 

As much as they probably don't deserve to have you with the way they've treated you, quitting could be harmful in several ways. It would tarnish relationships with these musical directors and possibly engender ill-will from fellow cast and crew, even if they don't vocalize to your face. You will be applying to musical programs and don't want this as a negative mark against you if either of these folks are your references. Sticking through the musical would show perseverance to schools you apply to, as opposed to giving the impression of quitting when a situation seemingly doesn't favor you. I know the background of your conflict, but admission committees have a lot of applicants to wade through and they may not necessarily take the time to sit back and analyze the situation. 

Regarding being originally placed in the alto section, I think it's actually a testament to your music director's faith in your abilities. Sopranos get all the attention - they are like the violins or lead guitars. Altos, while lovely in their own right (I'm one =P) are more like the violas or rhythm guitars. They may be a necessary element of a piece, but they just don't get as much recognition or glamour. I think it's harder to find someone who has given dedication to training up an alto voice than a soprano at the high school level. Your director knew your range and that you are a well-trained singer. In my opinion, you were going to be used to bolster a possibly weak section. 

Reading back over what I wrote, I realize that I'm being a total Debbie Downer. Like I said, I know it sucks and I'm really sorry you are in this situation. However, since you're looking into going into music in college, you need to consider every decision in terms of how an admissions committee may see it. If you were going into Biology, I'd say quit. However, you are going into voice and they are going to expect you to find yourself in these situations from time to time - especially since in a music school you will be pitted against other high caliber singers and they will want to see that you won't just quit when you don't get the part. 

Years from now you can toss it in their face with grace when you regale the audience at the Tony's or Grammy's with how you had to play Auntie Em. =P

I know it hurts now, however; when you look back at this, it will not bother you. I have friends who are actors and actresses and there are many who are offered roles that are way out of their comfort zone. In fact, there are even some who can't understand why they were offered such roles. Think of this as the opportunity to do justice for the role. Think of actors and actresses like Hilary Swank as Brandon Teena or Angelina Jolie who play roles like Maleficent. If you are going to allow this to hurt you, then you shouldn't be acting because it is acting NOT life.

Now I'm not very into any kind of music at all (I like to call myself musically challenged), so take what I say with a grain of salt, but I think you should stick it out.  That being said, could you try talking to the director, not complaining about not getting the part you wanted but about why you didn't get it and what you could've done to get a lead role?  This will make it look like you are serious about your future in singing (and the tips may actually be helpful!) and he may end up giving you some insight into what happened, which could lead to a civilized (lol I tend to forget to do this when I'm angry, maybe you can be better) conversation about how you really wanted and deserve a lead part.

But anyway, overall I think as far as your future I think schools, etc. will see all of your other wonderful accomplishments and not even bat an eye about you not having a lead role now.  And like Sarah said, even the greats have off roles, so don't let yourself not be proud of yourself for a minor role!