Mystery of Edwin Drood Questions

[PianoMan8291]

My high school is putting on Drood this upcoming fall, and since I'm unfamiliar with the show I had a few questions.

1. What is the range of Jasper? This is the part I would like, so I'm wondering his range. Mostly I've seen him billed as a tenor, but sometimes he's referred to as a baritone. I'm a baritone but am able to sing partly in the tenor range, so depending on where his range is placed I could do it. I was just wondering what his range was.

2. The chairman is the other part I'm considering. He's always billed as a baritone, but I'm wondering if his songs require much musicality or if they're more patter songs. It's my senior year and I want to be able to show off both my singing AND acting, so I was wondering if this part would lend itself to that.

Thanks for your input!

[PianoMan8291]

Does anybody have feedback?

[Summerstock2]

I'd need to check the music for the range, but I finished directing this a few months ago so will try to help you from memory. Jasper is a tenor and The Chairman is a bari. Jasper's the more musical role by far; great songs for him-but a bit difficult, it is like Sondheim (only) in the sense that the songs tell the story and don't follow a set musical pattern (ie verse/chorus/verse) and they are very wordy-they tell the story and give most of the insights to his character. Jasper's confession is especially challenging. The Chairman is mostly banter-he dances tho as well and is a more challenging -and much more fun-acting role. He is on stage 99% of the show; plays several characters and interacts directly with the audience. A multitude of lines-you speak for a couple pages at a time repeatedly; and also ad lib with the audience, so you must have he ability to leave your memorized lines, converse in character with the audience and get back to the show with precise timing. Remember as well, it is a show within a show-so everyone plays two parts. Jasper's actor could be expanded by the person playing him: his role in the show (Jasper) is fairly set in stone, needs to be played as written-the villain. Remember also-it is a burlesque/vaudeville style show-act it accordingly-do some research!
The young actor who played my Chairman was a senior in high school and it turned out to be his most rewarding role. But if you are a singer it will not showcase your talent in that way.
Hope this helped! Have fun with it-it's really a great show!