FCE Interview 21

Fail

Interviewer: I’m talking to Jackie Gould, who’s a very proud mother. Both of her daughters – Olivia. aged 12. and Alicia, seven – are currently appearing on the stage of the world-famous London Palladium theatre. in the musical The Sound of Music. Olivia and Alicia survived six auditions to be picked from 1,000 hopefuls for the group of seven children playing the Von Trapp family in the show. So how did it all come about?

Jackie: Well, until last year, the idea of them appearing at the London Palladium would have been unthinkable for our family. Things started to happen when Olivia auditioned for a production of the show Annie at the local theatre. She auditioned for the chorus and, by chance, got the leading role instead.

Interviewer: That’s a very big role, the leading one in Annie, isn’t it?

Jackie: Yes. for Annie, Olivia had to learn more than 200 lines. She was on stage for most of the two-hour show. It was a big script, and I decided that we’d do ten pages a night. After memorizing it. I gave her a random line. She would have to tell me what the next line was. She picked it all up even better than her homework.

Interviewer: And she did well in the part, presumably?

Jackie: She was great in the part. Everyone was astonished by her performance, including us. She had always been very shy, and she suddenly came out of her shell. We found that she could really sing. A member of the stage management team for the show was taking over a local agency and asked her to sign up. So then she had an agent to represent her and try to get roles for her.

Interviewer: OK. so what happened next?

Jackie: Well, Olivia was turned down for a part in the musical Mary Poppins. She reached the last ten for the role of Jane Banks. She didn’t get the part and was distraught. But she quickly picked herself up and then we took both children to the Palladium auditions for The Sound of Music.

Interviewer: What was that like?

Jackie: Well, we arrived for the auditions at 8.30 a.m. as instructed, only to find a huge crowd ahead of us. Eventually, more than 1,000 children turned up. They said at first that they could only see 27 kids. We were at about number 20 and, with a visit to our local festival planned for the next day. we couldn’t come back. We begged them to see our daughters and eventually, they agreed.

Interviewer: And it went well?

Jackie: Both girls sang over The Rainbow for the producers and a week later they were told they had passed the initial hurdle. Their first call-back involved singing the harmonies for the title theme, as well as the song ‘The Lonely Goatherd’ from the show. I helped them rehearse by playing the tunes on our old upright piano in our dining room. They really worked hard and decided that for all auditions they would wear what they felt were their lucky clothes. Alicia had on a skirt and top and some dolly shoes. Olivia wore three­ quarter length trousers, a stripy T-shirt and dolly shoes.

Interviewer: So they got through that audition?

Jackie: Yes, and for the next one they had to read some poetry, and eventually they got to the sixth and final one. It was all quite tense at the last audition. Alicia was already set to appear in a local show, so she was not openly worried, and Olivia joked that if she was rejected she could still sell programmes at the show. I impressed upon them that they need not worry if they were rejected, as much depended on whether their faces fitted, or they were the right height. I told them it was all down to luck.

Interviewer: But they passed, and now they’re in the show. They must be thrilled.

Jackie: Yes. But it hasn’t gone to their heads. I’ve told them both they’re very lucky, and if all fails, life will go on as usual. They’re both quite quiet. not show-offs, and they’ve got their feet firmly on the ground.

Interviewer: Well, wish them good luck from me.

Jackie: I will. Thanks.

Interviewer: I’m talking to Jackie Gould, who’s a very proud mother. Both of her daughters – Olivia. aged 12. and Alicia, seven – are currently appearing on the stage of the world-famous London Palladium theatre. in the musical The Sound of Music. Olivia and Alicia survived six auditions to be picked from 1,000 hopefuls for the group of seven children playing the Von Trapp family in the show. So how did it all come about?

Jackie: Well, until last year, the idea of them appearing at the London Palladium would have been unthinkable for our family. Things started to happen when Olivia auditioned for a production of the show Annie at the local theatre. She auditioned for the chorus and, by chance, got the leading role instead.

Interviewer: That’s a very big role, the leading one in Annie, isn’t it?

Jackie: Yes. for Annie, Olivia had to learn more than 200 lines. She was on stage for most of the two-hour show. It was a big script, and I decided that we’d do ten pages a night. After memorizing it. I gave her a random line. She would have to tell me what the next line was. She picked it all up even better than her homework.

Interviewer: And she did well in the part, presumably?

Jackie: She was great in the part. Everyone was astonished by her performance, including us. She had always been very shy, and she suddenly came out of her shell. We found that she could really sing. A member of the stage management team for the show was taking over a local agency and asked her to sign up. So then she had an agent to represent her and try to get roles for her.

Interviewer: OK. so what happened next?

Jackie: Well, Olivia was turned down for a part in the musical Mary Poppins. She reached the last ten for the role of Jane Banks. She didn’t get the part and was distraught. But she quickly picked herself up and then we took both children to the Palladium auditions for The Sound of Music.

Interviewer: What was that like?

Jackie: Well, we arrived for the auditions at 8.30 a.m. as instructed, only to find a huge crowd ahead of us. Eventually, more than 1,000 children turned up. They said at first that they could only see 27 kids. We were at about number 20 and, with a visit to our local festival planned for the next day. we couldn’t come back. We begged them to see our daughters and eventually, they agreed.

Interviewer: And it went well?

Jackie: Both girls sang over The Rainbow for the producers and a week later they were told they had passed the initial hurdle. Their first call-back involved singing the harmonies for the title theme, as well as the song ‘The Lonely Goatherd’ from the show. I helped them rehearse by playing the tunes on our old upright piano in our dining room. They really worked hard and decided that for all auditions they would wear what they felt were their lucky clothes. Alicia had on a skirt and top and some dolly shoes. Olivia wore three­ quarter length trousers, a stripy T-shirt and dolly shoes.

Interviewer: So they got through that audition?

Jackie: Yes, and for the next one they had to read some poetry, and eventually they got to the sixth and final one. It was all quite tense at the last audition. Alicia was already set to appear in a local show, so she was not openly worried, and Olivia joked that if she was rejected she could still sell programmes at the show. I impressed upon them that they need not worry if they were rejected, as much depended on whether their faces fitted, or they were the right height. I told them it was all down to luck.

Interviewer: But they passed, and now they’re in the show. They must be thrilled.

Jackie: Yes. But it hasn’t gone to their heads. I’ve told them both they’re very lucky, and if all fails, life will go on as usual. They’re both quite quiet. not show-offs, and they’ve got their feet firmly on the ground.

Interviewer: Well, wish them good luck from me.

Jackie: I will. Thanks.

Interviewer: I’m talking to Jackie Gould, who’s a very proud mother. Both of her daughters – Olivia. aged 12. and Alicia, seven – are currently appearing on the stage of the world-famous London Palladium theatre. in the musical The Sound of Music. Olivia and Alicia survived six auditions to be picked from 1,000 hopefuls for the group of seven children playing the Von Trapp family in the show. So how did it all come about?

Jackie: Well, until last year, the idea of them appearing at the London Palladium would have been unthinkable for our family. Things started to happen when Olivia auditioned for a production of the show Annie at the local theatre. She auditioned for the chorus and, by chance, got the leading role instead.

Interviewer: That’s a very big role, the leading one in Annie, isn’t it?

Jackie: Yes. for Annie, Olivia had to learn more than 200 lines. She was on stage for most of the two-hour show. It was a big script, and I decided that we’d do ten pages a night. After memorizing it. I gave her a random line. She would have to tell me what the next line was. She picked it all up even better than her homework.

Interviewer: And she did well in the part, presumably?

Jackie: She was great in the part. Everyone was astonished by her performance, including us. She had always been very shy, and she suddenly came out of her shell. We found that she could really sing. A member of the stage management team for the show was taking over a local agency and asked her to sign up. So then she had an agent to represent her and try to get roles for her.

Interviewer: OK. so what happened next?

Jackie: Well, Olivia was turned down for a part in the musical Mary Poppins. She reached the last ten for the role of Jane Banks. She didn’t get the part and was distraught. But she quickly picked herself up and then we took both children to the Palladium auditions for The Sound of Music.

Interviewer: What was that like?

Jackie: Well, we arrived for the auditions at 8.30 a.m. as instructed, only to find a huge crowd ahead of us. Eventually, more than 1,000 children turned up. They said at first that they could only see 27 kids. We were at about number 20 and, with a visit to our local festival planned for the next day. we couldn’t come back. We begged them to see our daughters and eventually, they agreed.

Interviewer: And it went well?

Jackie: Both girls sang over The Rainbow for the producers and a week later they were told they had passed the initial hurdle. Their first call-back involved singing the harmonies for the title theme, as well as the song ‘The Lonely Goatherd’ from the show. I helped them rehearse by playing the tunes on our old upright piano in our dining room. They really worked hard and decided that for all auditions they would wear what they felt were their lucky clothes. Alicia had on a skirt and top and some dolly shoes. Olivia wore three­ quarter length trousers, a stripy T-shirt and dolly shoes.

Interviewer: So they got through that audition?

Jackie: Yes, and for the next one they had to read some poetry, and eventually they got to the sixth and final one. It was all quite tense at the last audition. Alicia was already set to appear in a local show, so she was not openly worried, and Olivia joked that if she was rejected she could still sell programmes at the show. I impressed upon them that they need not worry if they were rejected, as much depended on whether their faces fitted, or they were the right height. I told them it was all down to luck.

Interviewer: But they passed, and now they’re in the show. They must be thrilled.

Jackie: Yes. But it hasn’t gone to their heads. I’ve told them both they’re very lucky, and if all fails, life will go on as usual. They’re both quite quiet. not show-offs, and they’ve got their feet firmly on the ground.

Interviewer: Well, wish them good luck from me.

Jackie: I will. Thanks.

Interviewer: I’m talking to Jackie Gould, who’s a very proud mother. Both of her daughters – Olivia. aged 12. and Alicia, seven – are currently appearing on the stage of the world-famous London Palladium theatre. in the musical The Sound of Music. Olivia and Alicia survived six auditions to be picked from 1,000 hopefuls for the group of seven children playing the Von Trapp family in the show. So how did it all come about?

Jackie: Well, until last year, the idea of them appearing at the London Palladium would have been unthinkable for our family. Things started to happen when Olivia auditioned for a production of the show Annie at the local theatre. She auditioned for the chorus and, by chance, got the leading role instead.

Interviewer: That’s a very big role, the leading one in Annie, isn’t it?

Jackie: Yes. for Annie, Olivia had to learn more than 200 lines. She was on stage for most of the two-hour show. It was a big script, and I decided that we’d do ten pages a night. After memorizing it. I gave her a random line. She would have to tell me what the next line was. She picked it all up even better than her homework.

Interviewer: And she did well in the part, presumably?

Jackie: She was great in the part. Everyone was astonished by her performance, including us. She had always been very shy, and she suddenly came out of her shell. We found that she could really sing. A member of the stage management team for the show was taking over a local agency and asked her to sign up. So then she had an agent to represent her and try to get roles for her.

Interviewer: OK. so what happened next?

Jackie: Well, Olivia was turned down for a part in the musical Mary Poppins. She reached the last ten for the role of Jane Banks. She didn’t get the part and was distraught. But she quickly picked herself up and then we took both children to the Palladium auditions for The Sound of Music.

Interviewer: What was that like?

Jackie: Well, we arrived for the auditions at 8.30 a.m. as instructed, only to find a huge crowd ahead of us. Eventually, more than 1,000 children turned up. They said at first that they could only see 27 kids. We were at about number 20 and, with a visit to our local festival planned for the next day. we couldn’t come back. We begged them to see our daughters and eventually, they agreed.

Interviewer: And it went well?

Jackie: Both girls sang over The Rainbow for the producers and a week later they were told they had passed the initial hurdle. Their first call-back involved singing the harmonies for the title theme, as well as the song ‘The Lonely Goatherd’ from the show. I helped them rehearse by playing the tunes on our old upright piano in our dining room. They really worked hard and decided that for all auditions they would wear what they felt were their lucky clothes. Alicia had on a skirt and top and some dolly shoes. Olivia wore three­ quarter length trousers, a stripy T-shirt and dolly shoes.

Interviewer: So they got through that audition?

Jackie: Yes, and for the next one they had to read some poetry, and eventually they got to the sixth and final one. It was all quite tense at the last audition. Alicia was already set to appear in a local show, so she was not openly worried, and Olivia joked that if she was rejected she could still sell programmes at the show. I impressed upon them that they need not worry if they were rejected, as much depended on whether their faces fitted, or they were the right height. I told them it was all down to luck.

Interviewer: But they passed, and now they’re in the show. They must be thrilled.

Jackie: Yes. But it hasn’t gone to their heads. I’ve told them both they’re very lucky, and if all fails, life will go on as usual. They’re both quite quiet. not show-offs, and they’ve got their feet firmly on the ground.

Interviewer: Well, wish them good luck from me.

Jackie: I will. Thanks.