<p>As Senior year is quickly approaching, I am finding myself fretting and freaking out more than ever over audition songs for college. I was thinking of "Being Alive" but I soon remembered the "NO sondheim ever!" Rule. I was wondering if you guys could help me find appropriate audition songs.
For reference for my range, I have sung "If I can't love her" from Beauty and the Beast and "Can't take my eyes off of you" by Frankie Valli and the Four seasons throughout high school.</p>
<p>If you guys could help, it would be greatly appreciated.</p>
<p>Some things to think about: What is your range? Are you a tenor? What is your character type? Leading man, character actor? It is recommended to find a piece that fits your age, type and range. The age can range from younger to older by a few years depending on your look. You will most likely need an up tempo, a ballad and it would be a good idea to also have a song from the golden age of MT. Golden age range can vary from school to school, but before 1960 would be playing it safe. Research the schools you are interested in. Often there are guidelines on the website. Do you have a voice teacher or someone helping you in this process? I’m sure others will chime in with more ideas/information, but last but not least, search the threads on this forum as there is a wealth of information.</p>
<p>Age appropriate is the hardest part I think, so the character must be between 17ish to 23ish. Jason Robert Brown is typically off the list as well. Check amazon for books of music for your vocal part. Mariann Cook (head of Rider’s MT program) has a book out “Teen Pop Broadway Collections” my S liked it but didn’t chose anything from that book. Based on those two songs you have quite the range. My S has to sing “Can’t Take My Eyes Off of You” down an octave. With The Jersey Boys movie doing so well I’d probably stay away from music from it, lots of guys will likely chose songs from it for their classic piece.</p>
<p>Pick songs that you can sing well even if you’re sick, really nervous etc. For example my S loves Being Alive too but one weak/nerved filled moment and he might miss some of those big notes. Don’t try to blow the auditors away, try to show them you…so easy to say I know. Dr John (head of Otterbein’s program) has really good advice. Check the Otterbein section I believe we bumped it up for last year. </p>
<p>Forgot to add as far as age appropriate S loves the music from Jane Eyre and sings it as often as he can but as far as college auditions Edward is at least in his 30s (James Barbour played him when he was 34ish) so that would be a bit of a stretch.</p>
<p>S used Johanna from Sweeney Todd a lot because he had trouble finding a contemporary number he connected to. He had a lot of classics because he’s that type of singer. </p>
<p>Thank you entertainersmom and MTMajorCook, I will definitely keep searching. If I find any other song, would be alright to post it to this thread (I’m new here)?</p>
<p>I also thought of some of Gabe’s songs from Next to Normal and “Sibella” from Gentleman’s Guide, but I didn’t know what the consensus is on next to normal and I thought it best not to do something from gentleman’s guide with it being so new.</p>
<p>The song lore on this forum is to avoid anything currently on Broadway, though I think some would say to go for it if you could nail it. Son played it safe and used songs from “Wonderful Town”, “Shenandoah” and “Weird Romance”.</p>
<p>S used I Could Write a Book from Pal Joey and I’ve Gotta Be There from Nice Work if You Can Get it. These may give you a jumping off point. S selected performers he loved then researched all the musicals they performed and chose his songs that way.</p>
<p>S said he would not use Next to Normal because lots of other guys use it.</p>
<p>Beauty and the Beast is on a lot of “overdone” lists, as is Next to Normal. But I think there is never a problem singing something you absolutely kill… and IMHO, there isn’t a giant problem singing an “overdone” song if you pair it with something a little more off beat. The goal is to stand out… and if you two songs that the audition panel has heard 10 other times that day… are you going to stand out? Isn’t it Kyle Dean Massey (Current Pippin on byway) who said he sang “Corner of the Sky” at every audition and got no BFA offers his 1st round? I have a D, she sang from They’re Playing our Song", “Triumph of Love” and “Romance, Romance”. Nothing you would find in a singer’s anthology book- not that there is ANYTHING wrong with those books, she owns 3 or 4 and has used songs in them for lots of things…</p>
<p>I know a girl who did a song from a show currently on Broadway and got into top schools including her dream school. So, if you can KILL IT, go for it!! Just be sure to check each school to see if they have a specific “do not sing” list.</p>
<p>My S was also told to sing songs from characters that he would be castable for TODAY… so, we had “Make 'Em Laugh” from Singin’ in the Rain, but took it off the audition list because the character is too old for him. He LOVED that song… but, he’s a shorter, young-looking 17. I have found volumes 1, 2, 3 & 5 + the 16 bar cut of Singer’s Musical Theatre Anthology on ebay for about 1/2 (or less) the cost of buying new. For the price, it is MUCH cheaper than buying each song individually… even if you only use a couple per book. </p>
<p>Was it CCU that had the big list of ‘do not sing’ on their website? I can’t remember. Seems like it was NO to Sondheim, JRBrown, Wicked, LesMis, Phantom, anything current or last 4-5 years on BWay, songs identified with an iconic singer, etc. </p>
<p>At the moment, my S has 4 in his audition book… 2 up-tempo, 2 ballad, and of those, 1 is Golden Age and 1 is 1969 (golden-ish?). </p>
<p>@GSOMTMom- I know stories like yours… but one of D’s best friends (a boy with a KILLER voice) decided he HAD to sing “Santa Fe” from Newsies… at CMU (the current Jack Kelly is a CMU grad) Friend was doing well, passed to Barbara, and asked to sing for her, sang Santa Fe (and I have heard him do it, it’s great) She was miffed, asked if he knew about the bway kid (he did) and asked his reasoning behind the choice when it would seem so clearly against standard choices. He was not accepted. Now that could have been for a million reasons, but the kid has been kicking himself about not following “the rules” since March…</p>
<p>Thank you all again for all of your help!
I was wondering what everyone’s thoughts were on “Almost like being in love.”
I’m still racking my brain on songs, so input is greatly appreciated. </p>
<p>I love it… Brigadoon is a favorite for me. However, Tommy is supposed to be 30-40. What about something of Charlie’s… Come to Me Bend to Me or Bonnie Jean? </p>
<p>Careful, in-depth research will pay off. It can be tedious, but the time will be well spent. Here are some resources that might help you in your research:</p>
<p>StageAgent.com: this is a fantastic website that lets you search musicals in many different ways. Experiment with the “Part Finder” to find roles in your age range and voice part (try entering 18-15 for an age range, for example).</p>
<p>As has been mentioned previously, you can look through the table of contents for the multi-volume Singers Musical Anthology by Hal Leonard, Singers Musical Anthology for Teens, etc. for your voice part - the TOC’s are available online from the publisher’s websites. Some people shy away from these sources in fear of the dreaded “overdone” label, if that worries you, then look up other songs by the same composers for your voice part and age range. A few of the songs from these books will be on various “do not use” lists from colleges, so always check requirements for each school that you apply to.</p>
<p>Youtube and iTunes are great places to listen to songs when you find one in your voice part and age range.</p>
<p>There is a huge list of age appropriate songs compiled by Matthew Edwards on his blog, “Auditioning for College” (can’t put the link here because it is a blog) titled “Age Appropriate Songs.” This blog is a great resource in general for college auditions.</p>
<p>^^^ There is a typo in my post above, it should read: “try entering 18-25 for an age range” in the part about Stage Agent. Note that Stage Agent will return some roles in older ranges with this range specified, i.e., 25-40, that are probably too old for high school auditioners, but you can just ignore those.</p>