<p>Why would you want to avoid Sondheim?</p>
<p>Love I Hear is indeed one of the simpler Sondheim accompaniments. Go with it if it works for you!</p>
<p>Regarding Little Shop -- early Elvis tunes would be a good choice. Think "Heartbreak Hotel", etc. For Seymour, maybe you could try something from Urinetown, like "Look to the Sky"? That one came to mind immediately, but I'm sure there are other good choices.</p>
<p>NMR- Sondheim is typically on the "don't do" lists because the accompaniment is too complicated for sight reading, that's why I was asking!
Thanks onstage!
-knarfy</p>
<p>If the college specifically states no Sondheim at all - then follow those instructions. If not, feel free to use a Sondheim, as long as it suits you very well and the accompaniement is of the "simpler" kind e.g. stuff from Evening Primrose tends to be fine for sight reading. Also, make sure you have other stuff for the panel to choose from in case they don't want to hear a Sondheim. </p>
<p>"Larger than Life" - fine
"If I Sing" - fine
"Love, I Hear" - fine
"Can't Be Bothered Now" - fine but wouldn't use it as a first song
"My Defenses Are Down" - ok</p>
<p>thanks a lot JIJane! I'm still working on finding more songs too!
-knarfy</p>
<p>Thanks onstage!</p>
<p>I am surprised to hear that Sondheim is on the "don't do" list! :) I remember hearing advice (when my D was going thru this last year) not to do songs written by JRB (which my daughter ignored, and she was generally fortunate in her admissions outcome) but I don't recall hearing/seeing prohibitions against Sondheim. That's interesting.</p>
<p>That's interesting that Sondheim didn't come up last year. In the past it has been generally a no-no. Due to the complicated accompaniment, overdone-ness and the fact that many of the characters are too mature for most young people. It has been on some schools do-not-sing-list along with JRB, most Disney musicals and anything that is currently on Broadway. When my son was doing his auditions he broke some of these rules, mostly due to ignorance. If a school has very specific audition requirements, or a do-not-sing list, why temp fate, it's hard enough anyway!</p>
<p>srw, probably just my ignorance is at play here! :) What you say is no doubt true. </p>
<p>My D loves Sondheim's stuff, but didn't sing any of it due to the factors you mention above. (too complex for the accompanist, characters are too old, some overdone, etc.) </p>
<p>I just hadn't heard "no Sondheim" the same way I had heard "no JRB." (By the way, to my knowledge, none of the schools my kid auditioned for specifically said "No Jason Robert Brown." It was just something she/we heard out there, in the ether, so to speak. </p>
<p>So I want to be clear (for kids who are in the class of kids about to audition) that she did not deliberately go against a prohibition set by a school and definitely did not sing something from the "do not sing" list. That would have been foolish. </p>
<p>It is VERY important to follow a school's guidelines, be it what not to sing or the length of songs and monologues. I agree that the audition process is hard enough, anyway, without flouting the rules.</p>
<p>NMR, your post got me to thinking, I haven't looked at any of the schools sites in a long time and I knew there were some "do not sing list" in the past. I just did a little research and couldn't find any DNSL, so I guess it's fair game! Although I did find some info on CCM that discouraged Sondheim plus some other "guide lines". I think some of these "warnings" are very unoffical and come from past experience. Overall I think most of these "warnings" make sense. Like a young man who posted on here a million years ago, he said he sang On the Street Where You Live, and so did the six guys who went before him! The same situation with my S, he, like your D did not try and break any rules written or not, just ignorance (he was lucky that things turned out well) I sometimes think about the kids who haven't found CC. I wonder if they all go in singing from "Wicked" and I wonder how things turn out for them! I think people who find CC must have a definite advantage when it comes to selecting audition materials. BTW, definitely no ignorance in NMR land!</p>
<p>Sondheim is mentioned on some college lists and even other audition websites, like Strawhats, because of the difficulty of many of the piano accompaniments. It really doesn't have anything to do with the quality of the songs -- but some of his compositions are risky to attempt with an unknown pianist, even in a professional situation.</p>
<p>Regarding JRB, I sat in on one of his workshops last year. Even HE advised "Don't attempt one of my songs for an audition." -- unless you are absolutely sure both of the pianist and of your own ability to really master the song.</p>
<p>Many schools have made radical changes to their MT audition websites this year. The most radical changes I have discovered are those of the UMich and CCM websites. Each school has completely revamped its language and the focus of the content. </p>
<p>UMich now focuses largely on parameters for the singing audition, emphasizing "don't sing at the extremes of your range" and "don't just rely on YouTube" to familiarize yourself with UMich's program. I have discussed these changes to the website text with many UMich MT alumni, current MT students, and even MPulse attendees, and they all agree this clearly reflects a "please don't belt your face off to impress us" sensibility. </p>
<p>CCM's website is even more radically changed - the infamous "Don'ts" list for auditionees seems to have been completely replaced by a page of testimonials about how positive the CCM audition experience is. This is pretty clearly in response to CCM's unwritten rep as a "mean" school.</p>
<p>Food for thought for auditionees and parents consumers :) - and Mich's info is definitely important for considering audition material.</p>
<p>Does it matter if the monologue is from a play that has little or no production history? D read several plays that have only been performed by community theater groups. Are the auditors open to something new or do they prefer familiar, but not overdone, material?</p>
<p>As far as I know.... I will use a monologue from a play for a student if it is from a published full length play.</p>
<p>If community theatre groups are producing a play, they probably got the rights from Samuel French or one of the other big publishers. If a play is full length and is listed in Samuel French (or one of the other big companies) it qualifies for auditions.</p>
<p>If you find something you really like in a published book of short plays or one acts is there any reason you would not be able to perform a monologue from their script?
Also, are there any real rules on doing cuttings to a dialogue to make it a monologue if you are not changing any words?
It seems very difficult to find material "age suitable, not overdone, full-length, not from a monologue book (which has already grabbed up most of the age appropriate material). If it is written for a character that is older than a young adult but works perfectly and can be justified by being played by a young adult, would that be suitable?
Help......!!!</p>
<p>The classical monologue - I found one from a Greek play (Sophocles) that I really like. Is this not what they're looking for, because it's obviously a translation? Are they looking for the language of Shakespeare or something?</p>
<p>Pohsmom... One Acts are usually not desirable. That's not my rule... that's just the way it is......I guess it also depends on the merits of the play... the author.... etc. (Is it an Albee one act or a one act by a student author?) Of course the huge guideline to follow is the exact requirements of the particular college. But in general I stay away from one acts with my students. There are too many good full length plays to choose from.... why play around with the rules. </p>
<p>One more observation about the difficulty of choosing monologues.....Choosing monologues that work for you as an actor is a life long search. It is a challenge for the adults I work with as well.</p>
<p>Yes, I have used "cuttings" from plays for monologues and they have worked really well. They have never been questioned by anyone either.</p>
<p>Monologues books where the monologues are from full length plays are an excellent source and can save a lot of time. I don't see anything wrong with them. Just make sure once you choose the monologue you read, and study, the play it is taken from. You would be surprised how many students do not feel they need to read the entire play! </p>
<p>I do feel you need to have a professional work on the monologues with your s/d. It takes many long hours to get each monologue ready. </p>
<p>From my experience... the people on the jury are not trying to trip up the students auditioning with the requirements. They just want to see that the student has WORKED on the monologue and has some idea how to approach one. It is very clear to the panel when solid work has been put into a monologue and when it has been thrown together. </p>
<p>I also treat the songs like monologues and stage them. Not OVER stage them, but make sure the student knows what they are singing about and that the movements are connected to what they are singing about. </p>
<p>Both the songs and the monologues should be rehearsed and at performance level. An audition is a performance.</p>
<p>TomBFACoach, thank you for taking time to answer my questions. My D has picked several monologues to look at and although she was partial to two of them that came from short plays, she also had some favorites from monologue books that were from full length plays. I will make sure she really researches what each school wants and avoids the short plays in most instances. One of the nice things for her is that she is in an Honors Acting IV/V class this Fall at school which requires students to work on 10 monologues, one every other week, through December. In addition we have some great acting coaches here for her to work with once she has finalized her choices.
Thanks again for all your input on the cc boards.</p>
<p>Hey, I am trying to find my songs that I want to audition with for musical theatre programs and am having some troubles. Is "Astonishing" from Little Woman used to much? And what is a good up-tempo song from before 1965? I've tried looking into some of the classics, but I keep coming to a dead end. Any suggestions?</p>
<p>Yes "Astonishing" would probably be in the overused catagory. As would most songs from current or recent Broadway shows. Generally Sondhiem and JRB are also discouraged. As far as older or "classic" shows think Rogers and Hammerstein, Lerner and Lowe, Kander and Ebb...ect.</p>