<p>My daughter is a college graduate (Otterbein '10...not MT) who is involved in theatre as an avocation. She has extensive vocal training (including voice/music at Otterbein) and generally prefers arias and art songs to musical theatre. In recent years, she has gravitated towards the tech side of theatre, but every now and then she gets the "bug" to audition for shows. We were talking about her "book" for MT this weekend, and she mentioned that she really lacked a good pop/rock type of song and asked if I had any ideas for her to look at...and I drew a blank.</p>
<p>Mezzo-daughter is technically a soprano now (who knew how much her voice would change since high school!), but her tone is quite dark, so she often gets pegged as a mezzo. Her range is extensive, but she is only 5'3/120 lbs so her look is more character than ingenue. With that in mind (and knowing that there is no right or wrong answer, since she just wants to fill in blanks in her repertoire with no particular audition on the horizon), anybody want to throw some shows/songs out that I can send on to my daughter?</p>
<p>It would be so helpful if she considered specific shows that she’d love to be prepared to audition for, should the opportunity present itself. Then she could find audition songs that are targeted towards certain roles that she is right for. In our city when one professional theatre does a show, it seems all the community theatres in the bordering counties have to do it. So keep your ear to the ground to see which shows are going up all over.
That said, to start her pop/rock collection she might look for 50’s and 60’s songs, as there are so many shows inspired by those eras. Ideally she’d have a pop/rock song or two from each decade in her book. It’s sort of a struggle in our home too - and we’ve been working at it for a while! I listen to all sorts of weird things now, trying to find 70’s through 90’s songs. Recently I was at a store and an oldie over the “Muzak” came up from the 80’s and I thought -what a great song! Put that in her book! Now of course I can’t remember what I heard…;)</p>
<p>Send your daughter a copy of ROCK THE AUDITION by Sheri Sanders. My MT son has worked with her personally in NYC. Sheri is unique in knowing how to steer traditionally trained MT singers towards the right pop/rock technique for auditions, which is so important in the professional world of pop styled musicals like RENT, SPRING AWAKENING, AMERICAN IDIOT and the like. She breaks it down by decade, with excellent suggestions for songs. The book also contains CDs. It would give your daughter a starting point for selecting music appropriate to her vocal range. Pop/Rock can be tricky for many MT and classically trained singers. My son had to step out of his comfort zone to try it. Once he did, he found a whole new sound. Plus, he now has a number of well chosen songs to add to his book. </p>
<p>The book is great fun and highly recommended. Good Luck to your daughter!</p>
<p>Thanks so much for the ideas; I’ll order Rock the Audition and send it to her as an early birthday gift. This conversation came about because some friends of hers were recently cast in Bloody, Bloody Andrew Jackson, and there are whispers about an area theatre doing Godspell if the rights are available. She pointed out that she would have been unable to audition for Bloody, Bloody with anything in her book, and I know she’d do anything for the chance to audition for Godspell. Hopefully, the book and looking for 50s/60s songs will help her prepare, just in case.</p>
<p>mezzomom, I was actually going to mention BLOODY BLOODY ANDREW JACKSON in my list above but wasn’t sure how many people would recognize it. (My son saw it twice in New York and liked it a lot, though it’s probably not for everyone.) It’s exactly the kind of show that requires a pop/rock song, with emphasis on rock. GODSPELL would be more pop. So sad to hear it’s closing in NYC on the 24th – but glad to hear it might be “popping” up elsewhere. Hope your daughter enjoys her early birthday gift!</p>