<p>Thanks, cartera45. I have seen that section of the audition instructions. In past years they have actually listed shows by name in the "do not sing" portion of these instructions. I have not been able to find that list this year and was wondering if I had just missed it in my surfing.</p>
<p>I love the part where it says not to bring a tape and lip synch to Barbra Streisand. When we were visiting Elon, the pianist told us that she had been in an audition where a kid brought a Britney Spears song and sang along. I don't know where that happened, but I sure would love for my D to follow that!</p>
<p>"Traditional" musical theater song usually means pre-1960s. In addition, the songs from "Apple Tree" have a more modern sound than some other shows written during the same era, like Mame or Hello Dolly. It definitely falls into the contemporary category.</p>
<p>I'm in a quandry. My d is auditioning at Marymount Manhattan, Pace and NYU. She is singing "One Night Only" from Dreamgirls and I counseled her not to choose that song because I thought it too contemporary and pop. Her college voice teacher who has had a few students on Broadway (a big thing for a small Texas town) insists that she sing "One Night Only" because she is a terrific belter and nails it every time she sings it. She is also singing Summertime in her legit voice which is a beautiful mezzo. Any comments on my quandry based on actual experience?</p>
<p>I'm not sure about Marymount, but Pace and NYU do not require that you sing only traditional musical theater songs. "One Night Only" is certainly a good contrast to "Summertime" -- and it was writen more than 20 years ago, so I wouldn't call it overly contemporary. Sounds OK to me -- I would have more of a question about "Summertime", which is a true soprano, not mezzo, selection, and is one of those songs which may have been overdone.</p>
<p>The Challange with "One Night Only" is to make sure that she approaches it as both an actor and a singer. In Dreamgirls that particular song is more of a "show" number rather than a book number. It will be important for her to figure out a dramatic context for the song. Who is she singing to? What does she want? What is the journey of the song? Even a 16 - 32 bar cutting can have a journey (all be it a very short one :)) </p>
<p>These are questions to ask for every song performed, but for some songs the answers are more "obvious" than for others. </p>
<p>Good Luck!</p>
<p>Thank you so much. Your replies have helped me immensely with this and I will leave it to her and her voice teacher. By the way, she is singing Summertime as a soprano. Her range and voice has changed so much in the past year and a half and I was still stuck in the mezzo phase from high school.
I agree that it is probably overdone, but when we discussed it at MMC we got a positive response. It apparantly also shows off her legit voice very well. We had considered a Gilbert and Sullivan, but that was quickly nixed as too classical if anyone would like that info.</p>
<p>Blank Slate,
Since no one else has asked, I will. Is your D African-American? The reason I ask is that both "Dreamgirls" and "Porgy and Bess" are about African-Americans. It would not be a good idea for a caucasian or Asian girl to sing pieces from those shows. This subject has been discussed a couple of times previously here. It's fine to sing a song no matter what race you are if the song is what I would call "race neutral". It is not okay to sing pieces that are "race specific" if you are of a different race than that intended. For example, pieces from "Ragtime" that are written for African-American characters should not be sung by white performers. "Summertime" is a lovely legit soprano song, but for a MT audition, it should only be sung by A-A girls. For a college music major audition it would probably be okay for white and Asian girls.</p>
<p>We visited a school and talked with a voice teacher about song choices and what they wanted in an audition. There were several song titles bantered about, Summertime being one of them, and the teacher specifically told her not to sing it because she's not A-A. That is, of course, just one opinion, but it concurs what dancersmom said.</p>
<p>What do you think about Not a Day Goes By from Merrily and I'm A Stranger Here Myself from One Touch of Venus. I look and sound old enough for Not a Day (the angry lyrics) at least in my opinion.</p>
<p>What about Santa Fe from Newsies?</p>
<p>Freedom - I love that song, and my son has used it for a musical revue type show when he was in HS. Just be careful, because I believe that Newsies is only a movie and has not been a musical play. I don't know if colleges are strict about this in auditions. I just caution you to check requirements.</p>
<p>Okay,a few more:</p>
<p>Breeze Off the River- The Full Monty
Mama, Look Sharp- 1776
Why- tick, tick... BOOM!</p>
<p>As you might be able to tell, I'm trying to find a new ballad to replace Hard to Speak My Heart from Parade.</p>
<p>I think those selections are excellent - if you can sing them in the original keys, both soprano"ish". Kurt Weill has a wealth of chracter-drivn material. I am amazed it is not mentioned more often.."My ship" is an excellent KW ballad for a soprano.</p>
<p>Freedom_fri911 - D and I absolutely love Breeze Off the River from The Full Monty. We heard it sung just a couple of weeks ago, and were reminded again that when sung with emotion it automatically brings about those goosebumps!</p>
<p>So I just got another Singers' Musical Theater Anthology book and I fell in love with the song What You'd Call a Dream from Diamonds. My vocal coach and i think I sing it well but he said it might not be the greatest audition piece though (he did MT at Hartt) because A) it's slow-moving and B) it stays mainly in the A to Eb range. It goes higher, into an Ab but it hardly ever goes lower than an F, so I don't know if I should do that for an audition? Do you really think it matters much?</p>
<p>Is the "Boy From Oz" alright to audition with? I'm not sure if people use that show's music...</p>
<p>I haven't heard of too many people using music from that show because technically, it is pop, not MT. However, that could be a good thing -- maybe it's not overdone! Personally, I think this kind of music can work very well if you sing it in character, using the storyline of the show.</p>
<p>freedom - "What You'd Call A Dream" is a gorgeous song (in my opninon :)) and had that great top money note ("HIGH, in a baseball sky"....). I don't have the music in front of me but I'm thinking it may be hard to cut to a solid 16. But it you find a great 16 and you really connect to the song acting-wise (aka you can make it active and not just about "narrating" the story), go for it, as long as your contrasting piece IS very rangy.</p>
<p>tom - "Boy From Oz" is now considered both pop and MT, so if you sing that particular style of pop extremely well and pick one of the songs that has good acting values and cuts well to a 16 (since so many schools require 16's), you should go for it, as long as your other song is a very big contrast musically. </p>
<p>"Go for it" is apparently my phrase of the day! ;)</p>
<p>CoachC, chiming in from LaGuardia airport where she is waiting for a verrrrry delayed flight. :)</p>
<p>My other song is She Loves Me from She Loves Me and it is very much a baritone's song. From my audition experience so far, I think they want your songs to be a specific length of time rather than specific bars, so chances are I'm going have less than 16 and 32 bars. I think I have a couple ideas for the 16 and 32 measure cuts, but I need to sit down with the piano and work it out better...</p>