<p>deleted message...</p>
<p>Is that the vocal selections? If so, it will only have "Vanilla Ice Cream" and not "I resolve."</p>
<p>You can also find the selections for $14.95 at:</p>
<p>Best wishes,</p>
<p>eve</p>
<p>For any school that requests a classical monologue, ask if they specifically want verse. If so, pick a Shakespeare that is written in iambic pentameter (or any other playwright in verse; Moliere's rhyming couplets or Calderon are examples) If they will accept classical prose, just pick something written before 1900.</p>
<p>xxx,Mary Anna</p>
<p>ToTheStage - You should research each school's specific audition requirements on that school's web site. As a general rule, though, many of them will specify that they want contemporary monologues, perhaps one drama and one comedy, or maybe just 2 contrasting monologues. When they request contemporary, you should not use Shakespeare.</p>
<p>Boco for instance actually says 2 contrasting monologues, 1 classical, 1 contemporary Post-war. Their asking for the Classical to be Shakespeare or moliere and the Contemporary to just be what it is. Anything post 1950.</p>
<p>A few days ago, opranoodlemantra posted:</p>
<p>"I have heard not to choose songs that arent from musicals because you cant really act them, you would have to make up a background story and that isnt what they want to see."</p>
<p>I've been meaning to respond to this but haven't had a chance til now. Anytime you are acting a song (meaning anytime you are PERFORMING that song - the only time you "just sing" is when you are dissecting or instilling vocal technique aspects of a song in a voice lesson or during your own practice), you have to make up a background story! This is EXACTLY what the auditors "want to see" - how specifically you connect to the material! This CAN be in the context of the show from which the song is taken, depending on the song, but it rarely HAS to be (again, dependent on the song). Your job as an AUDITIONING actor is to show YOURSELF (personality, thought processes, etc.) and your acting abilities by bringing a song to active life, even if it's just a 16-bar cut. Therefore, your "backstory" (meaning especially who you are, to whom you are singing, what you want from them) is essential, and it can be ANYTHING that fits with the overal intent of the song. I know there is at least one college program out there that teaches you must sing in the context of the show even when auditioning, but I find this really odd, as I have never heard this ANYWHERE else, and it certainly does NOT hold true in the top NYC master classes (Craig Carnelia's, for example, which I just observed last week). Along these same lines - it is perfectly acceptable to sing MT-style songs (such as Marcy and Zina stuff) for auditions, unless the college directly specifies that they must be from a musical. I know of one CMU student who was admitted to MT with an art song, which is funny and which she acted well, but which certainly isn't from a musical!</p>
<p>Your singing audition is nearly as much about acting as it is singing when auditioning for colleges - and in the professional world, it is almost always MORE about acting than singing, since most people at that level are very good singers - the good singing is assumed. That is why it is essential to have a vocal coach or theatre director who TRULY knows how to merge music and acting, paying attention to the demands of each type within a specific song - and how to build that from the ground up for performers unfamiliar with that process, to actually teach the process - when you are preparing your audition material for colleges. To paraphrase one of the most successful members of my coaching team, a 25 year-old performer and major conservatory program grad who already has 2 Broadway credits (including a lead role and accompanying feature on the cast recording), 2 major national tours, and many regional leads: </p>
<p>Many people have beautiful voices. What the auditors are looking for are people who connect to and CAN BRING THE MATERIAL TO LIFE. Those are the performers who truly stand out!</p>
<p>Keep in mind that "connecting to" the material emotionally does NOT always translate into that "reading" to an audience - this is why most performers need some experienced, knowledgeable outside eye to tell them what's working and what isn't yet clear. Professional actors continue to take classes for this purpose for the length of their careers, so of course less-experienced actors should not consider learning in this a sign of "weakness!!!" </p>
<p>I know many of you are just entering into your peak audition season, so break a leg, and KEEP WORKING YOUR AUDITION MATERIAL. It is NEVER to late to improve it by fleshing it out through deepening your acting choices and, above all, making them SUPER-SPECIFIC! (Again, I am speaking primarily of songs, as many young performers simply don't do this process with songs at all.)</p>
<p>P.S. opra, this post was not meant to chastise you - I know you were just relaying what you've heard!</p>
<p>Oh sorry that's not what i meant to say! I know you have to make up a background story and act it, what i meant to say is that if you have a song that's not from a musical you have to make up the context as well. What I mean is that performing a song that's not from a musical is like performing a monologue that's out of a monologue book and is not from a play. I am sure that doing a song that is not from a musical is ok but it is alot harder. I have just read on alot of the websites for the schools that i am auditioning for that they want songs from musicals.</p>
<p>Yes, schools typically want to see music done in a musical theater style, since that's what they're looking for, but often the best (and more obscure) work of a musical theater composer was never in an actual show. Songs cut from shows or written for shows that were never produced are great things to look for when seeking original audition material.</p>
<p>what about "isn't this better" from funny lady?</p>
<p>"another suitcase in another hall"...overdone?</p>
<p>(I posted this elsewhere, and just realised it belonged here... sorry!)</p>
<p>First of all, hello everyone, and thanks for the advice that I've found, and haven't even needed to ask for!</p>
<p>I am making final decisions and cuts for my auditions, and find myself with a bit of a problem. I'm doing an older up-beat, and I'm not sure which of my contemporary songs are ballads. I have a couple that I could use that are definately ballads, but would prefer a few others. Which of these are ballads, as they all seem to have a tempo in-between up-tempo and ballads (or if they are, which would seem to be bad choices?)</p>
<p>That Face from Producers
You Walk With Me from The Full Monty
Not While I'm Around from Sweeney Todd</p>
<p>I realise that Sondheim isn't always the best idea, but the accompaniment seems quite simple for Not While I'm Around, so I'm not too worried there. Also, I've been workind on The Old Red Hills of Home, which is obviously a ballad, but I've seen that it's a bad idea because of the accompaniment. Is it something that's just not really a good idea, or an absolutely "don't do?"</p>
<p>Thanks in advance!</p>
<p>Not While I'm Around should be fine. It's an extremely well known song in the Theater Community, and you're correct, the piano part is not that difficult. As for Parade, some of the music is extremely difficult to play at first glance. Depending on pianist capabilities, I would put that as a maybe.
Another composer who you should stay away from (though it kills me) is Michael John LaChiusa. As brilliant as his music is, it is extraordinarily difficult to play, and somewhat unknown.
A good newer composer whose work is very accessible is William Finn. Anything from Falsettos, In Trousers, Elegies, or A New Brain (age considered, of course) is wonderful in the auditioning process, as most of his songs present a difficult, but rewarding, acting performance.</p>
<p>the only problem currently with songs from Sweeney Todd is that the revival is running. </p>
<p>(even though your post is from Feb. and i'm sure your college auditions are over by now)</p>
<p>Choose older pieces. The auditioners will love it. At all of my auditions I struck up conversations with current students, and I let them know that I was singing "Warm All Over" from the Most Happy Fella by Frank Loesser (1950s).. and they all said "good choice.. the faculty loves hearing older stuff because they get the same things all the time". Look for well known composer's less well known, but critically praised shows.</p>
<p>Rogers and Hammerstein... for an uptempo look at "The Next Time It Happens", which was from some small, unfamous, show and then thrown into the revival of State Fair... but, to be clever, when listing your pieces, just list it from the smaller show. Also, I'm in Carousel right now, which is a show any theatre director is in love with, almost guaranteed, and the end of "Mr. Snow" (try Audra McDonald's version).. and "If I Loved You" (although a little too famous) are good ballads.</p>
<p>But, anyway, try and stay away from any contemporary composer. William Finn, Andrew Lippa, they're all great and everything.. but everyone knows that stuff now, and the auditioners appreciate the classics. It shows that you arent some trendy kid, but a person who appreciates theatre. Also try Maltby and Shire stuff... they wrote a lot of review shows... plus the show Baby if you've heard of it.. and a lot of their songs are very specific and good for acting.</p>
<p>"...but everyone knows that stuff now, and the auditioners appreciate the classics. It shows that you arent some trendy kid, but a person who appreciates theatre..."</p>
<p>I garee with the traditional stuff, My DD was auditioning for local summer programs and shows and this seemed to be really true. Or at least the accompianist appreciatedthe older music, or maybe just something different! She took two plus songs to each audition, one contemporary and How Are Things in Glocca Mora and would ask which they would like to hear her sing. (This may be lazy on our part, but we have found that for local auditions some directors appreciate being able to hear the range they are looking for.) At one audition the accompianist was so excited to play something different he asked if he could play it again! At each audition they always selected the Glocca Mora. These were not college auditions, just local stuff, but I have heard that keeping the accompianist happy is very important.</p>
<p>Lotte gives some really good general advice. However, I can't recommend strongly enough getting someone with professional perspective about audition material to chime in on your song choice. You will find many conflicting opinions among professionals (yes, directors and casting people in NYC, too), but you will also begin to learn some common "facts" such as:</p>
<ol>
<li><p>What is overdone: Mr. Snow is very overdone, Glocca Morra is fairly overdone - consider that many schools require a pre-1960 or pre-1965 song, so many people are seeking Golden Age songs ("older pieces") - therefore, don't assume that an older song will NOT be overdone simply because it's not contemporary - but there is LOTS of wonderful stuff out there, as Lotte and keepingcalm suggest!</p></li>
<li><p>What is expected from a specific song: If I Loved You IS many directors' and voice teachers' favorite song, for a REALLY good reason - it requires extremely solid technique to really sing WELL. Therefore, auditors are listening for that. Knowing this, I only endorse my students using it only if they DO have solid bel canto technique that allows them to sustain lovely legato lines and float the top notes. In addition, the song requires some pretty powerful acting chops, more so than many others - as is true of a lot of songs with "poetic" lyrics. It is often somewhat difficult to bring such songs to truly believable (and not presentational) life because our modern sensibilities get in the way of understanding the text, so it is essential to really work on the acting values of such songs.</p></li>
<li><p>That your song COMBINATION must be dynamic (when you are required to sing 2 songs): Does your song combination contrast as much as possible in tempi, vocal and music style, and content?</p></li>
</ol>
<p>Can you tell I'm on a song rep-picking kick right now? : ) It's truly like a treasure hunt - so have a blast, and TAKE YOUR TIME seeking the real gems that fit YOU!!!</p>
<p>my advice, after going through the audition process</p>
<p>go with your gut</p>
<p>go with your gut</p>
<p>go with your gut</p>
<p>can't emphasize that more. I sang a sondheim song at all but 1 of my auditions, and 75% of auditioners complimented me on song choice. The one school I didn't sing it at (and sang River in the Rain insted) I got regected from. Sing the song that shows you the best. A frined of mine OWNS Don't Rain on my Parade. I would usually advise against it, unles it's your song... and god she's amazing. She's gotten farther than anyone else at my school this year in scholarship competitions becuase of that song. </p>
<p>Sing songs that you love, that show YOU, that don't rape you (amnd by rape meaning you do it once and your hoarse after or are dying out fo breath), and that you have fun performing. They don't care if you sing If I Loved You or I Loved You Once in Silence, as long as you inject yourself into that song and make it shine! </p>
<p>You can argue this issue all you want, but just go with your gut. PLEASE! Find a good cut, practice for months in advance, and sing the hell out of that song. And know when you walked out of that audition that you sang the song that gave you the bestc hance, whether it was by Sondheim or Schwartz.</p>
<p>Now if you gut tells you to sing Defying Gravity, anything from Millie, ect... reconsider your gut feelings... other than that GO FOR IT! (as long as you are a guy who has a strong gut feeling that NYU wants you to sing Dreamgirls or something like that) </p>
<p>And I'm stepping off my soap box... now...</p>
<p>As drum implies at the end of his post, this advice works IF a performer's "gut" is an educated gut - meaning that you are still keeping in mind the current list of taboo songs, you are objective about how well you sing a song in comparison to vocal standards for its performance and that you know those standards (for example, a girl who sings a belt song "beautifully" but doesn't belt it - no good, as it will POINT TO a weakness in her vocal abilities); that you have a dynamic combination that shows off the full range of your voice (this is more important for women than for men) and your acting abilities, etc. Drum is correct in saying that a school will respond to you if you sing your guts out and do so extremely well - not a guarantee of admission by any means, but that's among the things that schools look for in singing auditions. And while many reading here undoubtedly understand the difference between true "gut" and educated inclination, I also have encountered many students who do NOT understand the difference and therefore chose to sing something simply because "they love it" - and it doesn't show them off at all, or not nearly enough based on their actual abilities vocally and acting-wise. Therefore, a clarification about "gut" is important to make.</p>
<p>An example from another realm: in my grad program (speech-language pathology with a focus on voice therapy), the instructors refer often to using our "clinical gut" when we are dealing with patients. However, they only began to refer to this now, in our FOURTH year of intensive study, after they knew we had enough accumulated knowledge to actually HAVE a "clinical gut." My point is to not be casual about the amount of analytical and comparative thought your "gut" must undergo to find the right audition material for you. I don't think drum is at all advocating that - I agree with everything implied in his post - but again, I know many students who would read "go with your gut" like that.</p>
<p>Drum and Coach, this is a very interesting discussion. Coach, I very much agree with the distinction you are making. Drum had a good point to make but it must be carefully considered in the way you just wrote....an "educated gut". </p>
<p>I think there are general guidelines of how to pick audition materials and do's and don't's and these should be part of someone's education. I also think that if a college or even a summer stock audition posts a "do not use list", one should definitely abide by the wishes of the auditors and would be nuts not to do so. However, if no such list is put out, a person should be knowledgeable about how to pick material and of the general do's and don't's. But sometimes people post things like don't sing anything by so and so or that song is rather common, or some such. </p>
<p>Examples....I recall reading on this board last year, some posts about not singing from a certain show or certain songs as examples from that show. Of course this was just a post, not anything published. Well, what was I gonna say? My child sang a song from that show, even a song mentioned by that poster and she won a NFAA award with the song and used it at several colleges where she also was admitted. It is not an overdone song and not the most common one from that particular musical (and just for the record, no it was NOT from Wicked or Millie....she would never do that for an audition). I have also read posts to not sing a certain composer. My D sang a song by that composer for a lead in an Equity theater production and has a callback today for it, in fact, but will not be able to attend as she is on a school sponsored trip in another part of the country, so that's that. If she followed the advice of that post, I guess she'd not have sung that song which she felt was similar in nature to the songs of the part she was going for. </p>
<p>Last year when my D was choosing songs for college auditions, I felt she got WAY too caught up in trying to find the most unique song that nobody else would do. Yes, I do believe one should not do the most common material (and she does not). But I don't think it is crucial that the song be the most unique and that nobody else will have ever auditioned with it. I think it is more important to find the RIGHT song for YOU but within an educated framework of what is good audition material and also what works for the singer to show off their skills. I will never forget that in a meeting my D had with Laura Strozeski at UMich's Music School admissions, my D discussed with her about audition songs and about trying to find unique material that nobody else would be singing. I would like to publicly THANK Ms. Strozeski because of what she told my D (which over many months my D finally came to realize for herself and about how she was too concerned over this and wasted too much time on this) but she told her that they were not looking for unique material so much than that it is the right material and they don't care if they hear five girls sing the same song as long as someone has made the song their own. There are not extra points for what material was chosen....it is only important that the material shows off the person performing it. It did turn out that the pre-1960 song my D sang at UMich or other schools that required a pre-1960 song was rather unique but her other audition songs were not unique, but simply not that common or overused either. </p>
<p>So, yes, it is very important to be aware of audition do's and don't's and to be educated about the vast majority of musical theater repertoire that exists and about finding material that is suitable for the performer. Liking a song is NOT the best criteria. It has to be the right song to show off that person's skills/talents. It need not be a song that nobody else has ever sang, though! I like Coach's term "educated gut". And I like Drum87's point that if a song feels like the right one for you, and it doesn't overtly break any big no no's of audition material, go with the song if it shows you off and you can really sell it. It is not enough to love a song. It has to be the right song for you. You'll know it if you've found it. Getting outside opinions from those who know you can also help in determining if that song really sells you. But if you listen to every person who says, don't sing this composer, this show, this song, you'll drive yourself nuts. Some of these things are NOT hard and fast rules as I hope my examples just indicated. </p>
<p>Susan</p>
<p>Hi I'm a mezzo/belter and will be auditioning several places starting in December. I was wondering if anyone could give me feedback on whether or not some of the songs I am considering are too "overdone."</p>
<p>"Better" - Little Women
"A Part of That" - Last 5 Years (only with taped accompaniment)
"Come to Your Senses" - Tick, Tick, Boom!
"Wizard and I" - Wicked ( I have a feeling this one is, but I thought I'd check
anyway since it's perfect for my voice)
"Look At Me Now" - Wild Party</p>
<p>Any input or new song suggestions would be greatly appreciated!</p>