<p>My son is preparing for his MT auditions and naturally he is agonizing over song choices. S is literally the only talented person in our family, no clue where he came from. He's been performing/training for several years now but even with the connections we've made I feel like we have so much learn about the college audition process. I've been reading this site for hours.
I love the music from Dracula "Loving You Keeps Me Alive" "Before Summer Ends" they are good choice for his voice as well. I haven't seen them mentioned in any post, is there a reason?</p>
<p>My D is applying to acting schools this year, not MT, but she does sing. I know two of the rules of thumb for choosing songs are - one- the show should not be currently running on Broadway or even have run within the past year. Two- the song should not ever have been the song from the show that everyone remembers, the one sung by the famous Broadway performer. Everyone just compares you to that singer. You are probably safe in these regards with those songs.
I dont know though if this show is very popular at the high school level, which can lead to a lot of kids doing the songs. There’s an overdone monologue thread on the theatre forum: did you search this forum for overdone songs?</p>
<p>I did search. I’m not so concerned about these 2 being overdone so much, Dracula was not a smash hit on Broadway and I don’t think a lot of High Schools do it because it’s basically rated R. I’m more concerned maybe they aren’t age appropriate, there isn’t any inappropriate language in either or perhaps they aren’t well liked I don’t know… I probably should just stay out of it but I love these two songs for him LOL</p>
<p>Does he have a voice teacher? If so, run it by the teacher. I have read a blurb or two on here about age appropriateness, but I don’t know if that’s character age appropriateness or content of the song being too mature. I generally let my D’s voice teacher work with her to choose audition songs. While D has been performing for years and I thought I was the consummate stagemom, I’ve realized that this college audition process is a whole 'nother thing and I know NOTHING about it. This forum is really helping me get up to speed.</p>
<p>Review school websites thoroughly. They will give you info on what songs to avoid.</p>
<p>Like monologues, songs should be character age appropriate. I did not hear songs from this during last years audition cylce. Surprisingly enough many boys were singing songs from Catch Me If You Can.</p>
<p>I would make sure his songs are from 2 completely different musicals. I am not familiar with either of these, but he should also make sure they are of different styles. Whatever he chooses, make sure he has back-up songs with marked up music. Sometimes, auditionees will be asked if they have a different song, or even asked to sing a 3rd choice.</p>
<p>He has a vocal coach we will run it by her. He is also very close to his High School Musical Director/Choir teacher we will get in touch with him. Song and monologue choices are weighing on him, he’s so afraid to make the wrong choice. I keep thinking if you do it well it shouldn’t matter so much but again I have no experience in this area. D is a strong singer and dancer, acting is his weaker talent.</p>
<p>The versions of these songs I’ve heard are by James Barbour on youtube.</p>
<p>We’ll also closely review each schools requirements to see if either song fits. Maybe its a good thing no one so far has heard them. Thanks everyone, glad I found this site!</p>
<p>As takeitallin said, he needs to have some back-up songs with music with appropriate cuts. Don’t choose a song where you can only hit that high note on a good day. The audition day is almost never a good day.</p>
<p>Some schools want one of the songs to be from an older show, so it’s a good idea to know a few of those. By older, of course, I don’t mean “Wicked” – find something by Cole Porter, Gershwin, Jerry Herman, Rodgers and Hammerstein, etc.</p>
<p>If you have a great range, show it off. If you have gorgeous low notes, show them off.</p>