Monologues

[najalynpace215]

<p>Hi, I'm a senior and I plan on majoring for musical theater. I wanted to know if anyone has or knows any monologues that don't come from musicals but full plays, and are published. I need a dramatic and comedic monologue. I appreciate any suggestions. Thank you :)</p>

[Marbleheader]

<p>Picking a monologue is not only time-consuming, it is a very individual process - don’t just grab the first play you find, you need to read, read, read and when you connect with a character, practice, practice, practice.</p>

[EmsDad]

<p>As noted by Marbleheader, this is a process that should ideally should involve a lot of research on your part. A typical audition question might be, “why did you choose that monologue?” You may want to be able to describe some depth of research if that question comes up. Here is some past advice from old threads from some distinguished posters:</p>

<p>

MusThCC:</p>

<p>If you want to start on the Internet, I would use it to research plays who may have characters you could realistically play. (For most college prospects, that would probably put them in a 16-24 age range.) Look for plays who have characters that fit that range - then look for other aspects that might appeal to you - you like the author, you find the subject matter intriguing, etc.</p>

<p>Monologues should be from published plays, and you should read the entire play before you would consider using a mono for an audition, particularly college auditions. The best way is to just read every play on the shelf of your local library - however, in the interests of time, if you look for a monologue book, make sure that the monos are from actual plays, and not written just for mono books. Then, if you find a mono you like, then find the play and read the whole thing.</p>

<p>Although reading through a shelf of plays may seem daunting, if you first look at the cast page in the front, and see if there are any potential characters that meet your needs, then skim through, plays usually are fairly quick reads. I would also recommend reading passages that look promising out loud. I recently read an obscure little play because I had heard a mono from it; I must say, if I hadn’t heard it as a mono first, I would have read right past it/through it, without realizing what a gem it was. I think reading aloud would focus me more on monologue potential. If you’re scanning dozens of plays at a sitting, they can start to run together, with nothing really standing out. Depending on your learning style, saying them instead of just reading in your head might make much more of an impact on you. </p>

<p>KatMT:</p>

<p>Monologue books can be a good resource for finding monologues. I suggest that if you find a monologue that you like in a book you then order the full play, (1) because you should always read the entire play before performing the monologue so that you know the context (2) You may find a different monologue from the same place that was not in the monologue book… plays in monologue books tend to be overdone.</p>

<p>If your local bookstore does not have monologue books try looking at one of the many on-line bookstores. Make sure that you are ordering a book that is a compilation of monologues from published plays, not a book of monologues that were written specifically for the monologue book.</p>

<p>Mary Anna:</p>

<p>DON’T use monologue books. Find playwrites that you like and get their collected works from your public library. Find roles that are right for your age and type in the cast of characters and then see if that character has a monologue. If you find one you like, read the ENTIRE play and reassess. </p>

<p>Also, look in the webites of some of the more prestigious regional theatres and see what their season was last year and the year before. That might lead you to something you like. </p>

<p>For new /contemporary plays, looks at Playwrights Horizon and Actors Theatre of Louisville and Williamstown Theatre websites. They are always producing new works. You might have to call New York ‘s Drama Bookshop to buy those plays or go through the playwrites’ literary agent.</p>

<p>And go to the theatre OFTEN. This is a great way to learn about plays and playwrites.

</p>

<p>As Mary Anna recommended, you may want to look at the season lists of off-Broadway/smaller/cutting-edge theatre companies, or “black box” productions of large regional theatre companies, for playwrights to reseach.</p>

<p>Here is a typical thread on the topic, you can find many more by searching for keyword “monologue” under both “Musical Theatre” and “Theatre/Drama” Majors (using the advanced search option):</p>

<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/musical-theater-major/80600-audition-songs-monologues.html?highlight=monologue[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/musical-theater-major/80600-audition-songs-monologues.html?highlight=monologue&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

[Walker1194]

<p>A good place to do initial research is actually Amazon. We read through dozens of script summaries and then went to the library to read them more in depth. Our library also has an amazing collection of newly published plays. Plan a Saturday at the library!</p>

[najalynpace215]

<p>Wow this helps so much! Can’t thank you all enough :)</p>

[EmsDad]

<p>Also, you might want to spend an evening or Saturday afternoon down at a bookstore looking through the theatre section. Barnes and Noble’s usually have a decent shelf of play anthologies, monologue books, and individual plays to look through. While some of the material may be dated, it is not a bad place to get started. Our local store does have some modern play anthologies. Some cities have bookstores that specialize in stocking plays.</p>

[Marbleheader]

<p>Still kinda new on CC! Sorry that I attached a link that I shouldn’t have.</p>

<p>Go to the website of Marymount College (NYC) and look at their audition information. They have a list of plays that you could start with, then move to other plays by the authors listed there.</p>

[mtdog71]

<p>Have you read any good plays lately? If not, find a few that interest you with characters you can relate to - and choose a monologue from there - knowing both the character and the context of the monologue. A bit more work, a far more compelling monologue. Good Luck.</p>

[classicalbk]

<p>If you are running out of time, and if you are a senior, you are, then think of a book you love with a character who is similar to you; do a little research and you may find someone has made a play out of the book. Now you have a play. With any luck your character will be long winded or you will need to do surgery on the play to make a monologue. I was very surprised to find that trimming out the other fellow in a dialogue in order to make a monologue is considered a respectable thing to do. Before we learned that trick, we lost hours looking for monologues in plays as written. For some reason, even though women are generally assumed to be big talkers (!), authors are stingy with female monologues! This is especially true with contemporary plays where the use of the monologue for any gender is, apparently, not as common as it used to be.</p>

[downstage]

<p>Stay away from Shakespeare monologues unless they are specifically asked for – it is my knowledge that auditors have seen so many Shakespeare monologues butchered that they’re turned off by them. Stay away from Larmanie Project – it’s overdone and it’s monologues aren’t the type people generally want to see in auditions anyway. At this point, you need to be reading about a play every two days until you find something that really resonates with you.</p>

<p>As a quick piggy-back on your thread, (hope you don’t mind, this could end up being a monologue option for you as well) is Moliere’s “Tartuffe” overdone?</p>

[soozievt]

<p>^^downstage, I just wanna point out that my D got into several BFA in MT programs and one of her contemporary monologues was from Laramie Project.</p>

[halflokum]

<p>Sometimes the monologue cut that you pick matters more than whether or not the play is “overdone”. My daughter (not on purpose) used a monologue from from a play that it turned out a particular school had heard a lot from but the comment was that they really liked her cut. It was not the one they had been hearing again and again so it turned out to be just fine. The play had not been on any “do not use” or “overdone” lists but you can’t help if the planets align and it ends up being the one that is popular a particular audition season. But a smart cut is a smart cut.</p>