Hello!
Not sure if this has been discussed before but I wanted to ask about overused songs.
All of the songs that I’ve found that are GOOD (quite a few) are considered to be overused on some site! All of the unknown ones i find I don’t like as much. Is it really that bad to use an over used song?
Songs that I’m talking about:
Astonishing from Little Women
I Speak Six Languages from Spelling Bee
Notice Me Horton from Suessical
Somewhere that’s Green from Little Shop
Vanilla Ice Cream from She Loves Me
etc… so not overdone as in WICKED or LES MIS no…. but still not super original.
Advice? Thank you!
IMHO, you can drive yourself crazy if you worry too much about the “overdone” label. Unless one of your schools specifically says, “do not do,” and it is a good audition song that you can do really, really well, then you should consider doing it.
Having said that, many MT faculty members genuinely appreciate song choices that show some depth of research and are at least somewhat “off the beaten path.” Unfortunately, none of the songs on your list really shows that. In particular, you may want to think hard about avoiding “Astonishing” and “Vanilla Ice Cream” - there are other songs from She Loves Me that make better choices and avoiding Little Women altogether is something I have heard from several experts. If you pick songs from very popular and commonly done shows like Spelling Bee, Little Shop of Horrors and Suessical, then you invite immediate comparison with lots of other auditioners, which may not the best plan. Singing a song that is at least a little less commonly used gives you a better chance to be evaluated for who you are.
I have no doubt people can immediately produce examples of students who have been admitted to top programs singing any and all of these songs, so, as with any advice you get here on CC, caveat emptor.
FYI, here are some shows that are perennial favorites for High Schools and probably generate lots of commonly used audition song selections (note that Disney and Sondheim are on many “do not use” lists):
Beauty and the Beast
Seussical
Grease
Into the Woods
Footloose
The Wizard of Oz
You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown
The Music Man
Once upon a Mattress
Thoroughly Modern Millie
Shrek the Musical
Godspell
Hairspray
Little Shop of Horrors
The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee
@BeccaW444, I’m with @EmsDad. Make sure you check each school’s site and see what their specifications are. Some say nothing currently running on Broadway, some don’t want composers that are too complicated to play for the pianist, and some state actual material to avoid. One of the most frustrating things about this whole process is that there is absolutely no consistency between schools, and when you are applying / auditioning for 15+ schools as many do, it can get confusing. Organization is key! Speaking specifically to your question, if one of the overdone songs is your money song and you know it showcases your particular talent better than any other, then I say go for it. That said, if you can avoid the obvious choices, then do. I know my D wants to tear her hair out when anyone starts to sing Vanilla Ice Cream, but maybe that was just the go to song at her last Summer intensive. Imagine how the people auditioning kids feel when they have to listen to the same songs over and over…singing something fresh can help you stand out.
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The D used pretty obscure songs from musicals probably not heard of since they debuted in the 60’s and it usually got her extra time in the room because they would ask about the songs. Extra time is never a bad thing. I do agree that if you kill a somewhat overdone song (and I mean KILL IT as in RIP because no one can ever do that song again after you sing it) go for it!
Because one of my D’s audition songs clearly appeared on one schools DNS list - she actually had 3 songs/cuts in her book - and she chose which two to present depending on the school… but the DNS song was a money song for her - and for her - it worked. (She did NOT sing it for the school that clearly had it listed as DNS on their website!)
There are thousands of songs to chose from - it seems smart to chose something that shows you have a depth of knowledge of the field you are trying to enter, rather than something “ordinary”.
If you remember anything from this forum, make this it: You can sing whatever you want! It’s your audition, it’s your time to shine, and you know what material makes you feel confident and comfortable. I agree that yes, ideally you won’t just have one strong audition piece that’s, say, Part of Your World. You should have a large variety of repertoire that will fit any audition. But a college audition is unique, and is supposed to showcase you. Your best self. If you feel strongly about Part of Your World, and can really nail it, sing Part of Your World. Just make sure you sing it very, very well. This is about picking material that you feel comfortable with. I drove myself crazy trying to pick “obscure” material, until finally an old professor at CMU told me that obscure material can actually be frustrating to the auditing panel. They want material they’re familiar with, because they actually want (to some degree) to have something to compare you with. Not every other girl auditioning, but something they know. So really, don’t stress over this. Feel free to PM me if you want help choosing material that’s less well known! Anyone who tells you to search for the most obscure material you can find is pretentious and not a part of auditioning reality. (Just to clarify, that is is so not directed at anyone here! Just in general.) Pick the material you feel a connection with, can nail every time, and really is your strongest material. Don’t get me wrong, you should strive to pick something beyond Part of Your World. But if nothing else is clicking as well, don’t force it. Go with your gut.
Astonishing and Vanilla Ice Cream (I know a girl who sang that one and had lots of audition success!) would both make okay audition pieces I think. But honestly, doing overdone audition songs doesn’t make sense to me because there are SO many equally good songs out there if you just take the time to look. You can surely look for songs similar to those, but I personally would advise against doing overdone songs because while it may not count against you at every school, singing a song not as well known (this doesn’t mean super contemporary and impossible to play btw, there is a lot of Golden Age stuff that is not overdone) can help them remember you and even give you something to chat with them about if they ask where you got it—and they will be impressed if you found it yourself! Just make sure that you LOVE whatever song you choose because you will sing it a lot. And make sure to stay with in your race/age/type. I really think it’s important to put the work in looking for a song that’s not overdone. That way, even if you find nothing, you still have the knowledge people were talking about. Ditto monologues. My goal was to find songs the auditors forgot they loved (knew but didn’t get to hear often) and I did get a lot of that sort of feedback. I think picking an overdone song might be unwise. If I were an auditor, it would impress me when someone did their research.
You should absolutely sing something that you love, connect with, and makes you feel great. But if you are the 10th person to sing that song in the day- you better blow everyone out of the water.
^^^THAT is the problem with overdone songs. The auditors are tired and may check out if they have heard it too much that day. Problem is, hard to know what is overdone since it changes year to year. D had a terrible time finding an uptempo that is not overdone
LIU Post only asks for one song. She sang her ballad. They then asked her for something a little more belty. She sang a JRB song (gasp, I don’t know what got into her). One auditor (who is her new acting teacher) said he hated JRB and what else did she have… She got out her repertoire and let him pick. By this point the audition is going pretty long and she is laughing with them and totally comfortable. I don’t know what she sang then, I actually think it was “So Much Better”. A song that is a bit overdone and one she would have never picked.
As we went through the process of preparing for auditions last year, D noticed that if you ask 10 college faculty about audition song choices, you are very likely to get 10 conflicting answers. At one master class, she started to sing “Astonishing” and a very famous MT department head stopped her almost immediately and said, “never bring that song to an audition.”
She did another master class with another famous MT department head and, needless to say, did a different song. He said, “You know, ‘Astonishing’ would make a great audition for song for you.”
Go figure.
S didn’t have any ‘overdone’ songs.’ However, he did use ‘Never Never Land’ from Peter Pan. It was well received at all of the auditions. However, the weekend of his CCM audition was right after the live TV version of the show AND it was the show that CCM had just cast. We made an executive decision to use an alternate song that weekend. Knowing what the schools are working on can be very helpful.
What @EmsDad said, totally. We give very good advice on this forum but this topic is one of those “who knows?”
What’s our motto, everyone? Say it with me! “EVERY SCHOOL IS DIFFERENT” :))
Agreed. D had a book of approx 10 options which covered a wide range of characters, periods, tempos etc. She still uses it to this day- and part of her plan for summer working with “hometown” voice teacher it to go back through, evaluate and then add/subtract to freshen.
S also had a song that was not well known and bought him a lot of extra time with auditors. One wrote it down and said he would be using it later. We also ran into an issue with a school having done the play one of his monologues was from earlier that semester. He opted to do it anyway and that bought him a ton of extra time in the room as they had him rework it a few ways. They asked him if he knew and he said yes. That led to follow up questions.
I say this to echo everything said above. Each situation will be different, each person will react different, and only your child knows if they have the confidence and skill to pull it off. After all his preparation, he always knew when he needed to switch it up.
Here’s the thing with overdone songs…they are fine to do but you had better SLAY it! You will be compared with all the others who sing it - so compare favorably. If you don’t, it doesn’t matter how much you love the song, pick something else.
Could anyone possibly help me think of some less overdone songs that are still good for me? I have been researching for months and it is so difficult. I can sing both soprano or mezzo. I fit quirky, funny, cutesy type roles best (Adelaide from G & D, Ado Annie from Oklahoma, Little Red from Woods, etc). A lot of the songs I want to do also have dialect (and only work with the dialect) but you aren’t supposed to use a character voice. Could you do a duet and just cut it so it is like a solo?? Thanks 
What about maybe"Waiting for Life" from Once on this Island, “Shopping Around” from Wish you were Here, “Here I am from Scoundrels” but those songs don’t fit me as well as the overdone ones.