Hi! I’m planning on auditioning for college musical theatre programs in the near future, and I’m having a little bit of trouble choosing songs! I’m a coloratura soprano, and I’m most comfortable singing legit style songs. I don’t really belt, but I do have a a good mix voice. Ideally, I would love to do a song that Amalia sings from She Loves Me for one of my contrasting pieces… But I’ve read several times that students should avoid singing songs from shows recently on broadway. Since She Loves Me was a revival, does that still apply? And what would colleges think if I sang a song from She Loves Me, even if it was recently on broadway? I really do love the show and I love singing the songs from it, and I relate to Amalia a lot!
I think that there are two main problems with shows that have recently been on Broadway. One is that more people are aware of those songs and may tend to use them, so they become ‘overdone’ quickly. The other problem is that, for the most part, students auditioning for college will not have the mature, developed voices that the Broadway performers have, and that people are concerned that a comparison may be made between someone like Laura Benanti and the auditioner, and that might not go favorably. Whether it’s a revival or a first-run, the Broadway performance is still recent.
There are a ton of great coloratura soprano pieces out there to choose from outside of She Loves Me…also, keep in mind that Vanilla Ice Cream is not a good audition song, and is even on some “do not sing” lists. Think about choosing two songs, one that shows off your legit voice, and another that shows off your mix. Some schools want you to stay away from Sondheim, as well, so maybe look at some Golden Age shows like R&H …you can also search for songs here: http://stageagent.com/audition-songs Good luck!
Make absolutely sure you look at each school’s web site and their information on auditioning. Many of them list songs and/or composers that they do not want done at auditions. Nothing would hurt you more than singing a song that is on a school’s don’t do list.
Thank you, that’s really helpful!