<p>When they ask for a pre-1960 song, do they mean when it was first performed, when it was written or when it became known? </p>
<p>I'm looking at a few songs and one of them got on broadway in 1965 but I can't find if there were any workshops previously and where it was written. If anyone knows of anywhere that posts when they were written or you think might know when this show (I will reveal privately if contacted) was written, please PM me</p>
<p>Unless it went to Broadway after originally being a movie or something (not nearly as common back then as now), if the show hit in 1965, it was probably not written prior to 1960.</p>
<p>If a school give the requirement pre-1960 they want a song that is from a show performed prior to 1960... an exception could be... as MTSTHCC says above if a song was in a movie that was prior to 1960, but then used in a show later than 1960 -- an example would be 42nd Street. </p>
<p>Basically they are looking for at least one of your songs to be from a Golden Age musical -- these songs tend to more legit in terms of vocal production. </p>
<p>:)</p>
<p>Robert, what they are trying to get at is what Kat says above: they want to hear you sing in the old Broadway "golden age" style. That is the important thing.</p>
<p>So it's not so much the literal year, but rather the style?</p>
<p>Freedom.....while the intent is the style, I think it is best to also adhere by the year. It shows that you are following requirements.</p>
<p>I agree completely with Soozievt -- while the intent is the style, it is important to follow the directions that each school sets forth. Where I teach we set the requirement as one pre-1965 piece. Other schools say pre-1960, others have no requirement, I think I have seen one school that asks for two contemporary musical theatre pieces. It is important to follow the directions at each school. Ultimately, you will need repertory from multiple time periods and of many styles. So if different schools require different material this is a great start on your repertory book. I require the students in the performance classes I teach to catalog and update the material in their repertory notebooks... this is common in musical theatre programs. </p>
<p>There are many, many, many wonderful musical theatre songs written prior to 1960 -- this is why is was called the Golden Age ;) -- I would suggest looking at pre-1960s Rodgers and Hammerstein, Rodgers and Hart, Cole Porter, Leonard Bernstein, Irving Berlin, George Gershwin, Learner and Lowe, Frank Loesser, Jule Styne, Jerome Kern, Kurt Weill... and the many others who were writing material for musical theatre before 1960. </p>
<p>There are great books for material suggestions... The Broadway Song Companion, and Broadway Musical: Show by Show are terrific places to start. </p>
<p>Best of luck! :)</p>
<p>Robert, adhere to the style AND the year. That's the safe and smart way to go. Good luck!</p>