<p>I have a song dilemma! I really wanted to sing You Don't Know This Man from Parade, but I've heard many people say don't do Jason Robert Brown. However I've talked to many directors and they've all said since it isn't the typical JRB song with difficult accompaniment and difficult cuts, they said it should be fine.. but then I also saw that CCM doesn't want songs that are "excessively emotional." Should I continue on with this song? I think it really showcases my voice and acting better than any other song I've found. Or should I just not use it for CCM, but for all my other auditions which are, Emerson, Webster, Otterbein, Ithaca, Carnegie, Miami, OU, Elon and maybe Baldwin-Wallace? Do any of these other schools want you to avoid emotional songs? Thanks so much for your help, I've really been stressing over this!</p>
<p>I was also wondering if I used The Glamorous Life from a Little Night Music for my uptempo, would that be enough of a contrast to You Don't Know This Man? Thank you!</p>
<p>I think that phrase is a bit misleading. Your pieces should be emotional but I don't think the auditioners want to see people going crazy, running around the room screaming and crying their eyes out. The spectacle would distract from the actual performance and they want to see your acting talent, not your mental break down. Plus, I have always found it difficult to find pieces within the time constraints that I can reach a full "excessively emotional" peak with. It is a lot more moving to see someone fight tears, or make more interesting choices than yelling. </p>
<p>I would be wary of doing You Don't Know This Man, if not for the JRB reason, but for the hugely overdone reason and age inappropriateness.</p>
<p>Agreed. I would also be wary of "The glamorous life" as it's also age inappropriate (the character is meant to be no older than 14 really), very diffficult for an accompanist to sight-read and many schools request that you do not audition with a Sondheim piece.</p>
<p>If you need to find another song anyway for some of the songs that specify "easy to read or easy to follow" accompaniment for schools like Emerson...you might find that song to be just as good for the others and not have to use a song that you are unsure of. You can always use those songs for additional music if requested.</p>
<p>The entire quote from CCM's website is
[quote]
DO avoid excessively emotional pieces. It is difficult to build a sentiment quickly and convincingly. In her concert appearances, the legendary Lena Horne sings the song "Stormy Weather" twice because, as she says, she has to "build up to it."
[/quote]
And - I can't for some reason make it happen here, but the "excessively" is in italics. I think some students look at the various pieces of advice, or do's & don't's, or requirements on college websites as overly inhibiting -- try, instead, to view them as educational in nature. Auditors WANT people to come in well-prepared, and able to show themselves at their best. This is probably good audition advice, even for places that don't tell you. In the context of a 16 or 32 bar cut, if you do hit an extremely high emotional peak that quickly, it may well seem jarring, instead of effective acting.</p>
<p>I don't agree about "Glamorous Life." My D has recently done in it a (non college) audition. She found a pretty simple version for the accompanist with the cuts she made. And although in the movie the song was sung by a young girl in the original show it is sung by her and many others, and Audra McDonald has it in her repetoire. I would think if you're 5'10" and have a mature look, it would be wrong. But if you are eighteeen but could easily cast younger, particularly if you are petite or have an innocence to you, it can be a good choice.</p>
<p>Yes, I never even questioned the age-appropriateness of The Glamorous Life, I am a 5'2" younger looking 18 year old, and my voice teacher who is a professor at Oklahoma City University said it was very age appropriate for me. </p>
<p>Also the rest of my auditions are being done at Unifieds where I have to bring a CD, so I'm not worried about having an accompianist play it.</p>
<p>As for age-appropriateness for You Don't Know This Man, I was concerned about it too, but my voice teacher said that most people don't think about it, but Lucille is supposed to be in her late 20s, which he didn't think was too inappropriate for me. He said they didn't want people coming in and singing "Send In The Clowns", or "Rose's Turn" but that age-range would be fine. I also used it for my OCU audition, and had no problem, I've already been accepted MT there... Should I still be concerned?</p>
<p>As for the emotional part, I don't think I really understand what you're trying to say.. I obviously am not going to run around and scream in tears lol. The whole time I perform it as trying to fight back tears. Is that what CCM and the other schools consider excessively emotional? I'm still a bit confused in this aspect.</p>
<p>Thanks for everyones feedback, I really appreciate it!</p>
<p>kitkatt:</p>
<p>You've just given us two very important new pieces of information: first, that you've been coached on these pieces and discussed the age-appropriate issue with your voice teacher who works at a university which specializes in musical theatre; and second, that you understand that Lucille's action in the given circumstances is to get her point across to a hostile crowd while trying not to get emotional. You're a smart and lucky girl.</p>
<p>Many students your age are attracted to "You Don't Know This Man" because they think it will give them the opportunity to show that they can get emotional. It's a huge mistake, because it leads to pushing the emotion and thus the voice, and results in work which is both unbelievable and harsh. On the other hand, trying to hold back tears while fighting for your objective is not at all "excessively emotional", and I think I know my colleagues at CCM well enough to speak on this issue. </p>
<p>I warn you that they may wince when they see or hear you announce the song title, but if you can do it the way you've described, which is the way it's written and the right way to play it, they're likely to be pleased. </p>
<p>Trust your teacher. He knows you, he knows your voice, he knows the field, and he's giving you good advice. Those songs will work just fine for you. They might not work as well for others, which is why the advice already posted is, in general, good. But it appears that our general advice might not apply to you.</p>
<p>Also, trust yourself more. I know that it's hard not to want to know everything in advance, but it's not practical, it's not possible, and in some sense it's not wise. There's a limit. You can wind yourself tighter than the proverbial clock spring if you're not careful, when what you really need to do in the audition is breathe. </p>
<p>There is no perfect song. There is no perfect monologue. You can't choose something that everyone at every school will love. Songs are not armor that you put on to protect yourself from getting hurt. They're arrows that you aim to shoot into the hearts of your scene partners (imaginary or real) and the audience. </p>
<p>Walk into the audition with stuff you love to do, and then love doing it. We'll love just about anything done that way.</p>
<p>I hope this helps.</p>
<p>Dr. John,</p>
<p>As always, you are generous, encouraging and patient with your advice to the students and parents who post on this board. Not only is your extraordinary personality evidenced in your response to kitkatt above, but from what I remember, you impart patience and wisdom in all of your posts. </p>
<p>And I find it extraordinary that you've taken the time to offer encouraging advice to an anonymous student during what I imagine is a VERY busy audition season.</p>
<p>Your students are SO lucky to have access to you!</p>
<p>Don't work too hard during this audition season. I hope you enjoy every minute of it!</p>
<p>I completely agree with Browneyes. Thank you so much Dr. John for taking the time to give such encouraging advice and feedback, you have no idea how much that settles my nerves! I can't even begin to express how much I appreciate your help, and everyone else's feedback as well! Collegeconfidential and all of you who make it possible have been such a lifesaver for me!</p>
<p>kitkatt: </p>
<p>I'm glad that my post helped to settle your nerves. That was its intent. And thank you, BrownEyes, for your kind words. But I do think they apply to many, many posters on this site--soozie and notmamarose and michael and onstage and jane and kat and always and fishbowl, to name just a few. (Well, fishbowl doesn't have much patience, but that's just one of the many wonderful things about her ;) ...)</p>
<p>The point is that there are a lot of caring people on this site who spend an amazing amount of time working to help kids who want to do this crazy thing, be artists in America. Blessings on them all!</p>