<p>So I'm considering putting "How To Handle A Woman" from "Camelot" in my book. Thing is, I'm a (high) tenor and the song was originally written for a baritone. Is it acceptable for college auditions to transpose up, so long as I bring my sheet music in the right key?</p>
<p>Also, I'm just curious, but how do the auditors feel if I sing the last note an octave higher than it's written (so long as I can sing it)? Is that a big no-no?</p>
<p>Here is one school of thought: the people that you are auditioning for know the Broadway canon backwards and forwards. When you do your slate and say, “If Ever I Would Leave You,” they will probably expect you to perform the song in character as Lancelot, a very masculine baritone who has attracted the affections of Guinevere due in large part to his manly prowess. Many or most of them might immediately think of Robert Goulet and will be ready to do a mental comparison between your voice and his (it was his signature song). They will at least be ready to see how you act the song and portray a convincing Lancelot.</p>
<p>Some would say that at a college audition you want to show how well you can act a song in the context of the musical for which it was written.</p>
<p>If you do the song as a tenor with an octave flourish on the end, you may bring to mind “Kurt” from “Glee,” which is about as far as you can get from the masculine hero they may be expecting you to portray. You could be rewarded in their minds for your creativity, however, you also risk creating a negative impression, which could detract from your audition. After all, you are not showing how your skill at portraying a character in context. How would “Kurt” attract Guinevere?</p>
<p>If, instead, you found a Tenor song for a character that fits a persona where popping a counter-tenor high note would be suitable, you can show off your vocal chops without risking the possibly of creating a negative impression by going too far out of character. You would do the opposite, i.e., show how well you can portray a character for which you would be cast.</p>
<p>Although this would not pertain in your case, since this was the signature song for Goulet from one of the most memorable performances in the history of Broadway, some would say that it may be one to avoid on that basis alone, unless your performance will compare favorably with his.</p>
<p>The opposite school of thought is: “if you have what it takes, don’t be afraid to shirk conventional wisdom - go for it - show them your creativity and fearlessness by heading off the beaten path.” Taking risks and making bold choices is an important part of theatre.</p>
<p>I don’t think that would be a good idea. “How To Handle a Woman” was written for a baritone. You are not a baritone. Therefore you should not use it for your audition. The composer wrote that song with that character as a baritone for a REASON. This has to do with the conception of character. There is a reason a composer chooses this character to be soprano, that tenor, this bass, that belt alto, etc. To use a song written for a baritone, even transposed, implies both that you don’t care what the conception is for character (never a good thing to imply) AND that you couldn’t find a great piece for yourself in your natural tenor voice, the one you’d be cast in, and that would beg the question, why? There are tons of great tenor songs. I’d strongly encourage you to choose ONLY pieces that are meant for your own voice. </p>
<p>As for going an octave higher–that can be done but again ONLY in songs in which that would work for the character and the situation. Always remember that a song is like a monologue in music–the primary purpose is to convey information about the character and/or situation. A song should never be sung out of context, particularly when you’re singing it in an audition, to demonstrate how well you can act through the song and your voice.</p>
<p>I forgot to add that Lancelot is an anti-hero, and his baritone range fits perfectly with his flawed character, who unwittingly aids Mordred in bringing corruption and downfall to Camelot. Mordred is a character for “Kurt” …</p>
<p>Thank you for the feedback. You’ve given me some food for thought and I am giving this some careful thought. Interesting that you compared me to Kurt (I’m told that I bear some physical resemblance to Chris Colfer, although it’s probably influenced by my high voice). Actually, “How To Handle A Woman” is sung by Arthur, who was originally played by Richard Burton and Arthur. Thanks for the answers! :)</p>
<p>I love Mordred, and I will give his song “Seven Deadly Virtues”, which I actually well, another listen, but it doesn’t really show off what I’ve got, vocally. Plus, I’m really looking for a pre-1965 ballad that’s not oversung and has more emotional weight than “I am so in love with her and she’s so hot”.</p>
<p>@downstage - I somehow misread, “How to Handle a Woman” as “If Ever I Would Leave You.” I get an “F” in CC this week! I must have had Robert Goulet on the brain.</p>
<p>I am sure that you get my drift, but, since I am OCD, I will point out that transposing “How to Handle” might be an equally bad idea because:</p>
<ol>
<li><p>Arthur is supposed be at least 30 when he sings this song (on Broadway, Arthur was portrayed by 35 year-old Richard Burton, Richard Harris was 35 when he played the role in the movie and then played Arthur for years afterward).</p></li>
<li><p>Arthur is the voice of reason in the musical, the “thinking King” who is full of ideals and wants to make the world a better place through fighting injustice. Guenevere takes up with Lancelot because she is more interested in romantic abductions, knights fighting over women, and people dying out of love for her than listening to Arthur intellectualize about the Round Table and how to make the world a better place.</p></li>
<li><p>Arthur also has some baggage that will prove his undoing, his illegimate son, Mordred.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>Hence, as a baritone, Arthur is able to convey the depth of this convictions, demonstrate the authority of his position, and portray the angst he feels over the problems he is having with his younger queen. As a tenor, this would not work nearly as well. Arthur popping an octave into counter-tenor range really doesn’t seem to fit the character.</p>
<p>“Seven Deadly Virtues” is not a great audition song at all, I just pointed to Mordred as an example of a character that would be more appropriate for your type that happened to be in Camelot.</p>
<p>“When I’m Not Near The Girl I Love” from Finian’s Rainbow? Not sure if it is overdone but it should be in the vocal range and age range for you.</p>
<p>Tenor ballad, for a character 18-25, pre-1965, with more emotional weight than just, “I’m in Love with Her,” may take some looking. Here are some off the top of my head that you might look at:</p>
<p>I Talk to the Trees (F1#)- Paint Your Wagon; Julio <a href=“maybe%20not%20enough%20of%20a%20stretch%20beyond%20%22I%20Love%20Her%20…%22%20to%20suit%20you”>18-27</a></p>
<p>Lonely Town (A1) - On the Town; Gabey [18-30]</p>
<p>Hey There (A1b) - Pajama Game Sid [28] - maybe too old a part</p>
<p>What Kind of Fool Am I? - Stop the World, I Want to Get Off; Little Chap [can played by a young actor]
He sings this song as an older man, so this one may not be a good choice, but it is a heck of a song.</p>
<p>Mmm… all good ideas. At some point though one may need to throw in the towel with respect to worrying about more emotional weight than “I’m in love with her”. So many of the pre 1965 really wonderful songs have that at the core. Perhaps doing any one of them convincingly (bring out those acting skills) is what counts.</p>
<p>“When I’m Not With the Girl I Love” from Finian’s Rainbow sounds perfect. Thanks a lot! Also thinking about “Come To Me, Bend To Me”, from Brigadoon.</p>
<p>In other news, it’s probably a really risky choice, but I’m seriously considering singing “Giants in the Sky” for my pre-screen. I called all my target schools and they’re all okay with Sondheim. My pianist can literally play Sondheim in his sleep and I can nail the song and I’m perfect for that role. I just don’t know how overdone it is since it’s Sondheim, but (therefore, not done by any SANE person at auditions) since it’s very well-known, I’m not sure…</p>
<p>I don’t know if Giants is overused because I follow sop/belt music, but I would think a recorded precreen with a hot dog pianist would be a great opportuniy to present a piece not usually see in auditions because of the level of difficulty with either or both the piano and voice. I rather wish I’d thought of that earlier! My daughter passed all her prescreens but it didn’t occur to us to use the prescreen to get different and impressive material in front the auditors (assuming chairs of MT dep’ts have a look at the prescreens at some point.) Now it seems so obvious!</p>
<p>I just assumed that I could use different material in my pre-screens and in-person auditions (maybe I’ll double-check?). I’m really lucky because I have personally witnessed this pianist playing with his eyes closed on 36 hours without sleep and we’ve performed Giants before an audience twice together, so I have complete faith in him. My biggest worry about the song is that it’s well-known, even though what I’m getting is it’s not overdone because it’s so difficult to play.</p>
<p>Not sure if schools ever revisit the prescreen selections or not. Could be the pre-screen is just that and it you get past it, it is all about what you do next. Does anyone know? </p>
<p>If it is only about what you do next, you will never know if your progression (or lack of progression) has anything to do with Sondheim or not. I’m not convinced that you’ll find that doing Sondheim is unique because of the accompaniment challenges and your assumption that it means people will avoid it. Could be but there will also be plenty of people at auditions singing things on the top of the overdone/avoid list too. My gut says that even if the auditors cringe in either case, some of these students will be admitted if they really kill it. Auditors must know that there are plenty of incredibly talented kids that don’t know any better because they are trying to make it on their own without a whole lot of help. </p>
<p>I do know that some schools (U Mich I “think?”) make you include the song you send in for a prescreen in the live audition.</p>
<p>We did ask Otterbein about that issue–this was for straight acting, so it was just about monologues. Dr. Stefano said that it was okay to repeat ONE of the monologues from the prescreen in the live audition (not both). Seems like a safe assumption that this will be different for different schools, so it’s worth asking them directly.</p>