<p>Alexa…good point. Actually, every MTer should have contemporary songs in their rep given the number of musicals in this day and age that have that sort of music. Many do!</p>
<p>Oh, definitely! We’re coached to have not only 2 or 3 contemporary musical theatre songs, but as many pop songs from different eras as possible (50s and 60s songs are especially useful) and at least one contemporary pop/rock song- not from a musical. But I probably wouldn’t use a contemporary MT song as my ONE 16 bar cut for Strawhats, unless I saw that almost RVERY theatre was doing “Spring Awakening”, “Next to Normal”, “American Idiot”, etc. that season. It could be a risky choice otherwise.</p>
<p>I understand what you mean, but I was thinking not just of summer stock. 
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<p>I was thinking of MT auditions in general. Being able to sing contemporary MT and rock/pop is pretty essential these days and should be in one’s rep. Hopefully all MT college programs teach and coach this kind of singing and rep in prep for professional MT careers (not simply summer stock, some of which tends NOT to include these types of musicals actually).</p>
<p>Alexa, what a great group of shows you’ll be doing next year! One of these days, when we’re at our place in Hilton Head, I hope to get up to Coastal Carolina to see a show. :)</p>
<p>doing sunday in the park with george
and … wait for it…spring awakening</p>
<p>LOL! Penn State is… not doing Spring Awakening.<br>
But they are doing [title of show], Sweeney Todd, Songs for A New World, Up From Here and In the Red and Brown Water.</p>
<p>When we were visiting Ithaca last week, they told us they they had only repeated one show (Threepenny Opera, I believe) in 23 years. I was shocked!</p>
<p>Otterbein’s Season . . . </p>
<p>Noises Off
Spring Awakening
Dance Concert
After the Fall
Workshops for Students
How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying
(+ unannounced classroom project)</p>
<p>I find it fascinating that SA is popping up everywhere!</p>
<p>Interestingly enough, the majority of my D’s vocal rep is contemporary MT. D’s voice teacher is always telling her she is perfect for the contemporary because she isn’t a soprano which is the standard in a lot of classic MT. We are always searching for new material and love the newmusicaltheatre website. Last year she auditioned for BARE with the haunting “Look at Me” from Violet and it landed her the lead!</p>
<p>The rights for Spring Awakening recently became available for colleges and universities to produce. It is strong contemporary material that is perfect for young performers. So, not too surprising that it is being done by so many university and college programs this coming year. :)</p>
<p>That makes sense KatMT . . . regarding the rights recently becoming available and then the domino effect thereafter. Oh yes, my daughter is very excited about the show - all of her friends seem to love it too. Not sure where it falls in the season line-up at Otterbein, so she may or may not be able to audition for it, but she’s still excited about it.</p>
<p>For anyone interested in learning more about prepping for rock/pop auditions, I highly recommend Sheri Sander’s ROCK THE AUDITION - How to Prepare for and Get Cast in Rock Musicals. Great ideas and DVD instruction included. My DS has been coached by her in the past and will be doing a workshop with her this spring. He’s actually not a natural rock singer, so Sheri’s approach is extremely helpful to him.</p>
<p>Also, I have to say, SPRING AWAKENING was one of DS & friends favorite Broadway shows. I think we/he/they saw it a least a half dozen times, lol! Most memorable was his 16th birthday. We celebrated with 10 friends by going to SA and dinner at John’s afterward. DS is not a big stagedoor guy, but his female friends are/were. They shouted out to Jonathan Groff that is was DS’s birthday, and low and behold, Jon tells everyone in the vicinity that he is wishing DS Happy Birthday with a song. He wraps his arm around DS and sings the whole tune. Captured, of course, on one of the girl’s cell phone! What a memory!</p>
<p>Oh and further to the SA story. I decided to send a thank you note to Jonathan for being so generous on my son’s birthday. (Can you imagine singing Happy Birthday all the way through to a fan on the street after a full matinee performance and another coming up that evening?) I just sent it to his attention at the theatre. That sweet young man wrote me a response less than a week later–telling me how grateful he was for all the wonderful SA fans and especially their Moms! Wow. I am an eternal fan.</p>
<p>MrsDrz: my daughter’s strength is also the contemporary MT voice, belt voice and rock/pop/folk/jazz/soul. She can sing legit, but the former area is where her efforts lie. I’m on my way to NYC to see her perform in fact. :D</p>
<p>That is awesome soozievt! I read your post about your D’s show getting used for a BFA program. That is really great. My D has toyed with the idea of writing/composing her own musical (with a little help from her friends 
) for her Honors Thesis at BSU. We shall see…</p>
<p>I’m kind of sad to see all the Spring Awakenings being done so soon - I did the Canadian premiere (that’s my brag out of the way, haha) this past fall and had an absolute blast. It’s one of those shows that I’d love to revisit sooner rather than later. Hopefully some colleges will leave some for the class of 2017, too ;)</p>
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<p>Too funny – I thought everyone did Spring Awakening THIS year! I saw snips from Northwestern’s production this year and it looked fantastic.</p>
<p>Spring Awakening was also done at Stagedoor Manor (a summer program for youth) last summer.</p>
<p>MrsDrz…my D’s first musical (the one that will now be a mainstage show at a BFA program next year) was written as a senior project she chose to do before graduating college as well. That musical went on further after graduation including a professional production in NYC. She never planned to write any more musicals after that. However, she now has three significant commissions to do just that. Your D should give it a shot. One thing has led to another for my D in that area due to that very first musical and who has seen it, etc. However, it will never take over for her performing career.</p>
<p>Great story BvilleLady.</p>