I have read all the “overdone” and “do not sing” lists. I’m a voice teacher, and I am wondering what the trends were this year–so, those of you who auditioned, what did you hear through the door more than once? ‘Astonishing’ plus…what?
I heard lots of “Newsies” from guys my D’s year (despite the fact that it was still on bway at the time, and therefore an automatic no-no)
I didnt hear any through the door but I would assume Heathers was big this year… Just a guess since it has gotten really popular as of late and has age appropriate characters
Astonishing- yes. EVERYWHERE. Gah.
My D told me there’s a song from “Dogfight” called “Pretty Funny” that she felt like she heard all the time at auditions.
We heard “Live Out Loud” from A Little Princess more than a few times in Chicago…my D had selected it for her prescreens but changed it for auditions b/c she was told by one director at a master class that it may not be overused, but “comes with baggage” so it should be used with caution. She was glad she changed it once she realized that more than a couple of girls were using it as well.
Apparently “before it’s over” from dogfight is also popular? I thought dogfight was much more under the radar than what it’s turned out to be…
@choirsandstages - I think Dogfight is having a big surge in college productions - I have seen it on the schedule for a dozen or more schools over the last couple years. Under the radar can become overdone very quickly
@toowonderful Your last sentence is so true! I keep a list of songs that more than one student has come in and requested; I think this will become the basis of my own do not sing list. They all seem to be on the same page–I guess they all watch the same things on YouTube?
Thanks to everyone so far for your comments. This is very helpful.
Astonishing, Pretty Funny…and for the boys, This World Will Remember Me from Bonnie & Clyde–heard that one several times at Unifieds
Yup, seems like Dogfight is everywhere at colleges lately! My son was just in it at Ithaca, he has a friend at UWSP whose show opens soon, and several other friends’ schools either did it last year or have it on their schedule for next year. I can see the appeal of the show, especially for boy-heavy MT programs.
Just asked my D and she said for boys she heard a lot of “Laura, Laura” from “High Fidelity” and “It Don’t Make Sense” from “Parade”; and in addition to the songs from “Dogfight” she heard a lot of “Times Like This” from “Lucky Stiff.”
As far as boys go. I see a similar trend in the under the radar songs becoming hip at auditions. Tonight at Eight and Sailing were a popular two uptempo/ballads. I met two guys that were using that same combo of songs. And a bunch using each song seperatly too. It might also be because they’ve both had big New York revivals of both their shows. Run Away With Me is getting done a lot too.
I heard so much Astonishing too. It’s solid advice to avoid Sutton Foster songs. Gimmie Gimmie, Show Off, On My Way, and the aforementioned Astonishing.
“Burn” from Hamilton for the girls has been sung too often recently and is gaining popularity due to the runaway popularity of the show. But I don’t see why because its not a great song for an 17-18 year old to sing. And definitely “Astonishing”. “Run Away with Me” from The Unauthorized Biography of Samantha Brown and “Who I’d Be” from Shrek for the boys.
A college rep told us a lot of girls sang “Pulled” from The Addams Family this year.
@MTTwinsinCA wow, I can’t believe people are STILL doing that song.
Ditto to Pulled from Addams Family. I also see a lot of singing songs for characters not in their age range. I heard both boys and girls singing Bridges of Madison County songs. As well as Impossible Dream, and Losing My Mind.
There’s a balance between cheesy overused type songs (Astonishing, Corner of the Sky) and the too mature choices (Aldonza, Being Alive). The balance can be hard to find and even when you do find a fitting song, you also have to love the song yourself and make sure it doesn’t feel too forced. Tedious process, but it’s helpful even beyond college auditions.
If you are a boy, you cannot sing Run Away with Me. They will cringe before you start lol!
We heard all of the usual suspects but the one that, for the life of me, I can’t figure out is Lost in the Brass from Band Geeks. About a dozen girls sang it; yet another reason to choose songs you love and not try and predict what will be overdone- because there’s no telling!
@All4FSU Never would have called that one. I wonder if it’s in an anthology somewhere, if it showed up on someone’s list of Awesome Audition Songs, or maybe a coach somewhere was like, " **** it, I’ll just give everybody this song, they’ll never notice."
I want someone with an epidemiology background to do a study on how these things happen.