PIanist Troubles for Auditions!-grr

[jeff_thedancer]

Posted: 8/3/05 at 7:20pm

Why is it that if we want to show are best for auditions to get into these prestegous schools that we cant pick the good hard challenging song to showcase are talents? now im stuck with leaving the last 5 years to do something from a musical that is way easier that i dont feel as well about as the last 5 years.

someone told me some people get affended if you bring in tapes to use. He said its like basiclly saying there pianist isnt good enough.And what if the pianist wants to try it and then he makes you look bad when you have to keep restarting-im going crazy..and i still have 2 years b4 my audition for college/university.

Thanks for putting up with my frustration guys!you rock

cheers
jeff

[Aigoo]

Posted: 8/3/05 at 7:33pm

You shouldn't let the accompanist control your audition, but you should treat them with the UTMOST respect, because they are a HUGE factor in the direction your audition will go.

As for your material choice, even if the Last 5 Years WERE easy to play, it's a VERY recent musical. There are PLENTY of different shows that would showcase your talents just as much, possibly even to a greater extent. Stay away from musicals that were "popular" within the last 5-10 years...even if it WAS a flop.

Also, bringing in tapes is risky because that way, you have to follow the tape/CD. If you have an accompanist, however, they were instructed to follow YOU.

[CostumeMistress]

Posted: 8/3/05 at 8:42pm

Bringing a tape is actually bad for a number of reasons:

*If you bring a tape and it screws up, you look stupid. If your accompanist messes up, you don't look stupid. If you handle your accompanist messing up with grace, you look really good and like someone people would want to work with.
*If they don't have a tape deck/CD player in the room and have to track one down for you, they will peg you as irritating and high-maintenance - not good.
*If you mess up, an accompanist can catch up to you/jump ahead of you/wait for you. A tape can't do that, and you're left fumbling.

[tcb122]

Posted: 8/3/05 at 10:39pm

Aigoo is ALWAYS right. Always.

There is more in the world than JRB- and no teenager, auditioning for a college should be singing anything from L5Y- YES its amazing music- but few teenagers have been through a divorce and it is just NOT audition material. IT'S NOT!

Believe us, and I'm pretty sure they would be a little more impressed if you did some more research and found a more unknown piece and was your type. And that is a huge part of being an actor- knowing how to type yourself. It's never to early to start. Its not just about what makes you sound good.

[Aigoo]

Posted: 8/3/05 at 11:06pm

Aww, tcb, I'm flattered.

That's a good point you bring up, however. Audition material, both songs and monologues should be type and age appropriate. They'll probably let you slide on the "type" though.

For example, if you're this frail, petite girl, you're not gonna bust out some sort of sultry seduction song. Or if you're a 17 year old auditionee, you're not going to do a monologue from the Vagina Monologues. Make sure that your material suits YOU, even out of context. And you should know the basic information about the plays/musicals your material comes from (so that means no monologue books! If you do get a monologue out of a collection, go out and read the play. The best way to get a monologue is to read plays by playwrights you enjoy...something's bound to pop up.)

[Sporti2005]

Posted: 8/6/05 at 11:37pm

again, aigoo is right. at a few of my auditions they asked me what was happening in the play when the monologues came in....and BOY i would have been screwed if i hadn't read them!!!

[MrBungee7]

Posted: 8/12/05 at 10:07pm

What, you don't get a vagina until you're 21? Can you get a fake... vagina, before that? I think they sell them on the streets...?


Only kidding, Aigoo!

[Aigoo]

Posted: 8/12/05 at 10:39pm

Mr. Bungee-

Look everywhere on the streets of New York. Vaginas are just HANDED OUT.

[Ourtime992]

Posted: 8/13/05 at 9:41am

I learned very quickly to drop Adam Guettel from my audition repertoire for this very reason. No accompanist could handle it.

[cindy013]

Posted: 8/13/05 at 1:19pm

Is bringing an accompanist a bad idea? I mean, my mom has been my accompanist for a bunch of things before because she was a piano major and teaches piano. It would seem colleges shouldn't have to be offended about that because it's who I rehearsed with and everything, too. Any thoughts?

[CostumeMistress]

Posted: 8/13/05 at 11:32pm

Call and ask if they would prefer to have you use their accompanist or to have you bring your own. If they say either, then bring an accompanist you know you feel comfortable with. (Obviously, if they state that they prefer one or the other, go with that.)

[Plum]

Posted: 8/15/05 at 11:14pm

Hey, be nice. Speaking as an occassional accompanist, it's not an easy job.

[Sporti2005]

Posted: 8/16/05 at 12:35am

plum - i have more respect for accompanists than anything!! i can't imagine having to sight-read stuff all the time and listen to a million girls singing the same songs over and over again. it would drive me crazy.

and also, all the audition accomps. i've ever had have been SO accomodating and more than competent, so i have NOOOOO problem with them!!

thank you for being an accompanist!!

[CostumeMistress]

Posted: 8/16/05 at 8:58am

Hey, I have all the respect in the world for accompanists; I can't play Chopsticks. But I also know that having a familiar face behind the piano who knows all my little quirks as a singer does a lot to soothe my nerves.

[Jazzysuite82]

Posted: 8/19/05 at 6:12pm

Ummm Have you guys been auditioning in NY? Because I sing Adam Guettel and Jason Robert Brown all the time. I've never had a problem. The NY accompanists are actually pretty good. It really depends on the song, not the composer. Keep that in mind. If I didn't beleive in you is not as hard as King of the World to play. It's like any composer. Choose on an individual basis. Sing whatever you feel comfortable with. It's college not broadway. I sing Last Five Years all the time and I get hired with it. There's nothing wrong with singing from a popular show as long as it isn't an overdone song. I have a feeling there aren't too many people roaming about singing Last 5 Years.

[Thenardier]

Posted: 8/21/05 at 11:57am

Spelling and grammar are key factors used by "prestegous" schools for admission.

[Sporti2005]

Posted: 8/21/05 at 10:51pm

there are a million people walking around singing TL5Y stuff for auditions....seriously. it's ridiculous. it's like..just since it's a good musical that automatically makes every single song good for auditions. that is not true. you need to SERIOUSLY consider if you will outsing every single person who has ever sung a TL5Y song before you choose to do so.