Songs for college auditions? Soprano and belting.

[MerMaggieGalinda]

Posted: 6/19/08 at 2:43pm

I really need to start planning for my college auditions. My big one is Ithaca, the rest are pretty much back-up schools because Ithaca is my dream school. I need 16 bars of a ballad, which I've decided I will show of my soprano, and then 32 bars of an uptempo, where I've decided I should show off my belting. My soprano is definitely stronger, but I've been working/will be working on my belting a lot this summer since I'm playing Fantine in Les Mis. So does anyone have any good suggestions that will be appropriate/not overdone for college auditions? For my ballad I was thinking about the title song from The Light in the Piazza because that is pretty much my signature song where my voice sounds the best, I sang it at a recital recently and I got a lot of positive comments, but it might be too recent/overdone for an audition. Help?

[Ella_17]

Posted: 6/20/08 at 1:32pm

My sister wants to go there too. Good luck getting in, it looks like a great school. For the ballad I would suggest Glitter and be Gay from Candide. It's incredibly high, though. or Green Finch and Linnet Bird from Sweeney Todd.

[Juliash]

Posted: 6/21/08 at 5:48pm

I'm not trying to be one of those smartass "don't post this on a message board" people. But, the person who knows your voice best (ie your private teacher) is the best person to talk to. A girl I know went to a vocal coach specifically for her college auditions and the coach told her to do these songs that were good in her voice, but they really didn't characterize her voice well. Like she could sing them and they were good, but they weren't her type.

Long story short, she got into one school and she's actually RIDICULOUS and that should not have happened.

But seriously, if you can knock Light in the Piazza out of the park, then do it. If it's just kind of OK, then go with someone less well known.

[MerMaggieGalinda]

Posted: 6/21/08 at 6:10pm

The thing is, my voice teacher is really not familiar with a lot of musical theater songs(she's more of a classical/opera singer), I usually introduce her to a lot of the songs I want to sing, like Piazza, so I really can't get a lot of help from her. People aren't extremely knowledgeable of musical theater in my town, at least musical theater that isn't Wicked or Rent.

[sleepyguy1717]

Posted: 6/21/08 at 8:30pm

I have that problem too. =/

[Juliash]

Posted: 6/21/08 at 9:04pm

Oh that's such a pain!!!! I know this probably doesn't help, but go with what feels right.And think about under pressure with your voice tightening (if that happens to you). Good luck!!!!!!

I'm in the same boat next year but with vocal performance.

Posted: 6/23/08 at 5:46am

Personal advivce: Avoid Sweeney Todd and Piazza for college auditions, I can't recall the amount of times I read that people are going to choose pieces from those shows for their auditions.

Also - your classical teacher may be great for technique but if you can (depending on where you live) get yourself an MT rep teacher to help you with songs and styles asap. Glitter and be Gay is a good choice but ONLY if you can do it REALLY well. My book (So you want to tread the boards on www.amazon.co.uk) lists 30 odd pages of recommended songs and also includes a chapter on commonly overdone MT material.

[jaesdare]

Posted: 6/23/08 at 9:21am

Although it's true that you might hit Piazza out of the ballpark, the fact is that it's a very hard song for accompanists to sight read.
A really, really good friend of mine did the title song from Piazza for her auditions, one of the accompanists just said he couldn't do it. Another just played a few chords here and there, then afterwards told her she should never give that song to an accompanist to sight read. But at one, and the one she's going to attend, the accompanist was sick so the music director played and knew the song really well, so that was the only time she could do the song full out with accompaniment.
On the other hand, some schools require taped or cd accompaniment, so for those you could probably use it!
I didn't ask anyone for suggestions, I really just listened to, literally, TONS AND TONS of music and chose what I loved. So, go to your local library (you'd be surprised at some awesome old stuff they'd have) and check out a bunch of OBC's.
Sorry for writing a book. Good luck!

[sleepyguy1717]

Posted: 6/23/08 at 3:30pm

"Also - your classical teacher may be great for technique but if you can (depending on where you live) get yourself an MT rep teacher to help you with songs and styles asap."

What would you suggest for people who don't have that option? I have a dance teacher who went to school for MT, but my voice teacher has kinda hit her plateau with the Broadway rep.

[MerMaggieGalinda]

Posted: 6/23/08 at 4:17pm

Yeah, I don't have that option either. We have only a few voice teachers in my town now, and they all only specialize in the fundamentals of basic singing, nothing else. If I could I definitely would, but it's just not a possibility.

[WOSQ]

Posted: 6/23/08 at 4:40pm

Go back to the Great American Songbook which evolved out of being in the mid sixties.

Listen to early Kander and Ebb (Flora, Cabaret,Zorba) and also R&H who wrote for all kinds of voices and South Pacific is very big right now.

Also listen to Barbara Cook's shows if you have that crystaline type of pure soprano. There is a song from She Loves Me, a ballad called "Will He Like Me?", that no one does much these days and is gorgeous and can be built into something. Barbra covered it on an early album.

Then there is Little Me by Cy Coleman with lyrics by Carolyn Leigh. "On The Other Side of the Tracks" is a great fast belt and fun too.

There is always "Who Cares?" a quick song by the Gershwins which is only 16 bars to begin with. Go with that. A whole song in half the time? Works for me. If they like it, sing it again. Or have a third song prepped.

[MerMaggieGalinda]

Posted: 6/23/08 at 5:21pm

Thanks for the suggestions! I will definitely check on "Will He Like Me?" I am definitely a pure soprano through and through, even though I'm playing a mezzo right now, but it's a great test of my range, and I get to belt, something I never usually get to do!

I've also sung a lot of R&H songs, they are really great for my voice. My most successful audition ever was with "If I Loved You" from Carousel. I know R&H can be way overdone sometimes, so are there any songs, like that one, that I should definitely stay away from?

[jaesdare]

Posted: 6/23/08 at 8:02pm

Actually, "Will he Like Me" is quite overdone!

Zorba has some really great stuff. As does, Flora the Red Menace. Plain and Fancy. "I Wish it So" from Juno is amazing.
I didn't have an mt coach either, really just start listening to stuff...you have all summer!

Posted: 6/24/08 at 5:17am

R&H - If I loved you is very overdone. Look at some lesser known shows like State Fair and Me and Juliet.

[Sabina]

Posted: 7/2/08 at 8:09pm

I'm a soprano auditioning in the fall, too, so I feel your pain!
My pretty much favorite song to sing is "The Simple Joys of Maidenhood," from Camelot: it's a fabulous acting piece, and it cuts really well to 32 bars. For acting, I also love "Without You," from My Fair Lady, although the other songs in MFL are overdone. A ballad I'm considering is "Far from the home I love," from Fiddler. I also really like "Little Bit in Love" from Wonderful Town. Any of these could be possibilities, depending on how much you like them and what your voice does best.
Good luck! Maybe I'll see you at auditions

Posted: 7/3/08 at 5:37am

I would avoid "Without you" from My Fair Lady. It's more of a point number and doesn't lend itself that well to auditioning. I remember a girl singing this for her Mary Poppins audition in the West End and being given this exact feedback from the panel I had heard myself during training.

"Far from the home I love" - also very overdone. "Simple joys of maidenhood" is ok. "Little bit in love" from Wonderful Town is popular but wouldn't say it's overdone.