african american girl looking for college audition songs!

[MamaCita06]

Posted: 12/13/05 at 2:48pm

I'm a 17 year old african american girl with LITTLE idea of good songs for "my type". sure, i know my voice range (mezzo/belter) BUT i need to find songs that are for african american girls that i can do for college auditions.
previous roles/songs i've sang and MIGHT consider

*mama morton in chicago (but "when you're good to mama/class" wouldn't do much for me in a COLLEGE audition)

*the crossing-- big river (alice) (but i don't think that would be appropriate)

*the feeling that we once had-- the wiz (auntie em)wrong age?
*easy to be hard-- hair (suzannah/tribe)? eh

i've already sent out an audition tape (wagner) using *til we reach that day from ragtime... i still feel like my song "repetoire" is wrong. i feel like all the songs i know for african americans are for older women. but at the same time i don't want anything "light and fluffy" (in other words: i'd probably NEVER sing *home from the wiz or *waiting for life... because people sing those songs no matter what they look like...)
*looking for both uptempo and ballads*

I REALLY NEED YOUR HELP! aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhh

[TobiasFinch]

Posted: 12/13/05 at 8:49pm

"Waiting for Life" from "Once on this Island" - This is an excellent belt piece.

"Easy as Life" from "Aida"

"Your Daddy's Son" from "Ragtime"

These are a couple songs that are strictly for african american performers according to the show... but in my opinion, you can do whatever song you want. as long as it shows you off.

[hot_brdwy_diva]

Posted: 12/13/05 at 11:57pm

Here are some musicals that feature African American females(besides the obvious ones)

Sarafina by Mbongeni Ngema and Hugh Masekela
http://www.musicalheaven.com/s/sarafina.shtml

Marie Christine by LaChuisa
http://www.musicalheaven.com/m/Marie_Christine.html

Once on this Island by Stephen Flaherty
http://www.musicalheaven.com/Detailed/223.html

Jelly's Last Jam by Jelly Roll Morton & Luther Henderson
http://www.musicalheaven.com/j/jellys_last_jam.htm

I could probably find more for you if you want. Just ask :)

Updated On: 12/13/05 at 11:57 PM

[pab]

Posted: 12/14/05 at 7:20pm

You looked at the feeling that we once had from "the wiz". Why not look at 'Home' from the same show?

[MamaCita06]

Posted: 12/14/05 at 10:27pm

thank you guys so much for all of your help/suggestions! i've already started looking at these lists!

to respond to pab:
* i knew "the feeling that we once had", because i was auntie em-- so i'm really comfortable with singing it. i also don't consider myself as a "dorothy"... i'm more of an auntie em ( i was titania in midsummer-- deffinetly no hermia/helena) it's like: i wouldn't type cast myself as a love interest/flirty type... i need to find something to show how BIG my personality is. but it sucks because most african american roles in shows (that i know) are for "older" women... and all the colleges say to do something close to your age. oh well... THANKS AGAIN!

[Aphexis]

Posted: 12/15/05 at 10:07am

There are two songs from Hallelujah, Baby! which I really love...

I Wanted to Change Him

and

Being Good

If you need help in finding music...let me know.

[MTVMANN]

Posted: 12/15/05 at 1:07pm

I've heard a lot of girls sings "Your Daddy's Son" from Ragtime.

There is also the closing song at the end of the first act in Ragtime called "We'll Never Get to Heaven."

As far as these auditions go, I don't think you necessarily need a song sung by a black character.

[John3]

Posted: 12/17/05 at 1:57am

You should look into some of the music in the Audra McDonald book for her one of her CDs. There are some beautiful songs in them like Dream Variations or Song For A Dark Girl. Those ones are amazing. They are from her Way Back To Paradise CD.

[musicman117]

Posted: 12/19/05 at 6:00pm

Cleaning Women - WORKING

and, one of my favorites,
The Spark of Creation - CHILDREN OF EDEN

[Kristen_0509]

Posted: 12/22/05 at 9:41am

Aida is the way to go

[theatrenerdsunite]

Posted: 12/22/05 at 6:25pm

Have you looked at anything from brooklyn? There are some really good songs for the character of paradice in there. (Love me Where I live, Super lover, Raven etc.) I would love to get my hands on the music from the new musical - The Color Purple. Anyways, ....I'm white and I'm having the same problems as you. I'm 17 looking for college material. It sucks!!!

[whatyouown223]

Posted: 12/22/05 at 11:18pm

DON'T do Brooklyn. Seriously. Anything BUT Brooklyn.

[~FloweryFriend~]

Posted: 12/23/05 at 4:39pm

Look at "The Life", "Marie Christine", "Caroline or Change", "Once on This Island", "Hairspray", "Thoroughly Modern Millie"...

But that said...
DON'T limit yourself to songs typically sung by African American women. If you can sing something from Gershwin or Porter or Sondheim or whatever, then sing it. They need to see that you can sing, not what you anticipate being cast as.

Good luck with everything.

[dramatothemax]

Posted: 12/23/05 at 5:36pm

Any song that Muzzy sings in Thoroughly Modern Millie is great. Even Gimme Gimme. That song is powerful...and you'll be sweating like a madwoman by the time you're done singing it. Astonishing from Little Women is good, Last 5 Years...(none of these are specifically for african american though) Just great songs for belters/mixers.

[Georgeanne]

Posted: 12/23/05 at 7:04pm

Drama, most colleges are going to hear MILLIE songs, if not speckled with "Astonishing" here and there.

Most colleges that have a "Do Not Audition With" list have MILLIE on it.

Try not to do anything that has been on Broadway in the last ten years, at least. Colleges are going to hear tons of recent stuff, even though they have advised people not to do so.

[dramatothemax]

Posted: 12/24/05 at 3:28am

my apologies...i havent started auditioning for colleges yet. That starts in February. At my school we have this thing called juries where you have 2 contrasting monologues and 16-24 bars of a song. Our teachers dont care so much about the song...they just hate overdone monologues. I'm sure we're not the only school that does it...but yeah. Those songs are just fun to sing anyways!

[Georgeanne]

Posted: 12/24/05 at 12:35pm

They are! Ultimately, all that matters about an audition is how well you sing the song - how well it suits your voice.

However, try to stay away from these songs as much as you can and try to find something less well-known. And, of course, stay away from everything on the "Do Not Audition With" list.

[MamaCita06]

Posted: 12/26/05 at 2:23pm

sooo one another ?... I know it's frowned apon to do college audition monologues that don't focus on your age range (like no i have a husband who died/i'm dying/ old women stuff lol) but does the same apply to the songs i do? i REALLY don't want to pick the wrong stuff and then have *them* say in the back of their minds (this girl was HELLA good lol... but she chose x,y,&z-- all of which don't suit her age/life experiences) ANY IDEA?

[RustyRocketteBoy]

Posted: 12/26/05 at 5:54pm

You cant EVER go wrong with a good ole' Gershwin. I say stick w/ the classics, thats what got me into college.

[Georgeanne]

Posted: 12/26/05 at 9:07pm

Mama, doing mature songs [i.e. "I'm Still Here" from FOLLIES, etc] can be done. I would advise against it. But if you're having second thoughts about doing anything, the best thing you can do for yourself is NOT DO IT. Doubts such as the ones you are having are good indicators.

Find something that doesn't give you a doubt in your mind. And, if you can't, find something that makes you pretty comfortable.

[~FloweryFriend~]

Posted: 12/27/05 at 1:27pm

Keep in mind that Gershwin and Sondheim are not always the best choices if the audition is providing a pianist. Some great pianists are terrible sight-readers.

I once made the mistake of picking an audition piece in 7/4 time, e minor.
Yeah.
I'm an idiot.
And so was the accompanist.
She played it mostly right, but far slower than I intended to sing it.

[jimmycurry01]

Posted: 1/1/06 at 5:33pm

Look for songs from Dreamgirls.

[MusicRox]

Posted: 1/4/06 at 1:45am

You should never limit yourself by what kind of person would sing a certain song. It would be a very bad idea for me to only sing songs that are sung by Asians....

[broadwayboy1939]

Posted: 1/5/06 at 4:10pm

I would sooooooooo go with WAITING FOR LIFE from Once On This Island!! This is such an amzing belting piece!!!! It would kick ass!!!

[WOSQ]

Posted: 1/5/06 at 4:33pm

I know I ought not use caps since they indicate 'shouting' and not fervency.

But "show your voice and your depth of feeling" (the quoted words are in caps) and to hell with whether the song is appropriate for a young African-American girl to sing. Everybody has the same feelings. If the people you are auditioning for don't get that, they are not worth studying with.

Play the doubt. Give an old song new meaning. Try all sorts of emotions. Sing a sad song as one of relief or a happy song sung sadly. "Happy Days Are Here Again" originally is a very quick tune.

This all said, Diahann Carroll did two Broadway musicals--House of Flowers and No Strings. The second was written for her but is not exactly race-specific. Buy the recordings and give them a listen.

Why not "Much More" from the Fantasticks? I don't think it is done to death any more. "Who Cares?" by the Gershwins is 16 bars long, so sing it twice through with a different meaning each time.

Go for the song and scr-w the suitability.