Audition Songs

[EyEs In The SpotLight]

Posted: 5/28/04 at 6:27pm

I have to start getting prepared for College Auditions... I am a Mezzo Soprano and sing both powerful and then again Comedic music...

Basically What I want to know is... What would be the perfect song to audition with?

[Broadwayboobs]

Posted: 5/28/04 at 7:23pm

How about...Everybody's Girl from Steel Pier? You can have so much fun with this song. Debra Monk did a fabulous job with it, you can see her do it on the DVD...My Favorite Broadway:The Leading Ladies (Live at Carnegie Hall).

[jonartdesigns]

Posted: 5/28/04 at 9:52pm

combine the best of both worlds- "special" from avenue q

[Mattio98]

Posted: 5/28/04 at 10:33pm

Maybe "Life of the Party" from The Wild Party (Lippa)

[Gypsy2]

Posted: 5/28/04 at 10:34pm

Try something from The Last 5 Years. Not only will it display your voice, but also the ability to generate a character.

[GovernorSlaton]

Posted: 5/28/04 at 10:40pm

Definitely! If you want something from The Last 5 Years, you should try Climbing Uphill. It's a hilarious song, and it is perfect for auditions (listen to it and you'll understand)

[Gypsy2]

Posted: 5/28/04 at 11:32pm

Thats actually a song I'm using for my next audition. Great minds...

[Sumofallthings]

Posted: 5/28/04 at 11:59pm

OH GOD ANYTHING BY ANDREW LLOYD WEBBER!



-sarcasm

Posted: 5/29/04 at 12:04am

How about Stars and the Moon from Songs for a New World...

or maybe... Apartment 3f or 3d or whateve it is called from Kristen Cheno's album

[Songsstresss]

Posted: 5/29/04 at 1:19am

Jon, I think you mean The Girl in 14G. It is a fabulous song but you HAVE to have three different voices. You must have a strong operatic soprano (able to hit staccato high Ds), a fun and soulful jazz scat, and a strong musical theater belt. If you've got all three, it's an amazing number!

[~FloweryFriend~]

Posted: 5/29/04 at 1:26am

I've been given the following advice on what NOT to sing for an audition:
- Do not sing anything that has been on Broadway within the past 5 years. (This rule does not necessarily apply to revivals) The judges view this music as "trendy" and frown upon it.
- Do not sing songs that EVERYONE knows (i.e. Memory from "Cats") Not only will the judges all know if you slip up, but they probably will have heard that song already like 5 times that day.
- Do not bring anything that has a difficult piano part if a pianist is being provided at the audition.
- Don't sing Sondheim unless you can REALLY sing Sondheim.

As for ideas on what you should sing, I once had a voice teacher say that she used songs from musicals of the 30s and 40s. She had a lot of judges compliment her song choices and ask her where she found such great pieces of music.

Good luck with your search!

Updated On: 5/29/04 at 01:26 AM

[jonartdesigns]

Posted: 5/29/04 at 1:43am

how about "happy to keep his dinner warm" from How to Succeed... I always liked that song when i attempted my ill fated mounting of it

[jrb_actor]

Posted: 5/29/04 at 2:07am

Please DO have traditional musical theatre songs/standards. This is the bulk of any auditioning. These should be ballads as well as uptempo. Comic as well as dramatic. Belty as well as legit. The rest of your audition book should include some contemporary musical theatre songs (which is tricky business when trying to avoid recent musicals--but do try) and rock/pop/gospel/50s/60s, etc.

Don't forget your monologues---contemporary and classic. Dramatic and comedic. At least one or two Shakespeare.

[judy_in_disguise]

Posted: 5/31/04 at 1:05am

NO ANDREW LLOYD WEBBER!!!!!! he's been done to death and is so overly popular the auditioners will just groan.
Try to have one obscure one, and one standard (preferably not Rogers and Hammerstein though, go with Cole Porter perhaps).
Always True To You In My Fashion from Kiss Me Kate is a fun, old piece.
And Stars and Moon from Songs contrasts perfectly.
No One Knows Who I Am from Jekyll and Hyde is hauntingly beautiful, as is My Bill from Civil War (although it's not really age-approprieate).
Oh and avoid Adelaide's Lament. Everyone thinks its the perfect comedic audition piece. And it is, but everyone does it, so don't.

[MatthewAddison]

Posted: 5/31/04 at 3:26am

Hm...just wear a low-cut shirt. I'm sure as long as you push the girls up and wear tight clothes...you'll go far.

At least that's what I've always been told. And so far...it's worked.

Sing "T and A"...that'll fit.

My best friend sung it and got into the SMU Meadows School of the Arts. Don't ASK me how.

"T and A can change your life, they sure changed mine!"

Updated On: 5/4/19 at 03:26 AM

[wildparty20]

Posted: 5/31/04 at 10:19am

I have to agree with FloweryFriend. I play auditions all the time, and these are the basic rules to follow when audition.

Composers to stay away from because of difficulty of accompaniment:

Sondheim, LaChiusa, Brown, Lippa, Gordon, Bernstein (Although many other accompanists I know know Bernstein's music and have played it before... so his music would be more acceptable than the others)

Chances are, most accompanists will not be able to sight read these pieces well, which will make you uncomfortable and not sing your best.

Look into songs by Cole Porter, Irving Berlin, George Gershwin, Sammy Cahn, Rupert Holmes, Cy Coleman, older Stephen Schwartz, Johnny Mercer, Richard Adler/Jerry Ross, Frank Loesser, Jerome Kern, Richard Rodgers, David Shire/Richard Maltby, William Finn, Jerry Herman, , Harold Arlen, Charles Strouse, Jule Styne, Stephen Flaherty (pre-Ragtime)

[jrb_actor]

Posted: 5/31/04 at 10:58am

Don't forget Noel Coward wrote some incredible songs, too!

[~FloweryFriend~]

Posted: 5/31/04 at 11:20am

I'm glad that wildparty20 backed me up. However, I would have put Gershwin on the "stay away" list. I was once in "Crazy for You" and I remember the pit having a really difficult time. It's possible that the piano music is better than the orchestral arrangements, but I'm doubting it.

[wildparty20]

Posted: 5/31/04 at 11:26am

The vocal selection reductions for Gershwin songs are much easier than score versions. Especially for CFY... the songs have so many runs and flourishes... those are orchestral reductions for the piano, which is really difficult... as well as most people know Gershwin music (if they don't they should!).

[GovernorSlaton]

Posted: 5/31/04 at 11:28am

Jason Robert Brown's music is VERY difficult, but one song that is beautiful and easy to sight read is "You Don't Know this Man".

[~FloweryFriend~]

Posted: 5/31/04 at 12:27pm

Good point, wildparty20. Gershwin is well-known, and therefore acceptable.

[judy_in_disguise]

Posted: 5/31/04 at 2:36pm

Gershwin's piano music isn't all that bad (use your judgement, but I've sight- read Someone to Watch, and I suck at the piano).
You Don't Know This Man is any easy sight-read, but watch for the age approprieateness (they don't want to see you trying to be a 45 year old wife of a convicted murderer, they want to see you in roles you could portray NOW- stick to romantic ingenue type dealies).
JRB does have some killer piano parts, but most accompanists these days are quite familiar with them.
Just stay away from Sondheim and you'll be fine (I once made the mistake of auditioning with That'll Show Him, the piano player almost had a heart attack).
BREAK A LEG!

[DAME]

Posted: 5/31/04 at 3:05pm

They all sound like great HUSSY songs. Just have ffun no matter what you do.

[brdwaybaby17]

Posted: 5/31/04 at 3:10pm

Ok, is it really bad to sing a song that is in the show you are auditioning for?

[DAME]

Posted: 5/31/04 at 3:13pm

My guess is not bad. just boring.