Audition Songs

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).

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

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)

OH GOD ANYTHING BY ANDREW LLOYD WEBBER!



-sarcasm

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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!

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

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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.

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)

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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.

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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".

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!

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