Great Tenor showstoppers

I have to choose a song for this performance I am doing at my highschool, and I wanted to get a great showstopper. I am a tenor, but I am still developing so I can sing up to f's fine, g's are fine but harder.

I am looking for something around the lines of Don Quixote (I, Am, I), and Defying Gravity...something very powerful! BUT, if there are any really good ballads out there please do tell!

Sorry, I am usually good at finding songs, but I have been exhausted lately, and I really want to find a gem! Thankyou so much for all of your help!

p.s. it can be a female song, if the notes fit

Updated On: 4/21/05 at 08:55 PM

"Bring Him Home" & "Empty Chairs at Empty Tables" are great tenor songs, especially with the range that you wrote about. The top notes are about a F and/or G.

Or if you can get The Musical Theatre Singers Anthology for tenors, "Being Alive" by Sondheim is in there with all its dreaded sharps, but for power if you can belt it (high A sharp I think?), go for it.

"This Is The Moment" from "Jekyll & Hyde". I know Wildhorn isn't everyone's favorite composer, but one has to admit this song did stop the show. I think top is a G.

Good luck!!

look in the tenor musical theatre anthology... there are many. the one i use the most is a bit of earth from the secret garden. not sung like that awful mandy patinkin character.

i completely disagree priest. i hate his voice and think he ruins almost every song he tries to sing.

Does anyone have "Being Alive" on thier comptuer and wouldnt mind sending me the song? I wanna listen to it but dont wnat to buy the entire Cd. Thanks.

Well, I figured if i heard the song, I might like it and then buy the entire Cd, who knows...Never been a big Sondheim fan. Infact, I don't think i own a cast recording of his.

-A Wonderful Day Like Today
-Oklahoma!
-Being Alive
-Kansas City
-Music of the Night
-Bring Him Home
-Empty Chairs at Empty Tables
-Younger Than Springtime
-Youve Got To Be Carefully Taught
-On The Street Where You Live
-Is There Not One Maiden Breast?
-A Wand'ring Minstrel, I
-I Wanna Be A Producer
-Once Before I Go

Updated On: 4/22/05 at 12:02 AM

hey everyone's free to care or not care for a composer. lots of folks don't like sondheim, and that's their right. on the topic of right, when these folks finally start to crack and find that his work in unavoidable, we have a situation like this one where it's up to us to explain that you just don't go extracting things from COMPANY without recognizing the whole work. that's what PASSION is for.

but really, if the goal is to find a showstopper that highlights those tenor notes, think more about ALW instead of Sondheim. I used to love auditioning with Sunset Blvd, it's catchy and lets you show off the F consistently- including a nice big finish on the note.

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Some of the songs mentioned are the same old out played songs that everyone does all the time. Most of them aren't even show stoppers really. If you want a show stopper do something like King of the World from Songs for a new World, or Lonely House from Street Scene, or Some Days by Steve Marzullo.

I dissagree with this whole age non-sense, a young actor can connect with the song and preform it well, just in a different way than someone older and I feel this goes with all songs. If you're going to do "Being Alive" I suggest cutting out the entire first secton and going from the key change at Somebody hold ME too close. And go from there. But if you want the whole character change, go from the begining.

I don't disagree with age nonsense as some songs just have a sensibility that doesn't jibe with an age/look (how many little girls do the horrible inappropriate "Hey,Look Me Over" I ask you?).
That said, sometimes, you just have to go with a song that fits your voice as there really aren't a lot of options out there for a teenager.
I second the idea of "Lonely House" (a big winner for me usually) but you mentioned you really don't want to go beyond a G, so steer clear of it for awhile (it has a B flat in it). There are actually a lot of great choices from the operetta repertoire (Romburg, et al) that might turn up a winner for you.

I know a lot of people are suggesting terribly overdone songs to you and I will say this: my experience is that most judges/casting directors would rather hear something they know done very well (if you believe you can do it better than they'll hear it from the next guy, that is) as opposed to something they'll spend the entire auditioning trying to figure out the origins of.
With that said, it does sound like your best bet is going to be a low tenor song like "Empty Chairs at Empty Tables."

Two of my favorites yet to be mentioned are:

Giants in the Sky (Into the Woods)

and

Winter's on the Wing (The Secret Garden)

If you aren't familiar with the latter, it is Sondheim-esque in its lyrics, and the whole song is a real charmer.

I think these are good choices that are a bit more off-beat.

The part that Eric Gunhus sings in Springtime for you know who.

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