Songs Never to Audition With...

I've heard alot of things about what not to audition with.
-Don't sing Sondheim unless it's for Sondheim.
-No Jason Robert Brown
-People don't want to hear songs from the past 5-10 years

But what if the accopniment (sp) is not that hard, and it shows off your voice really well and you can act it decently? Should you take the chance and sing it?

I'm asking because I'm a 16 year old attractive blonde blue eyed Baritone with a range from a Low D to a G above middle C and I have a strong falsetto. My voice cannot support some of the roles for my type. I can however blow Being Alive and She Cries, and songs like that out the water. But what do I do? Stick with R&H songs and things like that?

Updated On: 9/23/04 at 06:26 PM

Get the three collections of sheet music for baritones. Lots of great stuff in those.

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what i've heard is that it's best to audition old type songs rather than pop (like don't audition something from wicked, but maybe pick something from a cole porter show).

aaghhh!!! why not sondheim???

wait, i can answer myself:
- 1) sondheim song themes are really mature, so unless you're going to sing giants in the sky, it'll be really ridiculous if you sing something like every day a little death or marry me a little and you look blatantly 16. it's like a 13 year old singing memories from cats - the auditioner is just going to be thinking "what the hell does SHE know?!"...so try to pick something that fits ur age and body type also, which probably WONT be sondheim (but not necessarily). you want to audition for a type that they can cast you with. even if you make a reaaaallyyy great sweeney todd performance, you will NOT get picked for the role cause you don't look like a demon barber whose lost his wife and been deported to jail for a gazillion years and wants revenge, no matter HOW great you are.

...then again, if you're auditioning for high shcool productions or places where there's no one to play adult roles, then go for it!!

-2) also, its really really really really hard to play sondheim as accompainment and do it well, because a lot of it is interpretational, so the pianist might decide to go somewhere with the song and u wont be prepared for it, or u'll rehearse it a certain way and they'll mess you up. HOWEVER, if u have a cd track made, or a preprecorded piano on tape, then this wont be a problem. if its a capella, be careful, its easy to get pitchy with sondheim, cause a lot of his notes are wierd.


is there another reason for not sondheim?? cause i love it and i'm finally becoming old enough to sing a lot of songs that before would have sounded ridiculous at a professional audition.

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i think you should go with whatever fits your voice..if you think Sondheim shows off your vocals well go for it..i have sang Sondheim at many of my auditions.

My range is a B/C 2 octaves below Middle C and the G above it. As for my age, I've been Bud Frump in How To Succeed, and I'm going to be Harry Beaton in Brigadoon, so I can look a little older than I am.

Updated On: 9/23/04 at 07:10 PM

You're a guy so this doesnt matter, but girls...listen up...

NEVER AUDITION WITH ALL THAT JAZZ FROM CHICAGO

NEVER AUDITION WITH SOPHIE'S MONOLOUGE FROM STAR SPANGLED GIRL

Both are sure-fire ways to piss the director off!

im done now :)

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Are you a guy or a girl?

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This is the Moment.
On my own.
Mr Cellophane ( they might believe you).

"What I Did For Love" is definitely on the overdone song list. A friend in musical theatre told me that back in the 80's, if someone at an audition started singing "Kiss today goodbye...," the theatre folks would sing amongst themselves, "Kiss the role goodbye...." They were just too damn sick of the song.

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Updated On: 9/24/04 at 01:40 AM