Auditions are tough. There are so many
things that can go wrong and so much that you have
no control over – don’t let your song choice
be one of them.
If you plan on pursuing a career in musical theater
then you should assemble an audition book. An audition
book is a collection of songs that you will be prepared
to perform at any moment. Your book might contain a
hundred songs or it might only contain a few. The important
part is that you know the material like the back of
your hand.
What should you put in your book? You may have a lot
of different songs in it. And you may find that you
add and subtract selections to it as you audition for
specific projects. But a good starting point is about
8 to 10 songs. You’ll want to have up-tempo and
ballad legit pieces, standard numbers, contemporary
musical theater, pop and perhaps a couple of specialty
songs. You should be prepared to perform the songs
in varying lengths (i.e. 8 bars, 16 bars, full-length,
an abbreviated length). You may not need to have separate
copies of each of these different lengths unless you
make cuts, but you should be sure to make notations
in the music to identify the beginnings and endings
of your different lengths.
A legit (short for legitimate) song is going to show
off your vocal training and technique. Don’t
be confused by the term, legit. When people in the
musical theater world talk about a legit song they
are referring to songs from the “golden age of
Broadway”; for example Rodgers and Hammerstein,
a Bernstein piece, or maybe a Lerner and Loewe song,
etc. What they are not talking about is opera or operetta.
You may choose to have a classical piece in your book
for special occasions when you might be asked for something
like that, but don’t pull it out if you are asked
to sing something legit.
A standard (or two) is essential to an audition book.
A standard written by Berlin, Porter, Mercer, Cahn,
etc. can be a great gap-filler for you. The well constructed
melodies and “singability” of the songs
make them a good choice in situations where you’re
not sure what to sing. Find a great standard for your
book and you’ll find yourself using it again
and again.
You’ll need to have a couple of contemporary
musical theater songs. Songs by Stephen Schwartz, Jason
Robert Brown, Craig Carnelia, etc. are the bread and
butter of today’s auditions but finding something
that is unique can be a challenge. The number of new
shows being written seems to dwindle each year. That
can make the pickings pretty slim for new material.
Don’t stress about finding the latest greatest
thing though. Find something you like, make it your
own and chuckle quietly to yourself at your next audition
when you hear “Defying Gravity” being sung
for the twenty-ninth time.
These days it’s good to have a couple of pop
tunes in your book as well. It looks like the jukebox
musicals in one form or another are here to stay, so
auditioning for the Broadway stage doesn’t always
mean singing a Broadway tune. Unfortunately there doesn’t
seem to be any rhyme or reason when it comes to this
area. This month you might need a Frankie Valli song,
next month somebody might be making a musical out of
the Go-Gos catalog. If you’re looking for an
all-purpose number to fill your pop slot, pick something
that tells a story or that has some opportunity for
acting. A song that’s heavily dependent on its
pulsing beat or the rhythmic repeating of its chorus
may leave you feeling a little exposed in the audition
room.
Finally have a few specialty songs in your book. This
is where you’ll want to have a Sondheim number,
maybe a rock or country song, perhaps your opera piece
or a comedy/character song if you don’t already
have one. This is where your personal flair can come
into play. If you’d rather have your teeth drilled
than sing opera, then don’t put something like
that in your book. In the first place your lack of
enthusiasm for the piece may cause you to deliver a
sub par performance and in the second place Murphy’s
Law dictates that the one song you hate to sing is
the one the casting people will want to hear.
Here are a few other points to consider when assembling
your book:
•
Have your songs in the proper key – If a song
is too high for you (or too low) but it really shows
off your acting and/or personality, go to the trouble
of having it transposed to a key that works for you.
The small fee that you pay to have a song fit your
voice perfectly will pay dividends down the road.
•
Sing songs that show off your talents, not your weaknesses – This
goes back to the point above. I can’t tell you
how many times I’ve heard people trying to screech
out notes that were beyond their range. Perhaps it’s
the influence of American Idol and the desire to “diva” it
up but they do themselves a disservice. Unless you’re
auditioning for a specific part, you don’t have
to sing the song in its original key. Sing the song
well, in whatever key works best for you, and remember
to act. The problem with the pop idol style is that
it’s all based on flash and not on substance.
•
Sing something appropriate for the show you’re
auditioning for – keep that aria tucked away
when you’re at the Spring Awakening call. Likewise,
no Kelly Clarkson at the Phantom EPA.
•
Don’t be surprised if you’re asked to sing
something different, something other than the song
you’ve selected for the audition – this
goes back to being prepared to sing anything in your
book. You may have the perfect dramatic ballad picked
out for a Les Misérables audition but they may
want to hear something funny. Don’t let it throw
you. Simply refer to your thoughtfully constructed
audition book and say, “How about this?”
•
Finally, if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it! – If
you have a song that has gotten you results, don’t
mess with it out of boredom. You hopefully will be
auditioning and singing these songs a lot. If every
time you sing “It’s a Privilege to Pee” you
get a job or a callback don’t pull the song out
of you book and replace it with something else simply
because you’re tired of singing it. The song
obviously shows off your talents. Why would you want
to mess with that? Wait to fulfill your artistic needs
in the rehearsal room, once you’ve booked the
job.
That should get you started and help you avoid some
common pitfalls in the audition room. Have fun filling
your audition book and remember to brush up on the
contents from time to time. You never know what someone
might want to hear and if it’s in your book they’ll
expect you to know it.
