When you are thinking of auditioning for musical theatre schools, you obviously need excellent material that shows you off. A lot of people will direct you to "do not" lists, but that feels so negative. Plus, what you really need is to know what material you CAN do! In this post I will offer some tips about how to find songs for college auditions.
HOW TO PICK SONGS FOR COLLEGE AUDITIONS:
When I started to look for songs, I was so positive that the perfect ones were out there. And they were. I'm very confident in the songs I settled on. They're not well-known, which I think is excellent because it shows you are willing to put in the work. More on that later!
Here are some resources that helped me in my quest to find the perfect songs:
1.) My voice teacher. I ended up singing a ballad he gave me two years ago! My teacher happens to have an insane collection and knowledge of MT rep. But I didn't solely depend on him because I want to know the rep myself. Doing this kind of research will pay off in a million ways, I swear. Obviously, voice teachers can help you find songs that show you off vocally.
2.) YouTube. A lot of people say not to use YouTube to find songs but it's just so useful. A lot of times when I discover a great song, I'm inspired by a video of a performance. Just don't get sucked in and try to emulate it. Specifically, look at:
-If It Only Even Runs a Minute
-senior showcases! I found my favorite monologue by watching the senior showcase of a school I was interested in. I didn't perform it for them, though. [Edit: I now attend said school :)]
-FamousInNY has a lot of videos up from benefits and stuff. Super useful.
Once you've found a song or show that interests you, you can listen to the soundtrack for free, which brings me to...
3.) Spotify! I love spotify. I hate the mobile one because you can only listen if you shuffle. But yeah. Spotify has whole albums of surprisingly obscure shows. Just not contemporary ones (for that, go to the composer's web site or newmusicaltheatre.com). But for Golden Age material that isn't overdone, this is your place. Also if you find a song you like on YouTube, you can listen to the full album and find more songs the character (or another one) sings.
4.) auditioningforcollege.com has a list of all the age-appropriate material in the rep books. Similarly, contemporarymusicaltheatre.com has a ton of blog posts on audition songs, including some great ideas.
5.) A specific college audition coach. (I did not technically have one but the song interpretation teacher at Circle also is one and she gave me excellent song options, one of which I worked on with her and sang for my auditions.) Coaches will save you so much work because they know what is going to look good on you or someone of your type AND have a huge MT knowledge base. I have audition friends who have had success with MTCA--I took their dance classes and they are soo nice. You can probably find a local person (or multiple people) that you already know who will work with you for a lot less money if that is a concern. Or you can do what I did and go to a summer program where they specifically work on audition rep. Just make sure you brush it up before you start actually auditioning.
1.) My voice teacher. I ended up singing a ballad he gave me two years ago! My teacher happens to have an insane collection and knowledge of MT rep. But I didn't solely depend on him because I want to know the rep myself. Doing this kind of research will pay off in a million ways, I swear. Obviously, voice teachers can help you find songs that show you off vocally.
2.) YouTube. A lot of people say not to use YouTube to find songs but it's just so useful. A lot of times when I discover a great song, I'm inspired by a video of a performance. Just don't get sucked in and try to emulate it. Specifically, look at:
-If It Only Even Runs a Minute
-senior showcases! I found my favorite monologue by watching the senior showcase of a school I was interested in. I didn't perform it for them, though. [Edit: I now attend said school :)]
-FamousInNY has a lot of videos up from benefits and stuff. Super useful.
Once you've found a song or show that interests you, you can listen to the soundtrack for free, which brings me to...
3.) Spotify! I love spotify. I hate the mobile one because you can only listen if you shuffle. But yeah. Spotify has whole albums of surprisingly obscure shows. Just not contemporary ones (for that, go to the composer's web site or newmusicaltheatre.com). But for Golden Age material that isn't overdone, this is your place. Also if you find a song you like on YouTube, you can listen to the full album and find more songs the character (or another one) sings.
4.) auditioningforcollege.com has a list of all the age-appropriate material in the rep books. Similarly, contemporarymusicaltheatre.com has a ton of blog posts on audition songs, including some great ideas.
5.) A specific college audition coach. (I did not technically have one but the song interpretation teacher at Circle also is one and she gave me excellent song options, one of which I worked on with her and sang for my auditions.) Coaches will save you so much work because they know what is going to look good on you or someone of your type AND have a huge MT knowledge base. I have audition friends who have had success with MTCA--I took their dance classes and they are soo nice. You can probably find a local person (or multiple people) that you already know who will work with you for a lot less money if that is a concern. Or you can do what I did and go to a summer program where they specifically work on audition rep. Just make sure you brush it up before you start actually auditioning.
Here are some criteria you should look for in your college audition songs:
1.) You have to love and connect to it. This is arguably the most important thing. These people want to know who you are so they can see if they want to spend every day with you for the next 4 years. So what you perform has to be representative of you as a human. Everything you bring in the room-your shoes, your headshot, maybe even your speakers-needs to scream your name. But especially your actual material. When you finish, they need to feel like they have had a glimpse into your life. Psychologically. Emotionally. Keeping this in mind, you maybe want to use a very personal acting technique for this. Like, relate it to something in your life. I know that a lot of people are anti-"method" (and this isn't actually the method, and I've been trained by a student of Strasberg, and it's actually all about keeping healthy and sane, but that's a discussion for another post), but it's the best way to be honest, I think.
2.) It's just got to be age-appropriate. Roughly. I mean, the character doesn't have to be exactly 17 or whatever. But it should probably be a character between the ages of 14 and 24, depending on what you feel you can play and relate to. I play old ladies ALL THE TIME, and I love it. But for college auditions I felt like showing myself
3.) Make sure your songs fit your type. Some people say type is limiting and a thing of the past but as a relatively specific-looking person, there are a lot roles I can't play. I'm not a vixen because I don't have the body, and if I came in with Big Spender it would be weird. You want these songs to be roles you could be cast in NOW, TODAY-this goes back to the age thing. So, because we're trying to focus on what we should look for rather than avoid, you have to figure out your type. Unfortunately, there's no advanced search where you can eliminate all ingenue results.
4.) A lot of schools will have a pre-1960 or Golden Age requirement. I avoided the pre-1960 thing (although I had a song in my back pocket) and sang a piece from 1964. Totally still in a classic MT style though, and that is what really matters.
5.) Similarly, some schools ask for one contemporary piece. Be careful with these because it doesn't have to be from the last 5 years (see what I did there? I am going to rant about L5Y in a bit). A lot of very recent stuff is overdone, like Bring It On and Dogfight. Also, some contemporary MT composers write songs that stylistically don't lend themselves to auditions because they tell long stories or have crazy accompaniments. So check out more obscure musicals from the 1980s and 90s. Just make sure they've been produced.
6.) You have to be able to sing it. Vocally. That's why I switched my ballad after my first audition. You most likely will not have time or a place to warm up. If you do, it's going to be for 15 minutes and possibly in a crowded room with a lot of other people around. I had all morning auditions, except for Unifieds. And you might get a cold.
1.) You have to love and connect to it. This is arguably the most important thing. These people want to know who you are so they can see if they want to spend every day with you for the next 4 years. So what you perform has to be representative of you as a human. Everything you bring in the room-your shoes, your headshot, maybe even your speakers-needs to scream your name. But especially your actual material. When you finish, they need to feel like they have had a glimpse into your life. Psychologically. Emotionally. Keeping this in mind, you maybe want to use a very personal acting technique for this. Like, relate it to something in your life. I know that a lot of people are anti-"method" (and this isn't actually the method, and I've been trained by a student of Strasberg, and it's actually all about keeping healthy and sane, but that's a discussion for another post), but it's the best way to be honest, I think.
2.) It's just got to be age-appropriate. Roughly. I mean, the character doesn't have to be exactly 17 or whatever. But it should probably be a character between the ages of 14 and 24, depending on what you feel you can play and relate to. I play old ladies ALL THE TIME, and I love it. But for college auditions I felt like showing myself
3.) Make sure your songs fit your type. Some people say type is limiting and a thing of the past but as a relatively specific-looking person, there are a lot roles I can't play. I'm not a vixen because I don't have the body, and if I came in with Big Spender it would be weird. You want these songs to be roles you could be cast in NOW, TODAY-this goes back to the age thing. So, because we're trying to focus on what we should look for rather than avoid, you have to figure out your type. Unfortunately, there's no advanced search where you can eliminate all ingenue results.
4.) A lot of schools will have a pre-1960 or Golden Age requirement. I avoided the pre-1960 thing (although I had a song in my back pocket) and sang a piece from 1964. Totally still in a classic MT style though, and that is what really matters.
5.) Similarly, some schools ask for one contemporary piece. Be careful with these because it doesn't have to be from the last 5 years (see what I did there? I am going to rant about L5Y in a bit). A lot of very recent stuff is overdone, like Bring It On and Dogfight. Also, some contemporary MT composers write songs that stylistically don't lend themselves to auditions because they tell long stories or have crazy accompaniments. So check out more obscure musicals from the 1980s and 90s. Just make sure they've been produced.
6.) You have to be able to sing it. Vocally. That's why I switched my ballad after my first audition. You most likely will not have time or a place to warm up. If you do, it's going to be for 15 minutes and possibly in a crowded room with a lot of other people around. I had all morning auditions, except for Unifieds. And you might get a cold.
SONGS YOU SHOULD PROBABLY NOT SING FOR YOUR COLLEGE AUDITIONS:
I say probably because people say "if you can sing Don't Rain On My Parade better than Streisand, go for it!!!!" I am of a different opinion. First of all, the auditors are going to think of Barbra. And that particular song requires a sort of accent, which is a no for college auditions. And also, there is SO MUCH great MT rep out there. Singing something very overdone shows no originality, even if you do have a deep spiritual connection to it and sing it well and act the shit out of it and fit the type. Seriously, you want to pick material they didn't know they missed. They give you brownie points, or at least keep you in the room a few seconds longer to compliment you on your choice. Any extra time in that room and any little extra (positive) thing for them to remember you by is precious! And I guarantee you there is something else out there that shows you off better than Don't Rain On My Parade.
I'm not going to make a list of what not to sing specifically. There are tons of lists out there that I can connect you to. Most of the material on there is obvious anyway. This post is about what TO do.
EDIT: Keep in mind that this is just my opinion! I'm rereading this a semester into college, and now I don't think any of these rules should be hard and fast (except the one about accents or playing a character canonically of a different race--i.e., please don't sing from The Color Purple if you're white). People get in with Jason Robert Brown songs. People get in with Pulled. People get in with pop songs. People get in with Les Mis. I personally think one could rock an unexpected Disney song (the Disney song in my rep book is actually Jafar's reprise of Prince Ali!).
It's been almost a year since I wrote the top of this and I'm honestly kind of re-evaluating some of what I said. But my point remains the same: the reason to choose your college audition songs needs to be that they're representations of you. Each song is an artistic choice. Choose originality, because you are original. Originality might a song so obscure that the experts behind the table don't even know it, and it doesn't mean an unconventional choice. It might mean putting a new spin on a classic musical standard. But it always means being yourself. Think it through, but in the end, CHOOSE YOURSELF! You have to choose yourself before anyone else can choose you. :)
No comments:
Post a Comment