Never choose a song that doesn’t suit your voice type. If you have a light voice, don’t choose a song meant to be belted. Also, try to choose a song that you are comfortable with as an actor. You will be remembered for your ability to act your song’s character.
Decide whether you are more comfortable with a ballad or an up-tempo selection. Make sure your song is within your voice type. Although you should have the song transposed into a comfortable range, too far from the traditional key can cause you more harm than good at the audition.
Fred Silver cites In-One Numbers as the best for an audition. "In-One” defines the playing area of the stage that exists between the proscenium curtain and footlights, or the orchestra pit.” The focus remains on the actor as he moves closer and closer to the audience, the only performer onstage.
There are wonderful books on the subject of auditions. Two of them are Auditioning for the Musical Theater by Fred Silver (Penguin books), and Audition by Michael Shurtleff with an introduction by Bob Fosse (referred to as the “bible” by many actors).
What Not to Sing at an Audition
According to Fred Silver, do not choose:
- Song and Dance numbers: the lyrics are simple so as not to upstage the dancing, and do not serve the actor well in an audition.
- Production numbers: the changing scenery and hordes of other actors rushing around are noticeably missing when sung as a solo.
- Signature songs: they are too closely associated with the performers who made them famous .
- Fictional Character songs: songs are associated with a particular character, ie, Miss Hannigan’s “Little Girls” from Annie. It might be assumed that this is the only type of part that you can play.
- Plotline numbers: songs that advance the plot of a musical and do little in terms of character.
- Vogue numbers: songs are from current shows are in the public limelight; too many people are singing them.
Potential Musical Audition Problems
Michael Shurtleff warns singers of potential problems associated with auditioning for a musical:
- Concise scenes require actors to provide a rich subtext.
- The climax of a scene often occurs in a song, not in the spoken lines.
- Scenes can be written for a specific star, rather than character.
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