<p>So I’m having a dillemma with my voice teacher. He had me singing Hard to Speak my Heart from Parade for all of my auditions and I’ve been looking around at other pieces for backup songs and I ran across Role of a Lifetime from Bare: A Pop Opera. Then I had the sudden realization that Leo from Parade is a middle-aged man and I’m 16/17. </p>
<p>I do look older, but not like I’m 30, but my voice (in this song) sounds very mature. Also, the song seems like it is there to show off my voice instead of my voice AND acting capability</p>
<p>Role of a Lifetime, however, is sung by a 16-18 year old. It has strong emotional content and shows off range well but the thing is, I have only been working on this song for about a month and, only last week, I brought it to my voice teacher (no classes during winter break). He said he really liked the song and I sounded good, but didn’t sound really impressed with me.</p>
<p>After I got rejected from Elon, I brought it up to my voice teacher that I should maybe look for another ballad. He said that he’d help me look, but at this point (this was mid-december), we wouldn’t get a lot of practice in.</p>
<p>My problem:</p>
<p>Will the fact that I don’t look 30 come to kick me in the face if I stick with Parade? Or would it be better if I went against what my voice teacher requested and did Role of a Lifetime, despite my lack of experience with the song?</p>
<p>freedom-fri911, I am not sure about yours, but one of D’s past voice teachers always was a bit lukewarm when she was the one suggesting material; could be yours is like that too. </p>
<p>Having that said and after listening again to both the songs you are referring to, I realized that “Hard to Speak” is actually a song frequently used in BFA MT programs. One of the things I could see as a possible challenge with that song could be the delivery; its content is actually just as powerful as “Role of a Lifetime”, you just have to allow yourself to connect with the lyrics, or even make something up as you go over the words so that you feel you are indeed making that connection. Have you seen yourself sing the song? If you can record yourself as if you are auditioning and then review it, this may be all that you need to do to feel that you are choosing the right song.</p>
<p>At the end of the day, it is all about you feeling good about what you are doing. Clearly a song that is written for an old man that talks about him looking back at his life would be “no no”, but everything else is really free game as long as it grabs you.</p>
<p>freedom - I had to laugh. Middle aged is not 30. I think you have to sing what you sing best at this point. I am no expert, but you should not go with something that you don’t have time to prepare properly. Have you looked at all the versions of Speak my Heart on You Tube - there are a number of audition aged men doing it and some show more conviction, some show vulnerability and some show frustration and many more emotions. You’re pleading for your life - I think you could act the heck out of it.</p>
<p>freedom, although I agree with cartera that 30 is not middle-aged :), I’m still not sure that this is a good song for you to sing. While it’s true that Leo Frank died at age 31, what you should consider is that when Brent Carver played the role on Broadway (and most auditors will be familiar with his performance), he was 47. He won the Drama Desk award that year, and was nominated for a Tony for that performance. This is not a role that a 17 year old could play.</p>
<p>I don’t know if this is true of Hard to Speak my Heart specifically, but JRB’s music is also generally pretty hard to play…is that a concern at all re: the song?</p>
<p>I thought Parade was extremely overdone right now and many schools advise against using JRB material?? I would also think “It’s hard to speak my heart” (having seen the show recently in the West End) is FAAR too mature a song for a 17 year old. Why displace yourself like that and make it harder for yourself at the audition? You have to know what is YOU and what suits your style. It’s impossible for you to convey the life experience of a 30 year old convincingly. Sing a song that is your playing age and a role that you could play NOW, rather than in 10-15 years time. Just my opinion and I know schools often stress age appropriate material. It’s not just about the song sounding nice…it’s about the acting and real to life casting. Schools want to see potential yes but they also want you to come in and show material that proves you could be cast as that part now - or after a couple of years of training anyway.</p>
<p>Then again, I don’t think you should sing a song that is underprepared, even though I personally think the song from Bare would be more appropriate and suitable. How long have you got to prepare a new song?</p>
<p>Oh wow that is soon, definitely do the Parade song this Saturday then. I would try and see if you can prepare the Bare song for the other two…still quite soon but maybe see how you go and how comfortable you feel in a week’s time.</p>