<p>I’m putting together auditions for musical theatre summer programs (that I am taping at home) and I was wondering if Being ALive could be considered a viable uptempo song. Also on a scale of kinda overdone to “dont even bother” overdone do you guys consider this song? I’m a girl if it makes any difference. It would be paired with either Someone to Watch Over Me, or Far From the Home I love.</p>
<p>For “Being Alive:” In a word, no.
You are a girl (yes it makes a difference!) and presumably around 17. The song is performed by Bobby, a 35 year old man who has been bitter about marriage and relationships and has stubbornly remained single for years while all his friends marry. The final song, “Being Alive,” is when he realizes that he wants 'someone to hold him too close, someone to hurt him too deep."
It is not suited to a young woman performer on multiple levels - you would never get cast as Bobby - and I would strongly advise against it.</p>
<p>“Far From the Home I Love” may be overdone, I’m not sure–check it out using ‘overdone’ lists or recommendations from colleges. </p>
<p>"Someone to Watch Over Me’ could be interesting IF you performed it in context of the original 1920s musical, NOT how Susan Boyle sings it or Ella Ftizgerald or Frank Sinatra or any other ‘star.’ The danger is that you will inevitably be compared to such singers. </p>
<p>Overall, try to choose songs that you could perform, that are not overdone, and that are not associated with particular singers. What is your voice type? Have you checked out songbooks? These would give you a good start, and then you can go from there. Do you happen to have a voice teacher? He/she could really help you as they’d know your voice.
Good luck–</p>
<p>hmm
well thanks for your reply! 
I’m familiar with the plot of Company, but I feel like the themes of the piece are the song are so universal that I can certainly relate to it and i think really displays my vocal ability/ability to express emotion through a song. But I’m very very new to this sort of thing, is it innapropriate to sing something sung by a character you couldn’t cocievably be cast as? Do the songs need to be performed within the specific context of the show? </p>
<p>I do have a voice teacher, and these are all from the list she gave me. I’ve been told I have a high classical, more legit than contemporary voice. Do you (or anyone!) by any chance have some suggestions for contemporary sounding songs that might suite a more classical voice?</p>
<p>One way to think of songs at MT auditions is sort of equivalent to a monologue that is sung. Just as you should select monologues that are age and gender-appropriate, so you should with songs for MT auditions. The panelists will expect you to perform as the character in the show. If you cross ages and genders, you may be still be accepted, but it will be in spite of your selection, not because of it. Sometimes making bold choices pays off, but the risk can be high. With so much at stake for most applicants for college programs, why run the risk of crossing ages and/or genders?</p>
<p>The general recommendation is to select songs from roles for which you could reasonably be cast. For most high school seniors, that extends to characters around age 25.</p>
<p>By the way, from what I have observed, it is not uncommon for voice teachers from vocal performance backgrounds to not be fully aware of the generally accepted practices for college MT auditions.</p>
<p>I completely agree with Emsdad. Yes, some voice teachers may be great at voice coaching, but are unfamiliar with what is acceptable for college or even any auditions (for instance, Being Alive would not be appropriate in <em>any</em> audition for you, with the possible exception of high school auditions). </p>
<p>The purpose of the song is just as Emsdad says, a monologue in song. Just as you would not audition as King Lear, so you would not audition using a song that you would never be cast in, because of your gender, body type, race/ethnicity, and age/life experience. To choose to sing a song you would never be cast in is to advertise that you don’t care how the playwright or composer conceived the character, and you don’t care how the director would cast you. This is not a good thing to advertise.</p>
<p>There are SO many choices out there for someone your age, whom you would believably be cast in. Think 16-25, your voice AND your physical type. “Far From the Home I Love” fits age and gender, but if it’s not overdone, also make sure you are the right type (as I’m sure you know, it’s a Jewish girl. I’m not saying you have to be Jewish, but if you look very obviously not Jewish, that would personally distract me if I were on the panel, and you don’t want distracted judges). Could you ask your voice teacher for such suggestions within those parameters? If the teacher is unfamiliar with musical theatre repertoire, you’ll need to do the research yourself–or if you are blessed with money, you can also find an additional coach who is familiar with what’s out there and what’s appropriate for auditions. </p>
<p>The general advice is also to avoid songs that are associated with a particular performer, since that will inevitably bring comparisons to the performer rather than the character itself. That’s why I’d hesitate with "Someone to Watch over Me’–many famous performers have sung that one. But the idea to look for older musicals from the 1920s or 1930s could be interesting, particularly if your voice is more suited to such musicals. Good luck with this.</p>
<p>Please. Don’t do “Being Alive.” Yes, songs need to be performed in the context of the show. We are looking for Actors who can sing. Not just singers. And you are never (as was said) going to play Bobby. Trust me when I tell you that the adjudicators will generally know the show and the circumstances of the song. And they’ll expect to see you performing the song as if it was being performed on stage. And that means playing the character.</p>
<p>I really do appreciate your input, but I’m still having trouble seeing why this is such a big deal. I am primarily an Actor who sings, and understand that this is what these programs are looking for. From what I understand these programs are seeking people who can tell the story of the song they are performing. I’m a huge fan of the musical Company, and I understand that I will obviously never play Bobby. (and yes, I know the context of the show- I would never ever audition with a song I was not deeply familiar with the context of) I just think that the story of the song tells of a person who is for the first time opening up to being in a real relationship with another human being can be told by anyone who understands those feelings, regardless of gender.</p>
<p>I’m not sure why you asked a question if you weren’t interested in the answer.
I did notice that you also asked about MPULSE at Michigan and I can tell you with 100 percent certainty that singing “Being Alive” as a teen female will NOT work for Brent Wagner.
The program and this process are highly competitive.
I’m pretty sure it won’t fly in either instance but good luck.</p>
<p>Wow. I’m not sure why you’re being so rude. </p>
<p>I asked a second time just specifying that I was familiar with the material because some of the people responding seemed to think that I wasn’t and I wanted to make sure that didn’t affect the response they were giving me. What are these boards for if not for discussions?</p>
<p>Based on the very helpful responses I got at the from people, I probably will not sing Being Alive. I knew most of the information you guys gave to me about performing the song as a monolouge and needing to perform in a character, but I can see how it may have come across that I did not, so thank you for all the advice to everyone who gave it! Good Luck to all of you!</p>
<p>omul24601 - some further research into how auditions work may help you understand why you were given the advice in previous posts. You may want to read:</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>There are, of course, many more books available on this topic and related topics that might help you understand how all this works. You can find additional references in this thread:</p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/musical-theater-major/102726-books-other-resources-mt-students.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/musical-theater-major/102726-books-other-resources-mt-students.html</a></p>
<p>In general, for college auditions, NO Sondheim…EVER!</p>
<p>The advice given above with respect to song as a monologue is sound. The character singing the song is a 35 year old man, and you clearly are not. Save this particular number for a cabaret or coffeehouse performance. It is not recommended for college entrance auditions.</p>
<p>When you ask a question on these forums, most of the responders are providing their knowledge and insight as either professionals, educators, or parents/students having spent numerous months going through what you are experiencing now (and survived). We are all here to help you. </p>
<p>I hope you will heed this advice, and choose your material wisely. You may want to check out the forums containing the DO NOT DO Lists for college auditions.</p>
<p>Good luck!</p>
<p>Sent from my SCH-I405 using CC</p>
<p>Thanks a lot for the suggestions</p>
<p>I don’t think md311mt’s was being rude, but I have to say I was taken aback by your response to kjgc, a theatre department chair. He is kind enough to take time out of his busy schedule to share his sagely advice and you come back with, “I’m still having trouble seeing why this is such a big deal.” It’s not a big deal if you would rather do your own thing than be accepted to a program…</p>
<p>Admission to any and every audition program is highly competitive so it is in your best interest to read each program’s requirements and do what they ask. </p>
<p>Good luck!</p>
<p>omul24601: I didn’t think md311mt was being rude at all. To be honest, you lost my sympathy when you accused him/her in that way. I’m going to give you some more advice: Know your audience --both at the audition and here on CC. Many of us are adults who are fairly experienced in this process. kjgc is <em>extremely</em> experienced and I agree it is very generous for him to even comment here and take the time to give students advice. I’d take the advice. </p>
<p>Again, good luck with this.</p>
<p>I didn’t mean to offend anyone and I am extremely thankful that kjgc (and everyone else) took the time to respond to my question. My intention was to start a discussion around an issue (the standards and restrictions around song choices) that I found interesting. I didn’t mean to question kjgc’s expertise- rather I wanted to start an interesting discussion with other people exploring my field. </p>
<p>and I felt that md311mt’s comment was offensive because saying “'I’m not sure why you asked a question if you weren’t interested in the answer.” implied that I did not care about succeding in these auditions- only about doing my own thing which could not be farther from the truth. I can see now how perhaps she may have interpreted my posts that way, but as I have said that was not my intention and I found her tone unecesary.</p>
<p>OMU… Let me take a crack at your real question. Because I’ve heard it countless times before. I’ll start (because I do theatre for a living) with a story.</p>
<p>Young man walks into a college audition and tells us his name and slates his pieces… “one will be from Shakespeare’s Macbeth…” and then launches into the pieces. Now before I go on, let me just say that in that room were three people who had done dozens of Shakespeare pieces over their career. One who had played every major female role in a Shakespeare play during her career. Suffice to say, they were experts. So the young man begins…</p>
<p>“He has almost supped. Why have you left the chamber?
Was the hope drunk
Wherein you dressed yourself? Hath it slept since?”</p>
<p>All of us knew by the third line he was playing Lady Macbeth. What goes through your mind at that moment as an adjudicator? “This person has never read the play and has no idea they are playing a woman.” As an actor in an audition you have 120-180 seconds to make me interested in you. That’s it. For that young man, at least 30 of those seconds were “why is he doing this piece? Why doesn’t he know better?” </p>
<p>Nobody in that room is BEING BROUGHT INTO THE MOMENT OF THE PLAY. That’s the goal isn’t it? Bring us to you? Make us want to be with the you/the character. Bring us on a journey. That’s great acting. </p>
<p>That story told, let me continue for a moment. Let’s say I’ve seen approximately 500 auditions over the course of the recruitment period. For us, that’s normal, for the larger schools that’s about 25% of the people they see. Of those we’ve seen, 65% are young women. Many are talented, many are lovely, many can dance and sing, are smart, are interested in training, are passionate artists. </p>
<p>Should you walk into that group, and begin with “Being Alive” we would immediately question whether or not you read the play. We would question whether or not you’ve read ANY play. After all, you are an 18 year old woman trying to play a middle aged man. We all have done this musical, in fact it is likely we have all done it more than once. (I’ve done it three times.) Since my goal is to see if you can take me into the character and on a journey, you would have lost me. I would have spent the first 8 bars wondering what you are doing, and the last 8 bars trying to get into the moment. </p>
<p>Can you play some of the intentions of that song? I don’t know. But I do know you cannot play all of that song. And since I (and everyone else who auditions you) will know the show, we aren’t going to ask if you can just sing the song, we are going to ask if you can ACT the character. And that answer is “no.” You cannot. You aren’t male, 40 and coming to the end of a mid life journey. And you never will be. </p>
<p>In the same way that young man I started with can understand some of the thought processes/intentions of Lady Macbeth, we cannot believe him AS Lady Macbeth. Now, you can fault the adjudicators for this. You can say, “well, if I can get to some feeling and act the song, then who cares if I can be Bobby?” True. And maybe there are a few out there who will love your chutzpah and applaud the risk. In fact, it may get you into a school. But I can tell you this much, there are many who will write you off immediately (see above the number of people we all audition). </p>
<p>The young man I started this post about finished his piece. After that, as we normally do, we sat and chatted with him. First question was “did you know that was Lady Macbeth?” </p>
<p>“Yes. But I felt that taking the risk was good and you would remember me.” Did we? Yes. We remembered him. I still do. And I even remember his name. We did not invite him to join our company. Not because he took a risk (that’s good) but because the goal wasn’t the risk, but was to shock us with his choice instead of treat us to his talent. We never saw enough talent. And part of that reason is because we were trying to figure out why he would make that choice. And in this process WHY you are doing things is very important. Actors are intelligent people. We need to see some of that intelligence. </p>
<p>Can you show us the talent AND do Bobby? Do you want to risk the adjudicators writing you off because you’ve chosen an entirely inappropriate song for so many reasons? (See “never do Sondheim above!”)</p>
<p>I wish you luck. This is your journey and there are many paths to a successful end. Sometimes pure audacity will work. But wouldn’t it be better to make an informed choice that shows them a strong choice in a way that they say “yeah, I can see her doing that. Wow, she really took me somewhere!”</p>
<p>kjgc, Thanks for taking the time to write such a comprehensive reply! I guess I was confused because I thought auditioners were looking for just strong song interpretation, not necesarily performing as the character within the context of the play. Thanks for clearing that up!</p>
<p>Just another quick question if you don’t mind- I’ve read (and a couple people have mentioned on this board) that it’s a bad idea to do Sondheim because it’s inconsiderate and risky to put the accompanists on the spot with such complicated music. If I am submitting a video audition with an accompanist who is practiced on the piece is it okay to do a Sondheim song, or are their other reasons why it is taboo?</p>
<p>Some schools specify no Sondheim. At other schools, Sondheim may be okay but only if the part is AGE and gender appropriate and not too difficult for the accompanist. Songs from Forum would fit in this category. Most Sondheim roles were written for characters older than college age. One exception would be Later from Little Night Music which is meant to be sung by a young adult male and is not that hard a piano part. My son is actually using that as his 3rd option for schools which ask for 3 songs.</p>
<p>omul24601, You probably should not submit anything for a video audition that would not also work well in your live audition.</p>