1) LOOK AT THE AUDITION REQUIREMENTS
One of the main things that the audition sign up will tell you is how long should your song be. The 2 lengths are usually 16 bars and 32 bars. 16 bars, for those of you do not know music theory that well (which is completely fine by the way, Ramin Karimloo cannot read music), is about 30 seconds. Most big auditions, like national auditions or college auditions, will ask for this amount just so that they can see everyone as quickly as possible. 32 bars is just about a minute. This may be for smaller auditions, maybe college musicals or community theaters. So how do you count the bars? Easy peasy.
Each bar is a measure. Just count however you need!
Now most places ask for a 16-32 bar range. So basically anyplace between 30-60 seconds. Give them basically enough to prove to them that you can hold your own if you got a lead role. Also, on the sheet it should say what types of audition songs they want to hear. Now you got all the information you need, let’s go hunting.
2) FIND THE SHOW TYPE
If you are going into an audition for Next to Normal, you probably don’t want to sing something from Oklahoma! There are two types of musicals, classical and contemporary. Classical would be like Rodgers and Hammerstein, Comden and Green, Frank Loesser. Contemporary would be Sondheim, Schwartz, Jason Robert Brown, and Duncan Sheik. Please, research composers when trying to find audition cuts. Get familiar with their work and find what you’re comfortable with. Look at the composers for the musical that you are auditioning for, and try to match that with other shows that they have done or look at shows that opened on Broadway about the same time that yours did. RESEARCH, RESEARCH, RESEARCH.
3) FIND YOUR RANGE
Once you know what you want, try finding your range. And when I say range, I just don’t mean your vocal range. I mean your character type, what role are you going for, is there more than one character that you can play in that show? Look at your past theatre history and look at what other actors have done in those roles and you should be able to see a pattern with what you’ve been typecast as. Maybe it’s the protégé, or the girl next door, or the best friend. Find your strengths! If you want to be Natalie from Next to Normal, you need a belty, edgy, teen angst song that shows off your high notes. If you’re going to be Johanna from Sweeney Todd (even though it’s Sondheim, it has a classical feel), you need a light, airish, flowing high soprano song. What matters is what look do you want to go for?
4) FIND YOUR CUT
My advice is to find something near the end so you can show off your range and those crazy belting skills. Be confident in your starting point, and make sure you tell a story! YOU MUST TELL A STORY. THAT’S WHAT ACTING’S FOR! You’re not only showing off your singing skills, you’re showing the directors that you can convey the meaning of a song easily and portray the feelings that the character is singing about. If you follow all of these, it will show that you are professional and confident about auditioning.
That’s about it guys! Again, feel free to comment or ask us questions! This blog was created so that we can help the fans with all of their “actor problems” (sorry couldn’t resist) and also so that we can see their progress and try to tell people our experiences! I know I personally want to be able to communicate with all of you and help you in any way imaginable! Like always, comment below OR find us on twitter! You can find me at @theatreginger for any questions about auditioning or shows! Love y’all and thank you always for your support!
Andrew
