Audition Tips, Part I: Choosing Your Rep
Last weekend, we gave our first audition prep workshop, Audition Boot Camp! We saw some fabulous talent as we coached our participants on their songs and monologues. They also rocked an incredibly difficult mock dance call, and learned all about head shots, resumes, wardrobe, and professional etiquette in our information session afterward. These kids are definitely on their way to nailing their next auditions!
This series of posts will distill some of the audition tips and tricks-of-the-trade that our students learned in the workshop. Today's topic: how to choose your audition repertoire.
There are a lot of great songs and monologues out there, so how do you choose which to perform? It is important to consider the following things:
Is the piece right for me?
Is the piece a good choice for an audition?
Is the piece a good choice for this particular audition?
We will explore each of these considerations in detail.
Is the piece right for me? First, you should make sure that the song or monologue's character is in a believable age range for you, or the role that you will be auditioning for. If you are auditioning for a mixed-age production that will feature both children and adults (like The Sound of Music, for instance), choose a piece with a character close to your own age. If, however, you are a sixteen-year-old auditioning for an all-children production of The Sound of Music, it is likely that you would be cast as an adult character. Therefore, you should choose a piece with a young adult character for your audition (nothing too old though - remember, you must play the character believably!).
Second, you should look at the range of the piece. For songs, look at the high and low notes, and, on average, where the vocal line "sits." If it contains any notes that you cannot sing reliably every day, find something else! Seek the advice of your voice teacher or vocal coach if you are not sure if a piece is right for you.
For monologues, look at the dramatic arc of the piece. If you are certain you can execute the emotional high and low peaks effortlessly, then go for it! If you feel that it is outside your dramatic comfort zone at the moment, choose something else. Again, seek the advice of an acting coach if you are not sure about a piece.
If you need two songs or two monologues, they should contrast - i.e., you should have a dramatic and a comic monologue, an up-tempo piece and a ballad, a belt and a legit song (if you can sing both techniques). Make sure though, that, regardless of style, the pieces showcase what you can do best! If, for example, your belt technique is still a work in progress, wait until you are completely comfortable with it before singing a belt piece in your audition.
Is the piece a good choice for an audition? Consider whether this piece has the right ingredients to be a successful audition piece. Remember, shorter is better - typically, you will be asked to sing only a cut of your song, so it is in your best interest to choose something compact that can showcase as much of the dramatic arc as possible.
Consider the difficulty of the piano part. Is it very range-y, or rhythmically/harmonically complicated? Will the pianist have difficulty following you if he or she has never seen the piece before? Avoid composers whose work is notoriously difficult for the pianist - Jason Robert Brown and Stephen Sondheim are two good examples. Unless you know the pianist personally and are confident of his/her abilities, or the panelists are requesting a song of this nature, choosing something simpler will put everybody more at ease during the audition.
Is the piece a good choice for THIS audition? Make sure you have read the audition requirements! Honoring the company's audition requirements is one way to show them that you can take direction, and would thus be easy to work with.
Questions? Let us know!
Stay tuned for our next installments, in which we will discuss head shots/resumes, wardrobe, and professional etiquette!
Below: Our drama instructor, Bobby Imperato, coaches one of our Boot Camp participants on her monologue.
