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I am thinking about auditioning for a school production of Sweeney Todd, something I have never done before, although I have been in several (non-musical) plays.
I thus have no experience in the act of auditioning for a musical. I know many directors want an audition piece, but the directors arn't asking for one. Do you then just "sing" for roles like you read from them in a normal audition?
I have worked with one of the artistic director before, and she encouraged me to try out, but I have no experience with the musical director.
I am insanely nervous as, for one thing, I do not read music (neither did my friend who played several major musical roles at the school before his graduation last year.) And, while I can sing some of the roles, there are others well beyond my ability and I don't fancy singing for them at all.
Posts: 211 | Registered: Dec 2006
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Doing musicals were my favorite. It's been a while since my last high school audition, so I have no advice for that. I just wanted to encourage you to do it. You'll have the best time. It's also easy to get addicted to musicals. More people come to those too. Hard work though. In addition to acting, you have learn dances and learn songs.
Posts: 2064 | Registered: Dec 2003
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Number four daughter auditioned about a year ago for the "Makado". It was at a small university in the frozen tundra of Idaho and the audition might not have been typical. But, she was asked to sing a show tune style piece, unaccompanied. Her voice (a tenor) appealed to the casting director, who considered adding a female pirate to the cast. However, her schedule prevented her from accepting the part.
Posts: 1167 | Registered: Oct 2005
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Is this high school? I would assume that most auditions would different from school to school, but I can give my own experiences in high school musical auditions for an example...
At my school we usually held a around of strict acting auditions. Nobody sang at this point, we just read lines. This would probably go on for a couple of days, allowing people to read for all the parts they wanted.
Then there would be the call backs. These were a little more complicated.
People were usually split into groups. If the musical was dance-heavy, then there'd be a group that was taught a short dance (similar to what would be needed for the musical, of course) and they would have to perform it. There would also be a group just reading lines, but this time it would be for characters chosen for you. The last group would go over a couple of songs and few times, and then sing them on their own.
The groups would be rotated throughout the day.
My school, although having an excellent drama program (our productions have a very good reputation, even among the universities), we were a basic public school, so we did everything we could to include everyone who wanted to participate (we double-casted and everyone who tried out was at least put in the chorus).
If you're at college or a arts focused school, your auditions might be a little more structured and "strict." Or it could be looser if you're also going to a public high school. I don't know.
Posts: 450 | Registered: Nov 2004
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Ouch. I am not a great singer, I do not as much "sing"as act more or less musicaly, which counts for singing for many parts in many musicals (don't try this in Les Mis for instance, but Henry Higgens need not be able to carry a tune in a bucket.) Some of the male roles in Sweeney Todd require actual singing, but I won't get any of those for sure. The roles of the Judge, the Beadle and Sweeney himself call for stronger acting ability than singing ability. At least I think so, and I hope the directors think so. (I have always been amazed that any system which has a seperate director for "drama" and "music" can function. Of course, the "drama director" is also the artistic director.)
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posted
Even if you're not interested in a primary singing role, you will have to sing a piece. My school had someone to play piano for you. They need to know you get the basics to even be in the chorus.
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"If you're at college or a arts focused school, your auditions might be a little more structured and "strict."Or it could be looser if you're also going to a public high school. "
Well, I doubt my audition will be much like yours, not becouse it is "stricter" or "looser" but becouse it is quicker. Three days of auditions for about an hour each is normal. Of course, we generaly have at most two dozen people auditioning.
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"My school had someone to play piano for you. "
Much better than doing it alone.
"They need to know you get the basics to even be in the chorus."
In this show, the chorus needs to be filled with the best singers of all.
I guess I am auditioning to fill a void, my friend who graduated had a similar voice to my own. He was never a good enough singer to be in the chorus, but he filled comic roles well.
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posted
Every musical audition I've ever had involved reading and singing. Some also had a dance audition. You're expected to come prepared with something in your range. You could provide the accompanist with sheet music or sing a standard that s/he knows how to play. Karaoke tracks are done but frowned on--and a CD player may not be available. Singing songs from the show you are auditioning for is frowned upon. Singing a capella is frowned upon as well--mostly just because almost everyone sounds like crap without accompaniment, so you're doing yourself a disservice, unless you happen to have perfect pitch. So it just comes across as amateurish. Holding the lyrics to your audition song in your hand is also frowned upon. Dance auditions usually have consisted of learning a short dance sequence similar to a choral dance from the show. You have about five minutes to learn it and then you perform it on stage. You are not expected to get it perfectly, or even all that well, unless you are auditioning for a dance-heavy role and you are a trained dancer. I have not been to any audition where I was expected to memorize a monologue, but I have heard of them.
The callbacks I have been to have involved more reading from the script and singing songs from the show.
Every musical I have been involved with has had a separate music director, but it is understood that he is subordinate to the director.
Of course, YMMV. I have never auditioned for a company that didn't state in advance what you should expect at their auditions.
Posts: 13680 | Registered: Mar 2002
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"can't you just ask the director/drama instructor what they expect of you?"
Don't be insane. I'll ask a friend whose done this before. If I can choose a piece, I'd pick something from say, Camelot, which could highlight my acting ability while downplaying my less-than-perfect singing voice.
Fortunately, no dancing in this show. That's actualy something they look for in picking a musical: no dancing. Les Miserables: good; Cats: bad. Of course there is more to Les Miserables being better than Cats than the dancing....
Posts: 211 | Registered: Dec 2006
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This is JenniK posting as Kwea again... Icarus you are now on my bad side again! Les Mis is my all time favorite and you say it "sucks less " than Cats. I keep telling Rob that I don't hate you and now you go and do something like this.Hmmmmmph! (I really do not hate you silly man.) I agree with what he says about auditions, but here is another note; if you are providing sheet music for the accompanist, DO NOT give them photocopied music! That is one of the biggest mistakes that people can make. Make sure the music is in the correct key for your range, and remember to smile. Have fun. The worst they can do is not cast you in the lead role, it's not like you'll get shot if you don't do well. Smile, have fun, and say thank you when you are dismissed at the end of your audition. Courtesy is always a good thing.
Posts: 15082 | Registered: Jul 2001
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posted
If there is some kind of audition notice, it should specify what they'd like to see. Depending on the show, they might want more classical, modern, belty, etc. style of music. If you don't want to ask the director, there should be a stage manager ready to help you out.
The college productions I've worked on went thusly: you sing a song, and if they like what they hear they may ask you to sing a second song, or perform a short monologue. Again, this depends on what kind of show it is -- is singing more important than acting which is more important than dancing, etc. Sweeney Todd is Sondheim, right? So acting and an ability to perform Sondheim's music would be the thing to bring out. Into the Woods or Assassins has a certain style of music, and a song in those could show off your acting ability and not be too vocally challenging if singing isn't your thing.
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![[Smile]](smile.gif)
I'll ask a friend whose done this before. If I can choose a piece, I'd pick something from say, Camelot, which could highlight my acting ability while downplaying my less-than-perfect singing voice. ![[Taunt]](graemlins/taunt.gif)
