So without further ado, I'd like to present my personal list of songs you should probably avoid at an audition, and those which might be a bit risky. Please bear in mind the following when reading this:
a) This is just my personal opinion of what I probably wouldn't chose to sing
b) This is quite UK centric, I know that auditions are very different in the USA and elsewhere
c) This is more for drama schools/NYMT auditions etc. clearly if you're auditioning for Les Miserables and they ask you to sing a song from the show, you should
d) Some songs on this list are here because they are ridiculously overdone, but if you think you can absolutely kill the song then by all means perform it. Perform the song practically perfectly and the panel may forget just how many times they've heard it
AVOID
- Anything from Les Mis- way way way overdone at auditions (except possibly "Drink with Me"). Only consider doing a Les Mis song if you're confident you can smash it out of the ball park.
- Anything from Wicked- ditto (with the possible exception of "Wonderful")
- "As long as he needs me" from Oliver!- ditto
- "Send in the Clowns" from "A little night music" - ditto
- Most Andrew Lloyd Webber-off the top of my head Phantom, Joseph, Cats and Evita contain songs that are very overdone. Other less performed musicals/songs may be okay though
- "Tomorrow" from Annie- annoying, particularly if you're not a 9 year old girl
- Songs from jukebox musicals; "We will rock you", "Mamma Mia!", "Never Forget" etc. - I know that technically songs from these are MT songs, but if an audition is asking for a MT song they're really looking for a song that isn't originally and more well known as a pop/rock song etc.
- Anything from "Chicago"
- "What I did for love" from "A Chorus Line"- yes it's beautiful, but it's also kind of a cliché...
RISKY
- Signature songs- "Don't rain on my parade", "Over the rainbow" etc.- again perhaps worth a risk if you can do it brilliantly, but the comparisons between you and the original artist will always be made
- Dance 10, looks 3- it's a bit like doing a monologue from the vagina monologues...it feels like you're trying to shock for the sake of being shocking. I love "A Chorus Line", but I'm not sure how appropriate it is to sing a song where the comedy value is derived from you singing about T & A
- Waiting for life to begin- I've noticed so many girls performing this at drama school auditions, so be warned that it is an extremely popular song at the moment. Incidentally all of the girls I've seen performing it were white. This isn't necessarily a reason not to do it, but just be warned that it can make you look like you don't understand your casting type
- Songs from Miss Saigon- again just be cautious that if you don't look South East Asian, performing a song from Miss Saigon makes it look like you don't understand your casting type
- "Summertime" from "Porgy and Bess"- this just looks like you have no imagination
- Most Jason Robert Brown songs- just be warned that a)it's overdone and b) the piano parts are often quite a bit more interesting than the vocals. I've been drawn to listen to the piano part rather than the vocals in an audition before so don't let that happen to the audience if you're performing it!
- Songs from Sondheim musicals- I am a big lover of the S. Man but just be aware that some of the piano parts for his songs are fiendishly hard...make sure you know the accompanist at the audition will be up to the job (same applies for Jason Robert Brown Songs)!
So there we have it! This is by no means a definitive list, but I hope it'll be helpful for some of you when you're selecting audition material.
Until next time!
the pg drama-app
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