#69: You Decide On What You Want, Darling
Thursday 10/3/24
LET’S START AT THE VERY BEGINNING
All actors must have a “book”. Your book is comprised of various songs that you are able to use
for auditions. This book is personal and curated just for you. The goal is to have a book that has a variety of “cuts” so that you can walk in to any audition, even with limited notice, and sing a cut or do a monologue that could be appropriate for the show, or season, at hand.
WHAT ARE THEY LOOKING FOR?
INSTEAD of worrying audition by audition what THEY want... try saying:
"what can I show THEM of myself?"
Here’s how to start:
#1 WHO AM I
A great place to start is to consider the following questions:
What kinds of roles do I love to play?
What kinds of shows to I love to do or get cast in a lot?
What is a song I can sing no matter what?
What is a song that shows a part of my voice that I do not always lead with?
Consider: age, range, race, religion, author intent
Take those roles and shows and dump into buckets.
#2 BUILD BUCKETS
We are NOT establishing TYPE, but establishing helpful buckets to determine what kinds of songs to have.
Show category examples:
70s/80s jukebox or “silly” shows: Esc to Marg, Kinky Boots, Head Over Heels, Disaster...
“Classic”/”Golden Age”: Oklahoma, Carousel, My Fair Lady, 110 In The Shade
Creating BUCKETS help you isolate and narrow the# of songs in your book!
#3 FINALIZE YOUR BUCKETS
#4 BRAINSTORM MATERIAL
#5 CHOOSE MATERIAL
#6 LEARN FULL SONG
#7 CREATE CUTS
1) WORK WITH A COACH OR PIANIST TO ESTABLISH CUTS THAT WORK MUSICALLY- USUALLY YOU CAN’T JUST MARK MUSIC UP AND HAVE IT WORK. IT IS HELPFUL TO HAVE “LONG” AND “SHORT” OPTIONS OF EACH SONG (OR JUST SHORT)
2) GET TRACKS OF THE ACTUAL SHEET MUSIC CUT YOU ARE USING SO YOU CAN PRACTICE
#8 PRACTICE!
REHEARSE YOUR CUTS AND REHEARSE HOW YOU COMMUNICATE EACH PIECE TO AN AUDITION ACCOMPANIST.
THE GOAL IS THAT EACH SONG CAN BE USED FOR A VARIETY OF AUDITIONS. UNLESS THERE IS AN EXTREME CIRCUMSTANCE, YOU SHOULD NEVER HAVE TO LEARN SOMETHING FOR AN AUDITION!
YES, SONDHEIM & JRB OK.
YES, SINGING FROM THE SHOW IS OK.
YES, SINGING FROM A SHOW YOU WERE IN IS OK.
THIS IS NOT JAIL.
Dreams Don’t Die
Julie