Are you ready to test out the waters of Musical Theatre, but you don't even know where to begin when it comes to preparing for an audition? Musical Theatre aficionado Ryan Puffer has put together these tips on how to prepare for an audition including how to pick a song Check these out to get you confident for your next audition, whether it's for one of BHCT's upcoming musicals or another exciting opportunity in our community. If you have additional questions or need some extra help, reach out to Ryan at ryan@bhct.org.
How to Prepare:
-What to look for in an audition notice
-Does it specify a style of music?
-Does it specify a certain length? (If they say the only need one minute of a song, THEY ONLY WANT ONE MINUTE OF A SONG, BRO)
-Does it say to bring sheet music and how many copies?
-What does it say you will be doing in the initial audition? (If it says you will be doing dance along with singing, you may want to be prepared to bring a change of shoes or clothing for ideal movement.)
-How to choose a song?
- Does it fit the show? (If you aren't familiar with the show, make sure to take a listen to get an idea of tone, style and themes of the music in the show. Most cast recordings can be found on YouTube or Spotify).
- Does it fit the character I am interested in?
- Does it fit me/my voice? (Make sure you can comfortably perform the song you choose. You can definitely choose show that demonstrates our vocal range, but don't pick songs with notes you can't consistently hit. If the team needs to know if you can hit a certain hgih or low note, they can get that info in callbacks.)
-Where to find songs? (If you aren't familiar with a lot of musical theatre songs, you can always start by Googling the type of musical theatre song you are looking for (upbeat, ballad, funny, spooky, etc). You can also find a lot of songs and playlists on YouTube and Spotify.)
-Where to find sheet music?
Some great resources to find Sheet Music:
https://www.scribd.com/
https://www.musicnotes.com/
https://performerstuff.com/
-How to prepare sheet music- (Make clear notes on your sheet music that you give to the accompanist including start, end, tempos, pauses and anything they need to do to help you have a successful audition. Having your music prepared in a secured manner such as in plastic sleeves in a binder or mounted and taped together on cardstock is very helpful.)
-What to look for in an audition notice
-Does it specify a style of music?
-Does it specify a certain length? (If they say the only need one minute of a song, THEY ONLY WANT ONE MINUTE OF A SONG, BRO)
-Does it say to bring sheet music and how many copies?
-What does it say you will be doing in the initial audition? (If it says you will be doing dance along with singing, you may want to be prepared to bring a change of shoes or clothing for ideal movement.)
-How to choose a song?
- Does it fit the show? (If you aren't familiar with the show, make sure to take a listen to get an idea of tone, style and themes of the music in the show. Most cast recordings can be found on YouTube or Spotify).
- Does it fit the character I am interested in?
- Does it fit me/my voice? (Make sure you can comfortably perform the song you choose. You can definitely choose show that demonstrates our vocal range, but don't pick songs with notes you can't consistently hit. If the team needs to know if you can hit a certain hgih or low note, they can get that info in callbacks.)
-Where to find songs? (If you aren't familiar with a lot of musical theatre songs, you can always start by Googling the type of musical theatre song you are looking for (upbeat, ballad, funny, spooky, etc). You can also find a lot of songs and playlists on YouTube and Spotify.)
-Where to find sheet music?
Some great resources to find Sheet Music:
https://www.scribd.com/
https://www.musicnotes.com/
https://performerstuff.com/
-How to prepare sheet music- (Make clear notes on your sheet music that you give to the accompanist including start, end, tempos, pauses and anything they need to do to help you have a successful audition. Having your music prepared in a secured manner such as in plastic sleeves in a binder or mounted and taped together on cardstock is very helpful.)