Auditioning for Musicals

Its been a long ambition of mine to perform in musicals, but only very recently one I have tried to act upon. However, I have no idea where to start. I have recently started singing lessons for the first time in my life, and have discovered that I cover the following musical range - lower C to upper G (over 3 octives Anyway, I want to give it a go - can anyone point me in the right direction? Any help much appreciated.
Im a young 32year old living in St Kilda.
Cheers

If you go somewhere like here;

http://wayakka.proboards18.com/index.cgi?board=auditions

There's a fairly complete listing of all the auditions that are on at the moment, or approaching. Once you've seen something you like the look of, if you like, you can ask me, or someone else at the board for tips picking a song and auditioning. I'm sure they'd gladly help out.

You've got quite a good range, I think, and the fact that you're a man will help immensely :)

And you're a young 32 year old? As opposed to an ancient one? ; )

~Julia

Ha! Well Ive no idea how young/old this game really is - so wanted to get my opint across !!
So where do you fit into this exactly?
And from what you say, I assume there are a lack of men???

Thanks!
Steve

Where do I fit into this? I'm not really anything special. I run the site I linked to, and am an actor. This year I've been in Babirra's Les Miserables and Mikado. But I like to keep track of what's happening around the city, hence the site :)

And as for the lack of men, yes, in most companies, there is a lack. Some shows of course attract brilliant male casts, such as the production of Les Mis I was in, but others barely manage. Meanwhile, there's always an abundance of females. *sigh* Such is life

~Julia

Well I got into this for the singing but nothing wrong with an abundance of females !
Anyway, thanks for the start, ill check out the link you gave me and whatever I can find on here and Ill start getting myself in to some local singing auditions or something. If I do need any further help rest assured Ill be back.
Cheers, Steve

Can I recommend Babirra's Guys and Dolls as being worth auditioning for? I know the directors, and can say that the MD in particular is fantastic. He won Best MD at the Lyrebirds for Gondoliers last year, and that play, which also had the same director, won Best Musical overall.

~Julia

Ill look at that one thanks.
OK - another question - do I just rock up and say "I want to audtion and think I can sing a bit" is it that simple????!!!??
I assume I dont need to be able to act particularily at this stage?

Well, you'll need to book it, of course. If you call Karen on 9571 0260, she should be able to fix that up for you. I think auditionees are being asked to sing two contrasting songs, although that may have changed, since I booked my audition before the directors had been chosen.

So for your audition you'll need to sing, and probably read a passage from the script. Even if you don't particularly want a lead, pick one to say you want, just so they can at least decide for themselves whether you can act. The one time I said I just wanted ensemble, I didn't get cast, so I think it's safer to be ambitious. And you can always turn down a lead if you do get it. There may also be a dance audition for this one, but I'm not positive. It might just be for people who say they're dancers.

Most importantly, though, be confident. You don't "think you can sing a bit". You can sing, and you can blow the panel away. Remember that, even if you don't quite believe it. And if you don't think you can act, don't worry. Either can I, yet I repeatedly get cast *g*

~Julia

MOTTS inc is auditioning "The Mystery of Edwin Drood"a musical based on the unfinished work of Charles Dickens and Tony Award winner for Best Musical some years ago.
MOTTS in based in Hampton and if you are interested in auditioning please check our website www.geocities.com/mottsinc

Hi Jane

Thanks Ill have a look.
Cheers
Steve

Hi Julia

OK, another one - just on choice of song. You say (and so it seems does everyone else) to chose two songs of contrasting styles.
Can I choose anything! I assume I do not have to do songs that are picked frmo musicals necessarily? ie I could do a high pitched song by an artist like Dido then maybe something powerful, say sung by Freddie Mercury?
Would it matter - I assume its just about the voice.
Cheers again!
Steve

Okay, well it's generally best to stick to musical theatre. I think I might ask you to email me about songs, just to stop cluttering the board :) My address is rocshamqueen@hotmail.com

~Julia

Talissa wrote:
>
> Okay, well it's generally best to stick to musical theatre.



You need to find out from whoever's running the audition what their requirements are. Sometimes they'll have specific asks...like for 'Living In The 70's" I was specifically asked to prepare 'Stairway to Heaven' and then 'Bohemian Rhapsody'. Sometimes they will give strong guidelines...for 'South Pacific' they wanted you to sing something from any Rodgers and Hammerstein musical.
But for 'The Lion King' audition in Perth, they specifically said "NO songs from the show or ANY other musicals." I heard (or was it a rumour?) that someone had gone in and started with "Somewhere, over the rain..." and got cut off with a "..Thank you."
When our group of 20 was herded into the audition warm-up room, I heard about six Elton John songs being prepared, two of which were the same...!

For the record, this is what I did. I generally hate giving sheet music to an accompanist - unless it's a familiar song they're going to know well, they usually fudge through the tempo and feel of it (as best they can under the circumstances, but it doesn't help me give my undivided attention to the song). I'd rather bring someone along who can play it the way I rehearsed it, sing to a tape backing, sing a capella, or accompany myself. I took my guitar and sang a jazzy version of 'Sitting on the Dock of the Bay'...cutting the song to the best bits that show off my range (like they do on Australian Idol) and singing the instrumental 'whistling' bit in a falsetto...I heard later that that was possibly what made my effort stand out as being suitable for the 'Timon' character I was called back for.
I was asked to take some sheet music from the show and come back in a few minutes to do a specific number. This is possibly where my preparation fell down; I wasn't very familiar with any songs from the show, and I'm not actually that good at following sheet music. Luckily I was left in a room with a piano and I knew enough to figure out the basics. When I showed up again, I kinda stumbled through it...and fortunately, so did the accompanist, who wasn't familiar with it either (this time it worked in my favour!). So we got halfway through again and then they'd heard enough. They were really just looking at how I handled singing & speaking in a character voice, they'd already figured out I could sing. For the next callbacks I had to know that song backwards, but by then I'd had heaps of time to prepare.

I haven't been watching it that much, but the 'Australian Idol' show gave a lot of good clues about what material (and attitude) works and doesn't work for an audition. You need to know what the end product is and what kind of thing the judges will be looking for. Some songs are just not going to be appropriate; others may have been done to death. But even a well-worn song can be presented in a stunning and/or original way. Basically you have to choose songs that are good for you, that you sing well, and can impress with. (You also have to seem like someone future employers would want to work with.) That's all such a highly individual thing; you can listen to so much advice from others but the final decisions can only be yours. What seems amazing (and encouraging) from watching the Aust Idol try-outs was how many people went in there making really BAD decisions. Your main job in preparing your audition is to work out what the right ones are for you. Then you work on polishing your act...but if you've made the right choices, that part should be fun and easy.


Cheers,
Craig

[%sig%]

Hi there... have a read of my notice? I'd love to have you audition for my musical. E-mail me your details and resume if you have one. If you're available in March-April next year, that's when I plan to shoot.

Regards,
Belinda

bhawkins@student.ecu.edu.au
0417 986 580

Hi

Where are the details of your musical?

Steve

Well we're still in the pre-production stage. As you know, organizing a musical is a big task... and putting it onto film is an even bigger one! So I know the date is vague - at the least - but it's going to happen!

Basically we're at the stage now where the script is being produced, songs composed, etc. So I'm starting to organise things this early because I want the best possible people for the job, and I want to give them as much time possible to prepare. I'll keep you posted in the future. Could you leave me with your e-mail address? Thanks, Belinda.

Belinda wrote:
>
> Hi there... have a read of my notice? I'd love to have you
> audition for my musical. E-mail me your details and resume if
> you have one. If you're available in March-April next year,
> that's when I plan to shoot.
>
> Regards,
> Belinda
>
> bhawkins@student.ecu.edu.au
> 0417 986 580

Hi

Sounds good. My email is
themoth69@hotmail.com

Steve

What sounds good?

[%sig%]