Song Analysis for Musical Theatre Actors and Auditions

You need to know where the character is when they sing this song. However, I am not just talking about location – as an actor when you approach a song you need to know where the character is in their life.

You also need to know where are they physically in relation to other characters, are they singing at a character or are they alone on stage.

What emotion is driving the character to sing this song at this point in their story. Musical theatre numbers tend to happen because the character is driven to a point where they can do nothing but sing – I call this the emotional why

What is the emotional why which makes your character sing.

For Elphaba ‘Defying Gravity’ comes at the point she has decided to say to the world I don’t care what you think, I don’t care what you say. I’m going to do this. I am going to follow my dreams.

For Fantine ‘I Dreamed A Dream’ comes at a moment when she knows that she has to lose everything she is and was – she will never have the life she dreamed she could – and she will sacrifice all for her daughter.

It is very likely that the character is using the song to make a life decision – you need to understand exactly what the character wants and communicate that via the song. Do they want another character to fall in love with them, do they want happiness, do they want a new life or their old life back.

I call this the emotional want

In ‘As Long As He Needs Me’ the character of Nancy could want Bill to love her as she loves him, or how different could the same words be if you sung them as if she is desperate to escape him but knows she never can.

Decide on the emotional want which is driving the song, this will inform the way you act it.

Remember for an audition you can sometimes tweak the emotional want and make it different than it would nessecarily be in the play.

Why does the character need this change to happen – how much is invested in it?

It is vital you know how important the emotional want and emotional why are to the character and how much they have invested in it – is it life or death or vanity or love which drives them.

When you approach a song it is important that you understand where in the musical this song comes and what the story for your character has been so far. Is this the character’s opening song, are we learning about them or is it the character’s 11 o’clock number, is this their big finale?

Also look at the story of the song what is being said and how can you play that. Some songs use an actual story as a metaphor: think about Meadowlark from The Bakers Wife or The Schmuel Song from The Last Five Years – know what the story is and also what it is telling you about that character in that moment.

Know who the character is singing to because this will be vital when you deliver it.

I get so fed-up of actors who deliver an intimate love song out at the audience like it is an X Factor audition – if it is a song sung to another character then you need to sing it AT them, not at the audience.

If the character is alone on stage, then they are more than likely not ‘singing to the audience’ they might be singing to themselves, to their own demons and this then translates to singing to the audience’s inner selves too – if you are alone on stage think about what does the writer want the character AND the audience to think, feel or do differently after this song?

How successful or unsuccessful is the character when singing the song – do they get what they want, do they fail or does something unexpected happen?

What is the catalyst for this song at this very moment.

What drives the song for it to happen now.

It is vital you know what has literally just happened immediately before the song and therefore why the character needs this song at this very moment in the musical.