Photo Credit: Randy Le’Moine via cc
Casting Directors auditioning actors for Musical Theatre often hear the same songs over and over again. Are they bored of those songs? Sometimes. However these songs are often sung time and time again at castings because they are great to show off acting and vocal skills and they become the perfect musical theatre audition song.
With the internet it has become so much easier for people to get access to scores through sheet music download sites and also naughty bootleg sharing sites. Forums are allowing people to share hot tips and new favourites and Youtube makes searching for audition material much easier. It can be wise to try and find something new, something people are going to be surprised with, but often the favourites are the best. The casting director finds it easy to quickly compare you with others and the accompanist will know how to play the song!
The following are popular audition songs because they work for people, they are story songs, they are able to stand on their own and allow you to show off your singing to its best but also, which is so important and often overlooked when auditioning for musical theatre, these songs allow you to show off your acting skills too.
Audition Songs for Women (with videos):
Here is a list of five current popular audition songs for women.
Click on title to view the video
Click on image to buy from Amazon
Click on title to view the video
Click on image to buy from Amazon
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The Letter (click to view video)
Billy Elliot
Billy Elliot the musical is by Elton John and is based on the hit movie of the same name.The show revolves around Billy Elliot growing up in a mining community in County Durham in the North East of England. Billy’s struggle to learn ballet dancing in the macho community is mirrored by the family and community struggle caused by the miners’ strike of the early eighties.The Letter is sung by Billy, Mrs Wilkinson and Billy’s mother in a flashback. He has brought things which inspire him to his dance teacher to base a dance around. The letter is from his mum, written as she was dying. It was meant to be read when he was eighteen but he has read it already.The song is beautiful and heartbreaking and if you can really get in touch with the strength of a mother’s love then you will be able to deliver this song with love and emotion. The song can easily be made into a solo. -
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Someday (click to view video)
The Hunchback Of notre Dame
The Hunchback of Notre Dame is a 1996 animated Disney feature which has music by Alan Menken and lyrics written by Stephen Schwartz. The story is of the famous deformed bellringer Quasimodo and his struggles to gain acceptance into society.‘Someday’ was originally intended to be sung by Esmeralda but was discarded and replaced with the song ‘God Help The Outcasts’.To understand the song you can look at the German stage version of the film. This song (translated as Einmal) occurs when Esmeralda is imprisoned and questioning her life and the world, she sings this song about how she hopes the world will learn after countless war and bloodshed to live with love and not hate.The song in the stage show ends with Esmeralda about to be put to death which makes the song more poignant and dramatic as it is possibly her dying wish for the world. Here is a link to the stage version Einmal“Someday
Our fight will be won then
We’ll stand in the sun then
That bright afternoon” -
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Somewhere Thats Green (click to view video)
Little Shop Of Horrors
This seems to be one of the most popular audition songs for Pantomime. From the Menken and Ashman B Movie musical about a man eating plant!Audrey the ‘pretty blonde with a fashion sense that leans towards the tacky’ whose sadistic dentist boyfriend beats her is secretly in love with her timid co-worker Seymour and dreams of their dream 1950s life together, complete with plastic on the furniture and frozen dinners.This has all the elements of a great audition song, it also can be played completely straight or for laughs. It is a classic ‘I Wish’ or ‘Dreaming’ song, and only narrowly beat ‘Part of Your World’ from The Little Mermaid to make the list. -
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The Girl I Mean to Be (click to view video)
The Secret Garden
The Secret Garden is based on the classic children’s novel by Frances Hodgson Burnett.The story tells of orphaned Mary Lennox who is sent to live with relatives she has never met in Yorkshire, and how she finds solace and blossoms in a neglected garden she discovers in the grounds of her uncles house.Mary sings The Girl I Mean To Be at the opening of Act Two. She dreams of the Secret Garden she has found and how perfect it will be, in reality the garden is rough, neglected and wild. Just like herself and her uncle.This is a sweet little song, and is perfect for young actors who might be playing children or auditioning to play a child. It needs a naivety and innocence in the characterisation to make it work. -
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Wait A Bit (click to view video)
Just SoFrom the Styles and Drewe musical Just So, based on the Rudyard Kipling book.A really beautiful ballad sung by the Kolokolo bird, she is wondering why her courage fails her, she wants to fly but is afraid to fall.This is one of those songs which will give you the opportunity to show a range of emotions whilst offering up something a little bit different from the usual shows. -
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