![Top Five Musical Theatre Audition Songs for Men [i_340] Most Popular Musical Theatre Audition Songs for Men](http://www.actorhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/Top-Five-Musical-Theatre-Audition-Songs-for-Men.jpg)
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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.
Five Audition Songs for Men (with videos):
Here is a list of Five Popular Audition Songs for Men.
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Never Will I Marry (click to view video)
GreenwillowGreenwillow is a musical by Samuels and Loesser based on the novel by B.J Shute.The show takes place in the magical town Greenwillow, the eldest child in each generation of Briggs men must obey the ‘call to wander’ and leave behind their family.Gideon Briggs is desperate to break this spell and settle down with his sweetheart Dorrie.Never Will I Marry is a powerful baritone showpiece where Gideon reflects on his life and the path that the superstitous village has for him.Interestingly Anthony Perkins was not available for the filming of the infamous shower scene in Psycho due to rehearsals for Greenwillow. -
Giants In The Sky (click to view video)
Into the WoodsThe wonderful Giants in the Sky is sung by Jack – of the Beanstalk fame! – in Act One of Into The Woods.Jack has been up his beanstalk and he sings this song to explain his exciting and thrilling adventures he has been on.The song for me has hidden meaning, as it is all about Jack turning from boy to man and his relationship with ‘the female giant’. Its about Jack growing up, experiencing the real world, seeing scary but wonderful things and missing his childhood innocence. -
I Wish I Could Go Back To College (click to view video)
Avenue QAvenue Q is an hilarious musical which has puppets alongside actors. If you went looking for Sesame Street and got lost and ended up in the wrong neighbourhood you might just find yourself in Avenue Q!By Act Two all the characters have fallen in and out of love and like with each other and lament happier times with the terrific song I Wish I Could Go Back To College.It is easily made a solo song, and features in a number of audition song books. This number would make a great audition song, and is completely age appropriate for a younger actor who has recently graduated. Play it for the truth, not just for the funny. Really try and think of how exciting times looked when you were still at Uni and how you can look back with rose-tinted glasses on those times. Whatever you do, don’t mime that you have a puppet on one hand … play the character, not the puppet! -
Live Alone and Like It (click to view video)
Dick TracyWarren Beatty’s 1990 movie Dick Tracy, probably became more famous because of the presence of Madonna in it than anything else. It is worth revisiting, it is a quirky beautiful movie and has some great Sondheim songs throughout.Live Alone and Like It is sung by the character of Breathless Mahoney (Madonna) and is used a background music during the film.The song is a celebration of the single life and works sung by both female and male voices. You can build in a backstory to this song and either sing it as a carefree ‘I’m happy with this single life’ attitude –Or you could sing it more uncertain style, like the singer is trying to persuade himself that he is happy with the single life (just like in this video!) -
Larger than Life (click to view video)
My Favourite YearLarger than Life is from the musical My Favourite Year, by Flaherty and Ahrens. Flaherty and Ahren’s musical A Man Of No Importance is also worth checking out for the song’s On The Streets of Dublin and Welcome to the WorldMy Favourite Year tells the story of Benjy Stone is a sketch writer for a live television variety show In the 1950s. He is given the task of keeping sober the alcoholic womanising movie idol Alan Swann until airtime. Benjy finds himself involved in a sequence of shenanigans unlike any he ever experienced before.Larger Than Life is a lovely stand alone song telling of Benjy’s love for the movies and for his hero Alan Swann. A great story song, and a gift for actors.
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