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.
Five Audition Songs for Men (with videos):
Here is a list of Five Popular Audition Songs for Men.
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
-
In Praise Of Women (click to view video)
A Little Night Music
‘A Little Night Music’ is a deliciously funny comedy of manners and ‘In Praise Of Women’ is my favourite song from this show.It is sung by the wonderfully self-important Carl-Magnus and is just perfectly clever as he sings all about both Desiree his lover and Charlotte his wife.Fidelity is more than mere display; It’s what a man expects from life. Fidelity like mine to Desiree And Charlotte, my devoted wife.The song also ends on a belting F-sharp, which could win over any audition panel (if you get to the end of the song, of course!?) -
-
Guido’s Song (click to view video)
Nine
Nine is a musical based on the Federico Fellini film 8 1/2. It tells the story of film director Guido Contini who is having a midlife crisis as his 40th birthday approaches. The musical has found recent fame as a movie starring Daniel Day Lewis.Guido’s Song comes early on in the show and is when we first see Guido’s crisis as his interior world starts to become indistinguishable from the real objective world.The song is only to be tackled by the brave baritone as it is a bit of a masterpiece, if you trust yourself and your accompaniest then you will have a lot of fun with it. -
-
Stay (click to view video)
Do I Hear A Waltz
Do I Hear A Waltz was conceived as a small chamber musical and is one of Broadway’s lost gems.The story deals with the loves and lives of a group of visitors to and the inhabitants of Venice.Stay is sung by the character of Renato di Rossi who has fallen in love with New York secretary Leona Samish.It is a strange but beautiful ballad which needs to be delivered with total honesty and conviction. It is a proposal from a married man, who is totally laying his cards on the table:“I am not the dream come true – But stay – Not perfection, nor are you – But stay” -
-
Johanna (click to view video)
Sweeney Todd
I know a lot of casting directors advise against singing a Sondheim song for a casting, they can be so difficult to get right and so overdone. However if you are auditioning for a romantic lead then Johanna could be the perfect ballad for you.The story of Stephen Sondheim’s 1979 musical thriller tells the tale of Sweeney Todd a criminal with his sights firmly set on vengeance, who teams up with a pie maker and opens a barber shop on Fleet St. Here he slits his customers throats and their bodies are baked into pies.The song Johanna is sung by the young sailor Anthony. He has fallen in love with a girl he has seen singing in her window. In the song he sings of how he swears to rescue her from her vile captors. -
-
How Glory Goes (click to view video)
Floyd Collins
Floyd Collins is a 1996 musical by Adam Guettel (rhymes with kettle!)William Floyd Collins was a celebrated pioneer cave explorer. in 1925 whilst exploring some new caves in Kentucky he slipped and became trapped in a narrow crawlway seventeen metres below the surface, the battle to save him became a media sensation. The gap in the cave where he was getting water and food collapsed after four days and although they could keep in voice contact with Collins after fourteen days he died of exposure, thirst and starvation.The song How Glory Goes is the final song in the show and is hugely moving. It tells of his faith, and how he is now ready for death and to be in heaven with his mother and his God.The song keeps hold of Floyd’s inquisitive character, of the explorer desiring something new. Floyd is a fascinating character for any actor and this song is a real tour de force of emotion, acting and singing. -
Musical Theatre Actor Hub Advice
