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Musical Theatre Audition Songs – Choices for Mezzo Soprano

Musical Theatre Audition Songs - Choices for Mezzo Soprano_550
Photo Credit: Matt Scott via cc
When choosing an audition song to sing at a musical theatre audition it is vital that you not only choose a song from your range but you also seriously consider your own acting range and the type of character you are auditioning for. So often I hear tales of someone auditioning to play something like Maria from the Sound of Music with a sexy sassy song from Rent (well thats an extreme example but you get my drift!)
This list of songs are all very character and story driven so choose wisely.
It is vital that when auditioning for a part in a musical you are showing off your acting ability just as much as your singing. Directors love working with actors, with actor-singers, if they just wanted a cast of singers then they would go with classically trained singers who have dedicated years to perfecting a classical sound which will be faithful to the notes on the staves and bring no character to the song.
You can bring your character and acting to your singing – don’t leave it at home!
Mezzo-Soprano Songs for Auditions
I always recommend you approach any audition song as a monologue first. Try learning it as a speech and acting it without music first. Get inside the character and situation which is driving the song before you approach the singing of it. I really believe this method gives you a tremendous head start when you begin putting the words to music.

We would love to know what your favourite mezzo-soprano song for auditioning is, let us know via Twitter @actorhub.

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  • Somewhere Thats Green (click to view video)
    Little Shop Of Horrors
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    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.
  • Christmas Lullaby (click to view video)
    Songs For a New World
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    A song which is full of deep emotion.
    The song is sung by a young girl who has discovered she is pregnant, from the lyrics I would imagine she is alone in the world. This girl finds grace in her situation, she feels worth for the first time in her life. She is bringing another person into this world, a person who perhaps can make a difference like she could not.
    I would recommend this song is sung with innocence and honesty, no edges no tricks, just sung simply. I also suggest that this could be sung to the unborn child and that way you might tap into the correct emotion.
  • What it Means to Be A Friend (click to view video)
    13 the Musical
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    13 is a musical about a 12 (well a 12½!) year old boy named Evan Goldman and about his struggle to be with the “in-crowd”, turning 13 and becoming a man.
    A gorgeous song about the beauty of real friendship as a child. Remember this song is sung by a 13 year old girl, so if you are performing it then tap into those emotions of how real it feels to find a best friend as a child. Hang on the truth, don’t play any of it for laughs, play it for the truth of the character and the truth of her feelings and you will be onto a winner.
  • I Could Have Danced All Night (click to view video)
    My Fair Lady
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    I Could Have Danced All Night is from the 1956 musical My Fair Lady about a cockney flower girl who takes speech lessons from professor Henry Higgins who himself has a wager with a friend that he can make her pass as a lady. The musical has been called ‘the perfect musical’ by historian Mark Steyn in his book “Broadway Babies Say Goodnight: Musicals Then and Now”
    This song is sung by Eliza Doolittle in Act One, she sings it expressing her excitement after an impromptu dance with her tutor in the small hours of the morning.
    The song was placed at number 17 in the American Film Institutes top 100 songs of cinema. It was originally sung by Julie Andrews but has been covered by everyone from Jamie Cullum to The Brady Bunch! My favourite beinga cheeky cha-cha-cha version by Peggy Lee!
  • Old Friends (click to view video)
    Merrily We Roll Along
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    One of Sondheim’s few flops ‘Merrily We Roll Along’ has recently been revived to great acclaim thanks to the wonderful Menier Chocolate Factory. The story of the show is told backwards which might be why it originally flopped.
    This song is sung near the beginning of the show, so it comes at the end of the story!?!
    Mary an alcoholic theatre critic meets her old friend’s Charley and Frank at a tv studio where they will be giving an interview.
    The song is a wonderful piece of theatre, and really sums up how it feels when you bump into one of your ‘old friends’.
    “But us old friend what’s to discuss old friend? Here’s to us, Who’s like us? Damn few.”
  • In My Own Little Corner (click to view video)
    Cinderella
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    Rodgers and Hammerstein’s musical Cinderella was originally written for television however a new stage version in 2013 starring Laura Osnes has made this song a popular audition choice once again.
    I don’t think I really need to tell you the story of Cinderella! Needless to say this song takes place at the beginning and is a classic ‘I Wish’ number with the Cinderella left alone in her corner by the fire to dream of the exotic life she could lead if only she were a princess, or in fact anything other than the put-upon servant she is.
  • Still Hurting (click to view video)
    The Last Five Years
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    The Last Five Years is one of my favourite musicals. It is beautiful, intelligent and simple.
    The story explores a five-year relationship between Jamie and Cathy. The show uses a form of storytelling in which Cathy’s story is told in reverse order (beginning the show at the end of the marriage), and Jamie’s is told in order (starting just after the couple have first met). The characters do not directly interact except for a wedding song in the middle as their timelines intersect.
    This song is the opening number of the show and is Cathy lamenting the end of the marriage. I will say it again but I truly believe this song needs no tricks and no big show off belty moments, play it for its simplicity and for the emotion. Also take note of the opening words “Jamie is over and Jamie has gone”, she knows it is over, there is no fight left just a sad realisation of life’s finality.
  • Twelve Children (click to view video)
    Dessa Rose
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    Dessa Rose is set in 1847 and tells the story of an unlikely friendship between an abandoned southern belle, Ruth, and a rebellious slave girl, Dessa Rose, who is escaping the repressive Deep South. The story deals with their pride and perseverance as together they try to fight slavery.
    Dessa Rose a young, pregnent slave has attacked her master for murdering the father of her child she has been sentenced to be hung once her child is born and sold as property. She escapes her capture and has made her way to an isolated farm owned by Ruth who is hiding escaped slaves.
    Dessa gives birth to a daughter and sings this song to the baby telling her their family history and promising to give her a name when they finally flee the South.
    A beautiful song.
  • Loving You (click to view video)
    Passion
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    Passion is a wonderful Sondheim musical adapted from an italian film Passione D’Amore. It explores the theme of love also touching on obsession, beauty, sex, power and manipulation.
    ‘Loving You’ is a beautiful song sung by the ailing and plain Fosca who has fallen in love with the young soldier Georgio. He does not love her and pleads with her to give him up and with this song she explains that hers is not a love she is able to ‘give up’. Her love is not a choice, it is who she is, all she is, and she would gladly die for him.
    ‘This is why I live, You are why I live’
  • Where Is The Warmth (click to view video)
    The Bakers Wife
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    The Baker’s Wife is a Stephen Schwartz musical which has never had a succesful West End or Broadway run, yet remains hugely popular amongst musical theatre afficianados.
    The story revolves around a small Parisian town which is enamoured by bread produced by the newly arrived middle aged baker and his beautiful young wife. The wife has an affiar with a handsome gigolo and the baker loses his will to bake.
    Genevieve, the baker’s wife, has run off with her handsome young lover, she is disenchanted however. They are passionate but that is all, as he sleeps she sings and asks “Where Is The Warmth?”. She gathers her belongings and leaves him.
    The Baker’s Wife is famous for the song Meadowlark, which is an audition standard. Where is the Warmth is a beautiful and tender song, less ‘showey’ than Meadowlark and I personally think more suited to an audition room as it has intimacy and will show off your acting skills.
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