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.
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Click on image to buy from Amazon
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Your Song (click to view video)
Elton John
A long time favourite for male rock and pop auditions, Elton Johns Your Song found new fame in Moulin Rouge.The song is a mix of folk and jazz and the lyrics express the romantic thoughts of an innocent.If you intend to try your hand at this, or any other ‘pop’ or ‘rock’ song really take the time to work out the story, who is singing, what are they singing about. Don’t settle for doing an impression of Elton singing it, or even Ewen MacGregor in Moulin Rouge, find out your own story and characters and tell it and sing it from the heart, only then can you truly own it at an audition. -
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What More Can I Say (click to view video)
Falsettos
Alongside Sondheim and Schwartz the composer William Finn is also a favourite at auditions. The song Sailing from the musical “A New Brain” is worth checking out, but on our top five is the beautiful love song What More Can I Say from Falsettos.Falsettos the musical consists of two mini musicals March of the Falsettos and Falsettoland and tells the story of Marvin, his ex-wife Trina, his psychiatrist Mendel, his son Jason, and his gay lover Whizzer Brown.What More Can I Say is sung by Marvin as he sits and watches his sleeping lover Whizzer and wonders how much he loves him. It is a lovely, ballad, tender and sweet with soaring melodies, and it is one of the most tender love songs I’ve ever heard. -
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Empty Chairs at Empty Tables (click to view video)
Les Miserables
Empty Chairs at Empty Tables is Marius’s big solo from Les Miserables – it occurs in Act Two after the battle. Sitting on his own in the cafe he is the last of his friends to survive and sings of regret as he reminisces the loss of his friends at the barricade.This song again did not feature in the original French version of this Musical theatre masterpiece, some of the tune the same as ‘The Bishop of Digne’The song is pretty heartbreaking and needs a huge amount of emotion behind it. I think this version from the film is particularly strong as it is so underplayed. -
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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” -
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Not While I’m Around (click to view video)
Sweeney Todd
Not While I’m Around from the deliciously macabre and dark Sweeney Todd makes a wonder audition song.The song is sung by Tobias a young boy to Mrs Lovett who he has come to care for as a mother. He is trying to warn her of the ‘dangers’ of Mr Todd. It is a sweet and simple song but behind that sweetness is a real danger, the fear of a serial killer and the all encompassing protective love which Toby feels for Mrs Lovett.The singing of this must not be sweet and saccharine you need to give it emotional truth and it must be both real and felt. -
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