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Actor Hub know how difficult choosing a musical theatre audition song is. There are so many shows and so many songs, it can be overwhelming.
We have a series of articles with some ideas and choices, these are some of our favourites and are songs which we think can show off both your range and singing ability, but more importantly can demonstrate your acting ability, you joy at building a character and creating a performance.
It is vital that when you choose a song you really look at it in the context of performance. Read the whole script, try to get an understanding of the character and why they are singing this particular song.
A musical director will be listening to your voice, seeing if it can fit in with the show, they will be able to spot your vocal ability it is what they are trained to do. Chances are you wouldn’t be there if you couldn’t sing.
What I always think is more important is that you can act, and this is what the director is looking for. They want actors who can bring life to a show and to characters, they want to know you can act and sing. If they just wanted singers, then they would hire a singer. You are an actor, you have trained in acting, in bringing alive a character, so make sure you choose a song which can demonstrate that.
Here is a list of Soprano songs which we feel would work well at any audition. Click on the title or image to watch a video of the song.
Soprano Songs for Musical Auditions
These are songs which will hopefully guide you when looking for a musical theatre audition song, have a watch of the video, listen to the song and if you like it then try and read the script or watch the show and get a feeling for the character, if you can do the character and the song justice … then go for it … if not keep looking and if you find something else let us know via Twitter @actorhub and we can add your choice to the list.
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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That’ll Show Him (click to view video)
A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The Forum
That’ll Show Him is from the Stephen Sondheim show A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The ForumA rare thing in most soprano songs … this is funny, very funny!Sung by Philia, the virginal love interest in this farce. She promises Hero, her true love, that even though she has to marry someone else she will always love him. The song is her reassurance to him that when she makes love to Miles (her new husband) she will be thinking of Hero, when she makes love to him she will actually be making love to Hero …, so she’ll make love even more intensely!Lots of room for comedy, timing and character play in this song. A lovely choice. -
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It Never Was You (click to view video)
Knickerbocker Holiday
It Never Was You is from Kurt Weill’s Knickerbocker HolidayKnickerbocker Holiday is a romantic comedy from 1938, but also is a political allegory equating Roosevelt’s ‘new deal’ with fascism.Kurt Weill was a German composer who is best known for his collaborations with Brecht.Sung by Tina Tienhoven, daughter of the head of the town council. Tina is in love with Brom Broeck, a commoner, they hope to marry but Brom wants to be more respectable first.The song, like a lot of Weill’s songs, is a standard. It is a beautiful love song and has been covered by everyone from Judy Garland to Megan Mullally! Don’t let that put you off, standards are standards because they are beautiful songs.Connect with the truth of the song, with the huge longing of searching for your one true love, connect with the romance and try to connect to the heart and you will hit the right note (and hopefully the right notes!) -
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You Don’t Know This Man (click to view video)
Parade
Parade is an epic show dealing with the 1913 trial of Leo Frank who was accused and convicted of raping and murdering a thirteen-year-old employee. The trial was sensationalised by the media. When Frank’s death sentence was commuted to life in prison by the departing Governor of Georgia, Leo Frank was kidnapped by a lynching party and hanged from an oak tree.This song is sung by Lucille, Leo Frank’s wife, who is singing to a young reporter who has seen the case as a way to build his own career and become famous. This is a real actor’s song and has tremendous power when handled correctly -
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It’s a most unusual day (click to view video)
A Date With Judy
Its a most unusual day is from the 1948 film ‘A Date With Judy’Its a very sweet song with lots of range. The song is sung by Judy in the move and is the swing number she is planning to sing at the high school dance. The film is worth watching for the fantastic Carmen Miranda!It is a really classic song, and has been covered by everyone form Andy Williams to the Muppets! The song is a celebration of the exuberance of life. -
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Take Me To The World (click to view video)
Evening Primrose
Evening Primrose is a television musical movie based on a short story about a poet who seeks refuge from the world by hiding in a department store. There he meets a society of ‘night people’ who live in the store and he falls in love with a young girl called Ella.Ella has never seen the outside world and wants to leave with Charles and experience the world.It is a wonderful song and is full of innocence and hope. -
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Not A Love Story (click to view video)
Tales From The Bad YearsTales From The Bad Years is a musical revue by Kerrigan and Lowdermilk.The show is a series of short self contained songs and musical scenes, all about being twenty-something.The songs from this show are perfect for auditioning for drama school as they dealk with issues you will be familiar with at student age. The songs are about youth, determination and unexpected love.Not A Love Story is a song dealing with the end of your first love, how the romance ends and you drift apart. Its a beautiful song, its modern, its probably not one they’ve heard hundreds of time. If you can find the sheet music, then give it a whirl. -
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Dreams To Dream (click to view video)
An American Tail: Fievel Goes West
An American Tail: Fievel Goes West is a 1991 sequel to An American Tail – the films tell the story of a family of Jewish-Russian mice who emigrate to the Wild West.This song is sung by Tanya, sister to the film’s hero Fievel, who dreams of being a singing star. She sings this song as she daydreams in an under construction saloon. It is also heard over the end credits sung by Linda Rondstadt.Dreams to Dream is based on a melody heard in the first movie An American Tail. James Horner went on to write the Titanic mega-hit lovesong “My Heart Will Go On”.The song is all about following your dreams and having faith that if you believe them then your dreams can come true. Perfect for an audition!“There is a star
Waiting to guide us
Shining inside us
When we close our eyes” -
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Vanilla Ice Cream (click to view video)
She Loves Me
The wonderful show She Loves Me about shop employees Georg and Amalia who, despite being consistently at odds with each other at work, are unaware that each is the other’s secret pen pal met through lonely-hearts ads.The show contains the classic audition song Vanilla Ice Cream, sung by Amalia as she realises that George isn’t who she thought he was.This really is a great song for auditions because it shows off your storytelling and acting skills, whilst really allowing a soprano to show off her full range. If it is sung with confidence then it can be a real tour de force -
Be bold, daring and creative and you can’t go wrong.
Musical Theatre Actor Hub Advice
