Post by Robert BoutonPost by musigalHi everyone,
I am auditioning for 'Nunsense' and would love it if you could please
give me some suggestions for an audition song. I am a mezzo-soprano
and have a belter's voice.
Any suggestions would be appreciated.
Thanks so much,
Musigal
Your audition song should reveal something about You, and since you've
said nothing about what makes You different from others, it's hard to
do anything more than take a wild guess.
Nunsense is an off-Broadway musical comedy, from a couple of decades
ago, with a certain razzmatazziness. I first thought of two songs
from another off-Broadway musical comedy, Ruthless: Teaching Third
Grade and I Hate Musicals. Both are long songs and you'd have to cut
them down to something managable. There's also Last One Picked, from
Howard Crabtree's Whoop-Dee-Doo.
True, but the (very important, IMO) point I hoped to make was NOT to
look for new songs for an upcoming audition (that's a very bad idea in
general, and especially if the audition is soon) but to pick something
you already know cold, in your sleep, backwards and forwards, without
fail. You'll show yourself off much better with a song you already
have "routined" from your own experience, and you won't have the added
pressure of worrying about memorizing new lyrics, etc. As a musical
director who runs lots of auditions, I can often tell when someone is
trying out a song for the first time at an audition, and most of the
time it backfires.
As for Nunsense - I assume you'd be looking at 3 possible roles -
Robert Anne (who has the most "Broadway belt" stuff to do, but who
also must be able to sing lyrically), Reverend Mother (who has a few
"Vaudeville" style numbers) and Sister Hubert (who also has some
Vaudeville-style numbers, but who also has to have a confident gospel
belt). As for the other two roles - Sister Leo might be another
possibility if you cansing comfortably up to a high G, do some basic
ballet steps, and look young. Sister Amnesia has to be able to sing
legit soprano, so I assume that's not a role to be looking at.
I don't know your age (and you don't need to tell us, lol), and age
should be a factor in casting, depending on the production - though a
bit of makeup aided by the way the nuns' wimples cover up so much of
their faces helps anyway, lol. Technically, all but Leo should be
somewhat older women (Robert Anne's ballad places her as a teenager in
the 60's, pre-Vatican II - keeping in mind that the show was written
in the 80's, of course...) Reverend Mother and Hubert should ideally
be around the same age, to help their chummy-but-competitive
relationship (a la Mame and Vera, etc).
(gee, can you tell that I once played this show for 3 straight years?
lol)
I'd say any old-fashioned comic belty number would do. But please,
sing something you already know!!!!
Oh - and do you tap? (Everyone except Reverend Mother is in the tap
number that ends Act I.) ;-)