Which song for musical theatre audition?

[thirdistheonewiththehairychest]

Hi,

My 10yo dd is applying for a performing arts scholarship and she's required to perform a contemporary musical theatre song.

We have narrowed it down a little, according to the songs she's familiar with, and I think she will learn/practise 3 of them in the run-up and then pick her most confident to do at the audition.

I know that what matters most is that the song reflects her personality and her ability to perform it, but do you think any of these would be worth avoiding? Either because they may have been over-done, because they're too childish, not up-beat enough or not contemporary enough?

Our thoughts so far are:
'When I grow up' from Matilda
'Somewhere over the rainbow' - from the Wizard of Oz
Can you feel the love tonight? from the Lion King
'Part of your world' from the Little Mermaid
'Ive got a golden ticket' from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
Something from Hairspray, not sure which one yet.
'Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious' from Mary Poppins
'Any dream will do' from Joseph

Thanks for any comments - we're feeling a little out of our depth!

OP, if your DD liked Like Other Girls, a song with a similar feel and theme of fitting in is If The World Only Knew, which is lovely and not too difficult to sing.

It was originally written as a standalone song but the composer (Scott Evan Davis) has now worked it into a musical, Indigo. I think the musical is still in development but it should still count as an MT song.

That's beautiful @TheatreTaxi

It is, isn't it? My DS used to sing it before his voice broke.

I'd suggest having a look at the ABRSM website and seeing what is set for both the musical theatre exams and the last list of the mainstream singing exams for Grade 3/4/5. The choice there will be pretty diverse as the Board are more interested in setting good songs than the fashionability or not of the musical.

I've suggested these grades as, if you were looking at a standard musical scholarship for 11+ it is usual to want at least Grade 4 on the main instrument - depending on the school. SO probably a good idea to try and align with that standard. That would rule out a lot of the suggestions as Where is Love and Castle in the Sky are Grade 1/2. IF the assessment is a panel it is probably quite likely that one of them will be a music teacher rather than drama and be more interested in the technical aspects than performance.

Not sure how hard it would be to sing but how about

My daughter sang Quiet for her audition at vocational school but it is a tricky song. If she can nail it though it's impressive. (Matilda had only very recently come out back then though.

There was a song she used to sing from Daddy Long Legs but I can't remember it.

Ring of Keys although sung by a young child is from a show with much more mature content. At my daughter's audition they asked questions about her song, the character and the context of the show it was from.

Almost Nearly Perfect from Charlie is a lovely song although originally sung bu a boy but I don't think that matters.

Dh always groans when he hears Castle on a Cloud or Where is Love (he used to audition year 7 but now only does 6th form) so you've avoided those two!

'Quiet' definitely a good one if they can pull it off vocally. DD did that as one of her audition songs for music scholarships at 11+.

Do they just want one? Or two contrasting pieces?

Others we have used:
'My House' - Matilda
'Born to Entertain' - Ruthless
'I Know It's Today' - Shrek
'Stupid With Love' - Mean Girls
'Home' & 'Dead Mom' - Beetlejuice
'For the First Time In Forever' - Frozen
'They Don't Make Glass Slippers' - Soho Cinders
'Different' - Honk

It does depend a lot on what your DD's voice type and range is like and how confident she is.

Also be aware that they may ask questions about the show that the song is from to see that they have understood the context, BUT it’s fine to put your own spin on it. For example, my daughter did “My House” from Matilda but sang it from the point of view of a girl leaving the only house she has ever lived in as the family were moving. It shows that they have really thought about the character and what they are singing.

Going for the less obvious, and definitely from contemporary musical theatre, how about "it's a fine, fine line" from Avenue Q? It's sort of a love song, but a thwarted, frustrated one - plenty of scope to sing with emotion and tell the story. And fine for the age group, even though Avenue Q probably 14+
Good luck!

Another show to look at is Violet

If she is a good comedy actor there is something like I Speak Six Languages from Spelling Bee

Lamest Place in the World from 13

I would recommend NOT doing Castle in a Cloud. It’s perfectly age-appropriate, etc, but makes casting directors stabby. I think the Secret Garden or Matilda ones are great suggestions.