SmallTownIngenue
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Good Kim Audition songs?I'm new to the boards and was wondering if you guys could help me. I'm auditioning for Bye Bye Birdie at my school in September(two weeks into the school year) and I want to have a totally awesome song that's good for the role of Kim. I'm a very high soprano with a fairly good belting voice(not as great as my high soprano, but improving). I want to be very prepared for the audition so I can show the director how serious I am, but I'm having a very hard time finding an appropriate song. In the past I've sung I Could Have Danced All Night from My Fair Lady, Popular from Wicked, In My Life from Les Mis, and In My Own Little Corner from Cinderella, so those are all out of the question(plus we did Cinderella last year and I doubt the director would really want to hear that again). The director knows my voice pretty well and is quite fond of me and knows that I'm a very high soprano plus a character actress, I just want to show her that I can sing loud and project enough for a lead role. Any ideas guys, it would be highly appreciated! BTW, this seems like a very cool board, I'm glad I joined!
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i'm_back
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Maybe "I Enjoy Being a Girl" from Flower Drum Song. It kinda fits in with Kim's song "How Lovely to be a Woman."
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SmallTownIngenue
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Yeah I was thinking about that, and I probably will go with that if I have nothing else, but I'm just afraid it's too similar and I'd be practically screaming for the part, and I think some other girls auditioning for Kim might be using that song too.
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i'm_back
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| SmallTownIngenue wrote: | | Yeah I was thinking about that, and I probably will go with that if I have nothing else, but I'm just afraid it's too similar and I'd be practically screaming for the part |
welll don't you want that part.........
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SmallTownIngenue
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Well, yes, but I don't want to look desperate. At least it's not as bad as singing a song from the show you're trying out for-people have done that in my town and it bugs the heck out of me.
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MsDivaKate
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Its also fairly overdone, especially when auditioning for these types of shows. "I Feel Pretty" is another song girls use for Kim, but again, its overdone.
And actually, just for future reference, every single song that you had on your previously used audition song list are all overdone and pretty big audition no-no's. Especially "Popular".
And afraid of being too similiar, absurd! You want to clearly state the role you would like, or you may not be considered at all. The closer your audition song is to expressing the emotions of the character you are going for, the better. It shows you've done your homework.
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what_the_heck013
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| i'm_back wrote: | | Maybe "I Enjoy Being a Girl" from Flower Drum Song. It kinda fits in with Kim's song "How Lovely to be a Woman." |
When I did BBB, the three girls who got called back for KIm did "I Enjoy Being a Girl", "I Feel Pretty", and *drumroll* "Reflection" from Mulan, which doesn't entirely fit the musical style. The girl who sang "I Enjoy Being a Girl" got the role (she was a great singer), but the girl who sang 'Reflection" should have gotten the role (she was a better actress).
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SmallTownIngenue
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I know those songs are overdone, but I live in a very small town(well musical theater wise, the only big musical productions are a summer theater group and high school), and most of the directors don't really care what songs you sing because they don't take it that seriously. Trust me, this girl I know that auditioned for Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat sang Defying Gravity and got the Narrator. And all of the songs I've sang in the past hardly anyone else in my town has done because pretty much the only musicals most of the choir kids in my school know are Phantom of the Opera and Wicked. Most people have never even heard Les Miserables, and they call themselves "fans" when the only song they've heard is On My Own. I would never use any of those songs for college/professional auditions, but since no one really cares in my town, it's harmless.
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MsDivaKate
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| SmallTownIngenue wrote: | | I know those songs are overdone, but I live in a very small town(well musical theater wise, the only big musical productions are a summer theater group and high school), and most of the directors don't really care what songs you sing because they don't take it that seriously. Trust me, this girl I know that auditioned for Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat sang Defying Gravity and got the Narrator. And all of the songs I've sang in the past hardly anyone else in my town has done because pretty much the only musicals most of the choir kids in my school know are Phantom of the Opera and Wicked. Most people have never even heard Les Miserables, and they call themselves "fans" when the only song they've heard is On My Own. I would never use any of those songs for college/professional auditions, but since no one really cares in my town, it's harmless. |
Still you should always practice good audition techniques, whether its for Broadway or the church basement production. It gives you more practice in song selection.
I have a friend who sings "They Can't Take That Away From Me" for every audition from The Pajama Game to Fame. He still gets cast but its not allowing him to build up a rep book that he can actually USE in the real world.
I recommend that you start early on building rep, plus it probably will make you look more impressive to directors because you aren't singing the same old songs everyone else is doing. Whether they don't care what you sing or not, it might put you a step above the rest for being different and really choosing something that fits the show and role you are auditioning for.
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SmallTownIngenue
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But the thing is, I don't think a lot of the directors around town like to hear songs they don't know, because they really aren't familiar with any other shows besides the popular/famous ones, and don't really care if you sing something different, plus, one director in town just allows this one girl who I know I can sing/act better than(and most people in musical theater in my town can sing and act better than her) to get lead roles only because her mother pays rediculous amounts of money/attention the the theater(just so she can get lead roles, what else is new, I know that happens a lot but it's still unfair and stupid) when I don't have the money and my parents don't have the time and I work so much harder than she does. I do work on my rep in voice lessons though so I have a portfolio to chose from for college/professional auditions,and it's not like I only sing those songs. It's just for show auditions, trust me, if I lived in New York or LA, I would never sing those songs at any audition. My town is pretty cultureless sad to say, and the few arts things we do have are dwindled down and looked as unimportant in the communities eyes. But enough about that, just talking about my town makes me angry. Does anyone have any other suggestions?
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onthatnote
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You've received some excellent advice! Truly, it doesn't matter what the directors in your town know or don't know, or who's buying their way into a production. It's about you --- being your best and bringing your best to the audition. That is how you want to lay the ground work to build your future. Start off on the right foot and you never have to worry about switching gears. Dare to be different and enlighten others along the way. What they think from that point is their problem. You can't go wrong when you follow the protocol and established standards that's already set as a benchmark of how a professional audition is suppose to be!
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SmallTownIngenue
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I think I am going to go with I Enjoy Being a Girl, as long as before the audition I don't find out someone else is doing it, especially the girl who thinks she's going to get Kim without a doubt even though she dropped out of the musical last year because she didn't get Cinderella, and the director HATES dropouts, for example the guy that should have been the Prince dropped out of West Side Story the year before because he didn't get Tony or Bernardo and therefore, wasn't cast as the Prince and we were stuck with an inconsistent, scrawny prince. I'm working on 2 songs in voice lessons, Make Believe from Showboat and The Light in the Piazza, but both aren't really right for the show at all, plus, my choir director would probably hate me if I made him play the piano part in the Light in the Piazza(he's the accompanist at the auditions).
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*BroadwayLights*
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If you are still looking, for our high school production, the girl who got Kim sang "NYC" from Annie at her audition 
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rcs
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"I Enjoy Being a Girl" is an awfully low (vocal range) song for Kim, who is a high soprano. Plus, it's written for a much older character—not exactly an ingenue song. Maybe "Much More" from The Fantasticks, although that might be overused as well.
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