I want to hear what you can sing. And perform.
Here’s the truth. Y’all getting ready for college have an amazing asset that lots of us old peeps wish we still had.
You aren’t tired yet, and you believe that you can do it all.
You aren’t jaded by the biz.
I LOVE this about you. I am, how do you say? “Totes Jelly”.
Something you’ve gotta know, however, is that this over-drive can do you a great disservice if it’s focused on trying to prove yourself instead of trying to show yourself.
Here’s the difference:
Proving:
- Chooses material that is wish based- not ability based
- If you can *almost* belt the C, that doesn’t count. You can’t. Don’t try. IT IS FINE
- Compares material to ideas of what you *think* others are doing
- “Well so-and-who must be singing What-and-How because they are so good.”
- Picks the fanciest and most complicated pieces
- Please. No need for 15 minute Wagner Arias. We can tell in 30 seconds, usually.
- Worries about doing things that are overdone.
- “I sound great, like REALLY great, on “Popular”, and I own it in my unique way… but everyone does it and is over it.
- Obsesses about type as if that’s a thing already
- “I am tall and dark haired and leading manly so I have to pick a tenor-love-interest song! Even though I’m a bass.
- Doesn’t fish or cut bait- constantly changes material picks
- Can’t make a decision because fret over right choice is paralyzing
Showing:
- Chooses material based on understanding of one’s personality, voice type, work ethic, and “joy factor”
- You know that while you love the belt-stuff, you are a soprano. So you work the belty for fun, but you turn in My White Night to colleges.
- Compares material to ideas of what they have done in the past and what challenges they are ready for now
- “Hmmmm. I did well on the Mozart Cantata last semester, maybe I’ll look at some similar arias that are more complex but in the same tessatura.”
- Picks the stuff that is so comfortable and settled that it has layers upon layers of subtext and story
- You played Maureen in Rent Jr. and know it inside and out, so you get with an acting coach, and a vocal coach, and relearn and relive it to give it fresh life and mesmerizing effect.
- Worries about finding the right school for their goals, not hoping a school picks them
- “To whom shall I give my money to help me succeed?”
- Obsesses about all the other parts… app deadlines, essays, current work/school responsibilities
- There is A LOT that tells schools that you are a good fit… not just that audition!
- Makes choices and sticks with them, allowing them to grow and be nurtured into amazing performances
We as Casting Directors, or admin committees, or BFA Program chairs want to see where you are NOW, at your BEST, so we can gauge if we are the people and place to get you where you WANT to be and create a NEW BEST.
We aren’t here to compare you to everyone else… we are here to make a judgement about your potential, and how we see your understanding of who you are adds value to our program, and we can add value to your understanding of yourself as a performer.
We know you aren’t perfect. We work with students all the time. We have most likely heard it all, so nothing you’re going to do is gonna have us throw up our noses, or be blown away.
We want to see YOU. Now. In this moment, with this talent.
We want to know where we are starting ~ to make it shine even brighter.
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