The Green Room - Nerves and What To Do While Singing

Reply #20 - Sep 19^th, 2008 at 10:41am

Cheeky Monkey Offline
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QueenMorgaus wrote on Sep 19^th, 2008 at 10:34am:

I found with my songs that directors like me better when I'm funny as opposed to deep. So most of my audition songs are quirky or funny, which (for me) makes it harder to let the song "move me" as it should. It seems that most of these types of songs are referencing someone onstage with you, which doesn't help. The advice given in this thread about movement seem to apply mostly to the ballads, but what to do with comedies?

What do you mean, referencing someone onstage with you? Could you give an example?

"Depends. Did you feel anything for the pumpkin? The midgets?" -Wildcard&&&&If Mary Matalin and James Carville can make it work, ANYONE can. The end.

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Reply #21 - Sep 19^th, 2008 at 11:03am

QueenMorgaus Offline
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Gladly! Like "You've Got Possibilities" from Superman where the singer is singing to Clark Kent, about him, telling him he's improvable.

"I don't need to compromise my principles, because they don't have the slightest bearing on what happens to me anyway." - Calvin and Hobbes

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Reply #22 - Sep 19^th, 2008 at 11:10am

kitchensinger Offline
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QueenMorgaus wrote on Sep 19^th, 2008 at 10:34am:

I found with my songs that directors like me better when I'm funny as opposed to deep. �So most of my audition songs are quirky or funny, which (for me) makes it harder to let the song "move me" as it should. �It seems that most of these types of songs are referencing someone onstage with you, which doesn't help. �The advice given in this thread about movement seem to apply mostly to the ballads, but what to do with comedies?

Well, when I perform the song "Popular" from Wicked...I sing it to the audience...like THEY'RE Elphaba...rather than have someone sit onstage with me so I can sing to her. You can do that and STILL keep the fourth wall up.

Does that help? Can you reference the directors?

"I have noticed that nothing I never said ever did me any harm."--Calvin Coolidge&&&&"Some families go water skiing together; others go camping.....our family does THEME PARTIES." --my brother Ben

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Reply #23 - Sep 19^th, 2008 at 11:13am

Cheeky Monkey Offline
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QueenMorgaus wrote on Sep 19^th, 2008 at 11:03am:

Gladly! Like "You've Got Possibilities" from Superman where the singer is singing to Clark Kent, about him, telling him he's improvable.

Ah. I think you can just as easily do the "pick a point above the heads of the auditioners" for this song.

The worst thing you would want to do is "mime" someone there, of course.

There was this one audition where I did "D'ya Know Something Schroeder" from You're a Good Man Charlie Brown where I performed the whole thing to the accompanist. I didn't mean to do it that way actually, but he was a really cute guy and he was placed just to the side of the auditioners, so inspiration struck. They gave me a callback from it. I would NOT recommend ever doing that however...

"Depends. Did you feel anything for the pumpkin? The midgets?" -Wildcard&&&&If Mary Matalin and James Carville can make it work, ANYONE can. The end.

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Reply #24 - Sep 19^th, 2008 at 5:24pm

Rosie Poppins Offline
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Cheeky Monkey wrote on Sep 19^th, 2008 at 11:13am:

QueenMorgaus wrote on Sep 19^th, 2008 at 11:03am:

Gladly! �Like "You've Got Possibilities" from Superman where the singer is singing to Clark Kent, about him, telling him he's improvable. �

Ah. I think you can just as easily do the "pick a point above the heads of the auditioners" for this song.

The worst thing you would want to do is "mime" someone there, of course.

There was this one audition where I did "D'ya Know Something Schroeder" from You're a Good Man Charlie Brown where I performed the whole thing to the accompanist. I didn't mean to do it that way actually, but he was a really cute guy and he was placed just to the side of the auditioners, so inspiration struck. They gave me a callback from it. I would NOT recommend ever doing that however...

I really hate saying stuff like this, cause it's not like I've ever directed in a big venue or know how pro directors feel... so take this with a grain of salt.

As a director, I love it when actors are able to 'pull it off'. �More power to you if it entertains me and my pro team. �There is something so engaging about an actor who ENJOYS the audition process and shows their confidence in stagecraft by creating a character separate from their own and responding to that separate character.

I say if you can make it work, go for it. �And if it takes a few auditions to make it work, give it a go. �What's one audition lost in the pursuit of getting better at auditioning?

Stop looking at a role as the be-all and start viewing the audition as a chance to (like Shimmer said) practice performing and enjoy yourself.

Nerves or no, there's always some fun in every audition situation. �Acknowledge it, point it out, and let the director in on the secret. �Cheeky gave a wonderful example of why she was called back - I say, take the risk.

Let me make one thing quite clear: I never explain anything.

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Reply #25 - Sep 20^th, 2008 at 4:53pm

QueenMorgaus Offline
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So, round three down of practicing-auditioning-by-auditioning-more, and it went great! I thought about Quantum Kate's "have fun" theory, and I think it's helped the most. My song, though not as good as when I sing it at home, was better and they laughed at my monologue. Now let's see if I can do it again, next week, to prove I wasn't just lucky this time.

"I don't need to compromise my principles, because they don't have the slightest bearing on what happens to me anyway." - Calvin and Hobbes

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