I’ve panelled/played a lot of auditions. Here are some quick, opinionated thoughts on vocal auditions for musicals for those of you starting out—please chime in if you agree/disagree/think I’m on crack, or have anything to add.

1. Accompaniment: Consider getting a coaching with a show pianist to make sure your music is easily readable/useable by the audition pianist. If you can, find out from the production company who is playing the auditions and book a coaching with that pianist, so they’ll already have rehearsed your song with you.
2. Song Choice: Pick a song that reflects the music in the show (get help from a friend/teacher/coach with this, if you’re not sure). If you don’t have a suitable song and don’t have time to get comfortable with one, I’d just use whatever you’re most comfortable with and/or whatever you know that is the “least dissimilar” from the show’s music, rather than singing a song you’re uncomfortable with.
3. Build an audition repertoire book. You don’t need more than 5-10 tunes in your “audition tunes book” for it to be immensely helpful for you and for audition panels. Ideally, you will be technically comfortable with the songs and have received acting coaching on them so they’re polished and ready to go at any time.
4. Alternate song: If you can, have a second piece ready to sing. You don’t need to offer it, but they might ask. It can be helpful for the panel to get more information about your singing if they need it. If you’re equally comfortable with both songs, you can give them a choice, if you want.
5. Avoid “Cramming” the Singing. It’s great to see a voice technician before an audition, especially if you can already sing your song fairly smoothly. If you can’t, it’s better than nothing, but a voice coach might not be able to get you ready in time. Consider taking lessons until you have at least a small audition book of tunes you can sing well. It might not cost much more than professional head shots, but should be way more effective at getting you roles (my opinionated stance).

And the Silver Bullet for nailing a vocal audition…

Can you sing through, say, two octaves with no breaks or strain? If you can, I don’t know a single production company that won’t remember your vocal abilities, and it suddenly is not so bad if all you have prepared is Happy Birthday. This is a rare and valuable skill; it’s something every musical director is looking for and will likely fight for when it comes down to picking the cast. And, as rare a skill as it is, it’s not that hard to learn to do. More on that later…

Thanks for reading!