Choosing a Song for Auditions

I used to go through a lot picking a song. Seriously. I would listen to the soundtrack of the show, and then go through my sheet music (I have a lot of it), looking for That Perfect Song. The one that captured the spirit of the show I was auditioning for, that was practically in the show it was so amazing. In fact, it usually took me so long to pick a song that I didn't have a final choice until the day before the audition.

Which is fine. If you have fifty songs that you're good at singing and you know, it's fine to operate that way.

But throughout that whole process, my husband Hotty would look at me and say, why don't you just pick three or four songs to get really really good at, and use those whenever you audition? Instead of choosing from fifty songs, choose one that just kind of fits the general feel of the show, from four.

But I was never really into that.

So then I tried out for the Scarlet Pimpernel a couple months ago. And I sang a song from Fiddler on the Roof, called Far From the Home I Love. And despite the fact that I started in the wrong key and forgot a line of the lyrics, I realized something: I totally rocked that song up. Like, a lot.

So for my audition on Saturday, I figured, Hey. Maybe it's a trifle melancholy for Into The Woods (except for, you know, the melancholy parts. Children Will Listen, anyone??). But it's SO perfect for me. I sound friggin' gorgeous when I sing it. And that confidence adds a lot to your audition.

Maybe from here on out I'll start looking for excuses to sing that one. Because I like it so much. Because even though it doesn't go impressively high or low, it's right in the middle of my range where I feel unstoppable and can completely fill a room with my voice. Because it's what makes me feel like a rock star. And sometimes, feeling like a rock star is what gets them to ask you back.