Dear Vocalisters:
Just a general comment here.
The very short audition of which John and others speak is an example
of a general trend in THEATRE auditions of late (20 years or less).
There are many reasons for such short auditions but the primary
reason is the fact that such short auditions work just fine for most
theatre casting needs. Modern theatre is based more on personality
and less on acting ability. It is the effect of filmed and videoed
performances on live theatre. Increasingly, modern live theatre is
imitating pre-recorded theatre. Type casting is the norm and "types"
can be rather easily determined within the short 2-4 minute audition.
However, this approach does not work as well for a singing audition
because the music interferes. If a whole song is allowed to be sung
the effect of the music tends to make decisions about the singer more
difficult. This is especially so if the director or artistic
director is not a musician or has only a primary interest in
non-music theatre. Therefore, only a very short musical audition is
allowed (16 bars?) and a judgement is made based on the dramatic
audition and a general idea of the "personality" of the voice. In
this way the music or song does not cloud the decision with its
emotional effect or the emotional impact that singer might have on
the audition process if a whole dramatic moment (the complete song)
is allowed to be heard.
It is common for theatre directors to find the musical portion of a
Musical a "something" that gets in the way of the dramatic element.
They tend to forget or not recognize that the music IS the dramatic
element in a well written musical.
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