monolouges and songs for audition

[STEFFYSMUM]

hi not been on here in so long lol. my dd had a break for a few years through her choice. and has now decided she wants to get back into things. think her time as an extra on waterloo road latley has given her love for it and see has seen what shes been missing. anyway we have applied to a few local colleges for her for acting and performance and musical theatre courses. she has her first audition on the 6th of march she needs 2 monolouges any ideas as we have no idea where to start, and as she doesnt go to a drama school any more we have noone that can help her. also what songs to you suggest if she gets and audition for mt. she is 17 now if that hepls. also does anyone know if local colleges audtion everyone that applies as so far thats only one she has heard back from thanks in advance x

[STEFFYSMUM]

noone ??? surley someone out there can point us in the right direction as havent a clue where to start and need the stuff asap x

[bruno2]

Hello there huge welcome back, so lovely your dd has decided to take up drama again. As regard to college applications and what to sing, I am sure welshmum and pg will help you out on this one. There is also an ongoing topic on College Applications , Im sure the mums and dads wil help you out too I cant Im afraid a bit to early for me thankfully !!!

[STEFFYSMUM]

thanks bruno2. how are you and your talented dd?? its more where to look for the monolouges that cheap or prefably free that im looking for help with. lol im sure she has picked her songs and the first audition is for acting and performance not heard anything about the mt ones yet

[Welsh Mum]

Your Dd should choose songs she can sing well and act through the song. It helps if the song tells a story through the eyes of a character, so that is why a song from a musical is a good choice (but by no means the only option - some other songs could also work well). It's important she chooses a song which she is comfortable with in terms of range etc. I would also advise her to choose a song suitable for her age range - I would avoid songs more suitable for an older woman. There are lots she could choose, though i am not sure what range your DD is. In jennifer Reischel's book "So You Want To Tread The Boards" she gives lists of good audition songs for each voice type.

As for monologues the same holds true regarding age/gender etc. hace they specified what type tyhey want? Do they want 2 contrasting ones? I would advise her to choose contrasting songs and monologues anyway as it wil show different aspetcs of her. If they want a classical then she shouls look at some of the younger Shakespear heroines. Again on the Simon Dumnore website there lots of suggested plays to get monlogues from, both classical and modern.

[STEFFYSMUM]

thank you welsh mum. she was thinking of doing what i did for love from a chorus line as one of her songs and the portia quailty of mercy from a merchant of venice for one of her monolouges do you think these would be suitable for a 17 year old ?? we were thinking of trying to find a comedy monolouge too as would show her fun side . do you think this is adviasble?? as for another song dont have a clue something upbeat maybe ??? or something really old??? do you know if local colleges tend to audition everyone that apllies as we apllied for 7 and only one reply so far.

[pg]

If you know any amateur dramatic societies you could see whether you could speak to someone involved and ask them for recommendations. Older members sometimes have dozens of play scripts to look through.

Another good ploy is to get a book of monologues, find one you like and then find other plays by the same playwright.

I think CCP has a list of monologues in its resources section - though this may only be available to premium members.

You can find lots of plays on here http://shop.stagescripts.com/categories/plays.html with free preview e-scripts.

Be careful with "comedy" monologues. It's great to have contrast, but you don't need to concentrate on entertaining the panel. The important thing is to find a character she can identify with that's suitable for her age and background. It doesn't need to be funny - it can just not be totally serious/dark/dramatic.

I think a lot of places do audition every applicant - they will normally say whether they do on their websites I think. As you say "local" though - I'm not sure. There may be other criteria they apply (like screening via an application form) - I would have thought they would let you know though, it would be a bit odd not to specify whether or not they see everyone that applies. Are there any audition fees?

I think the song and monologue you have suggested will be fine. She could perhaps look at something either older (Rodgers and Hammerstein or Cole Porter maybe?) or more upbeat - or both! There are huge numbers of songs that she could choose that would contrast well with that choice.

[Welsh Mum]

In fact as far as songs are concerned I think she should aim to prepare more than 2 - that means she will have others in her folder to do if needed. It also makes her look very prepared and keen!! With that choice i would go for an old one as pg said - some lovely ones from Oklahoma,, perhaps a fun one like I'm Just a Girl Who Cant say No?? I would also prepare a more modern up beat type one - such as somethingfrom WWRY

[STEFFYSMUM]

please help we are still having problems finding a suitable monolouge. we have a list of songs she is gonna prepare. what i did for love, talyer the latttie boy,anything goes and the wizard and i . we have one monolouge from shaksepear merchant of venice we now need a a contasting one from a published playing lasting 2 to 3 mins. please please help as we are really struggling

[sapphire]

DD did a monologue from DNA by Dennis Kelly for her drama school auditions ... seemed to go down well. Try and get hold of a copy of that .... there are several different monologues by Leah - a teenage girl - in it. You could also try Like a Virgin by Gordon Steel - there is a good monologue by a teenage girl dying of cancer in that but perhaps done a bit more than DNA.

[Tess]

HI steffysmum, not an expert on female ones but my Ds got hold of a monologue book, (National theatre bookshop!) but I am sure your library would be able to help or I've also seen them in waterstones. Your DS will need to make sure she chooses one that is from a play that she can get hold of to read the whole thing as they need to know the monologue within the context of the whole play.

Online there are quite a few, but again make sure she has read the whole play so that she is well prepared to for any questions they throw at her.

All the best for her auditions, let us know how she gets on.

[STEFFYSMUM]

thank you very much ladies. dd loves the like a virgin one so think we are gonna go for that i really appreciate your help ladies. we have litterly spend days looking. found a few online but couldnt see if they were from published plays or not. hopefully thats us sorted now lol. and i will deff let you know how we get on. we have only one date yet still waiting on another 5 i think it is .

[sapphire]

DD saw lots of girls doing the Like a Virgin one last year ... she said most people tend to go for angry/shouty, but one girl did it much more gently - amused at the beginning (almost teasing her friend) and then sad at the end and DD though that worked so much better ... so might be worth your DD really playing round with the possible emotions to see if she can find a fresh take on it ... good luck!