Why Music Directors Don't Want You to Sing Songs from the Show They're Casting

Photo Courtesy of Canva

It happens at every audition: someone shows up and sings a song from the show the directors are casting. As the music director, I wonder if my promotions for the show stating "please do not sing a song from the show" were enough.

And listen, I have been guilty of this in the past so I understand auditionees' mentality when it comes to using a song from the show: it's either "there is a specific part I would like" or "I thought this made the most sense," if they have little experience auditioning.

Here's the down and dirty of why we don't want you to sing something from the show:

• If we allowed that, EVERYONE and their cousin would sing the same two songs. As the music director, it will be really difficult for me to remember who sang what version of "Memory." They would start to meld together in my brain. 
• We want to ensure people are bringing their authentic singing voices... and aren't presenting us with a really good impression of the original singer. 
• We want to see some personality. Why did you choose the song you chose? 
• We want to see if YOU know your voice. If you're a soprano who's still working on her belt, for the love of God, don't make me listen to "Astonishing." 
• We just want to see if you can follow directions. Since musicals are HUGE productions with lots of notes from directors, we want to make sure that potential cast members read things thoroughly and exhibit ownership and responsibility.

That's it. That's the secret. We're not big meanies. We want to hear people's unique voices are remember their unique choices. Like resume sorting robots online, we unfortunately sort "songs from the show" into the recycle bin. Be you! Make decisions and commit.