Would College Gender Bending Be Too Risky?

[GetBackUp25]

I want to go for a performing arts college audition but the only problem is I'm an alto and most alto songs are overdone so since my range is more of a tenor, would it be too risky to choose a tenor male song if it isn't a love song?

I've already got some songs worked out

Up/midtempos
Comedy Tonight from A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The Forum
Goodbye from Catch Me If You Can
High Flying, Adored from Evita (up to "all the young who've made it would agree")
Sit Down, You're Rockin' The Boat from Guys And Dolls
Grow For Me from Little Shop Of Horrors
You've Got To Be Carefully Taught from South Pacific


Ballads
Close Every Door from Joseph And The Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat
Stars from Les Miserables
Santa Fe from Newsies
Halloween from Rent
Left Behind from Spring Awakening
Try To Remember from The Fantasticks

So, is it allowed to cross the gender boundary with college auditions (as long as they're not too masculine or feminine or love songs)? If so, which of my up/midtempo list and which of my ballad list would make the best combination?

[bwaylvsong]

When you're auditioning for a school, you need to sing a song by a character you could feasibly play. Once you get into school and are auditioning for specific shows, you have more freedom, but this is not the time to take risks.

[GetBackUp25]

I thought that it was the other way around: when you audition for a show, have character in mind, but when auditioning for a school, just choose a song that shows your vocal ability at its absolute best.

[WOSQ]

It depends on the song.

I would steer clear of a song that is gender-specific without an alternate opposite sex lyric or that is closely identified with one gender or the other. Carefully Taught is very much a man's song. Try To Remember is also a man's song and is an older-than-college age man's song at that.

Of the songs you listed and that I really am familiar with, the best one appears to be Comedy Tonight provided you stage it. The song sets the tone for the whole show which is low comedy burlesque, almost baggy pants show. Go for the joke. Get some direction, not just staging, get motivation and build the song.

A song I recommend for women is "The Gentleman is a Dope" from Allegro. It isn't an uptempo but it sure isn't a ballad. However it does leave lots of space to emotionally move.

Whatever you do, the prime rule is Thou Shalt Not Bore. Don't just stand there and make pretty noise. Have a reason, a point of view, for the songs you sing. Be somebody, not necessarily the character from the show, but be someone.

Once you are really considering a song, take it apart. Write the lyric out on paper being very careful to put in the puctuation as written. Then decide what each phrase relates to. What is each phrase saying? It can be obvious, on the surface, or deep below or even subversive. ("Happy to Keep His Dinner Warm" from How To Succeed sung as a murder fantasy for instance; spend the whole song carefully sharpening a knife.)

What are you trying to say and what tone do you want to say it in?

Then add the music. Listen for the accents. They can help you put over a lyric.

End the song in a different place than where you started.

A song is a 3 minute play when done right. When just sung, it is a chore for everybody

[GetBackUp25]

Thanks for the advice, WOSQ.The first thing that I imagined once you talked about alternate interpretations was President Snow or some Capitol citizen from The Hunger Games singing Comedy Tonight. However, I still need a ballad that would contrast Comedy Tonight. The only ones I could see fitting from my list are Santa Fe (because the word guy can be gender-neutral sometimes) and Close Every Door but even those I'm not sure about so does anyone know of some good non-overdone alto ballads?

[FlowerChild67]

There are plenty of non-overdone alto ballads (and uptempos, too, for that matter) Look at very contemporary composers (Adam Gwon, Kerrigan and Lowdermilk, Jonathon Reid Galt, etc. Look at off- and off-off- broadway shows- don't just stick to popular Broadway show, because even in your list of potential male songs, it looks like that's what you did (Newsies, Guys and Dolls, Spring Awakening)
Good luck finding something:)

[GetBackUp25]

Thanks, but I had always heard that you shouldn't choose too obscure songs because you want people to focus on your interpretation, not the song itself. Is that true or isn't it?
I am actually a real big fan of the very contemporary composers and, in case those songs do make good audition material, I've compiled my top 3 uptempos and ballads of them.

Uptempos
"Sarah Fitchner" by Ryan Scott Oliver
"On Monday" by Ryan Scott Oliver
"Blue Hair" by Joe Iconis

Ballads
"Moonflower" by Michael Patrick Walker
"The Girl Who Drove Away" by Kerrigan & Lowdermilk
"Lisa" by Joe Iconis

[Brave Sir Robin2]

I like your contemporary choices, although I'm not a big fan of Blue Hair! :)

[GetBackUp25]

So, which uptempo/ballad pair would work best for a college audition in terms of showing my range (acting range as well as vocal)?

[FlowerChild67]

I've read the same thing, but I think that the ones should be fine. I'm pretty sure that as long as it's not "here's a song from the original musical inwas in last semester" it'd be fine.

You put together a great list, btw- The Girl Who Drove Away is my favorite contemporary uptempo audition song^.^

[BwayTday]

I wouldn't suggest doing two contemporary songs personally. I'd do a more contemporary song and a more classical song. Out of your contemporary choices, I would use "On Monday" paired with a classic ballad.

P.s.- If you can sing "On Monday" as written you absolutely do not need to gender-bend. There are plenty of songs that lie in a similar range.

[GetBackUp25]

Thanks, BwayTday but I've already found my contemporary. Give it a listen
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LYj2JjxNh6s

The only problem is I can't seem to figure out whether it's a ballad or an uptempo but I do have my more classic songs to pair it with. My uptempo if it's a ballad is Look At Me I'm Sandra Dee from Grease and my ballad if it's an uptempo is I Know The Truth from Aida