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Acting in Plays, Singing/musical question for audition

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Expert: - 4/28/2009


Question
Hello!
I just started acting in college. I am doing well but I really want to try out for our musical coming up. The musical is little shop of horrors. I have an alto voice and I'm trying to find something to show my voice. Do you have any suggestions? I'm allowed 16 bars. Which I get confused on how long that is? (I'm learning to read music notes as we speak its just not processing fast enough.)

Answer
Hi, Sarah –

Thank you for the question.

You can recognize a measure line in any piece of sheet music as the perpendicular line that separates the lyrics and beats per measure.  A standard song contains 32 measures in the refrain.  Thus, depending on the song, 16 measures equals half of a song.  If I'm on your audition panel and the line is wrapped around the block, I'll know within less than 8 measures if you are what the Producer and Musical Director are looking for.

Check out the following anthology.  Click on or paste the URL into your web browser to view a sample:
MY BOYFRIEND'S BACK
http://www.sheetmusicplus.com/store/smp_inside.html?item=2905369&cart=3200128512...

This anthology contains a number of great pop songs that would work for LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS. Many of the songs were appropriated into the successful Broadway musical, BEEHIVE.  The collection includes:
Mister Sandman (The Chordettes)
Where The Boys Are (Connie Francis)
Will You Love Me Tomorrow (The Shirelles)
It's My Party (Leslie Gore)
Bobby's Girl (Marcie Blane)
You Don't Own Me (Lesley Gore)

Before too much time goes by, take Piano 101 at your school.  You must know how to read sheet music and to play at least the melody line of anything you will sing in the future.  Without such basic knowledge you will be lost – especially when an interested director hands you a song you don't know and says, "Sing this."

I am a professional singing teacher and vocal coach in San Francisco.  When you want to book an appointment, contact me through Craig's List – http://sfbay.craigslist.org/sfc/lss/1155066319.html
I am also the Editor and Publisher of SanFranciscoSentinel.com.  All my articles and interviews about the performing arts provide a link to my personal e-mail.

Take a look at my You Tubes:

Lorena Feijóo - A Look at "Giselle" with Seán Martinfield
SAMSON & DELILAH – Meet Seán Martinfield
CA ACADEMY OF SCIENCES – A Preview Look with Seán Martinfield

Below are links to my recent interviews and articles about what's happening on San Francisco's cultural scene:
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Best regards,
Seán Martinfield

Acting in Plays, Singing

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Sean Martinfield

Expertise

I am a professional vocal coach in San Francisco. In addition to answers from a previous web site (Askme.com - where my "tag" was "VocalCoach") I have published over 2000 responses related to vocal training - particularly as it relates to Musical Theatre and Opera. I have 24 years of experience as Personal Trainer to singers and actors in the San Francisco Bay Area. I sang professionally for 20 years and know what it means to live the life of a musician. I can determine your voice category, i.e., Tenor, Baritone, Bass, Soprano, Mezzo-Soprano, Alto, Alto Belter, etc., and how to broaden and strengthen your range. Need an audition song for a Broadway Musical? I will give you suggestions that are appropriate to your vocal category and to requirements specified in the audition notice. I have also created a vocal methodology, "The Belter`s Method". It will enable those in Musical Theatre to practice more efficiently because it focuses on the demands of professional performers as well as to those auditioning for school and community productions, and as University and Conservatory performing arts majors. If what you want is a better voice and more control over your career moves and choices, contact me. Also, as the Editor of SanFranciscoSentinel.com, it is my privilege to review productions at the San Francisco Opera, Ballet and Symphony, as well as Broadway National Tours booked into San Francisco's Orpheum, Golden Gate and Curran Theatres. I also review works by A.C.T (the American Conservatory Theatre) and Magic Theatre. I cover select films, tributes and retrospects, and various international film festivals – particulary those booked into The City's opulent Castro Theatre – including the LGBT Frameline Festival, International Film Festival, Silent Film Festival, Jewish Film Festival, etc. For private vocal instruction, I can be contacted through SanFranciscoSentinel.com. Look under: Seán Martinfield, Sentinel Editor and Publisher.

Experience

As a vocal coach, I work primarily with singers and actors throughout the San Francisco Bay Area. My students range from absolute beginners to working professionals, from pre-schoolers to senior citizens. The vast majority of my clients come to me through recommendation. I know how to identify any singer's vocal category, i.e., soprano, tenor, alto, baritone, etc. I know how to muscle-up every singer's vocal range and to expand it beyond conventional definitions. I have developed a vocal methodology for those who want to know how to belt, THE BELTER'S METHOD. As a singer who spent half of his career doing Bel Canto, I know that classical or Italian methodologies do not work in Standard American music. Bel Canto cannot be "adapted" to meet the needs of contemporary American music, including the demands of the Musical Theatre. There are a number of major components to my work as a vocal coach. The first is to identify the client's vocal category and to strengthen and maximize the vocal range accordingly. Then it's about teaching a reliable vocal workout that will enable the client to gain better control of their musicianship. That includes scale work to expand the vocal range and to improve placement, breath control, and diction. Then we work on material for the audition portfolio, the immediate job or assignment, a recording session, etc. My task to is to better equip singers and actors who are hoping to or relying upon their performance skills and vocal endurance to maintain a career in the Performing Arts. My clients regularly appear in cabarets and musical productions throughout the San Francisco Bay Area. Some have worked in New York and gone on National Tours. For more information, Contact me at: Broadwaybelters@yahoo.com

Education/Credentials
San Francisco State University – BA in Theatre Arts; graduate work in Theatre, Philosophy, and Comparative Reiligion. Pacific School of Religion, Berkeley – Graduate work in Ethics

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