The TSR Community Awards 2025 are now live >>

Musical theatre song for a lowish female voice?

Hey,

I have an audition on Thursday, and have to prepare a song from a musical to sing unaccompanied in front of the casting peeps. Only problem is, I have a lowish voice (I say lowish in that I can't go very very high without sounding screechy, yet I also can't really hack v.low notes). I usually sing poppy/jazzy stuff and haven't really tried 'showtunes' before, so this is an experiment!

Can anyone suggest a song for a female voice that would suit? At the moment I'm thinking about I Still Believe from Miss Saigon, but it's a duet so I could only do parts of it.

Thank you! xxx

Reply 1

Doodahdoo

Dude, I didn't even know this forum existed.

I'm a mezzo-soprano, so (I think) I'm a similar range to yours. The songs I suggest are ones that I've done in auditions or my singing lessons - but check the key, because obviously different versions are in different keys.

- On my Own (Les Miserables)
- Castle on a Cloud (Les Miserables)
- Memory (Cats)
- I could have danced all night (My Fair Lady)
- Tonight (West Side Story)
- Somewhere (West Side Story)
- Home (Beauty and the Beast)

If you need the sheet music, musicroom.co.uk tends to have downloadable sheets.

Joanna x

Reply 2

vector

Tonight would be a good one ;yes;

Reply 3

baby_emmy

Belle, The Sleeping Car from Starlight Express (the original version) :smile:

-x-

Reply 4

Acaila

I Could Have Danced All Night goes pretty high, and you need to be able to nail the money notes if you want to impress with your song.

Could you say what you're auditioning for Ariadne? Just that might help with some suggestions. Tbh, I'd avoid Les Mis as On My Own is officially the most overdone audition song, and the other female songs are much the same. Also a lot of the big Andrew Lloyd Webber female solos.

The first ones that come to mind (as an alto who can sing all of these):
Maybe This Time from Cabaret
U.N.C.O.U.P.L.E.D. and Next Time You Fall In Love (duet again) from Starlight Express
If They Could See Me Now from Sweet Charity
Take That Look off Your Face from Tell Me on a Sunday
Good Morning Baltimore and I Can Hear the Bells from Hairspray
Whistle Down the Wind from Whistle Down the Wind

If you're used to poppy stuff Hairspray might be a good idea and Kander/Ebb stuff (Cabaret, Chicago, etc.) is usually pretty jazzy.

Reply 5

Angelil

"Tonight", "Somewhere" and "I Could Have Danced All Night" are all quite high really.

What song did you choose in the end Ariadne? And was your audition successful?

(And since I know Exeter, which group were you auditioning for? Was it Footlights?)

Reply 6

BabyBee

Try les mis songs
I'd reccomend 'on my own'
I can't sing high, so that was my audition piece for a musical (and i got the part :smile:

)

Reply 7

BeautifullyTragic

'Hey Big Spender' and 'All That Jazz' are good low ones. Although All That Jazz is way overdone

Reply 8

Angelil

You're a bit late DancingSpleen :wink:

(though I do like your username :p:

)

Reply 9

ormaybeitsjustnarcissism

Old news, been and gone, dead thread I know but just throwing in, Somewhere That's Green from Little Shop Of Horrors or Pirate Jenny from Threepenny Opera?

Reply 10

stacebarr

I know this is an etremely late reply but it will be useful to any future Musical Theatre goers who look up songs for auditions etc, like I just did, in future.
For a start, never sing a Les Mis song in a Musical Theatre audition. You may be able to sing it perfectly and have a great character for it, but panel's are sick of hearing these songs and you therefore create competition between yourself and whoever else sings that song (which trust me, will be quite a few people).

Somewhere that's green as mentioned before is a beautiful song to sing but it's not really any use for an audition, it doesn't show off a lot.

You should really take a look at some less known or off stage shows to pick your audition piece. For example, Another Night at Darryl's from Witches of Eastwick is perfect for an alto audition as it has no notes you can't hit, yet it shows off a wide range in this area of your voice. It is also full of character and the panel will remember you as you will likely be the only person to sing this.

The main thing I'm pointing out here is that to have a good audition you must do something different from the crowd or else you will look as though you have taken the easy option and picked the song everybody knows.

Reply 11

UnashamedLiberal

I think "Cabaret" from Cabaret if that's not too cliched, or "Don't Tell Mama" from the stage version as that isn't too common.

Reply 12

Kr252

I know you gave a bunch of good suggestions but I have an audition and none of those seemed right for me to sing. I also have a pretty low voice. So do you have any other suggestions?

Reply 13

username4344644

"No Time At All"- Pippin
"Hold On"- The Secret Garden
"If He Walked Into My Life"- Mame
"I Aint Down Yet"- The Unsinkable Molly Brown
"I Just Want To Be A Star"- Nunsense

Reply 14

Eilidh1907

For auditions, le mis isn’t always the best choice unless you absolutely nail it because they hear it so often and they are human so do get bored sometimes. So whatever song you choose, make sure it isn’t too overdone and try something from a less familiar musical! :smile:

Reply 15

Iselili

Really really late, but for future ppl,I am a BIG fan of using these showtunes:
- Poor Unfortunate Souls from Little Mermaid
- Miss Baltimore Crabs from Hairspray
- The Winner Takes It All from Mamma Mia
- I'd Rather Be Me from Mean Girls
- Waving Through A Window, Katy Perry version from Dear Evan Hansen

But now people seem to want non musical theatre songs, so I also often use these:
- Rolling In The Deep by Adele
- Someone Like You by Adele
- Set Fire To The Rain by Adele
- I See Fire by Ed Sheeran
- Pray For Me by Kristin Husoy (it's actually Husøy, the O with the cross over, but it won't show here soo)

Any Adele song is great

(edited 5 years ago)

Latest

Trending

Articles for you

Seven questions you must ask yourself before choosing your uni

What you need to know about getting a university scholarship, grant or bursary

How The Student Room is moderated

To keep The Student Room safe for everyone, we moderate posts that are added to the site.

Try out the app

Continue on web

Musical theatre song for a lowish female voice?

Related discussions

Articles for you

How The Student Room is moderated