Working the song to suit the role

Back to audition coaching. One of my clients has been auditioning for the role of Mama Morton in the musical Chicago. She already had a song in her portfolio that she thought was suitable, and came for a coaching session to polish her performance.

We talked about the role of Mama Morton in general - she is the warder in a ladies' prison, and in her dialogue she alternates between support for her 'family' and hard-nosed business dealing. The feel of the music is pure vaudeville, so we needed a performance that would bring all those elements together.

The song my client intended to use was a Fats Waller song, "Find out what they like" - an excellent choice. The opening lines of the chorus sum up the song "Find out what they like and how they like it and let them have it just that way". The song is often sung as a tease, but we came up with a different subtext and scenario for the audition. We needed something very strong and direct - Mama Morton does not pull her punches, and is a very powerful figure. And the result was something that is not for the easily offended!

In searching for a context for that curious combination of family and business, I came up with the madam of a brothel. This particular madam takes care of her girls, but will have no nonsense - they are there to make money for her. She has seen everything, done everything, and has the t-shirt to prove it. I wanted my client to use as little movement as possible in the verse, so I asked her to perform the song as a to-camera piece. The camera is in extreme close-up, so the head fills the screen. Any extraneous movement would cause the face to disappear off camera, so the performer needs to stay very still and focussed.

Moving the scenario on further, we decided that this was the filmed introduction to the brothel training video that the madam hands each new girl as they arrive. This final tweak to the scenario gave real bite to one line in the verse "Ladies! I will show you how". I predicted that my client would get the recall just on the way she said that one line. And apparently in the subsequent auditions she got to that line and the panel's heads all shot up.

Although this is an extreme example of changing the context of the song without changing the song, it was absolutely appropriate for the audition and for the role. And the client was capable of carrying the idea through.

The result? Performances starts this month.

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