...with the sound of nuns.

[Two of my clients are auditioning for the role of Sister Berthe, mistress of the novices, in the new West End production of The Sound of Music - see previous blog]

For the second client (who has a very different energy) I suggested something on a similar line but with a slightly different feel. This time we were going for the more restrained, nun-like qualities of the character. Getting to Know You was the song, (again a Rodgers and Hammerstein song) and the scenario we used was slightly different.

This time it was a teacher at a junior school on the first day of a new term. She walks in, writes “Getting to know you” on the blackboard as the topic of the morning. She is firm but kind. Unfortunately there is one child (“George… don’t do that”) who is not able to concentrate on the message and who becomes gently disruptive. In this scenario, although the subject is much younger, the age of the singer can remain about the same (40s upwards) and the slightly gentler, more caring energy tempers the annoyance.

My clients usually find that getting a really focussed subtext makes the song easier to sing, both vocally and performance-wise, and sets a number of specific targets to hit in the audition. It also makes the character easier to portray. In a coaching session we might deal with what clothing or shoes the character is wearing, what the “set” is, how many people are on stage, in short, anything that makes the song journey clearer.

So much of the fear in auditions is due to not being focussed on what you are doing, or not knowing what the job is in the first place. These suggestions (and many others) are tools to get a good, workable performance in a difficult, barren situation. Having a strong storyline to sit the song on gives a great deal of detail to the performance, and of course can be changed at will. The important thing is to make the choices in the first place.

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