Expand Your Knowledge of Musical Theatre Repertoire
and Reap the Rewards

I was reading a messageboard recently where someone posted a thread asking for the name & show source of a song she'd heard, and posted some of the lyrics. The song is an extremely "popular" one right now, and on the overdone audition song list. The thread was filled with replies like "I can't believe you've never heard of this song." While just a messageboard with relative anonymity, it was fairly clear that this person's authority as a musical theatre enthusiast had been somewhat tarnished by this innocent question. But there are much more important reasons to be knowledgeable on the past and current musical theatre trends. It's common sense that the more songs, shows, and composers you are familiar with, the easier your musical theatre career will be. Why? Several reasons:

1) The more shows you know, the less research you will have to do for each individual audition. When auditioning for a show you are already familiar with, you can go right on to prepare your audition material because you already know the casting requirements and musical style. This can save you a great deal of time, especially when we often hear about auditions on short notice.

2) The more songs you know, the more interesting your audition selections will become as you move beyond the typical songs that everyone knows. You will be able to select an audition piece easily because you will already be familiar with the composer, his/her other shows, and other composers of a similar style.

How do you expand your knowledge without spending a fortune on cast recordings? The answer may be easier than you think:

Get Listening! If there are individual songs you are interested in, you can now preview them for free and download them individually from iTunes. If you have no idea what to even look for, try online radio such as MaximumBroadway on Live365 . If you get satellite radio, there are some great Broadway stations available as well.

Keep a listening journal. When you hear something you like (on radio or otherwise) take note of it. You may notice that certain shows or composers come up more often, and these are ones you might want to look for more of. One of the nice things about Live365 is that the stations have a player window that pops up, so you'll always know what song is playing and what show it is from.

Get reading! There are lots of very interesting books and websites that can help you expand your knowledge in a relatively small period of time. (See links below)

Get out and see some shows! There is no substitute for seeing a live show, and it doesn't have to be an expensive ticket to a professional show. Even a highschool production is valuable if it is a show you've never seen.

Links for Expanding Your Musical Theatre Knowledge

The Virgin Encyclopedia of Stage and Film Musicals

This is the first book I turn to when I want some basic information on a show, composer, or performer. What makes it particularly valuable is that it lists various recordings and rates them, so it will be easier to choose what recordings you should be looking for.

Broadway Musicals - Show by Show

If you are into musical theatre, you MUST own a book by Stanley Green - I think it's some sort of law. This book is a required text for many college/university courses.

The Broadway Song Companion

The first complete guide and access point to the vast literature of the Broadway musical for the solo performer. Designed with the working actor in mind, the volume lists every song from over 210 Broadway shows, giving the name of the character(s) who sing(s) the song, its exact vocal range, and categorizing each by song style.

Sunday Matinee

A 2 hour radio show aired every Sunday. You can download the show for free weekly.

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written by DJ Barens, October 15, 2009

accuradio.com also has a great Broadway channel with several sub-chanels like ovations only, by decade, by composer. I found some great new shows that way