Dear Vocalisters:
Just a general comment here.
The very short audition of which John and others speak is an example of a general trend in THEATRE auditions of late (20 years or less). There are many reasons for such short auditions but the primary reason is the fact that such short auditions work just fine for most theatre casting needs. Modern theatre is based more on personality and less on acting ability. It is the effect of filmed and videoed performances on live theatre. Increasingly, modern live theatre is imitating pre-recorded theatre. Type casting is the norm and "types" can be rather easily determined within the short 2-4 minute audition.
However, this approach does not work as well for a singing audition because the music interferes. If a whole song is allowed to be sung the effect of the music tends to make decisions about the singer more difficult. This is especially so if the director or artistic director is not a musician or has only a primary interest in non-music theatre. Therefore, only a very short musical audition is allowed (16 bars?) and a judgement is made based on the dramatic audition and a general idea of the "personality" of the voice. In this way the music or song does not cloud the decision with its emotional effect or the emotional impact that singer might have on the audition process if a whole dramatic moment (the complete song) is allowed to be heard.
It is common for theatre directors to find the musical portion of a Musical a "something" that gets in the way of the dramatic element. They tend to forget or not recognize that the music IS the dramatic element in a well written musical.
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