Media Cards

• Choice of Repertory

  Tip Example text Because this is a “theater singing competition” and not a vocal competition, dramatic context and content are very important. Contestants should sing repertory that is appropriate for their vocal and acting ability, as well as age, type, and range. Although sometimes opera productions will ignore type and cast people strictly on voice, this is becoming less frequent. In musical theater, seldom do directors cast too far from age or type. Therefore, don’t choose a female character’s song if you’re a male; don’t sing a world-weary song of bitterness and disillusionment for a 45-year-old character (“Losing My Mind”) if you’re only 22. Instead, choose material that you could believably perform if cast in a full-scale professional production of the work. This will also lead you to material that you can better relate to from your own experience, allowing you to personalize and make more specific your reading of the excerpt. You should know the character, plot, situation, etc. of every number that you sing, and you should perform it in the version from the stage work (not an arrangement or popular song version). Think of the four selections as an opportunity to portray four different characters. Do NOT think of the musical theater songs as popular numbers existing outside of the dramatic property from which they’re taken. Perform them as you would an aria, in a dramatic context, in character. There is a time and place for jazz or cabaret versions, personal arrangements, and “updated” renditions, but the Lenya Competition is not it.

• Putting It Together

  Contestants should carefully consider not only their choices of a selection for each category, but the content, variety, and impact of the program as a whole. Judges have consistently rewarded contestants for a wide range of vocal idioms, musical styles, character types, and emotional dynamics. Avoid a program that will come across as “one-note” in terms of subject matter, tempo, vocal and dramatic range, and idiom. For example, while a program consisting of “What Good Would the Moon Be?,” “My White Knight,” “With You,” and “O mio babbino caro,” may show that you can sing in different genres, it does little to show diversity of vocal idiom or the range of characterizations or emotions you can communicate. If you have a number that is sure to make the audience laugh, can you follow it up with one that will make them cry? Can you deliver an internal, reflective monologue alongside a song that might be as corny as Kansas in August or as extroverted as a girl who can’t say no? You can show many sides of your talent over the course of four numbers, and the judges will expect to see the fullest range of what you are capable of. You might think of your program selection metaphorically as something akin to choosing your favorite outfits to take along on an important trip. Each should be something that you like to wear, that makes you feel comfortable, and that indicates who you are under differing circumstances, occasions, and settings. They should all “fit” so well that you feel good about putting them on.

• Performance Mode

  Singing theater songs or arias outside the theater or opera house is, of course, difficult and can seem awkward in the setting of a concert hall. But the Lenya Competition is not a recital, so, unless you are using the piano as part of your stage setting or as a prop or prop holder, get away from it! Nothing is more untheatrical than standing in the crook of the piano and “performing.” There is a wide range of possibilities for effectively conveying a theatrical number, ranging from the extreme of highly staged, stylized, or choreographed to near-motionless internalization. Don’t be afraid to move and to gesture, but it must originate from thought and mean something to the character. Artificial or unmotivated movement (“strolling,” “wandering,” “fidgeting”) is the quickest way to demonstrate “disconnectedness” from the character and to undermine truthfulness of the moment (not to mention the surest way to “upstage” yourself). Your material will often dictate what is appropriate. Obviously anything beyond the most minimal set-pieces and props (a letter, cell phone, or a chair, for example) will not be easily incorporated. But every song takes place “somewhere,” and you need to visualize that somewhere and then inhabit that space in your performance. These “somewheres” will, of course, change from number to number. Create your own dramatic environments. In general, don’t try to “play the room” as if this were a presentational performance to an audience, unless the selection is one of those numbers from musical theater and opera that are intended to be presentational, where you come down to the footlights and sing right to the audience (“Willkommen” from Cabaret and “One Life to Live” from Lady in the Dark, for example). If you perform one of these types of numbers, a change of mode will be obvious and appropriate.

• What to Wear

  Because this is not a recital or concert, you need not dress in formal attire, unless this is appropriate for the four characters you are playing. You may choose something casual or neutral, depending on what you’re performing. Some contestants have varied their appearance by removing/adding a jacket, cap, scarf, shoes, or tie. “Letting your hair down” or “rolling up your sleeves” can communicate a change of persona in your program. Be creative, but don’t feel compelled to “fully costume” each number. Less is probably more, as the context of your presentation is more akin to an audition than to a production.