Monday it was my turn to perform an audition song and work on it with Jason. I decide to sing "Part of Your World" from The Little Mermaid. I had sung it only once before for an audition a few years ago, but held onto it due to the amusing nature of the piece.
Jason had me sit in a chair like a mermaid and play with my hair (which was a sweatshirt wrapped around my head). I had no problem with this, by the way, because in 'actor school' things like this happen literally all the time. Anyway, the idea was to really play up the cheekiness of the piece I had selected. Then Jason took all of those props away from me. He told me to stand and sing to my other (or focal point). It was a much simpler and much more effective version of the song. It would be easy to play this song for laughs, but instead by playing the need of the character (never mind gender or a plethora of given circumstances) it gives the audition piece a weight that many people would not expect it to have.
On Wednesday everyone went down the line again and sang their audition song- this time applying Jason's notes. It was fantastic to see everyone become even more comfortable with their individual pieces. When it got to me, Jason mainly worked on my breath support and boy did I need it. Breathing while singing makes the song sound better and makes it easier to sing! Who would have thunk it?
Thursday was the auditions for the next USU production - A Year With Frog and Toad. Although not everyone is eligible for the show, auditioning is a great way to apply what you are learning to a practical situation. Along with an appropriate monologue I decided to sing "Part of Your World". I felt personally that my audition was middling, but it verified that this song is a valuable addition to my audition repertoire.
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