How to make a 16-bar cut
Panels often ask for 16 or 32 bars of a song instead of the full song. You choose the bars, mark them on your sheet music and hand the book to a pianist who is sight-reading. A clear cut gives you the best chance of the music sounding the way you rehearsed it.
What 16 and 32 bars mean
A bar is a measure of music. Broadway pianist Joel Decandio puts 16 bars at about 30 seconds, roughly one chorus, and 32 bars at about a minute. He also says counting bars exactly is an old habit; BroadwayWorld agrees that singing for about 30 seconds matters more than hitting 16 on the nose.
Schools can be stricter. The University of Cincinnati's CCM caps selections at 32 measures and says longer auditions will be stopped, and UCLA asks for two contrasting cuts of 16 to 32 bars each. When the requirements are written down, follow them.
Choosing the bars
Ensemble Schools says to pick the bars that show you best, rather than the first 16. It suggests the chorus into the bridge as a common choice, and says to let the cut run a bar or two long rather than stop on an awkward phrase. End where the song feels finished.
Give the pianist a short way in. BroadwayWorld suggests marking a four- or eight-count introduction, usually the two bars before your first note.
Marking the music
Decandio says you get about 20 seconds with the pianist. Show where the cut starts, where it jumps and where it ends, then set the tempo by singing a few bars while you tap the beat. He finds tempo words like "allegro" little help.
BroadwayWorld advises writing the tempo at the top, marking any tempo changes or slowing in bold, and circling the key and time signatures. If the cut starts partway through the score, write the key in. UCLA and CCM both ask for cuts that are clearly marked and music in the right key for you.
Guides disagree on keys. Ensemble Schools encourages musical theatre singers to keep the original key, while Musicnotes suggests checking the other keys a song is sold in. Choose the key you sing best and bring music printed in it.
The binder
Bring a full piano score, not a lead sheet. UCLA and the University of Northern Colorado both ask for pages printed double-sided in a three-ring binder. UCLA also accepts a bound music book, and Northern Colorado does not. Theatrefolk suggests a one-inch binder holding only the songs for that audition.
Lay the pages out so the cut opens as one spread. BroadwayWorld warns that printing a two-page cut back-to-back on one sheet adds a page turn. Singing For Dummies suggests taping single sheets together rather than stapling them. On sheet protectors the guides split: Dummies says use non-glare ones, Theatrefolk calls them optional, and BroadwayWorld notes that non-glare sleeves still glare under some audition lights.
Looking for a song to cut? See the lists for soprano, mezzo-soprano, alto and belter, tenor and baritone.
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Sources
- Musicnotes, finding your vocal audition piece (2019)
- Ensemble Schools, how to cut an audition song
- Joel Decandio, working with your audition pianist (Rose Center Theater)
- BroadwayWorld, preparing your audition book and working with accompanists
- University of Cincinnati CCM, musical theatre audition requirements
- UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television, musical theatre audition requirements
- University of Northern Colorado, musical theatre auditions
- Theatrefolk, creating your audition toolkit
- Pamelia Phillips, Singing For Dummies, preparing the music for your audition