What should be in my rep book?
"This" is a big question that many people might give you many different answers to.
The number one thing you should make sure is your book should be made up of songs that YOU love to sing and that resonate with YOU! Everyone and their mother (literally) will have their opinion about what you "should" be singing and why. I am sure there is great reason behind it, but most important it must be a reflection of who you are and what your artistry is. That is when you will find sucess and happiness with what you are sharing in the audition room. Your book should have the following categories:
Traditional Musical Theatre - Uptempo - Ballad Contemporary Musical Theatre - Uptempo - Ballad Contemporary Driving Dramatic (It's a big song with a big arc!) Comedic Pop/ Rock (It is nice to have a few genres within this category like 90s rock or 70s disco- just do what you do best!) Country |
If you are starting from the ground up and looking to build your first rep book, get yourself a nice respectable binder. Keep it simple it and neat.
You will want to break you binder up into sections. You don't have to get dividers, but some people find it helpful. You should also keep a song index in the front of your book, not only to remind yourself what you have, but you can quickly offer suggestions incase you are asked to perform another selection Make sure all your music is in the right key and not transposed by hand or lead charts. Make sure your music is the full arrangement. Make sure what is "on the page" is exactly how you would like it to be played. How do I "cut" my music?
You should have full "audition cuts" for all the songs you keep in your book. You should also have a 32 bar and a 16 bar cut for each song either clearly marked or on a separte page ready to go at anytime for auditions. Sometimes you never know what you are going to be asked to do... |