Les Miserables: Vocal Selections are Great Ideas for Musical Auditions

As most of you already know, I am an actress. What most of you probably don't know is that I started my acting career in musicals.

That's right, I sing. At least, I used to. You'd be hard-pressed to find people who come out to LA to be theatre actors... That's what NY is for. But, every now and then, I will audition for a musical.

At most musical auditions, you are required to bring at least 16 bars of music. Some will call for a ballad while others call for an up-tempo song. Some may even call for both.

That's why I love Les Miserables: Vocal Selections. It's 80 pages filled with 14 songs from the hit Broadway musical. These songs (with their characters) are:

At the End of the Day (Unemployed & Factory Workers)
I Dreamed a Dream (Fantine)
Who Am I? (Valjean)
Castle on a Cloud (Young Cosette)
Master of the House (Thenadier, his wife & customers)
Stars (Javert)
Do You Hear The People Sing? (Enjolras, Students & Citizens)
In My Life (Cosette & Marius)
A Heart Full of Love (Cosette, Marius & Eponine)
On My Own (Eponine)
A Little Fall of Rain (Eponine & Marius)
Drink With Me (Grantaire, Students & Women)
Bring Him Home (Valjean)
Empty Chairs at Empty Tables (Marius)

For those that aren't familiar with Les Miserables, there is a preface by the creator, Alain Boublil, as well as a summary that spans six pages. Interspersed on these pages are photos of various productions and the famous drawing of Eponine (the girl in the beret).

The music is broken down in three staffs. The top staff is the melody, and it is VERY easy for anyone who knows the notes on the piano to pluck them out. Underneath the notes of the melody are the words to the song. The two staffs below the words contain the melody with the chords (the treble clef) and the bass clef. It's not too complicated to play either. That makes Les Miserables: Vocal Selections an excellent gift for someone who is just starting to learn piano or who is self-taught (like me).

The songs contained in this book are excellent for any person to use in an audition. That is, anyone except for a little boy. That bugs me, because there is a really good song entitled Little People, sung by Gavroche. It is absolutely PERFECT for boys under the age of 14 to audition with. He also has a solo in Look Down, which is the song that opens the play but isn't featured in this book. I suppose a young boy could get away with singing Castle on a Cloud, but it just isn't the same.

If you're a seasoned singer or pianist, the music in here isn't very challenging. Honestly, the songs in Les Miserables aren't too vocally challenging-- They just need to be delivered well. If you're looking for something a little more complicated as a pianist, get the Les Miserables Original Score. It's what they use in the show. For something a bit more challenging as a singer, I'd go with a different show. Try Phantom of the Opera.

But, if you're a musician or a singer (or singing actor) looking for something easy yet classic, Les Miserables: Vocal Selections is an excellent choice for you. Songs from Les Miserables were discouraged from auditions during the 90s because they were SO common. Now, it's completely safe to use.