Musical Theatre Regulations
Below is an excerpt out of the Musical Theatre Category Guide.
| Regulation | Requirement |
|---|---|
| Accompaniment | A live collaborative pianist is required for in-person MT auditions. A piano-only accompaniment track is allowed only for video auditions in MT. |
| Acting | In an MT audition, a singer is portraying a character telling a story. A story requires a distinct beginning, middle, and ending. When integral to the character and storytelling, physical movement is essential. Movement that does not serve to facilitate the character’s communication should be avoided. Fully danced choreography should be avoided. |
| Age Appropriate | Selections should be appropriate in technical difficulty, musical style, language, subject matter, and performance demands, allowing the singer to perform with musical accuracy, comprehension, and efficient vocal production. Teachers should carefully consider emotional content, staging, choreography, gestures, and physical interactions. Repertoire involving mature romantic relationships, sexuality, abuse, violence, addiction, suicide, or other adult themes is generally not appropriate for Children and Youth categories. Selections should reflect emotions, experiences, and performance expectations that the singer can communicate authentically and age-appropriately. |
| Contrasting Selections | Contrasting selections will vary in tempo, text, dramatic content, composer, character portrayed, vocal colors, and style of music. Two or more songs by the same composer is a violation of this regulation and renders the singer Ineligible to Advance. Substantial variety among selections should result in a higher preliminary audition score. |
| Double Dipping | Singers entering NSA categories — Classical, Commercial Music, Musical Theatre, and/or Spirituals — may not use the same selection in more than one category. |
| Judicious Cuts | Full, complete selections are required; however, judicious cuts in piano introductions, piano interludes, piano postludes, and internal cuts within selections are allowed as is common professional performance practice. Cuts of a verse or verses of selections are not allowed. |
| Memorization | All repertoire must be performed from memory. |
| Musical Theatre Song Literature | MT Song Literature is defined as songs by a composer of musicals. It includes songs cut from musicals, songs from unfinished musicals, songs from unproduced musicals, songs written specifically for musical theatre artists, or cabaret-styled musical theatre songs not from a musical. |
| Musical Theatre Selections | Repertoire is selected from staged musicals; filmed versions of staged musicals; musical films; animated, televised, or internet musicals; revues; operettas; theatrical song cycles; televised or streamed musical series; and musical theatre song literature. Only one of the required selections may be an operetta aria or from musical theatre song literature. |
| Original Language | Selections must be sung in the original language or in translation as warranted by common professional performance practice. |
| Repertoire Limitations | Singers are adjudicated on their individual artistry, vocal technique, musicianship, and interpretation through the performance of solo repertoire. Repertoire originally written for duets, trios, quartets, or larger ensembles in a production is not permitted. A limited exception is made for published solo editions approved by the copyright holder — authorized arrangements that preserve the complete original solo line while omitting only incidental chorus or ensemble passages. |
| Transposition | Transpositions that are available for purchase by a publishing company are permitted. Singers are expected to retain the composer’s intended style and convey the essence of the character portrayed in the larger work. Octave displacement is considered a transposition. |
