REPERTOIRE

This is a mammoth project which I have been working on since 1997.  It began in my imagination as a book.  One day it will be a book.  However, because the content is huge and constantly being updated,  I am working with a friendly IT specialist to turn it into a searchable database for a website,  with access by pay-per-search or by annual subscription for institutions and heavy users.  There’s still a lot of work to be done before it’s web-ready.  I’ll keep updating you on our progress.  In the meantime,  here’s a short explanation of the project. 

Imagine a list of ideal audition solo songs gleaned from the last 120 years of musical theatre,  classified by voice type,  arranged in groups of ballads or up-tempo songs,   with the name of the show they come from ,  the composer, and the date of the show.

            ‘I need a slow baritone ballad written by Cole Porter’

…listed alphabetically by composer

            ‘I need an up-tempo comic piece from the 1980’s for a mezzo-soprano’

…listed chronologically         

            ‘I can’t remember the name of that big tenor ballad  in Rent”

…listed alphabetically by show

            ‘Who sings that song in the show?’

…naming the character who performs the song in the show

            ‘Wasn’t there a movie of that one?’

…indicating each show with a movie or TV special related to it 

            ‘Is this song inappropriate for my age?’

…showing songs appropriate to a specific age group

Now,  imagine what this index will look like…

What’ll I do?  :  Music Theatre Repertoire QuickLists

by Pat Wilson

Repertoire QuickLists are not just a comprehensive list of songs in the music theatre repertoire.  They are select lists of tried-and-tested solo songs chosen by a musical director and singing teacher with more than twenty-five years’ experience in the trade.  She has chosen the material which she has found to be most effective for audition or solo concert purposes.  Because of the QuickLists’ unique indexing,  they provide performers, teachers, researchers and programmers with a number of different ways to access the range of details which identify each song.

Young performers who need to learn more about the genre,  directors and musical directors planning concert, revue and cabaret material,  educators designing effective courses,  singing teachers and vocal coaches continually trying to bring their students in contact with as wide a range of available music theatre audition songs:  all these, and more,  will find QuickLists to be invaluable reference tools.

Nuts and Bolts:  Over 1,200 songs from more than 320 different musicals,  both British and American,  written by more than 120 different composers,  and ranging from 1879 to 2005,  are listed under multiple criteria which enable users to locate precisely the sort of song they need.

Music theatre solo songs are indexed by

• Title
• Show title
• Composer
• Date of Composition
• Voice type (Soprano/Mezzo/Tenor/baritone)
• Tempo  (Up-tempo/Ballad)

Each song entry lists voice type, title of song, tempo, the name of the character who sang it in the show,  the title of the show,  the name of the composer,  and its date of composition.  In addition,  information about the style of the song (e.g.:  comic,  character, torch,  lyrical, narrative, showstopper, dramatic…etc.) may also be included.  Every song also has an indication of its emotional colours;  three descriptors which give an indication of how the singer’s character may well feel.  For instance,  the song ‘Gliding’  from Ragtime,  is indexed as ‘comforting, imaginative, persuasive’.  ‘Get happy’,  from Arlen’s The Nine-fifteen Revue is listed as ‘evangelical, joyous, encouraging’.  Thus, you can get an idea of the nature of an unfamiliar song.

Since no publication has yet,  to date,  drawn all these disparate pieces of information together in to the one place,  let alone designed multiple-level accessing for cross-reference enquiry,  this new resource holds an unique place in the literature of music theatre.  In effect,  Repertoire QuickLists work like search engines which quickly tailor information to enquirers’ needs.

There is also a comprehensive film index,  enabling interested students to locate either films based on like Broadway shows,  or films which served as the basis for subsequent live musical theatre shows. 

If you’re in music theatre,  it’s about to become your phone book.