Saturday Night Fever: Audition Tips

As I'm preparing students for auditions like this one, I like to keep track of the tips and resources I share with them so that others can benefit and give their very best on the day. I'll update this with new tools and thoughts leading up to the audition. Here we go!

Saturday Night Fever

Audition Date: 25-26 June | Dance Call Friday 1 July

Performance Dates: 19 November - 10 December 2022

Produced By: Riverlea Theatre

Book Your Audition: Full Audition Information

In this beloved ’70s throwback, Tony Manero, a nineteen-year-old Brooklynite paint store clerk, spends his weekends at a local disco, where he moonlights as the king of the dance floor.

When he and mesmerizing dancer Stephanie enter a dance competition, the pair’s professional partnership blossoms into a deep friendship, and challenges both to reflect on what’s important in life amidst rising social tensions and disillusionment.

Featuring the timeless hits of the Bee Gees, classic disco tracks, and new original songs, this reimagined version of Saturday Night Fever transports you back to the era of disco balls, platform boots, and white suits. Burn, baby, burn!

Audition Tips:

As always, read the audition information and instructions carefully and prepare what you have been asked for by the audition panel.

Show References

While the 1977 movie is a cult classic, it's quite a challenge finding good quality representation of the stage musical online. Here are a few resources I have been sharing with students to get a sense of the style of the show:

• Listen to the Original Broadway Cast Album (Apple Music) [This took some hunting. Be aware that since this 1998 recording who sings which songs has been altered].
• Watch this Press Reel for the Broadway production to get a sense of the style of the show.
• Watch the classic film starring John Travolta. The characters don't sing in the film, but the stage version is very similar and almost word for word in many places. 

Brooklyn Accent

• Many characters are noted as having a Brooklyn Accent. As well as the original film and trusty youtube, my favourite resource for students learning new accents is IDEA: The International Dialects of English Archive - here are the New York / Brooklyn recordings.

General Observations

• Songs need to tell a story. The key shift you need to make when singing a pop song in a musical is having the character that is singing want something.
  
  In musical theatre the character sings when speech alone is not enough to express what they need or how they feel.
  
  And they dance when singing and speaking falls short. It's a kind of emotional staircase that has to be earned through the strength of your intention.
  
  You need to have a clear sense of what has happened up to this point in the story to make the character need to sing.
  
  I want to x.
  
  I need you to y.
  
  What do you want and what tactics are you using to get it?
  
  If you can't work out where the song you've been asked to audition with fits into the character's journey in the show then you'll need to make a backstory of your own. Why might they be singing this? What do they want?
  
  Turn up to your audition with an opinion about what you are expressing. Then be willing to change if you get redirected by the creative team.
  
  
• Pratice with the provided backing track. In some cases the keys are different from the original artists recordings and you don’t want to get caught out singing higher or lower than you’re used to when you switch to the backing track.