40 Outstanding Pre-Contemporary Audition Songs
Looking for a great pre-contemporary showtune for an upcoming audition or project? Well, first you should check out our giant database of audition songs for specific musicals. But if your show hasn’t yet been covered by us, you can go through these pre-contemporary audition songs (from the 1970s-1990s) sorted by vocal type.
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First Step: Read your audition details
Please read your audition details carefully, as they sometimes specify the type of song they’d like to hear (a ballad, something uptempo, etc.). Make sure to select a song that’s appropriate for your specific casting call.
Altos
“Goodbye, My Love” – Ragtime
“Now That I’ve Seen Her” – Miss Saigon
“Take That Look Off Your Face” – Tell Me on a Sunday
“The Music and the Mirror” – A Chorus Line
“Time Heals Everything” – Mack & Mabel
Baritones
“Beautiful City” – Godspell
“I Promise You a Happy Ending” – Mack & Mabel
“Look Over There” – La Cage aux Folles
“Some Girls” – Once on This Island
“Something Was Missing” – Annie
Basses
“Father to Son” – Falsettos
“In My Own Lifetime” – The Rothschilds
“Marry Me” – The Rink
“There’s Always One You Can’t Forget” – Dance a Little Closer
“Three is a Magic Number” – Schoolhouse Rock Live!
Contras
“As If We Never Said Goodbye” – Sunset Boulevard
“Like It Was” – Merrily We Roll Along
“Maybe” – Miss Saigon
“Magic to Do” – Pippin
“The Past Is Another Land” – Aida
Psst… Here’s where you can find out your vocal type!
Mezzo-Sopranos
“Blame It on the Summer Night” – Rags
“Do It Alone” – Parade
“Come Down from the Tree” – Once on This Island
“I’m Not Afraid of Anything” – Songs for a New World
“When Will Someone Hear?” – Martin Guerre
Sopranos
“How Could I Ever Know?” – The Secret Garden
“I’m Leaving You” – The Life
“Melodie de Paris” – Phantom
“Moonfall” – The Mystery of Edwin Drood
“No One Knows Who I Am” – Jekyll & Hyde
Tenors
“Bring Him Home” – Les Misérables
“How Did They Build the Titanic?” – Titanic
“I Chose Right” – Baby
“Love Changes Everything” – Aspects of Love
“No Moon” – Titanic
Trebles
“Getting Tall” – Nine
“Little People” – Les Misérables
“Neat to Be a Newsboy” – Working
“No Matter What” – Whistle Down the Wind
“The Beautiful Day” – Scrooge!
Want more songs? Check out these DIY Rep Books for EVERY vocal type!
Which of these pre-contemporary audition songs did you choose?
And what are you working on at the moment? Feel free to share in the comments below!
Author: Stacy Karyn
Stacy Karyn is the founder of Theatre Trip, author of The Thespian’s Bucket List, and creator of The Cast Album List. She holds a BA in theatre, a TESOL drama certificate, and has worked and interned with Broadway and Off-Broadway theaters.