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Amanda Zaida
Thoroughly Modern Mandy

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Amanda Hansen Sep 28, 2020 6 min read

Try This Instead: 15 "Overdone" Female Audition Songs and

What You Can Try Instead.

Hello All!!!
I am so sorry I have not posted in a while but I do have several drafts started so I should be posting
more often now!

So today I wanted to discuss "overdone" songs...

An "overdone" song or a song on the "Do Not Sing List" is usually a song that is done often at
auditions currently. Usually consists of songs currently on Broadway, or songs from shows such as
Wicked, Les Miserables, or Thoroughly Modern Millie.

We all probably have at least one "overdone" song in our books. I know I have several (many on
this list lol). So here are some alternative songs to try that are inspired by some "overdone" songs
that might be in your book.

(I have based the "overdone" songs on this list based off of some research over the years as well as
my own personal experience hearing certain songs sung by multiple people in college.)

1. "Right Hand Man" ( Something Rotten )

Try Instead: "I'm Your Man" (Meet John Doe) or "See What It Gets You" (Anyone Can Whistle).

"I'm Your Man" Heidi Blickenstaff (54 Below)

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"Anything you need done, I'm the one for the job."

Molly Pope - "See What It Gets You" (Stephen Sondheim)

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"And if I'm not ready and lightheaded, I can't stand here dumb. So, ready or not, here-I hope-I
come!"

2. "Pulled" ( The Addams Family )

Try Instead: "I Want More" (Lestat) or "Circus" by Drew Gasparini

I Want More (LESTAT)

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"Don't chastise me, I'm a child acting as a child does. You ply me with lifeless dolls when what I
want is blood."

Lindsay Mendez - "Circus" by Drew Gasparini

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"Just the thought of him can take you to some new dimension, so you do what you can just to get
his attention, it drives you to boil, right up till you spill, It can drive you to bliss, It can drive you to
kill."

*"Circus" is honestly one of my favorite musical theatre songs of all time hehe.

3. "Maybe I Like It This Way" ( The Wild Party )

Try Instead: "This Is Not Love" (Lizzie) or "The Love I Long For" (Sadie Thompson)

NEW VOICES :: "This Is Not Love"

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"I want to feel that I can fall and not be made to feel a fool. I wanna look up and see a bright light
shining through."

07 The Love I Long For (Sadie Thompson)

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"Too late says a voice inside me."

4. "Vanilla Ice Cream" ( She Loves Me )

Try Instead: "What Happened To Me Tonight?" (Kwamina), "I've Been Invited To A Party" (The Girl
Who Came To Supper), or "Show Me" (My Fair Lady)

12 What Happened to Me Tonight_

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"Can this change that I feel, really be real, or will it fade away?"

I've Been Invited to a Party

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"Before the night is through I'll be drinking champagne out of everyone's shoe."

*This is such a cute underrated song that has so many potential options!

Julie Andrews - Show Me - My Fair Lady - Color

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"Don't talk of stars burning above. If you're in love, show me."

5. "I Can Cook Too" ( On The Town )

Try Instead: "Raunchy" (110 In The Shade), "The Love of My Life" (Brigadoon), or "I Wanna Get
Married" (Follow The Girls).

2013 Jimmy Awards Sarah Lynn Marion Solo

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"When the men folks see me shimmy by gonna break right out in shingles 'cause I'm guaranteed to
satisfy"

Real Love Of My Life- Brigadoon

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"He had lots of charm an' a certain kind o' touch, an a certain kind of eagerness that pleased me
very much."

*The little things in this song are SO GOOD and the choices you can make are endless.

18 I Wanna Get Married [Follow the Girls]

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"I wanna get married. I wanna get spliced. I long to be knotted and see my friends potted. I
wanna be confettied and riced"

6. "All Falls Down" ( Chaplin )

Try Instead: "Turn Back, O Man" (Godspell 2012), Jenny's Blues (It Shoulda Been You), or "You
Can Always Count On Me" (City of Angels)

Allison Winkel- Turn Back O' Man

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"Earth might be fair and all men glad and wise. Age after age their tragic empires rise"

*THAT ENDING BELT

Jenny's Blues (from It Shoulda Been You) - 2015 Drama Desk Awards
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"I pulled this off without a glitch. So say goodbye, I'm done. I'm gonna have some fun. I'm tired of
being your bitch."

*I do think "Jenny's Blues" is becoming more popular (I have been hearing it more often) so keep
that in mind.

Bethany Fagan sings 'You Can Always Count On Me' from City of Angels
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"Men don't give a warranty."

7. "When He Sees Me" ( Waitress )

Try Instead: "Good Thing He Can't Read My Mind" by Christine Lavin, "Gotta Get Out" (Ordinary
Days), or "Stranger Here Myself" (One Touch of Venus)

It's a Good Thing He Can't Read My Mind (Live)

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"I am not complaining I'm just making observations. Expanding your horizons is a sign of
maturation."

Gotta Get Out

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"Trust me I'm not crazy I can see you making faces in the rearview mirror."

Maggie McDowell - I'm a Stranger Here Myself (One Touch of Venus)

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"I'm unfamiliar with this part. I am a stranger here myself"

8. "A Summer In Ohio" OR "Climbing Uphill" ( The

Last 5 Years )

Try Instead: "Getting There" (in transit), "Do What I Do" (in transit) or "Daphne Dreams" (Fly By
Night)

Getting There (From "In Transit: Broadway's First A Cappella Musical"/Au…

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"So this is what it feels like to be here, instead of getting there."

Lindsay Mendez Sings "Do What I Do" from IN TRANSIT on Seth Speaks
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"I told myself I'd be on Broadway by thirty but I blinked, and poof! I turned thirty-three."

Daphne Dreams
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"I won't ever feel complete reading plays from off a page. Watching, sitting from my seat. I won't
stop until I'm center stage!"

9. "Here I Am" ( Dirty Rotten Scoundrels )

Try Instead: "Shimmy Like They Do In Paree" (Death Takes A Holiday), "I Never Met A Wolf Who
Didn't Love To Howl" (Bombshell/ SMASH), or "The 20th Century Fox Mambo" (Bombshell/
SMASH)

Shimmy Like They Do In Paree

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"We'll shake and shimmy, pushing the bounds of taste"

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