{"id":50,"date":"2026-09-07T23:22:57","date_gmt":"2026-09-07T23:22:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/richardhurst.client-demo-websites.com\/?p=50"},"modified":"2026-09-22T21:47:40","modified_gmt":"2026-09-22T21:47:40","slug":"richard-hursts-practical-guide-to-musical-theatre-repertoire","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/richardhurst.client-demo-websites.com\/index.php\/2026\/09\/07\/richard-hursts-practical-guide-to-musical-theatre-repertoire\/","title":{"rendered":"Richard Hurst\u2019s Practical Guide to Musical-Theatre Repertoire"},"content":{"rendered":"

A singer can possess a beautiful voice and still walk into an audition with the wrong song. That problem sits at the heart of Richard Hurst\u2019s<\/em><\/strong> What Should I Sing? Volume I<\/em>, a practical handbook built around a question performers have been asking for generations: Which piece gives this particular voice, age, character, and artistic identity the strongest chance to speak?<\/p>\n

Richard Hurst\u2019s answer is not a magic list of audition favorites. It is a research-minded approach to repertoire.<\/p>\n


\nThe Question<\/strong><\/p>\n

The idea for the book began with a recurring scene in Richard’s early teaching career. At the end of performance class, auditions and coaching sessions, students would quietly ask what they should sing and\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 where they could find suitable material. Back then, the research was an obstacle in itself. Recordings weren’t always available and only radio and television provided a one-time experience. Vocal scores were very expensive and cheaper. Vocal Selections books were often simplified or altered arrangements of the scores.<\/p>\n

Volume I was created as a response. It offers more than 1,300 Musical Theatre titles, each accompanied by technical information, background, performance commentary and cautions for preparation. The author stresses that the performer still has to do the work; the book is intended as a set of stepping stones rather than a substitute for artistic judgment.<\/p>\n

More Than a Range<\/strong><\/p>\n

One of the book\u2019s strengths is its refusal to reduce Repertoire selection to vocal range. Richard considers voice quality, age, character, musical style, difficulty, and dramatic circumstance. A song may sit comfortably within a singer\u2019s notes and still be completely wrong for the person performing it.<\/p>\n

The entries repeatedly ask performers to consider what the character is experiencing and why the music behaves as it does. In My House<\/em> from Matilda<\/em>, for example, the author links the vocal approach to Miss Honey\u2019s emotional state, advising against an overly forceful upper register because the character is not that kind of person.<\/p>\n

That distinction is crucial. The strongest audition selection is not necessarily the song that shows the largest note. It may be the one that permits an actor to reveal intelligence, restraint, humor, vulnerability, or authority within a few minutes.<\/p>\n


\nLet the Character Sing<\/strong><\/p>\n

Richard Hurst\u2019s coaching repeatedly returns to the relationship between words and music. In Easy as Life<\/em> from Aida<\/em>, he advises separating lyrics from melody during preparation so the performer can identify changes in thought and emotional direction before adding vocal decoration.<\/p>\n

The same principle appears in lighter material. Don\u2019t Tell Mama<\/em> from Cabaret requires attention to tempo, diction, and physical choices because its comedy depends on clarity rather than sheer speed.<\/p>\n

A Working Companion<\/strong><\/p>\n

Volume I is ultimately valuable because it treats Repertoire as a living artistic decision. Its pages encourage performers to ask better questions: Who is singing? What has happened before the song? What does the character want? What does the music demand? What should remain unsaid?<\/p>\n

For students, coaches and working Musical Theatre Artists, those questions can prevent an audition from becoming a display of vocal ability alone.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Takeaway<\/strong><\/p>\n

What Should I Sing? Volume I<\/em> gives performers something more useful than a collection of song titles: a method for choosing with intention. It reminds singers that the right piece is not merely one they can sing. It is one they can inhabit.<\/p>\n

Ready to choose Repertoire with greater precision? Pick up Richard Hurst\u2019s What Should I Sing? Volume I and let the next song tell the strongest story the performer has to offer.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A singer can possess a beautiful voice and still walk into an audition with the wrong song. That problem sits at the heart of Richard Hurst\u2019s What Should I Sing? Volume I, a practical handbook built around a question performers have been asking for generations: Which piece gives this particular voice, age, character, and artistic […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":29,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-50","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/richardhurst.client-demo-websites.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/richardhurst.client-demo-websites.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/richardhurst.client-demo-websites.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/richardhurst.client-demo-websites.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/richardhurst.client-demo-websites.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=50"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/richardhurst.client-demo-websites.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":70,"href":"https:\/\/richardhurst.client-demo-websites.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50\/revisions\/70"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/richardhurst.client-demo-websites.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/29"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/richardhurst.client-demo-websites.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=50"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/richardhurst.client-demo-websites.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=50"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/richardhurst.client-demo-websites.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=50"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}