Discover the 4 types of songs that should be on your practice session work list.

Do you look at your enormous repertoire book and wonder where to start when it’s time for your at-home practice?

Do you start practice warming up by singing through songs, only to find you haven’t learned anything new or honed any skills by the end of the hour?

If you’ve ever struggled with knowing what to work on during your at-home practice or felt like you weren’t practicing with specific intention of honing a skill or pursuing a dream role, then this is the episode for you.

In this episode, Korrie teaches you how to create a TARGETED WORK LIST that will move you toward your performing goals.

Your work list will be full of songs specifically selected to improve your skills, prepare you for auditions, and move you toward your performance goals.

Broadway veteran and award-winning director, Thomas James O’Leary, lifts the veil and shares his journey to Broadway where he played title role in Phantom of the Opera for over 1,000 performances.

In this in-depth episode, Tom shares loads of lessons about rising through the ranks of some of the greatest mega musicals in history (Les Miserable, Chess, Miss Saigon) as well as the specific performance techniques that helped him break through to playing the lead role of the Phantom.

If you’re a megamusical history buff, a Phantom fan, or just looking for helpful tips about being a better performer, then this episode is for you!

Listen to the whole episode now, or use the time stamps below to navigate to specific topics.

Are you an Actor/Singer who wants more confidence in your singing voice? Or are you a Singer/Actor who feels like your vocal technique goes out the window when you start acting more fully?

In this episode, I reveal how acting gets in the way of singing with a beautiful tone. Then I talk about 3 easy concepts to think about as you’re singing that will give you more consistent resonance, better intonation, and more control over your vocal colors - all without sacrificing your acting intentions.

Once you implement these 3 vocal concepts, you’ll have more control over your voice and can lean into singing and using the melody to help tell your story.

If you’re ready to gain confidence in your vocal tone and access more storytelling options for your songs, then press play now!

Are you constantly hitting a wall in the audition room? You know you have what it takes to play the role, but the director just doesn’t seem to get it?

What you need is to identify your niche.

In this episode, we’ll uncover the powerful concept of niche. We’ll discuss what niche is and how to identify your niche so that you can communicate clearly to the director the assets you bring to the table.

Once you’ve defined your niche, you will communicate exactly who you are and how you fit into the show you’re auditioning for, making it super easy for the director to envision you in their show and move you into the yes pile.

If you’re ready to find clarity about your strengths and start booking the gig, then press play today!

Learn how to unlock the secret of SONG FORM by analyzing common structural formulas of melodic form.

Today’s episode concludes our 3-part series on MELODY and how it tells a story. We’ll examine how to identify phrase lengths, how to discover the structural formula your phrases are following, and how a song’s form emerges from phrase groups, more commonly called “song sections.”

Once you understand the form of the song, you’ll be able to trace your character’s transformation throughout the song by identifying where the main sections of the song are. Then you can create clear beat shifts for your character as the sections change.

I analyze song examples from Tin Pan Alley, the Golden Age, and contemporary musical theatre so you can see common song form formulas at work across several eras. Plus, you’ll finally know exactly where the numbers for 16 and 32 bar audition cuts come from!

If you want the confidence to analyze any song and communicate like a seasoned music professional in your next rehearsal or voice lesson, then press play now!

Want to refresh your audition book, but not sure where to start? This episode gives you an easy 3-step exercise to jumpstart the process of cleaning out your book and finding the songs that will really move the needle in your career.

I’ve been hearing from a lot of coaching clients that they want to work on their audition books.

They feel like they haven’t changed the material in ages, they want new material that better fits them, something fresh, more contemporary feel – which I take to mean that it feels part of today’s theatre world. Not that they don’t want classic or older material, but they want it feel fresh to them and like it will work for the shows that people are doing these days.

So, I thought I’d give you a little peek into how I approach working with a client to refresh their audition book. These are the exact 3 questions I send out in preliminary emails to my clients.

If you want a little jumpstart to get you energized about cleaning out your audition book, then press play today!

Learn 6 different types of motivic development and how motives provide the architecture of a melody.

Today’s episode continues our 3-part series on MELODY and how it tells a story. We’ll examine what a motive is and how we can alter and develop them to create variation and interest throughout the melody.

Once you understand the logic of the architecture of the melody, you can make your own informed and personal choices about how you want to interpret a song. You’ll know when to stick to the ink (when the writing is genius as is – hello, Sondheim!), and you’ll know when there’s flexibility and room for you stylistic flair to be added.

I’ll cover a range of song examples from jazz standards to Golden Age classics, from Sondheim to contemporary Disney movie musicals. ALL songs are comprised of motives and utilize motivic development!

If you’re ready to reach a new level of understanding and interpreting your songs, then press play now!

In this 3-part series, I’m dissecting melodic composition and how it impacts storytelling in song. I’ll be answering the questions: What is melody? How is it constructed? And most importantly, how does melody tell a story of its own?

This episode zeroes in on melodic contour and how it can elevate your interpretation of lyrics. I walk you through specific song examples while I discuss conjunct and disjunct motion, melodic focal points, and a melody’s inner landscape of hills and valleys.

When you learn these building blocks of melodic construction, you’ll be able to analyze a melody for yourself, communicate better with the music director, and make personal choices about how you want to interpret the melody.

If you want to feel more empowered to make unique interpretive choices for your song, then press play now!

Xo,

Korrie

In this episode I get personal as I share my journey of reading The Artist’s Way and doing one particular exercise -- READING DEPRIVATION. Sound scary? Hate the idea immediately? Well, If you’re brain is feeling fried or like you’ve got constant static going on, then it might be exactly what you need.

After just 5 days reading deprivation and giving up social media for a week, I’ve experienced clarity and peace that I didn’t even know was missing from my mind!

I also do a check in with you about the podcast and where it’s heading. And, I reveal a few things my intuition told me I needed that were not expected!

If you’re ready for some REAL TALK about what it’s like to have a podcast, run a business, AND preserve your artistic soul, then press play, and let’s get into it.

Learn five advanced techniques for clarifying your storytelling and improving your vocal performance. Spoiler alert: these aren’t the things everyone talks about! I’m going to lay out the 5 MOST COMMON MISTAKES I see singers make when interpreting their songs in an audition. I’ll also discuss WHY they’re so important and HOW YOU CAN FIX these mistakes. Once you learn these advanced techniques, you’ll never worry about blending in with the rest of the crowd again. Your detailed, nuanced performance will show you for the superstar you are.

Ready to stand out from the rest? Then press play, and let’s get into it.

xo,

Korrie

ps - Head over to the RESOURCES page for FREE pdfs that will help you on your auditioning journey. Or JOIN THE EMAIL LIST right here so you get them delivered to your inbox as soon as they’re available.

Master voice teacher and operatic tenor, Enrique Toral, shares his refreshingly organic approach to interpreting a song and singing it with YOUR true voice.

Have you ever struggled to find your unique voice? Or, maybe you’ve worried that you don’t sound as good as your favorite singer or cast recording?

Enrique Toral, a performing artist who has won acclaim across the United States and Europe, pulls back the curtain on his own vocal pedagogy and how he works with singers to find their true voice by singing the truth of the song. He talks about the time he lost his voice because he was hearing someone else’s voice in his head. He also lets us into his own process of preparing music, with many of his rehearsal habits involving mind work and not vocal work.

I also picked his brain in particular about falsetto – especially, how men can access falsetto in a healthy way – as we start to see shows like Hadestown make more demand of this technique on actors.

If you’re looking for your true voice, the one that ONLY YOU can produce, then press play, and take a listen to this episode TODAY.

Today, I’m talking about the power of CREATING CONTEXT for your song, and how it trumps all the high notes and vocal gymnastics you could ever sing.

Join me as I talk about “the moment before,” plot conflict, what your character desires, and how your character changes over the course of a show – all in the name of creating a beautiful, three-dimensional character who is on a JOURNEY in your audition song.

My friend, your audition is NOT about the high notes. It’s not even about YOUR VOICE. It’s about telling a STORY. The story comes first, the character’s journey comes first. That is the reason you are on stage in a musical. And if you can do that, then you will move the creative team and have them in the palm of your hand.

If you’re ready to take your audition to the next level with the power of CONTEXT, then press play, and let’s get into it.

Here are the 10 things I’m listening for when I’m looking for a great audition song.

As a musical theatre singer, you are constantly in the process of auditioning and putting yourself in front of creatives.

You’re looking at audition notices to find out what to bring for the music portion of the audition, and even though they may be pretty specific about what you should bring (e.g. 16 bars from musical theatre post 1960 or 80’s pop song not from a theatre show), you can still be left wondering what the best song choice from your book fits that description.

Enter, THE LIST. When I’m helping a singer pick out the best song for their audition, I have a list of things I’m listening for – 10 traits that I think make a great audition song, specifically a great song for the specific show their going out for.

The secret?

In today’s episode, I share my own story of tuning into my intuition and getting out of my own way. I talk about how I was afraid to sit down to record this podcast episode, and how I overcame that anxiety by asking the simple question - why are you resisting this?

Have you ever procrastinated on a project or gotten anxiety about pushing record on our self-tape. Are you crippled by thoughts like “why is this so hard?,” “maybe I’m not meant to do this?,” and “maybe I’m not good enough.” Are creative endeavors that used to bring you joy suddenly burdensome?

Well, before you throw in the towel or just resign yourself to living with anxiety, imagine stopping and asking yourself this question.

Why are you resisting this?

Today we’re going to be talking about 3 easy ways to instantly sing better. EVEN IF your range has decreased, even if you’re feeling out of shape physically. Do these 3 things and you WILL instantly sound like a better singer.

I’ve been hearing from so many singers that they are having anxiety about “getting back out there” in the audition scene and on the stage. Not only are they feeling that their voices are rusty and have lost range, but they’re not sure they can handle the scrutiny and stress of going to auditions, being judged, the constant trying to prove themselves.

I think this last year has been a welcome relief for many people, where they were able to put down the constant low-level anxiety they felt about auditioning and trying to make it as a performer. It’s been nice not to have that insecurity insistently buzzing inside of us at all times.

But, now that we’re seeing audition notices going up and you might be thinking to yourself, “do I want to pick that up again??”

I’m guessing, no, you don’t want to pick anxiety back up. But, if you want to perform, you do need to pick up your daily practice back up. You need to start singing again.

So, let’s get you some easy wins right off the bat.

If you’re interested in auditioning for Hadestown or being on the creative team for a future production, then check this episode out. I break down the musical score, talk about each character and their vocal requirements, give you a list of artists to look at for audition material, talk through a summary of the show, and give a little background on the creative team.

Whether you’ve listened to the cast album already or are just getting into this show, today’s breakdown will deepen your insight into what this show is about and what the creative is looking for when casting.

I’ve also created this Hadestown Show Breakdown Sheet for you to print out and use as you look for music and prepare for the show.

From being a self-described ‘cancer’ happy just doing her own thing to a piano-playing comedienne headlining at The Comedy Store, Kathryn walks us through how she created a career for herself where there was no established path to follow. Kathryn reveals the quotes that changed her approach to creativity, how to craft a cabaret show that is completely unique to YOU, what she’s looking for from vocalists in auditions, and the overarching importance of authenticity in your performance.

Kathryn is incredibly insightful and generous and she dropped some amazing truth bombs during this interview that had me ready to get out my OWN notebook and do THE WORK.

If you’re not sure how to combine all your interests, skills, and talents into one beautiful, aligned career, then press play and take a listen to this episode!

Today, we’re talking about RESETTING your audition book so that it is working FOR you and not AGAINST you. Yes, did you ever think that your audition book might actually be stopping you from booking gigs? That is NOT what you want. You want a book where every song is chosen for a specific purpose and is helping you book the work you want to book.

As we move into Spring of 2021, theaters are beginning to post audition notices and accept submissions for their upcoming seasons. This is sooooo heartening and gets me all amped up about seeing shows again and seeing theatre people getting back to work.

But, my question for you today is: Is your audition book ready????

Do you have your audition cuts selected, and cut neatly, and rehearsed so you can record your selftape the minute you get the audition notice?

For many of us, this past year has been one of NOT SINGING very much. You may not be feeling like you’re in top vocal condition. And your audition book may be feeling a little neglected and out of date. Today’s show is going to help you change that!

It’s time for an audition book RESET.

Today, I’m going to help you completely reset your book and get yourself on track to start auditioning again.

In this episode, I talk about the specific song forms that are common to pop music and the most common ways to cut your pop song to get all the juicy vocal stuff AND the storytelling pieces you want for theatre.

At first, it can seem like there are infinite options and how do you figure out the best one for your audition.

But, once you know the song forms, you’ll discover that there are really just a few options to pick from and the whole process is really quite simple.

In this show, I’ll dissect the 4 basic song sections - Verse, Chorus, Bridge, and Prechorus – and tell you how they function lyrically and musically in the song.

I’ll also tell you how you can implement them for a 16 bar cut and a 32 bar cut, and we’ll look at specific song examples to illustrate it in action.

In this episode, I share the 6 main attitudes of rock music that should form the foundation of your rock auditions.

Ever wonder why your rock auditions are missing the mark? You’ve got the right song, the right cut, the right range, the right pop “isms,” but there’s still something that’s “off.”

I see this all the time in students, and it can be super frustrating for them because they seem to have it ALL TOGETHER.

What’s that certain something that is missing? I call it ATTITUDE.

More than just being “angsty” or “sexy” or “groovy,” ATTITUDE grows from something much deeper. Attitude is your world view. How you walk through life everyday. Your demeanor, your disposition, the ways you interact with the world. That banner that you raise up high and say, “this is what I stand for.” That’s attitude.

In rock music, performers’ attitudes and world views can be boiled down to 6 main archetypes - the Rebel, the Seductress, the Life of the Party, the Sage, the Epic, and the Confessor.