CABARET NIGHT Google Form. If you are planning to sing at Cabaret Night, we need to know. Please fill out this form.
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1DKP9XAn8IcsvmlcVViMs4ovzdQDQraREPqyg7VQiJq4/edit?usp=sharing
From Mr. DeLuca:
Now...read the following from Dr. Messina. It is long, but read it anyway. SOng selection is critical. FOllow these guidelines and you will succeed!
From Dr. Messina:
We need to deal with:
- Song choice: Ability
o Can you sing it, skillfully, ALL or MOST of the time?
o Can you sing this, skillfully, with only one or two rehearsals withDr. Messina?
▪ Consider the accompaniment when you ask yourself this question. Does it have
16 key changes and 14 tempo changes? If so, then it would be hard to do in 1 or
2 rehearsals with your accompanist.
o Ask yourself: Does this song represent what I’m good at or does it represent what I
WISH I was good at?
o A note about belting the belters belting belted belt:
▪ Are you only able to nail that high note once in a while? Do you often find
yourself using phrases like “I have a cold/allergy/ so…” or “My voice is tired
from…” or “omigod I just did it at home PERFECT I don’t know why I can’t do it
heeeeere…”?
● If yes: these are signs of pattern, not of repeated bad luck. It means the
note is too high or the song isn’t right. Find another song or transpose
the key down.
▪ So: time to be a critical thinker and young adult about what happens next. As
magical as music feels, it is NOT magical. Adrenalin does many things, but it will
not produce a beautifully articulated high belt where none has ever existed. If
you want to be a belter, take voice lessons. There are no quick fixes, and
“working on the high note” with Dr. Messina for 10 minutes will not turn you
magically into Idina Menzel. Learning to sing in your high/belt register is not like
going to extra help to learn a math concept and then being able to grasp it for
life. Think about it like a weight lifter – if you can lift 100 pounds but want to lift
900, you don’t take one lesson and *poof* you can handle 900 pounds. You
need thoughtful, constructed, careful work over time to learn the techniques
and develop the muscles.
- Song choice: Event-appropriateness
o Ask yourself: What do I want the audience to feel when I’m done? If you answered “I
want them to think I’m the best singer,” then you are probably not set up to choose
music well.
o Ask yourself: Am I crying about this?
▪ If no: good. You appear to be maintaining perspective.
▪ If yes: not good. You have assigned a false and ultimately damaging degree of
importance to Cabaret Night. It’s not that important.
o Consider your song choice from the view of a loving, well-meaning parent or friend that
does not know much about Broadway and knows even less about the show from which
your song came. Ask yourself:
▪ Does this song make sense out of context?
● If no: can you create context for the audience in one sentence or less?
Then it might be OK. But if not, you'll need to decide if you are singing
this song to communicate and share with others or to untangle
something inside of YOURSELF. If the latter, then ask yourself honestly
if you are OK with a song that “doesn’t land” with an audience. Can you
receive satisfying validation from yourself and yourself alone?
▪ Does this song progress somewhere? When heard only one time, can your
audience follow where it’s going and where it came from? Some modern
musical numbers are brilliantly constructed… in the context of an entire show.
That doesn’t mean they will fly as a solo number.
● If no: ask yourself why you want to sing a song that ultimately goes
nowhere.
● Is this song so depressing that any person not in the throes of teen
angst will want to hang their head and declare that cynicism has finally
won? Does this song present an outlook on life that is so bleak that
your audience will wonder if they have a purpose? Are death, war,
disease, and famine so prevalent in your lyrics that it reminds us that
government, law, and civilization in general is a human (and therefore
flawed and non-permanent) construct?
TOP 10 CABARET NIGHT(MARES)
1. Choosing a song that is way, way too hard. (“She doesn’t mean me…”)
2. We mean you. The song is too hard. Choose something else. A difficult song done badly
impresses no one, and is a disservice to YOU. Choose something simpler and murder it.
3. Not memorizing (“But Mr. DeLuca says we don’t have to!”). Do you want a great and communicative
performance? Then memorize it. If that’s impossible because life happened to you recently,
then you must PRACTICE USING MUSIC. Get a mirror, make sure you are looking at yourself
while you sing. *Using music in performance without getting lost in it is a skill that needs
legitimate practice.*
4. Coming to Dr. Messina 43 times to choose music. This is a wonderful time to practice systematic
independence. Ask yourself the questions we’ve outlined here.
4.5 Asking Dr. Messina to suggest a song (she’ll suggest 20). Coming back 3 days later and asking Dr.
Messina to suggest a song.
5. Several years ago, students who just graduated college built you the “lounge” area in the
chorus room, complete with a giant bookshelf housing a “browsable” popular music library. Go
swimming in there. Don’t forget to flip through the binders too - there’s a LOT of good material
in those binders.
6. IImagining yourself to be somehow above the Golden Age of Broadway music (“Ugh but I only like the
new stuff”). That old stuff is still around for a reason. Go find out the reason, embrace it, and sing
it for us so we can fall in love with it all over again.
7. Forgetting that Cab Night is about your independent musicianship. It is NOT the musical, and it is
not Dr. Messina’s 4 th school concert. You find the song, source it ethically (that means pay for
it), check the key yourself or get another student to help you check the key. Make cuts yourself
(checking to make sure you cut doesn’t move through a key change having skipped the
transitional material). Communicate those cuts to Doc.
●.5 And if you DO make the cuts yourself, for the sake of all that is good and kind, don’t cut stuff
that matters.
●.6 Forgetting that you are one of 22 singers asking Dr. Messina for help. Every single thing you can
handle yourself should be handled yourself. If you can’t find your sheet music using Dr.
Messina’s suggestions then neither can she.
●.7
● Dropping in for a “pop by” rehearsal wherein you cheerfully walk in, music in hand, and ask Dr.
Messina if she is “doing anything important,” and, if not, “Could we just run my song 17 times?”
Make an appointment. You know how busy Dr. Messina seems? She’s way, way busier than that
Find your music here:
A: Mrs. Messina’s drawers and cabinets. Return everything where you found it when you’re done.
Books are placed in specific drawers purposely – make sure everything goes back where you found it.
B: www.musicnotes.com You can purchase, transpose, and print music from this site reasonably. Know
the key you want to transpose to if you’re going to transpose. Do everything you can
C: www.jwpepper.com If you do this early, you’ll have time to get what you need in your mailbox.
Returns are easy with JW Pepper. If something is available with “ePrint,” it can be downloaded after
purchase. If not, you’ll need to wait for it to be mailed to you.
D: Catalano Music Store. On the north side of Jericho turnpike, a few miles west of MHS. They have a lot
of Broadway and pop stuff.
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1DKP9XAn8IcsvmlcVViMs4ovzdQDQraREPqyg7VQiJq4/edit?usp=sharing
From Mr. DeLuca:
- Any Drama kid in grades 9-12 may perform at Cabaret Night which is at 7:00 PM on June 13.
- Anyone performing that night may only perform ONCE. Therefore, you may sing a solo or a duet. But you may only sing once.
- When selecting your song, it must fit into this year's theme: "Looking Back/Looking Forward" That means the song may be about remembering or looking towards the future OR it can be a song from your past (or a past show) or a song about "tomorrow" (I don't mean it should be "Tomorrow" from Annie, but it could be. It just needs to be about a person looking towards the future).
Now...read the following from Dr. Messina. It is long, but read it anyway. SOng selection is critical. FOllow these guidelines and you will succeed!
From Dr. Messina:
We need to deal with:
- Song choice: Ability
o Can you sing it, skillfully, ALL or MOST of the time?
o Can you sing this, skillfully, with only one or two rehearsals withDr. Messina?
▪ Consider the accompaniment when you ask yourself this question. Does it have
16 key changes and 14 tempo changes? If so, then it would be hard to do in 1 or
2 rehearsals with your accompanist.
o Ask yourself: Does this song represent what I’m good at or does it represent what I
WISH I was good at?
o A note about belting the belters belting belted belt:
▪ Are you only able to nail that high note once in a while? Do you often find
yourself using phrases like “I have a cold/allergy/ so…” or “My voice is tired
from…” or “omigod I just did it at home PERFECT I don’t know why I can’t do it
heeeeere…”?
● If yes: these are signs of pattern, not of repeated bad luck. It means the
note is too high or the song isn’t right. Find another song or transpose
the key down.
▪ So: time to be a critical thinker and young adult about what happens next. As
magical as music feels, it is NOT magical. Adrenalin does many things, but it will
not produce a beautifully articulated high belt where none has ever existed. If
you want to be a belter, take voice lessons. There are no quick fixes, and
“working on the high note” with Dr. Messina for 10 minutes will not turn you
magically into Idina Menzel. Learning to sing in your high/belt register is not like
going to extra help to learn a math concept and then being able to grasp it for
life. Think about it like a weight lifter – if you can lift 100 pounds but want to lift
900, you don’t take one lesson and *poof* you can handle 900 pounds. You
need thoughtful, constructed, careful work over time to learn the techniques
and develop the muscles.
- Song choice: Event-appropriateness
o Ask yourself: What do I want the audience to feel when I’m done? If you answered “I
want them to think I’m the best singer,” then you are probably not set up to choose
music well.
o Ask yourself: Am I crying about this?
▪ If no: good. You appear to be maintaining perspective.
▪ If yes: not good. You have assigned a false and ultimately damaging degree of
importance to Cabaret Night. It’s not that important.
o Consider your song choice from the view of a loving, well-meaning parent or friend that
does not know much about Broadway and knows even less about the show from which
your song came. Ask yourself:
▪ Does this song make sense out of context?
● If no: can you create context for the audience in one sentence or less?
Then it might be OK. But if not, you'll need to decide if you are singing
this song to communicate and share with others or to untangle
something inside of YOURSELF. If the latter, then ask yourself honestly
if you are OK with a song that “doesn’t land” with an audience. Can you
receive satisfying validation from yourself and yourself alone?
▪ Does this song progress somewhere? When heard only one time, can your
audience follow where it’s going and where it came from? Some modern
musical numbers are brilliantly constructed… in the context of an entire show.
That doesn’t mean they will fly as a solo number.
● If no: ask yourself why you want to sing a song that ultimately goes
nowhere.
● Is this song so depressing that any person not in the throes of teen
angst will want to hang their head and declare that cynicism has finally
won? Does this song present an outlook on life that is so bleak that
your audience will wonder if they have a purpose? Are death, war,
disease, and famine so prevalent in your lyrics that it reminds us that
government, law, and civilization in general is a human (and therefore
flawed and non-permanent) construct?
TOP 10 CABARET NIGHT(MARES)
1. Choosing a song that is way, way too hard. (“She doesn’t mean me…”)
2. We mean you. The song is too hard. Choose something else. A difficult song done badly
impresses no one, and is a disservice to YOU. Choose something simpler and murder it.
3. Not memorizing (“But Mr. DeLuca says we don’t have to!”). Do you want a great and communicative
performance? Then memorize it. If that’s impossible because life happened to you recently,
then you must PRACTICE USING MUSIC. Get a mirror, make sure you are looking at yourself
while you sing. *Using music in performance without getting lost in it is a skill that needs
legitimate practice.*
4. Coming to Dr. Messina 43 times to choose music. This is a wonderful time to practice systematic
independence. Ask yourself the questions we’ve outlined here.
4.5 Asking Dr. Messina to suggest a song (she’ll suggest 20). Coming back 3 days later and asking Dr.
Messina to suggest a song.
5. Several years ago, students who just graduated college built you the “lounge” area in the
chorus room, complete with a giant bookshelf housing a “browsable” popular music library. Go
swimming in there. Don’t forget to flip through the binders too - there’s a LOT of good material
in those binders.
6. IImagining yourself to be somehow above the Golden Age of Broadway music (“Ugh but I only like the
new stuff”). That old stuff is still around for a reason. Go find out the reason, embrace it, and sing
it for us so we can fall in love with it all over again.
7. Forgetting that Cab Night is about your independent musicianship. It is NOT the musical, and it is
not Dr. Messina’s 4 th school concert. You find the song, source it ethically (that means pay for
it), check the key yourself or get another student to help you check the key. Make cuts yourself
(checking to make sure you cut doesn’t move through a key change having skipped the
transitional material). Communicate those cuts to Doc.
●.5 And if you DO make the cuts yourself, for the sake of all that is good and kind, don’t cut stuff
that matters.
●.6 Forgetting that you are one of 22 singers asking Dr. Messina for help. Every single thing you can
handle yourself should be handled yourself. If you can’t find your sheet music using Dr.
Messina’s suggestions then neither can she.
●.7
● Dropping in for a “pop by” rehearsal wherein you cheerfully walk in, music in hand, and ask Dr.
Messina if she is “doing anything important,” and, if not, “Could we just run my song 17 times?”
Make an appointment. You know how busy Dr. Messina seems? She’s way, way busier than that
Find your music here:
A: Mrs. Messina’s drawers and cabinets. Return everything where you found it when you’re done.
Books are placed in specific drawers purposely – make sure everything goes back where you found it.
B: www.musicnotes.com You can purchase, transpose, and print music from this site reasonably. Know
the key you want to transpose to if you’re going to transpose. Do everything you can
C: www.jwpepper.com If you do this early, you’ll have time to get what you need in your mailbox.
Returns are easy with JW Pepper. If something is available with “ePrint,” it can be downloaded after
purchase. If not, you’ll need to wait for it to be mailed to you.
D: Catalano Music Store. On the north side of Jericho turnpike, a few miles west of MHS. They have a lot
of Broadway and pop stuff.
