Best Audition Songs for Tenors

Every community theatre director I know has made the same phone call at least once: “Do you know any tenors?” Guys who can sing up there are scarce, and when one walks into the audition room, the people behind the table tend to sit up a little straighter. If you’ve ever been handed a part because someone heard you could hit an A, welcome to the club.

That demand has a downside, though. Because tenors get noticed, the same handful of songs show up in nearly every audition, and the panel hears them again and again. This list is meant to widen your options. I’ve sorted the tenor songs into five groups: classical and Golden Age, contemporary, comedy, movement and dance, and patter songs. Each pick has a quick note on who it suits.

Our three Audition Angel men identify more as basses, but with a wide range. Daniel often gets asked to sing tenor in shows because they need him! Even if you naturally sing lower, we recommend choosing a few of these tenor pieces that feel doable to prepare and keep in your audition binder in case you need them.

What Kind of Audition Song Should You Choose?

If you’re preparing for a specific audition, read the notice twice to make sure you gather all the requirements. If it names a style, an era, or a length, you know what to look for. If it only says “bring a song that shows off your voice,” pick something close in style to the show you’re auditioning for.

Next, dig a little deeper and figure out which type of tenor you are. A lyric tenor with a floating, sweet top sounds wonderful in older romantic ballads. A pop or rock tenor who mixes up high is often a better match for newer scores. And a character tenor whose strength is comedy can land a role on timing alone. Your best song choices will be those that showcase your strongest sound and match the roles you want to pursue.

Classical and Golden Age Tenor Audition Songs

Golden Age scores were written for the ringing, open sound that tenors are prized for, with long phrases and melodies that require steady breath. Pick one of these when the show is older or the notice asks for something legit.

Oh, Is There Not One Maiden Breast?

From The Pirates of Penzance, music by Arthur Sullivan and lyrics by W. S. Gilbert, written for Frederic. Frederic was mistakenly apprenticed to a band of pirates as a boy, and now that he’s 21, he has left them to live an honest life. When he comes across Major-General Stanley’s daughters on the shore, he begs any one of them to marry him and rescue him from his “unfortunate position,” promising to love her however plain she may be. The melody is graceful and lyrical, and the humor comes from how earnestly he means it.

Best for: lyric tenors with a light, legit sound, especially for operetta or classic comedies.
Watch out: it’s Gilbert and Sullivan, so keep the diction crisp and the style light and formal.

Love, I Hear

From A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, written for Hero. Hero is a naive young Roman who has only glimpsed Philia, the girl next door, and he’s slowly realizing that his miserable symptoms mean he’s in love. It’s gentle and funny, and it’s picked much less often than the big romantic standards.

Best for: young tenors with a light, clean sound auditioning for ingénue roles or comedies.

Many Moons Ago

From Once Upon a Mattress, music by Mary Rodgers and lyrics by Marshall Barer, written for the Minstrel. The Minstrel opens the show by singing the familiar fairy tale of the princess and the pea, then admits that this pretty version isn’t quite accurate. He knows the true story because he was there. It’s a gentle storytelling song with a sweet, easy melody.

Best for: tenors with a warm, easy sound who enjoy telling a story, especially for family-friendly comedies.

Contemporary Tenor Audition Songs

Most newer musicals are scored for a pop-rock tenor who mixes into the high notes rather than sounding like an opera singer. These picks come from shows of roughly the last dozen years and lean on emotional honesty as much as range.

Stranger

From Big Fish, music and lyrics by Andrew Lippa, written for Will Bloom. Will grew up on his father Edward’s tall tales, but he feels he never really knew the man behind them. After learning that he and his new wife, Josephine, are expecting a son, he sings about wanting to understand his father before he becomes one himself. It’s a reflective contemporary ballad.

Best for: tenors auditioning for sincere young-adult and adult roles in contemporary shows.

Time

From Tuck Everlasting, music by Chris Miller and lyrics by Nathan Tysen, written for Miles Tuck. Miles and his family drank from a spring that stopped them from aging. He tells Winnie how his wife was horrified when she noticed he wasn’t getting older, and how she left and took their son, Thomas, with her. He never saw Thomas again. It’s a quiet, aching song about watching time pass for everyone else.

Best for: tenors and baritenors auditioning for dramatic adult roles.

Step One

From Kinky Boots, music and lyrics by Cyndi Lauper, written for Charlie Price. Charlie has inherited his late father’s struggling shoe factory in Northampton, England. After one of his workers suggests finding a niche market, he decides to try making sturdy boots for drag performers like Lola, and in this song he talks himself into the plan one step at a time. It’s a pop-rock song with a steady build, and you hear it much less often than the show’s big numbers.

Best for: pop-rock tenors and baritenors auditioning for contemporary leading roles.
Watch out: Charlie isn’t a confident leader yet, so let his determination grow over the song.

Comedy Tenor Audition Songs

Comic tenors are often the sweet, awkward, or hopelessly earnest characters, and the laughs come from playing them straight. A good comedy song lets the panel see your acting choices and your timing as well as your voice.

Les Poissons

From Disney’s The Little Mermaid, music by Alan Menken and lyrics by Howard Ashman, written for Chef Louis. Louis is the palace’s excitable French chef, and he sings with great joy about chopping and cooking fish, not knowing that Sebastian the crab is hiding in his kitchen. When he spots Sebastian, he tries to add him to the menu, and a chase begins.

Best for: character tenors with good comic timing, especially for Disney or family shows.
Watch out: Louis’s French accent is part of the comedy, but keep it light enough that every word is clear.

Extraordinary

From Pippin, music and lyrics by Stephen Schwartz, written for Pippin. Pippin is a young prince searching for a meaningful life, and he has landed on the estate of a widow named Catherine, who puts him to work as a farmhand. He’s sure he’s far too special for chores and repairs, and he insists he’s meant for extraordinary things. It’s a comic song about a young man taking himself very seriously.

Best for: young-adult tenors auditioning for earnest comic leads.

I Believe in You

From How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying, music and lyrics by Frank Loesser, written for J. Pierrepont Finch. Finch is a window washer climbing the corporate ladder, and he sings this to his own reflection in the executive washroom before a big presentation. It’s a sincere love song that he happens to be singing to himself.

Best for: charming tenors auditioning for classic comedies or confident comic leads.
Watch out: Finch means every word, so keep the self-admiration sincere. Pick one spot to be your mirror and stick with it.

Movement and Dance Tenor Audition Songs

Plenty of tenor roles also expect you to move, from soft-shoe to full production numbers. These songs give you room to show rhythm and physical ease while you sing. Since you may end up dancing, it’s worth planning audition clothes you can actually move in rather than getting stuck in stiff shoes.

Bianca

From Kiss Me, Kate, music and lyrics by Cole Porter, written for Bill Calhoun. Bill is an actor playing Lucentio in a musical version of The Taming of the Shrew, and his girlfriend, Lois Lane, is playing Bianca. Lois likes to flirt with other men, but Bill loves her anyway, and he sings her a love song he has written for her. In the 2019 Broadway revival, it was staged as a fast tap number.

Best for: song-and-dance tenors auditioning for classic musical comedies.

Run and Tell That

From Hairspray, music by Marc Shaiman and lyrics by Scott Wittman and Marc Shaiman, written for Seaweed J. Stubbs. Seaweed is a gifted teen dancer in 1962 Baltimore, and he sings this in detention about his pride in who he is. It has a big groove, a high mix, and plenty of swagger.

Best for: tenors with a strong groove and a confident high mix, especially for Hairspray or other dance-heavy shows.
Watch out: Seaweed is a Black teenager singing about pride in his identity, so it’s best for performers who are right for the role.

I Can Do That

From A Chorus Line, music by Marvin Hamlisch and lyrics by Edward Kleban, written for Mike Costa, one of the dancers at the audition. He tells the director how he started dancing: he tagged along to his sister’s dance classes, and when she quit, he took her place. It’s a cocky, charming story that turns into a tap break.

Best for: strong dancers, especially tappers, auditioning for dance-heavy shows.
Watch out: make sure your dancing doesn’t overshadow the storytelling and that you have enough breath to sing powerfully.

Patter Tenor Audition Songs

Patter songs pack a huge number of words into very little time, so the real test is diction, breath, and nerve, not range. If you can keep every consonant crisp at top speed, these will make a panel grin.

Franklin Shepard, Inc.

From Merrily We Roll Along, music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, written for Charley Kringas. Charley is a lyricist who melts down on live television because his partner Frank keeps abandoning their work for money and movies. The music imitates a composer at work, with phones ringing and deals interrupting, and the words come in rapid bursts.

Best for: tenors and high baritones with crisp diction.
Watch out: let Charley’s anger build instead of starting at full speed.

All Hail the Brain

From 13, music and lyrics by Jason Robert Brown, written for Evan Goldman. Evan has just moved from New York City to small-town Indiana, and he rattles off one scheme after another to help his new friends sneak into an R-rated horror movie. It’s fast, wordy, and full of teenage overconfidence.

Best for: teen tenors with quick diction auditioning for youth productions or contemporary comedies.

Big News!

From Parade, music and lyrics by Jason Robert Brown, written for Britt Craig. Craig is a bored reporter for the Atlanta Georgian in 1913, and he grumbles that nothing worth printing ever happens in his town. He rattles off one trivial headline after another, from a kitten up a tree to a newly approved street, while the rest of the world gets the real stories.

Best for: character tenors with quick diction and a dry sense of humor.

What to Avoid When Choosing Your Song

• Singing the lead’s big number from the show you’re auditioning for. Unless they ask for it, pick something that suggests the role instead.
• Building the whole song around one high note. If that note cracks on audition day, there’s nothing left. Choose a song where the notes before and after the climax still show what you can do.
• Pushing a heavy sound you don’t own. Tenors often try to sound bigger and darker than they are. Your natural, easy sound is more castable than an imitation of someone else’s.
• Ignoring the lyric. Many tenor songs are love songs or pleas, so know exactly who you’re singing to and what you want. A pretty sound alone won’t hold the panel’s attention.
• Showing up cold. If you’re new to this, read up on your first community theatre audition so nothing about the process catches you off guard.

The Most Important Thing to Show

The panel isn’t only listening for your high notes. They’re looking to see if you can carry a story and whether they’d enjoy watching you for the length of a show. Pick a song that lets you sound your best, play a character close to the roles you’d actually be cast in, and warm up ahead of time so you land those big notes.

Need more ideas? Try the Audition Song Finder, choose “customized for me,” set your voice to Tenor, and add your playable age and the styles you love.

Tenors, it’s your turn: tell us in the comments your go-to audition songs!