Title: Pop for the MT Audition: A Teacher’s Protocol
Groove, Onset, Vowels, and Healthy Sound Play

Objective:
To equip voice teachers with a fast, safe, and repeatable protocol for teaching pop cuts for the musical-theatre audition room – focusing on locking groove, achieving an authentic pop sound (onset choices, vowel narrowing, twang, gentle cry/tilt, straight-tone→release vibrato), and maintaining healthy production while telling a clear story. The session bridges the gap between Musical Theater habits and pop idiomatic expressions.

Methods:
Interactive workshop geared to educators, with brief demos and hands-on coaching of volunteer singers.
• Frame the stylistic contrast (legit MT → pop) and why casting requests a pop song.
• Conduct A/B comparisons of the same phrase to identify audible markers between styles (onset, vowel shape, vibrato timing, time feel).
• Teach a compact groove-first warm-up
• Run a Groove Lab: subdivision, two-bar count-in, back-phrasing, breath management strategies.
• Coach volunteers on verse/chorus pop cuts using a stepwise sequence: diagnose (onset/vowel/groove) → one cue → sing → adjust → story button; employ health guardrails.
• Close with Q&A and distribute a teacher toolkit (casting rubric, 5-minute warm-up, groove/story mapping template, repertoire suggestions of pop songs that translate well to the MT audition room).

Results and Conclusions:
Attending teachers will leave able to:
1. Name three acoustic/physiologic differences between legit Musical Theater and pop that most affect audition outcomes.
2. Lead a 5-minute pop setup that reliably reduces top-note press and preserves stamina.
3. Coach groove lock without increasing volume (time feel, breath placement, count-ins).
4. Convert “narrator” pop lyrics into playable objectives/tactics with a clear button that reads in the room.
5. Apply quick health checks when exploring sounds (breathy color, light rasp alternatives) to keep production sustainable.

This protocol improves authenticity and efficiency in audition prep, giving teachers concrete language, diagnostics, and drills they can implement immediately in studio and class settings.

Presenters:

Noel Smith, BFA – Faculty: Associate Professor of Voice, Boston Conservatory at Berklee. NATS 2025 Master Teacher. Voice Teacher/Coach/Producer/Owner, Noel Smith Voice Studios. Recording Artist and Director of Vox Futura at Futura Productions in Boston, MA.

Merideth Eib, MFA – Faculty: Musical Theater Voice Faculty – Temple University (Boyer College of Music and Dance), Catholic University of America (Rome School of Performing Arts), Voice and Speech Faculty – Harvard Summer School/Division of Continuing Educatoin, MFA Musical Theater Vocal Pedagogy, Boston Conservatory at Berklee.