2.  Old school  Sweeping lines  Memorable melodies  Shows emotional and vocal range  Displays knowledge of musical theater lexicon

3.  Wordy, with lots of complicated, rapid-fire lyrics  Displays diction, memorization skills, personality

4.  Sentimental love song, typically where the singer laments over a lost love  Great lyrics, great melodies, great display of vocal range  EMOTION AND ACTING SKILLS presented

5.  More and more shows have country songs in them  Known for their stories

6.  Songs that specifically display a comedic character  Usually story songs  Sometimes use character voices  Always a good display of acting skill

7.  Needed in this age of rock and rock influenced musicals  Displays range  Should have several in your book from different eras

8.  Always changing  You should be familiar with current and current-ish shows  Also sometimes a way to avoid over-sung songs

9.  OK to follow great song writers and use pieces not in shows, but musical theater-ish  David Freidman  Heisler and Goldrich

10.  Know songs by different songwriters and songwriting teams  Rodgers and Hammerstein  Kander and Ebb  Sondheim  Jason Robert Brown  Lerner and Loewe  Aherns and Flaherty  Andrew Lloyd Webber  Comden and Green