Thank you, that's all we need for today

A Practical Guide to Music Theater Auditions

Mary Hammond, the doyenne of music theater vocal coaches, has finally put pen to paper with this no-nonsense guide to the art of auditioning.

Thank you – that’s all we need for today... is full of practical advice for anyone who auditions for musical theater shows, whether professional or amateur.

Starting with the earliest stages, it covers every aspect of the audition process:

• choosing and learning songs
• looking after your voice
• deciding what to wear
• preparing CVs and photos
• how to make a good impression
• who's who on the audition panel
• a CD of vocal warm-ups - helps you get the best out of your voice

Following her training at the Royal Academy of Music in both singing and piano, Mary Hammond spent twenty five years as a singer with an almost unique range of styles, from opera at Covent Garden to stadium gigs with groups including Black Sabbath, Pink Floyd and Roxy Music. She also worked extensively for TV and radio recordings (film scores, TV series, live broadcasts, BBC Big Band, Top of the Pops, Jingles etc..,) and television companies and record producers now frequently use her as avocal trouble-shooter and singing consultant.

She enjoys using her experience in the pop industry to teach up-and-coming young bands alongside a diverse mix of international chart-topping artists. In the past year Mary has worked with Coldplay, Dido, Hard Fi, Klaxtons, Kaiser Chiefs and Katherine Jenkins.

Mary currently works on Billy Elliot the Musical, Phantom of the Opera, Joseph, Cabaret and Funny Girl. She worked with Gerry Butler on the title role in the film version of Phantom of the Opera, and has worked as vocal coach and advisor with the first casts of at least 26 West End shows including Les Miserables, Cats, Jesus Christ Superstar, Mamma Mia and Rent. Productions also at the National include A Little Night Music and Sweeny Todd, and she has also worked at the Donmar Warehouse.

This variety and experience has led to a lifelong interest and passion in the research and practice of voice science and vocal techniques. In 1993 Mary founded the post-graduate Musical Theater course at the Academy - the first of its kind in a music conservatory. She combines this with a flourishing private singing teaching practice.

She co-organized and presented two cutting-edge voice conferences in conjunction with British Voice Association at the Academy: 'From Rent to My Fair Lady' in 2002 and 'Rock Pop and Noise' in 2004. She was also involved in planning and presenting at the Pan European Voice Conference in August 2005, and she also presented a conference on contemporary sound in 2007.

She has been a board member and is closely involved with The British Voice Association for more than 20 years. Television shows recently include 'Celebrity Stars in their Eyes' the 'Good Morning' program, South Bank show with Katherine Jenkins, 'H Side Story' (which followed Ian 'H' Watkins in his year of studies at the Academy) and 'Secret Passions of Girls Aloud'. She was also a judge for the BBC's Voice of Musical Theatre and Choir of the Year.

Mary is also on the Board of the Actors Centre London.