Waiting for Life (From "Once On This Island"): Piano/Vocal/Chords

Flaherty's melodies sit beautifully in the voice and reward careful phrasing. This collection offers singers access to authentic transcriptions from their original scores, so you're working with the composer's actual harmonic language rather than simplified or arranged versions. For auditions, the included 16-bar cut suggestions save preparation time while honoring the dramatic arc of each song.

Singing Flaherty's music feels like being handed melodies that already know where they want to go. His phrases tend toward legit vocal writing with room for genuine character work, and the emotional accessibility of his songs makes them rewarding to revisit across multiple rehearsals and performances.

This collection serves singers preparing for musical theatre auditions, recitals, and performance contexts who need reliable, professionally transcribed arrangements in their vocal range. It's equally valuable for vocal coaches, studio teachers, and music theatre programs seeking authentic teaching materials that represent the actual demands of Broadway repertoire.

• Study the contextual notes before diving into the song. Understanding the character's situation and emotional state in that moment shapes your interpretation far more than technique alone.
• Use the chord symbols as a guide to harmonic movement, but listen to how the piano part supports or complicates those chords. Flaherty's accompaniments often contain inner voices that deepen the emotional texture.
• Mark your breath points early in rehearsal, especially in longer phrases. Flaherty writes expansive melodies that demand thoughtful breath placement rather than arbitrary breaks.
• Experiment with the suggested 16-bar cuts for auditions, but also prepare the full song for callbacks and performance. The complete arc gives you far more interpretive options.

Assign songs from this collection as audition preparation material for students planning to study music theatre or pursue performance scholarships. You can also program selections for vocal recitals, senior showcases, or cabaret-style concerts that celebrate contemporary musical theatre. Teachers leading vocal technique classes can use these songs as repertoire examples that demonstrate proper legit singing and phrase structure.

• interpreting character context from musical theatre text
• sustaining long vocal phrases with proper breath management
• reading and executing chord symbols while singing from a score
• adapting full songs to shorter audition cuts without losing dramatic continuity
• balancing legit vocal production with theatrical expression