When singing a song that comes from a musical, it can be helpful to prepare the song in the same way an actor prepares to deliver spoken lines of text. They start with the character who is singing the song. What do they look like? - age, mannerisms, clothing, historical period, style of movement. Where are they singing this song, who to, why? What is the overall mood of the song?, what are the moods and emotions it explores?, what feelings would you like the audience to experience when they hear you sing?

The answers to these questions might come from other sections of the musical, or from the story on which the musical is based, or simply from the actor's imagination, based on their research into the historical setting of the play. Some actors like to write down a biography of their character, starting with all the concrete facts they have, and then making up in vast detail a picture of the role they are playing. eg deciding that the character was a middle child may not be essential to the show, but the process will help the character become alive in your own imagination, and strengthen your portrayal of the song. There are many ways to entertain an audience, but variety and depth of character is a major way of keeping their interest. And if they aren't paying attention to your performance, it doesn't matter how well you perform in a technical sense.

Reading between the lines is another approach used by actors which can help singers to give a better performance. Eg if the lyric is 'you needed me', you might add in your notes or on the music 'at a time when I thought no-one would ever bother' so that in your own mind the circumstances of the song are fully revealed and explained. Song writers often have to cut ideas out of a song, or merely allude to them, for the sake of brevity. (It takes much longer to sing words than say them.) But a singer can communicate so much more than the face value of the words in the song through their eyes, face and body language, assuming there's an active mind sparking away behind the presentation. Getting the correct words and notes is just the start, not accomplishment of the task.

All these approaches to song interpretation which originate in music theatre, are also useful in other styles of singing. Singing professionally is an act - you can't expect to always feel like emoting every song that you have to sing in the set, even if the material is you own. So as a singer you need acting skills, so you can deliver the song well every time, with the appearance of conviction. In fact too much personal involvement in the emotion of the moment may lead to technical problems with the voice, or even forgetting lyrics, or becoming too upset to perform at your best.