Legit singing on Broadway- Page 1

[davalmar]

Posted: 8/9/06 at 10:09am

I am keeping my fingers crossed that trend shifts to include more opportunities for legit singing. I'm not asking for Showboat or the like, just some more variety. As an audience member, I am a huge fan of all musical theater and its many styles. I would be hard pressed to find a show that I just plain didn't like. There are great performances and spectacular moments in even the worst shows. As a singer, I just long for more opportunites that showcase my voice type instead of trying to only sing higher and higher (since when does a baritone need B-flats? What's next, a tenor singing high Ds? Unless this is the MET, I don't want to have to hear that!)
Who am I to complain, though. At least, as a man, I have my one voice that I can belt with, or warm up, etc. Women have to have a belt (through the roof), a mix, a "legit" soprano, and sometimes even coloratura. (Not to mention 3 outfits and 3 pairs of shoes for every audition!)
Sorry to complain, but I just discovered BWW and I'm anxious to participate in some dialogue with all of you! Thanks.

[bwaylvsong]

Posted: 8/9/06 at 10:27am

I agree 100 percent. I'm a baritone, and I can sing up to a high F-sharp. Most roles currently on Broadway require the male voice to go higher, which is ridiculous. Create roles for baritones, and leave anything above an F-sharp to the tenors.

[bwaysinger]

Posted: 8/9/06 at 10:35am

Well, now, dicussion of the ranges being written for theatre today is a completely separate discussion.
However, regarding legit singing on Broadway, I do believe it shows up quite regularly, interspersed with periods where you see one style of singing have greater representation (like now, with the more poppish sound). There will always be a mixture, though, because a lot of revivals crop up with, if not an operatic sound, a musical theatre legit voice.

[davalmar]

Posted: 8/9/06 at 10:49am

thanks, bwaysinger, and you are right! They are two separate topics and I should not have combined them. It's my first post. I agree that legit singing can be found in today's shows and of course revivals of yesterday's shows. The range issue creeped in because they are related, at least in my mind. Singing in the pop style goes hand in hand with singing higher, for men. That pop belt sound only happens up top, so song writers set the tessitura a lot higher, as opposed to songs that have high notes as punctuation or dramatic emphasis.

Back to legit, I just know that my ears love belting and love pop music, but in the theater, when I hear singing like that of Victoria Clark and Kelli O'Hara in LITP, I am reminded how fantastic and exciting the human voice can be as it vibrates and soars.

[HOUFlip04]

Posted: 8/9/06 at 11:38am

davalmar - I just want to go onboard with this topic. I agree with you about the need for more legit singing on Broadway. And it's there, in some shows, but seems like a more pop sound has taken over. I think the best way to deal with it is to have a broader range in your voice - stretch your range. The most amazing thing I have seen is when women can sing legit and also belt. However, it's rare in men to sing legit and sing pop. It's usually one or the other. I've heard men try to cross over and it's just not that great either way - but maybe there is someone out there.

Also, most of the higher 'pop' singing is mostly done in a falsetto that most baritones can do - even better than a lot of tenors.

And the reason songs ranges for men have been getting higher and higher is because singers nowadays have improved their techniques than in years before. I think we need to go forward with that instead of just being complacent with "I'm a baritone, and I'm not supposed to hit higher than this note."

Also, tenors ARE hitting D's on Broadway. I played the Fakir in 'The Secret Garden' almost 10 years ago, and there is a high D written at the end of "Come Spirit, Come Charm". There's also high D's in 'Beauty and the Beast' and 'Urinetown' and probably lots of other current musicals.

[bwaylvsong]

Posted: 8/9/06 at 11:50am

Technique can only get one so high up, though. My (relatively)low-sitting range has absolutely nothing to do with technique, it has to do with my vocal cords and head cavities. And a baritone isn't supposed to go higher than a cerain note, because otherwise, he'd be a tenor.

[davalmar]

Posted: 8/9/06 at 11:54am

HOUFlip04, thanks for your great response and insightful thoughts. I actually am a baritone that can sing very high, and don't mind doing it. I work very hard to stretch myself, it's just that what I hear on Broadway now is not a whole lot of good singing, high or low. I guess what I am hoping for most is a return to a singer's broadway (that also demands acting chops, of course). Vocal technique in ways has evolved, but in other ways has drastically changed with people relying on the amplification to create nuance rather than having the technique to express the voice in brilliant ways.

I am also aware that tenors are hitting high Ds, but I still think that is pretty silly. It's just my personal opinion of course, but men singing that high (unless you are Peter Cetera or Pavarotti) is often a bit extreme and unnecessary, especially in a choral setting (as is often the case).

[bwaylvsong]

Posted: 8/9/06 at 11:58am

Once again, I agree with every word you said !

[kevashton]

Posted: 8/9/06 at 12:17pm

thanks, davalmar, for making some brilliant points!

[LostLeander]

Posted: 8/9/06 at 1:42pm

More LaChiusa shows!
Though he doesn't write too much for legit males.

Well, even in the Sweeney revival, the legit-y males were not sung very legit at all, which I guess fit the modernist feel of the production, which I'm not exactly a huge fan of.

I'd venture to say that in modern shows, that's the not what the audience wants to see as their leading man. Today's shows have more character-y leading men, like Dirty Rotten Scoundrels and Urinetown. No more Robert Goulet, Richard Kiley parts are being written in today's theatre. Or it's very rare.

So what do you do? I used to want to be a Brian Stokes Mitchell type, and I can put on that "baritone voice", but I've discovered I'm not going to work much starting out with that big, baritone Richard Kiley voice. So, personally, I've been developing other sounds that my voice is capable of. More classic musical theatre soubd, a more poppy sound, a more R&B sound, etc. The problem is, I hope I'm not losing my bottom notes, and those big Baritone notes like in Kiss Me Kate, and Man of La Mancha are easy to hit, sure, but they're losing their power.

Bottom line, it's getting hard out here for a Baritone.

[HOUFlip04]

Posted: 8/9/06 at 2:57pm

davalmar - I agree with you completely about how the quality of voices on Broadway has lessened recently. I'm sure there will be a time when there will be more of a "singer's Broadway", because those will probably be the only voices left that won't be damaged!

I also get frustrated at auditions when they want to hear a 'pop' voice and when you can't do it to the auditioner satisfaction - then you feel like a 'dinosaur'.

[The Distinctive Baritone]

Posted: 8/9/06 at 3:00pm

I've thought about this a lot too, since I am a "legit" singer and don't do well with pop music. Also, I am a true baritone and can't singer higher than an F# or G. It's frustrating, but the fact is that Broadway tends to reflect the popular music of its day. Today's popular music isn't so much about musicianship as it is about seeing how high you can belt. That's what people want to hear, so that's what most modern Broadway composers write.

Thank God for Stephen Sondheim...

[GClef2]

Posted: 8/9/06 at 3:13pm

I am a Vocal Performace major, so I CERTAINLY hope the trend shifts to a more legit, and all around healthier, style of singing.

This obsession with belting has gone too far. There is no need for a woman to be belting High G's show after show. I feel that this musicalization is why performers cannot keep up with the grueling 8 show a week schedule.

And it isnt just golden age musicals that were legit. Look at The Secret Garden, The Phantom of the Opera, Into the Woods...

Most of the singing in those shows is totally legit.

It makes me sad that nowadays, talent is based on your last few notes of defying gravity, and not on a well supported, non shout.

[Gothampc]

Posted: 8/9/06 at 3:15pm

Brian Stokes Mitchell is the reason there should be more legit music on Broadway. Nobody should let that talent go to waste.

[GClef2]

Posted: 8/9/06 at 3:17pm

I totally agree. Him and Audra McDonald.

[bwaylvsong]

Posted: 8/9/06 at 3:31pm

It's not that I can't sing in a pop voice. The reason I can't sing most pop music for males is that it is too high!
I do excel at legit music, though, and totally agree with what you all are saying.

[bwayondabrain]

Posted: 8/9/06 at 3:33pm

im also a baritone/bass and i wish there were more songs for my range
but oh well, i will survive

[Operagod01]

Posted: 8/9/06 at 3:35pm

I think Guettel, Ricky Ian Gordon, and LaChiusa write good legit things. I know that most of us legit singers don't have to worry if our mic goes out. well, when everything else is amplified it's difficult, but my point is that there's no cheating with our voices. I really love people like Kelli O'Hara, Patti Cohenour, Rebecca Luker, Judy Kaye, Marin Mazzie, Judy Kuhn, Victoria Clarck, etc. I think that Hugh Pinaro is the real deal as well. There are great belters (Sutton comes to mind)as well, but there are also some people on Broadway that would be LOST w/o their mic tricks. This is LIVE theater and you should be able to REALLY sing!

[Operagod01]

Posted: 8/9/06 at 3:38pm

OMG! How could I leave out Audra!

[jv92]

Posted: 8/9/06 at 3:38pm

Legit singing is coming back. I think that power belting might be reaching the end of the road. With brilliant performers like Victoria Clark, Brian Stokes Mitchell (who can also do jazz and pop) and Kelli O'Hara, maybe the days of excellent, legit singing is making a comeback.
I'd love to see a great male role written for a baritoneass soon though. Maybe Guettel will do that one day.

[bwaylvsong]

Posted: 8/9/06 at 3:48pm

How about for a really young, really short, few-pounds-overweight bass-baritone?

[jv92]

Posted: 8/9/06 at 3:52pm

I just realized my post said bartione ass. Sorry everyone.

I hope Guettel writes a score for a bartione or bass.

[camp_actor]

Posted: 8/9/06 at 4:09pm

Floyd Collins? Is that part not a Baritone? I don't think he hits anything above a G. I may be wrong.

[camp_actor]

Posted: 8/9/06 at 4:13pm

Well, thank God it's not just me who has issues with range. I've been worrying that the fact that I'm not able to hit A's and B's is 'cos I'm rubbish! Well, at least, listening to the way they all talk on Seth's Broadway Chatterbox it seems that EVERY singer can hit those amazing notes.

Wish I could, and maybe I will be able to in the future, but right now it's not happening! I hope Seth will love me as I am, even without the High Bs!

[GClef2]

Posted: 8/9/06 at 4:18pm

Range expands with age as well. Your voice just doesnt get deeper.