Toughest roles to sing
Toughest roles to sing
AndAllThatJazz22
Broadway Legend Joined: 11/8/08
#1Toughest roles to sing
Posted: 8/14/10 at 2:13pm
Please excuse me if there have already been threads on this. The search feature is not being nice to me today.
I was having a conversation on this with a friend and I completely went blank. For the women, I wanna say "Eva" in Evita. For the men? I can't even think.
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broadwaybound0632
Swing Joined: 7/22/10
overthemoonboy
Understudy Joined: 3/13/07
#6Toughest roles to sing
Posted: 8/14/10 at 2:35pmCunegonde is ridiculous. But every role has challenges.
Understudy Joined: 12/31/69
rorschach37
Broadway Star Joined: 4/3/10
#8Toughest roles to sing
Posted: 8/14/10 at 2:44pmRoger in RENT. Especially when he belts "MIMI" at the end.
#9Toughest roles to sing
Posted: 8/14/10 at 3:00pmIf Mimi, Maureen and Collins go balls to the wall, those are pretty vocally demanding
Jewtopia
Understudy Joined: 11/2/08
#11Toughest roles to sing
Posted: 8/14/10 at 3:06pmAs far as I know, the rock opera "The Fork" by Andy Simpson was written, but never staged, due in part to the role of Adolf Hitler (appearing in one scene, one song only) being not just vocally demanding, but physically vocally devastating. Singing somewhere between very high rock tenor and castrati, the part is written to fall NOWHERE in falsetto and simply be howled and screamed out.
#12Toughest roles to sing
Posted: 8/14/10 at 3:13pmHenry Higgins. 'nuff said.
"Are we being attacked or entertained?" - MST3K
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#13Toughest roles to sing
Posted: 8/14/10 at 3:14pmElle Woods sings about 80% of the show. Maybe more.
Everything in life...is only for now.
#14Toughest roles to sing
Posted: 8/14/10 at 3:18pm
Christine Daae in Phantom. Actually most sopranos that played the role weren't able to hit the notes that Sarah Brightman hit in the show.
"People have their opinions and that doesn't mean that their opinions are wrong or right. I just take it with a grain of salt because opinions are like as*holes, everyone has one".
-Felicia Finley-
#15Toughest roles to sing
Posted: 8/14/10 at 3:18pmI agree that although they may not be as difficult as Eva in EVITA, roles like Roger and Elphaba can be very difficult if not done correctly.
"Oh look at the time, three more intelligent plays just closed and THE ADDAMS FAMILY made another million dollars" -Jackie Hoffman, Broadway.com Audience Awards
#16Toughest roles to sing
Posted: 8/14/10 at 3:41pm
Chris- Miss Saigon
Freddy- Chess
Valjean- Les Mis
Tony- WSS
Fredrick- Pirates of Penzance
Now all I see are cute boys with short haircuts in a maze of their own...
rougeduck
Broadway Star Joined: 6/5/07
#17Toughest roles to sing
Posted: 8/14/10 at 3:55pm
sweeney, sweeney, sweeney, SWEEEEEEEENEY! (and pirelli even though he has very little stage time)
and Brooklyn.
#18Toughest roles to sing
Posted: 8/14/10 at 4:17pm
Bobby Strong in Urinetown could be difficult for some as well.
"Somethin's comin', I don't know what it is but it is gonna be great!"
rorschach37
Broadway Star Joined: 4/3/10
#19Toughest roles to sing
Posted: 8/14/10 at 4:55pmWhat about all the traveling salesmen in The Music Man's opening number? And for that matter Harold Hill? I mean, "Ya Got Trouble" can be very frustrating to get just right.
#20Toughest roles to sing
Posted: 8/14/10 at 5:15pm
Effie in Dreamgirls
Caroline in Caroline, or Change
Coalhouse Walker in Ragtime
Marie Christine in Marie Christine
Tracy Turnblad in Hairspray
Man 1 in Songs of the New World
Aida in Aida
Franki Valli in Jersey Boys
Abuela in In The Heights
Don Quiote in Man of La Mancha
Lucy/Dr Jekyll in Jekyll and Hyde
Kim in Miss Saigon
The Witch Into the Woods
Norma Desmond in Sunset Blvd
Claude in HAIR
Adrian, Victor, BJ in Smokey Joe's Cafe
Clara, Mother, Fabrizio in Light in the Piazza
Celie in The Color Purple
Fanny Brice in Funny Girl
Violet in Violet
just to name a few!
Updated On: 8/14/10 at 05:15 PM
#21Toughest roles to sing
Posted: 8/14/10 at 5:48pm
I would agree with Victor and Adrian in Smokey Joe's Cafe- for Victor, I Who Have Nothing alone is a struggle to sing.
I would add Rose in Gypsy. That is one tough score.
I am a firm believer in serendipity- all the random pieces coming together in one wonderful moment, when suddenly you see what their purpose was all along.
bluebubbles
Chorus Member Joined: 12/1/09
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#23Toughest roles to sing
Posted: 8/14/10 at 7:54pm
If you actually go by the score, not how it was altered for the Broadway cast, Mayor Matilda in All Shook Up is ridiculous. She's expected to pop out High G's like Pez in a bi-polar flamenco/rockabilly comedy number. It's absurd. Thank goodness the character only has one song if that's the vision of how she should sing.
Actually, the entire vocal arrangement of that show is ridiculous. All the female characters are written for high belters (3 have to slide into High F/Gs), and the male characters are either high tenors or full on schticky voice (or both, poor Dennis). All that effort for something that, on a good day, is best described as just ok. Don't even get me started on the choral numbers; I'll have nightmares again.
Edgar/Bat Boy in Bat Boy is very vocally demanding. Wide vocal and style range, plus all the primal screaming at the beginning and rock screaming at the end.
It's been years since I've looked at the show, but I seem to recall The Wind in the Willows having some hard vocal parts (Mole, maybe? Very wandering wide-rang melodies. Evil Weasel has a shrieking high tenor number in Act I). Then again, who even knows that McGough/Perry show, anyway?
#24Toughest roles to sing
Posted: 8/14/10 at 11:04pm
Othello in in Verdi's Othello
Brunhilde in the Ring Cycle
Lady Macbeth in Verdi's Macbeth
Almost any Wagnerian tenor role
Wozzeck
Lulu
So many opera roles where they have to sing without a microphone over a full orchestra.
Broadway is simple compared to most opera roles.