Alice Ripley: Her Voice

[ThePinballWizard]

Posted: 4/12/09 at 7:18pm

Okay so I am a huge huge fan of hers. I have seen her live several times and obviously own all her recordings. The thing I want to bring up is this: what happened to that glorious voice that was heard in Sideshow and such. Listening to her in N2N I love her but it's obvious her voice isn't there anymore. Was it the 8 shows a week? Was it her rock band? What happened?

[ljay889]

Posted: 4/12/09 at 7:19pm

Were you the one who posted this on ATC too?

[KingKong]

Posted: 4/12/09 at 7:19pm

Her voice is still there, it's just different. She can still sing the **** out anything. She just can't bust out those ridiculous high belt notes.

[WithoutATrace]

Posted: 4/12/09 at 7:21pm

I agree that her voice has changed a lot since SIDESHOW. I don't know what happened...I still love listening to her voice, but it's not the same at all.

[LizzieCurry]

Posted: 4/12/09 at 7:27pm

ljay, I thought the same thing. Ha.
thread in question

[burntplains]

Posted: 4/12/09 at 7:30pm

People age. That crazy belt can't last forever. But she still sounds the same.. just toned down a little. Still love it

[AndAllThatJazz22]

Posted: 4/12/09 at 7:31pm

... don't get me started on her vocals...

[theaterkid1015]

Posted: 4/12/09 at 7:33pm

I still love her voice. I don't think it's quite as pure and strong as it was in SIDESHOW, but I found her performance so driven and personal that it more than made up for it.

[steven22]

Posted: 4/12/09 at 7:42pm

her voice is unique..but I like it...and apparently a bunch of other people do too

[Sondheim_Geek]

Posted: 4/12/09 at 7:53pm

Definitely vocal health has deteriorated...it would be silly to try and ignore that.

Also remember that she had very few New York between Side Show and N2N. A few solo albums (which can be mixed and filtered) along with Rocky Horror (which is between SS and N2N) where you can clearly hear her as a middle between 97 and 09.

[Schmerg_The_Impaler]

Posted: 4/12/09 at 7:55pm

I absolutely love her tone, but given the strain she put on her voice on so many of those difficult songs she's recorded, it's no wonder it's not quite as strong as it used to be. Ah, she's still infinitely better than I'll ever be.

[CurtainPullDowner]

Posted: 4/12/09 at 7:58pm

"That crazy belt can't last forever"
Did for Ethel.

[RentBoy86]

Posted: 4/12/09 at 8:04pm

Lupone is still going strong.

[theaterkid1015]

Posted: 4/12/09 at 8:06pm

In all fairness, LuPone and Merman are considered the exceptions, not the rules.

Even Joan Lader, Ms. LuPone's famed and fantastic vocal coach, said it's kind of extraordinary that she still can sing the way she always has.

[Ole Chum]

Posted: 4/12/09 at 8:07pm

her voice was infinitely better in rocky horror. very feminine and powerful and belty.

its just not what it was- which is why its so remarkable that she found a vehicle so suited for her.

would love to hear her in les miz or little shop tho...

[ColorTheHours048]

Posted: 4/12/09 at 9:20pm

It's also very different material than SIDESHOW.

[brandontwin2]

Posted: 4/12/09 at 9:23pm

I always think she and Julia Murney sound alike.

[ThePinballWizard]

Posted: 4/12/09 at 9:27pm

Actually no. I hate to disappont you but that was not me that posted on ATC. I don't hang out much there, but thanks for letting me know of the similar posting.

I hate to think about any of those things and her voice. But notes that were once easy for her, are no longer. True she can act and sing the hell out of songs with what she has, but its hard to deny that you can't hear the detereoration in her voice. And that's unfortunate.

[MrSweetNAwful]

Posted: 4/12/09 at 11:54pm

Actually JoeGillis, I think Idina's voice is going in the opposite direction. If you listen to her in the OBCR of RENT and compare that to the soundtrack or See What I Wanna See and Wicked she has really improved and seems to have learned over the years how to properly use her voice.
Too bad the same can't be said for Ms. Ripley.

[SporkGoddess]

Posted: 4/13/09 at 12:14am

I disagree with your disagreement (heh) about Idina. I think her voice is shot from years of improper belting. I think she smokes, too?

As for Alice Ripley, I definitely noticed a deterioration from her Side Show vocal performance while listening to N2N. There's also a video of her performing "Meadowlark" on the forbidden site and I don't think she sounds that great in it, either--not at all what I had been expecting.

[Here I Am]

Posted: 4/13/09 at 4:37am

Say what you will about her voice, but nobody and I mean NOBODY acts a song the way that she does. And to me that's most important. You have to watch her live. It's an experience.

[JoeGillis]

Posted: 4/13/09 at 7:34am

I agree that Ripley displays an incredible range of emotion when she sings. No doubt about it she's got acting chops to boot!

[Auggie27]

Posted: 4/13/09 at 8:27am

Is it not possible that these changes are intentional? That entering middle age, she doesn't want to blast away as she did as Violet (or the mother in TOMMY, when I first saw her; she understudied and went on to fabulous effect).

I've seen all of her Broadway appearances, several times in SIDESHOW. But don't you recall how many people disliked the SIDESHOW sound? I recall even fans of belting saying the two women sounded like they were "yelling..." The SIDESHOW vocals, discussed here as her golden moment, were strikingly theatrical and unique -- designed to serve the Krieger blend of pastiche (the period 'performance' duets) and pop power ballads, which took the roof off the 46th Street. Many people felt the pop-rock influence actually damaged SIDESHOW's credibiliy as story, that the Daisy and Violet of the 1920s had been given an early Lloyd Webber treatment when they deserved, say, Irving Berlin. I disagreed, the goal was to explore their sexuality and yearning, but it's possible that Ripley doesn't want to be boxed in as a screechy pop-belter, particularly in the IDOL era of post-Whitney, post Maria. SIDESHOW was over a decade ago.

[Hanna from Hamburg]

Posted: 4/13/09 at 8:45am

Well, I've seen that Meadowlark video and know what you are talking about. But I also saw that show live at Papermill, and her performance was REMARKABLE! I also saw the Raw at Town Hall concert and it just seemed to me that she didn't have the stamina anymore to belt for 2 hours. Most of the concert was incredible, but the last few songs seemed to be difficult for her to get through. It really didn't seem like her voice was damaged, but just that she was "out of shape." I'm seeing N2N on April 21st, and I CAN'T WAIT! I LOVE Alice and I'm expecting to be blown away.

[jordangirl]

Posted: 4/13/09 at 8:49am

it just seemed to me that she didn't have the stamina anymore to belt for 2 hours. Most of the concert was incredible, but the last few songs seemed to be difficult for her to get through.

Well, something's improved since Raw was recorded then, because her last solo song at the Kennedy Center concert last April was "You Have To Be There" and she belted the HELL out of it.

I adore Alice's voice ~ it's not cookie cutter, and I love that!

Updated On: 4/13/09 at 08:49 AM