Best Turn by a Non-Singer in a Broadway Musical

[Mr. Nowack]

Posted: 9/5/15 at 2:18pm

Over the years many shows have been written for people who really couldn't sing, usually big bankable stars.

 

Who was the best, of those you've seen?

[imeldasturn]

Posted: 9/5/15 at 2:28pm

Judi Dench in A Little Night Music, Glenn Close in Sunset Boulevard

[newintown]

Posted: 9/5/15 at 3:20pm

"Couldn't sing" is an awfully relative and subjective phrase. I would say that both Dench and Close sing quite well enough for theatrical purposes. Good theatre singing is about much more than attractive tone. In fact, I would prefer, in most musical theatre, to see and hear an excellent actor with a capable voice than an excellent singer with only capable acting ability.

 

And so I would say that many of the actors who have been accused by those of little imagination of not being able to sing (Rex Harrison, Lucille Ball, Glynis Johns, Judy Holliday, etc.) were exactly the kind of singer their shows needed.

[TotallyEffed]

Posted: 9/5/15 at 3:29pm

Natasha Richardson in Cabaret.

[EthelMae]

Posted: 9/5/15 at 3:36pm

Lauren Bacall in Applause and Woman of the Year.

[JBroadway]

Posted: 9/5/15 at 3:36pm

The first example that comes to my mind is Daniel Radcliffe in How to Succeed. He's said himself that he wasn't a singer or a dancer at all, and yet he pulled off that role fantastically. 

[LimelightMike]

Posted: 9/5/15 at 4:31pm

Peter Gallagher. Having seen him in both straight plays and musicals, I can attest to him being a pleasant surprise when he opened his mouth to sing.

[pinoyidol2006]

Posted: 9/5/15 at 4:51pm

Does Lin-Manuel Miranda count? He can sing, but it's not his strongest suit.

[JoseLee_]

Posted: 9/5/15 at 5:39pm

Glenn Close - Sunset Boulevard (FAV. Norma/Cast Recording)

Alfred Molina - Fiddler on the Roof (FAV. Fiddler recording)

Emma Stone - Cabaret (she was AMAZING)

Cathy Rigby - Peter Pan (she owns this role)

Updated On: 9/5/15 at 05:39 PM

[AEA AGMA SM]

Posted: 9/5/15 at 6:25pm

In what world is Deborah Cox ever considered a "non-singer"?

[RaulisCompany]

Posted: 9/5/15 at 6:26pm

Tyne Daly Gypsy

[ljay889]

Posted: 9/5/15 at 7:11pm

Roz Russell in Wonderful Town is probably the female gold standard for a non-singer's star turn.

Updated On: 9/5/15 at 07:11 PM

[ggersten]

Posted: 9/5/15 at 7:44pm

Jack Klugman - Gypsy. ???

[The Other One]

Posted: 9/5/15 at 8:35pm

Alexis Smith in FOLLIES.

[EvanK]

Posted: 9/5/15 at 8:39pm

I thought Allison Janney was fantastic in 9 to 5. 

[firebolts]

Posted: 9/5/15 at 11:15pm

^ She was. :)

 

Emily Blunt surprised me in Into the Woods! I thought she did well. 

[WhizzerMarvin]

Posted: 9/5/15 at 11:32pm

Vivien Leigh in Tovarich

Walter Chiari in The Gay Life

Jose Ferrer in The Girl Who Came To Supper

[mailhandler777]

Posted: 9/6/15 at 6:13am

Allison Janney in 9 to 5.

I don't think I've seen any other non singers in a musical before.

[GavestonPS]

Posted: 9/6/15 at 7:40am

^^^ Back in the day, performers including Angela Lansbury, Robert Preston, Barbara Harris, Richard Burton Georgia Brown and Carol Channing were called "non-singers" (despite their considerable success in musicals) to distinguish them from performers like Alfred Drake and Barbara Cook. Nowadays I suppose we would call them "actors who sing". Then there were the vaudevillians, from Bert Lahr to Zero Mostel, who were expected to sing as they did, though nobody confused them with Stephen Douglass.

 

Jose Ferrer toured in the title role of MAN OF LA MANCHA, so I'm thinking *he* considered himself a singer. He certainly sold out the theater where I worked as a kid on the basis of rave reviews.

 

In my opinion, there ought to be a special award for Lansbury, who starred in five musicals (all of them in iconic, demanding leads) over 25 years on Broadway and on tour--even though Hollywood had always dubbed her in musical films, IIRC.

Updated On: 9/6/15 at 07:40 AM

[The Other One]

Posted: 9/6/15 at 8:14am

I'm pretty sure Lansbury was only dubbed in "The Harvey Girls" and in fact sang in her non-musical films that called for singing (like "The Picture of Dorian Gray", but you have a point.

Updated On: 9/6/15 at 08:14 AM

[songanddanceman2]

Posted: 9/6/15 at 4:48pm

I have to say I really liked Stephen Lynch in The Wedding Singer.

[GavestonPS]

Posted: 9/6/15 at 6:26pm

The Other One said: "I'm pretty sure Lansbury was only dubbed in "The Harvey Girls" and in fact sang in her non-musical films that called for singing (like "The Picture of Dorian Gray", but you have a point.

 

 

"

 

Thanks for the correction. I am far less sure and happy to take your word. IIRC (and we just demonstrated that I often do not), Sondheim is quoted in print (probably in SONDHEIM & CO.) as saying, "None of our leads (in ANYONE CAN WHISTLE) were really singers." In fact, much is made of the fact that of the three, Lansbury was by far the best vocalist. I think the implication is that she wasn't really thought of as a "singer". Nobody bothers to point out that Barbara Cook was the only true singer among the MUSIC MAN leads, because the fact that Cook is the leading vocalist isn't remarkable.

Updated On: 9/6/15 at 06:26 PM

[ggersten]

Posted: 9/6/15 at 6:32pm

Tom Bosley in Fiorello! - for which he won the Tony.  

[gypsy101]

Posted: 9/6/15 at 7:40pm

Some of my favorites of people not otherwise known as singers (based only on their recordings): Roz Russell in Wonderful Town, Mary Stuart Masterson in Nine and Christina Applegate in Sweet Charity.

[darquegk]

Posted: 9/6/15 at 9:42pm

Lynch was a non-actor, not a non-singer- his main career was as a singing comedian with a guitar. Wedding Singer was his lead acting debut but he had a long history of singing and playing already.