Broadway vs Opera Singing: Interesting Interview

[dayao]

Posted: 7/13/08 at 3:35am

Here are links to a very interesting and informative interview with one of Musical Theater’s rising young talents here on the West Coast and one of the very few who is equally at home in grand opera, baritone James Anest.. In the course of the interview, which is actually an audition for a film role in which he was eventually cast, Anest talks in detail about the difficulties an opera singer faces when making the transition to musicals and how he manages to cross successfully between both genres.

If you have seen the Youtube videos featuring a 23 year old Anest as Emile DeBecque with Stephanie J Block as Nellie Forbush in a late 1990's SOUTH PACIFIC, you will be most surprised at how different and young he looks without the stage makeup that made him look older as DeBecque, even though this interview video is much more recent.

James discusses the use of body microphones in Musical Theater and how he has to reign in his powerful voice which on the operatic stage can soar above a symphony sized orchestra with no microphone enhancement whatsoever and the distinct differences between opera and Broadway singers. Anest pays tribute to the Broadway performers of the past who inspired and led him to perform in musicals and reveals, surprisingly for so young a singer, an appreciation of the great Broadway & film baritones of the 1950’s & 60’s.
I highly recommend viewing this interview for anyone who is interested in how today’s performers approach the art of acting and singing on the musical stage and how there is a lot to be learned from studying the great stars of the past.
The second shorter interview finds the Nebraska born Anest in a discussion of his early music education and an amusing account of his first scholarship as the first male student to live on the campus of a formerly all female music college in Southern California. Enjoy.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vyxzQ9O8JQs
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NJ00OPyx_QY

Updated On: 7/13/08 at 03:35 AM

[g4rat]

Posted: 7/13/08 at 11:21am

He seems very smart and insightful. Thanks for the links :}

[Steffie2]

Posted: 7/16/08 at 4:04pm

I saw James as Gaston in Beauty and the Beast 3 times. He has such a wonderful stage presence and THAT VOICE! Nothing can compare with seeing him live. I already knew he was a beautiful, talented person. These two videos show him to be an extremely intelligent person as well. I saw the South Pacific videos. Unbelievable! Wish I saw him do it on stage. He and Stephanie Block are wonderful.

[monestere]

Posted: 7/23/08 at 8:56pm

I saw James Anest in a production of the original all acoustic operatic version of “The Pirates of Penzance” several years ago in a 2500 seat theatre. There was a 50 piece orchestra playing full out between Anest on stage and the full capacity audience with no microphones at all and despite this I could hear his powerful voice perfectly in the upper balcony where I was seated. It was the most awesome thing I have ever encountered in live theatre and I have since become a great admirer of this singer.

As much as I have enjoyed him in “The Fantasticks”, “South Pacific”, the Joseph Papp adaptation of “Pirates of Penzance” (which was miked, but very mildly for Anest) and especially as the best Gaston ever in “Beauty and the Beast”, I wonder if his voice is simply too good for the Broadway musicals of today which rely heavily on falsetto and overzealous miking that tends to make even a marginal singer seem good. Anest is more a throwback to the 1950’s & 60’s Broadway and movie baritones he mentions in the interview than any singer on Broadway today. Even revivals of past musicals that used such a voice are now routinely miked. Of course, James’ leading man looks and superb acting skills make him a great candidate visually for the musical stage but part of me prefers him in grand opera, where that astounding voice can be heard in all its acoustic glory.