Soaring: Billy IS young. He's not a teenager, but he is not a commanding, powerful, intimidating presence. He is a man/child who was the big fish in very, very small pond who doesn't know the first thing about being an adult. Carousel post "If I Loved You" is the audience seeing the vulnerable, insecure person Billy is hiding behind the raw sexual charisma he presents at most times.
A booming, operatic voice offers wonderful thrills with this score (John Raitt, Nathan Gunn) but there's a dramatic heft to the role that many operatic voices, at least in my experience, don't bring to it. Say what you will about Hayden's voice, and I know he's not a great singer, but each acting beat in his "Soliloquy" is defined and on point. And I didn't say "sweet and pretty," I said "youthful" because I believe that it is essential to the character of Billy that he be a young character for all the reasons I posted above.
"Sing the words, Patti!!!!" Stephen Sondheim to Patti LuPone.
Updated On: 4/17/17 at 12:30 AM