Joined: 12/31/69
What is your opinion? I love his screaming, but do you think he may do it too much?
Joined: 12/31/69
Guess not...nevermind.
I hear ya (believe me).
My friend thinks he sounds like a frog sometimes.
Me? I love his voice, I think its absolutely incredible so I'd say no I don't think he screams too much.
Ruffian... take this, please.
Actually, once I figure out just what you're asking, I'll put in my two cents. Do you mean when he's acting (like in The Normal Heart) or that sort of "screaming" singing thing like Adam Pascal does? I mean... what are you basing this on?
Hell, I'm putting in my two cents anyway! I'll admit that I first bought the Tick, Tick... BOOM! CD before I saw Taboo just to see what the big deal with him was. At first, his vibrato drove me a little bit crazy, but it didn't take long for me to fall in love with his voice. It's really unique, but really beautiful. As for screaming when he sings? You don't really hear too much of that unless you listen to Rocky Horror... there's a lot of screaming there, but it's all in character. There's some in Taboo, also, but it's not really "screaming." I love him!
Broadway Legend Joined: 3/16/04
Raul has many voices all rolled into one ... his Rock Singing is fantastic, I love any & all that raunch
he was very well behaved with me, but we were in a kinda public place so he couldn't be too loud.
Broadway Legend Joined: 3/16/04
Discretion can be a good thing....or not
You know it, Undiscovered.
papa, I'm literally laughing out loud. I'll refrain from further comment, though. Hey... where's my darling midtowngym?
I think he "screams" when nececessary. His vocal strength is one of the most incredible things about him. He can go from a very gentle typically beautiful Broadway voice to one where he completely lets go and has a very rock feel to it. He uses his ability to portray whatever character is given and it is done beautifully!
Yes. Well done!
He screams for sure...but the man has this technique where somehow he never hurts his voice...it is incredible...he just uses it so effectively Ive never heard him "scream" sing and been like "ouch my ears" ya know? I always think it sounds hot...IE the end of rocky horror...i also think him singing "i dont care much" may have been the sexiest thing ever...now if he, alan cumming, and adrien brody had a singing trio of the song...then THAT might be the sexiest thing ever...ahhh...
does anyone have a towel?
WHO??? JOn Secada....just kidding
*pull out playbill from The Normal Heart* because I'm crazy.
In this article about Raul ("Rebel Without a Song") he says:
"I have a voice that is a real gift, and I know that, but it's not a voice that's well-trained. It is sort of a fluke that I ended up doing so many musical in New York. I came in, having done EVITA, which really kicked my ass. It's one of the hardest plays you can do, and I learned so much on that tour doing about eight shows a week. Che sings 14 songs. It's just brutal, and I didn't have the kind of training and extraordinary instrument that someone like Mandy [Patinkin] had when he took on that part. But I had to learn on my feet."
I always thought that was interesting.
Anyway... "but the man has this technique where somehow he never hurts his voice"
I remember hearing him scream at the end of The Normal Heart, and just thinking "OHMYGOD. Save the voice. GENTLE with the voice."
During Taboo, he was out for a while with some sort of vocal injury, so unfortunately, it does happen.
Brodybaby, DON'T MAKE ME HAVE TO ANSWER THAT QUESTION!!! lol!
Broadway Star Joined: 11/4/03
Yeah, it's not like he screams when playing George in SITPWG. The screaming is all in character when he does it.
Exactly. That's one of the things I love about his voice - its versatility. He can do that "rock opera" sort of stuff, but he can also sing more "standard" musical theatre stuff just as well. YAY RAUL!
Broadway Legend Joined: 2/14/04
I guess we've kind of touched on this subject before, but I mean honestly-I really don't think he screams too much-ish. I mean, THE scream in The Normal Heart was so beautifuly done it was perfect and as a whole, that is the first thing I think about when someone mentions that performance. And in that show, the character does yell quite a lot, but I think it is very important.
And with Raul, he seems to know how to take care of his voice but other than time, I don't really know if there is any way to tell if he is affecting his vocal chords in the long run. I guess we'll just have to wait and see what the man sings like when he is eighty!
And I'm sorry, I know it's a personal choice, but I HATE that he smokes. And I know people say the smoking has probably contributed to the raspy-ness that I love so much, but please...are all the added risks worth it!?
"And I'm sorry, I know it's a personal choice, but I HATE that he smokes. And I know people say the smoking has probably contributed to the raspy-ness that I love so much, but please...are all the added risks worth it!?"
Hm. I'm not sure that "raspy" is what I'd call it... I mean, a lot of people say that he and Adam Pascal sound alike, but I just don't hear it. I mean, I hear it, but not to the extent that I could ever see mistaking one for the other. I'd probably say that Adam's voice is "raspy," but not in a bad way, of course. Anyway, Raul seems to be able to control that "growly voice" (as my dear Sammygal likes to call it) depending on what he's singing... so would that really be caused by smoking? I kind of figured that was just how his voice is. That said... honestly, whatever floats his boat. It makes me sad that he still smokes, but whatever he needs to do, I guess. I just hope he doesn't hurt his voice.
Broadway Star Joined: 9/26/03
I personally love the quality of his voice. Its unique and not your typical broadway / legit voice.
Raul is AWESOME! I loved him so much in tick, tick BOOM! Too bad I never got to see him live. Yea for soundtracks!
When I first bought TTB, Raul's voice annoyed me in this really strange way. I thought he sounded like a Kermit the Frog on some points. Then I listened to it more and more, and fell absolutely in love with his voice.
His voice is incredible- Petrified is still running through my CD player and my head. There's really nothing that bothers me about his voice anymore.
"During Taboo, he was out for a while with some sort of vocal injury, so unfortunately, it does happen."
My friend saw him at the stage door right after he went back to Taboo and he told her he had been out cause he had a bruised vocal cord. Then he did a little "Phillip Salon" for her. She was in heaven.
Our fingerprints don't fade from the lives we touch.
Puppies are babies in fur coats.
Tinfoil...The Terrorizing Terminator
"Too bad I never got to see him live. Yea for soundtracks!"
Cast recordings. CAST RECORDINGS!!! ESPECIALLY when you're discussing someone as wonderous as Raul Esparza. Okay, calming down...
"My friend saw him at the stage door right after he went back to Taboo and he told her he had been out cause he had a bruised vocal cord. Then he did a little "Phillip Salon" for her. She was in heaven."
Yup, that was it... bruised vocal chord. Poor baby! Can we arrange for him to sing to me like that? I'd die happy. Oh Raul...
Videos