Gosh Darn it There Are No Baritone Leads!!!

[Ebonic_Singer]

Posted: 3/1/05 at 8:12pm

I can't help but feel as though there are no male leads that don't consistently go to G's and above. I feel as though if a guy can't hit A-C, there is no lead role for them. Can anyone please prove me wrong?

[Princeton78]

Posted: 3/1/05 at 8:16pm

Ahemm....

[munkustrap178]

Posted: 3/1/05 at 8:17pm

Um...Billy Bigelow in CAROUSEL
Curly in OKLAHOMA

There are more.

[GovernorSlaton]

Posted: 3/1/05 at 8:17pm

That's the exact opposite of what they're saying on another thread. Updated On: 3/1/05 at 08:17 PM

[Ebonic_Singer]

Posted: 3/1/05 at 8:22pm

The one about high tenors? Yeah haha.

[Joshua488]

Posted: 3/1/05 at 8:23pm

I know that Pseudolus in A FUNNY THING HAPPENED ON THE WAY TO THE FORUM doesn't sing higher than an F... maybe F#.

[catstagestud]

Posted: 3/1/05 at 8:26pm

the Beast in Beauty and the Beast, John in John and Jen, not a lead but Shaw in Footloose (though the show as a whole is bad) goes to an F I believe....Joseph goes to a G or A flat depending on how you do the ending of "Close Every Door." Take a look at the Music Theatre Anthologies for Bass/Baritone. Harold Hill doesn't go too high I don't believe, maybe and F. Danny in Grease only sings stuff higher than an F in full falsetto.

[jonartdesigns]

Posted: 3/1/05 at 8:28pm

i'm a bari-tenor who can drop down to a bass, the following parts i can sing easily (read as so can most baritones)

don quiote- man of la mancha
billy flynn, amos hart- chicago
curly, jud- oklahoma
bobby, cladwell, lockstock- urinetown
graydon- millie
beast, gaston- b&tb
julian, bert- 42nd street
biggley, finch, frump, bratt- H2$
sweeney todd, anthony- sweeney todd
prince/wolf- into the woods

i'll stop there but thats 17 leading baritone roles

[Feodor Sverdlov]

Posted: 3/1/05 at 8:31pm

Woody in FINIAN'S RAINBOW
Sid in THE PAJAMA GAME
Ponty in HOW TO SUCCEED...

[ljay889]

Posted: 3/1/05 at 8:33pm

I'm starting to get to frustrated being a Baritone. I'm only 15, so I'm still working on my voice, and developing my range.

My highest right now is like an F sharp, right before I break.

But I think of it this way. I rather have this rich baritone tone, than a thin whimpy tenor tone.

Now my low range is really good. I can sing Bass 2 parts in choirs.

Updated On: 3/1/05 at 08:33 PM

[catstagestud]

Posted: 3/1/05 at 8:36pm

ljay...I was 15 when I could barely squeek out Fs and F sharps (once my soprano days were over my voice went straight to the bottom of the ladder, but anywho..). With two years of training I'm belting high A's and when I'm really warmed up high B flats. Just keep working; and utilize your rich tone; though airy tenor tone is pleasant to hear too. I like to sing the beginning of "Johanna" in a light tenor tone until I hit the third page when the forte is perfect...

[jesseeinstein]

Posted: 3/1/05 at 8:44pm

Horton-Seussical
Gordo, Roger-A New Brain
Man-SFANW
Coalhouse, Father-Ragtime
Leo, Governor-Parade
Whizzer-Falsettos
-----
There are tons! The ones that I wrote just start to scratch the surface.
-Jesse

[bernadette88]

Posted: 3/1/05 at 8:49pm

Dude, most Broadway Shows have Baritone's as there leads:

Seymour-Little Shop of Horrors
You're a Good Man Charlie Brown: Charlie Brown, Linus
Annie Get Your Gun: Frank Butler
Music Man: Harold Hill
Into the Woods: Baker, Prince's
Fiddler on the Rood: Tevye
Seussical: Horton
The Sound of Music: Captain
The Producers: Both Lead Rules

These are just a FEW but the list goes on and on and on. A TRUE baritone's range goes up to a G and down to an A or G. Most roles don't sing above that unless it is sung in there Falsetto which most everyone should be able to do. I consider myself a Tenor II. I can go as low as an E(2 octaves below middle C) and then up to an A. In my Falsetto I can go up to a G. All this comes with training and working your voice. Your voice is like a muscle, if you don't work it, it will never strengthen and improve.

But as for the not being a Baritone roles out there: There are TONS......

[catstagestud]

Posted: 3/1/05 at 8:53pm

I'm not sure what the technical breakdown is but I believe you can associate a lot of these leading roles as Baritone/ Lyric Baritone roles. Someone correct me if I'm wrong but I believe a Baritone goes to G and Lyrics do A flat and A then you get into true Tenor a B flat, etc...not 100 % sure though!

[Sumofallthings]

Posted: 3/1/05 at 10:47pm

Sweeney F*CKing Todd

[Ebonic_Singer]

Posted: 3/1/05 at 11:14pm

Bernedette, a lot of those are tenors, and Seymour definately goes to an A in "It's Just the Gas"

[Justice]

Posted: 3/2/05 at 1:33am

City of Angels - both Stone and Stine are Baritone's.

[phantom_tenor]

Posted: 3/2/05 at 2:05am

The ones that haven't been mentioned yet:

sky masterson in guys and dolls
Captain Von Trapp in Sound of Music
The Poet in Kismet
Raoul, Andre and Firmin in POTO
Javert in Les Mis (i'm pretty sure)
Emile in South Pacific
The King and the Prince in Cinderella
Practically all of the G & S lead baritones


Even alot of operatic baritone roles don't go above F or F#. Escamillo in Carmen, Figaro (bass baritone) in Marriage of Figaro etc.

There really are heaps of roles for your vocal range.

And who knows? Maybe with time you'll be busting high b flats.
Some baritones have been known to get even high Cs.
I find with upper notes, the most important thing once you actually get the notes into your range is good breath control.
So really work on breathing now to save yourself more worklater on.

[teth]

Posted: 3/2/05 at 3:36am

lol It's funny how I complained about similar things a few months ago.

I am glad that many people are proving us wrong though.

I am also working on that G. I was finally able to hit G with a good full voice the other day, but I wonder when I will be able to consistently do that.

[WindyCityActor]

Posted: 3/2/05 at 8:19am

As a baritone, whose comfort range ends at G, I thank you all!

[The Distinctive Baritone]

Posted: 3/2/05 at 11:32am

Because of the influence of pop music on Broadway, musical leading-man roles are getting higher and higher, so it's true that we bass-baritones won't get to play the lead in many modern musicals. However, there is plenty for us to do in older shows like those by Rodgers and Hammerstein, Lerner and Loewe, and especially Sondheim, who usually doesn't require his baritones to go higher than an F#.

[FranklinShepard-Inc.]

Posted: 3/2/05 at 11:49am

... if he doesn't play George in "Sunday..."

[mattvcrewse]

Posted: 3/8/05 at 12:44am

Most leads are baritone. Someone mentioned that true baritones can go to high G, which is true. You really need to be able to belt a high G, but there are plenty of roles that only go to an F#: Javert, Sweeney Todd, Don Quixote, Beast, Princes in Into the Woods, Gaston, Lancelot, Arthur, Mordred, George (She Loves Me),anything old really, etc.

It's also true what someone mentioned about bari-tenor roles with the infusion of pop music into Broadway.

LJAY:
No worries. When I was fifteen, my range sucked so badly. I could only go from low E to middle C. I couldn't even finish off the bass range. I've been working on my voice for the past year and a half, now I'm nineteen, and my range goes from double-low B to double-high F (three and a half octaves). My belt stops at high G. If you have a rich tone, USE IT. Open up your throat, push more air out, use that diaphragm, and you'll be able to bring that warm, dark, money-making tone up to the top of your range. Because there's so much bari-tenor going on today, you can melt a crowd with a rich voice. Also, when we basses belt (think "Stars" from Les Mis), we may not have the piercing quality of these tenors, but we have much more RAW POWER that comes out and carries a lot more weight. It's the stuff that commands attention. Keep working on stretching your voice, but in the mean time, use what you've got. Some good songs for rich voices include: On the Street Where You Live, If I Loved You, If Ever I Would Leave You, C'est Moi, I am I, Don Quixote, Dulcinea, My Romance (an old Rodgers and Hart ballad guaranteed to charm the socks off of anyone), etc.

[musicalfandukie]

Posted: 3/8/05 at 1:04am

ya i think i would have to agree and say it's opposite. there are more baritone leads for sure.

[WildhornFanatic]

Posted: 3/8/05 at 1:19am

Dracula in DRACULA THE MUSICAL goes up to a G.
Jekyll/ Hyde in JEKYLL & HYDE goes up to a G, unless you do the alternate "Damn all the odds" and sing the A.
Chauvelin in SCARLET PIMPERNEL goes up to a G.