gleek4114 said: "Hot Pants said: "I recall Timothy Hughes saying that he sings Hades up an octave. Or at least the lowest notes are up an octave, I’m not quite sure, but I know it’s one or the other. The fact that Page’s understudies can’t perform Hades’ music as written (which is absolutely no knock against them, as Hades is not written in a key that seems humanly possible) leads me to believe that it’s gonna be very difficult to recast the role. My guess is whoever they get to replace Page will likely sing it up an octave as well, as so few have a voice like his."
I think Norm Lewis would be a great Hades. I think he could sing it as written for the most part."
Norm Lewis could be a great Hades, but I’m pretty certain they’d need to raise some of those notes. I really liked Lewis’ performance in Jesus Christ Superstar, but I thought it sounded like he was scraping the bottom of his range on some of Caiaphas’ low notes, and Hades has to sing even lower. I absolutely love Hades’ music as it’s written, but I’m willing to accept the music being raised for a replacement as long as they can act it well. Patrick Page as Hades truly is one of the most perfect pieces of casting in recent years. Finding someone who can actually hit those notes must’ve been difficult, so they really lucked out that they got a performer who could do not only that, but also knock the acting out of the park as well.