Highest and Best Broadway Belters- Page 4

[annie2]

Posted: 7/11/04 at 8:09am

Glad Florence Lacey is on your list. She is great! She is mostly known for her EVITA (and to me she was the best!)I saw her in all kind of roles and I can´t get enough of her. Anyone out there who has seen her in "Follies" in Arlington or in "Heartland"??? What an experience. She belted out her high notes that it was knocking you off your seat.
But what I love most of her: Her heart is as big as her talent!

[Emutional]

Posted: 7/11/04 at 8:55am

is Chenoweth considered a belter? I know she doesn't belt a lot in Wicked because she uses her opera voice, but she belts on her CD and stuff...

[ponine24601]

Posted: 7/11/04 at 12:25pm

hm.. i was wondering the same thing. Doesn't cheno belt the last note on "popular" and the "there are bridges you cross you didn't know you cross until you've crossed" on TG/ICBH though?

[ShbrtAlley44]

Posted: 7/11/04 at 12:31pm

The Bridges line she belts, but the last note of Popular is easily done in a mixed belt.

[TTL]

Posted: 7/11/04 at 3:18pm

I agree with Liz Callaway!! She's great! Um.....i was scimming through this thread......and forgive me if someone DID metion her but I believe Marin Mazzie has a powerful voice - KISS ME KATE, I also agree with Amy Spanger, Bernadette Peters, Sherie Rene Scott, Heather Headley.

[Emutional]

Posted: 7/11/04 at 3:18pm

Kristin also belts in "14G".

Posted: 7/11/04 at 3:23pm

TWO WORDS:

LINDA EDER

The most fabulous of them all.

in my humble opinion.

[shesings]

Posted: 7/11/04 at 3:37pm

I don't know that Kristin belts that much in WIcked, but in a lot of other things she has done she does some pretty good belting. YOu also gotta give it to Bernadette and Patti LuPone!

[Akrates]

Posted: 4/28/05 at 9:29pm

Best belters...Hmmm...

Barbra is one of the best, even late Barbra. (A Piece of Sky, the last note is one of the most amazing...Breath support to high heavens, Pretty Women, Being Alive...Lotsa late great songs...Lower register, yes...Less clear, but husky. Vibrato went out of control in the late 70s and 80s, but reigned back in...)

Why the vibrato qualifier? To me, it is more impressive to belt in a pure straight tone. Going into vibrato in a belt is not a technical wonder. Fending off vibrato until the end of a belt is the true challenge. (Think Barbra, On a Clear Day or Starting Here, Starting Now)

Patti Labelle, Somewhere Over the Rainbow (Live, the encore...Amazingly high...Can't decide if it is pure chest or mix, but regardless it is amazing)
Kristin Chenowith...Didn't appreciate her till recently

Liza and Judy are both great belters, not because of range, but delivery...

[SweetSmellofSuccess]

Posted: 4/28/05 at 11:30pm

Eden Espinoza and Kate Pazakis

[Joshua488]

Posted: 4/28/05 at 11:43pm

Kerry Butler! She belted up to a high G eight times a week in HAIRSPRAY and never missed a performance in her nine month run. That's healthy singing. She may sound like she's "belting out of her nose", but that's just her voice. LOL

Tracy Miller does it now, and she sustains it longer and adds more vibrato to it as well. Quite impressive. I would love to hear both of these ladies belt higher more often.

[BluCat500]

Posted: 4/28/05 at 11:52pm

I like how things have changed since this thread started...I bet alot more people know who Stephanie J.Block is...TY Wicked

[Derek]

Posted: 4/28/05 at 11:58pm

everyone ive heard as Elphie (Idina, Eden, Saycon, Kristy, Shoshana, Steph, Jenna) are all pretty good belters in my opinion :)

[Chlydomnestra]

Posted: 4/28/05 at 11:58pm

Such a subjective topic. I am an Idina fan, but some people don't like her voice. Others are Barbara fans, but I don't care much for her voice. I think Bernadette P., Patti L., Betty B., and Ethel M. are all wonderful examples of belters. Chenoweth definately has a belt, but to me, it's not of the same calibur. I don't know how many country music fans are out there, but let's give it up for Martina McBride, who could do many a Broadway character justice, and I would love to see her pull a Reba McIntyre and do a show. By the way, what about Reba? She's got a nice belt, although not a traditional Broadway performer. Just some thoughts.

[justme2]

Posted: 4/29/05 at 12:51am

My humble vote is for Dee Hoty.

PLEASE DISREGARD MAMMA MIA. Although, I'd like a CD with her on it.

Listen to her on the PaperMill Follies, City of Angels and Will Rogers Follies CDs. And..if you are brave enough to get past the title "The Best Little Whorehouse Goes Public", listen to her sing about "hunger just as tough as a three balled tomcat"!!

[WayWicked]

Posted: 4/29/05 at 1:07am

What a great list.

Lupone tops mine!

[Dreamcatcher]

Posted: 4/29/05 at 1:18am

Haven't really heard Kristin belt other then Wicked but from what I have heard she does it well. Perhaps not the strongest but it sounds absolutely beautiful when she belts higher notes.

[onceadancer2]

Posted: 4/29/05 at 10:00am

Nora Bayes
Sophie Tucker
Ethel Waters
Wynn Murray
Audrey Christie
Gertrude Niessen
June Havoc
Mary Jane Walsh

[Katecab99]

Posted: 4/29/05 at 10:11am

Sutton Foster
Idina Menzel
Heather Headley
Patti Lupone
Ethel Merman
Steph Block

Posted: 4/29/05 at 10:15am

1 Alix Korey
2 Sutton Foster
3 Eden Espinosa

[joeybiltmore1]

Posted: 4/29/05 at 10:20am

Anyone interested in the history of Broadway belting should pay rightful homage to Karen Morrow, Susan Johnson and someone not mentioned yet: the distinctive beltress MARGERY GRAY. Give Gray's performances in "Tovarich", "Tenderloin" or the 60's revival of "Anything Goes" a listen for a thrilling, dead-on, super-theatrical belt.

I have always found Betty Buckley's way high notes to be nothing short of shrill, with her "whatever twill beeeeee" on "1776" particularly painful.

Highest doesn't always equal best in terms of belting, but when someone is sockin it out at the top of THEIR range, it is amazing. Long live belting! (Unless you're playing Julie Jordan!)

[NYAgent]

Posted: 4/29/05 at 1:40pm

I didnt notice anyone said Laurie Beechman. She had pipes. Wow. Kate Shindle is amazing.

[musicnmath]

Posted: 4/29/05 at 1:56pm

Sherie Rene Scott!

[BluCat500]

Posted: 4/29/05 at 2:04pm

Since all the other Elphabas have been mentioned...shoshana bean

[chinkie azn jai]

Posted: 4/29/05 at 2:09pm

Stephanie J. Block
Idina Menzel
Mary Stuart Masterson
Shoshana Bean
Sherie Rene Scott
Heather Headley
Sutton Foster
Kerry Butler
Ann Harada