Idina singing 'Sleepy Man'

[Yero]

Posted: 8/7/07 at 11:07pm

Just a video I found on Youtube of a young Idina Menzel (or Mentzel, not sure if she changed her name yet) singing Sleepy Man from The Robber Bridegroom. Much more classical sounding and less rocker/belty. Am I the only one who actually prefers this over her current sound?
Sleepy Man

[BroadwayGirl107]

Posted: 8/7/07 at 11:15pm

I very much prefer the more soulful rocker sound, but I love that this surfaced--for anyone who likes to pretend she was never classically trained.

[jsg03jd]

Posted: 8/8/07 at 5:26am

My God, what has happened to her voice since this clip??? There were a few pitch issues, but her voice sounded full and well-supported. She sounds so different now when you view other clips of her singing...

[thejcm]

Posted: 8/8/07 at 6:45am

"My God, what has happened to her voice since this clip???"

RENT, Wicked, The Wild Party, Aida...take your pick of shows Idina has screamed her way through.

For the record, I absolutely love her. But you can tell a difference in her voice between her two albums. Her voice on "Still I Can't Be Still" is much stronger than it is by the time she did "Here". But it's hard to compare the two since "Here" is acoustic and doesn't call for any kind of the big/belty/soulful tones in her voice. I guess a better comparison would be the two RENT recordings she's done.

(Edited to fix the italics tags.)

Updated On: 8/8/07 at 06:45 AM

[GClef2]

Posted: 8/8/07 at 10:12am

I love how just because she has more vibrato, suddenly she is "classically trained."

Idina Menzel is not classically trained. Period.

Just because she is not screaming in this clip does not mean she is showing her "opera side." She has no opera side. This doesn't mean I don't like, I do. But please.

[Marcus2]

Posted: 8/8/07 at 10:17am

Idina was classically trained!

I must say Idina is an amazing Performer, she has a unique voice, it may be very different but its still amazing.

I think shows like Wicked really took their toll on her voice but if you compare her Broadway run to London I think her voice improved greatly. I do think there are much better singers than her but her performances in everything she does is commited and amazing!

[BroadwayGirl107]

Posted: 8/8/07 at 10:26am

"Idina Menzel is not classically trained. Period."

Idina Menzel had years of classical training from her child-hood through almost her entire time in college. Period.


"My God, what has happened to her voice since this clip???"

RENT, Wicked, The Wild Party, Aida...take your pick of shows Idina has screamed her way through.
Hmm. Not quite. She's since switched her vocal techniques--that gives her the harsher, brighter, more rock sound withOUT damaging her voice. Well, unless, of course, she slips up in her technique, which is less often than most people on this board think. What she's been doing since she's turned professional doesn't sound like proper classical technique because it's NOT, it's another technique--and a completely valid one--altogether, whether or not classical snobs think it's "right."


I personally prefer the way she sounds now. To me, she has the most unique and expressive voice I've heard, and I don't think classical training allows for that quite on the same level.


Updated On: 8/8/07 at 10:26 AM

[Andante]

Posted: 8/8/07 at 10:42am

Wow...just...wow. And my heart just sunk a little, thinking about how her voice sounds now. Owch.

[GClef2]

Posted: 8/8/07 at 1:15pm

Well if she was, she is hardly showing it in this clip.

[BroadwayGirl107]

Posted: 8/8/07 at 1:50pm

Actually, I think it's quite obvious from this clip that the person singing has classical training, especially when you hear her sing differently now. The rounder vowels, darker sound, the fact that there's more vibrato, the sound of some of the notes more in her head voice. She's obviously using classical technique but mixing with chest voice because she's singing something more contemporary. But if it's hard for you to hear...ok.

Posted: 8/8/07 at 6:04pm

She's definitely showing classical training in this clip...maybe not OPERATIC training, but there's a difference between the two.

And I prefer her voice now....it's fabulous. True, she's had some bad performances, but so has everyone. I don't know why people want to harp on Idina's bad performances as if the rest of the Broadway actresses are pitch perfect all the time....

[KChenowethfan]

Posted: 8/8/07 at 8:44pm

Pretty nice, but does not hold a candle to Emily Skinner's rendition. I like Idina though and its nice to hear a more legit/traditional broadway song from her.

[bwayguy22089]

Posted: 8/8/07 at 10:14pm

I love her now, but I love her in this clip as well. I wonder how different her performance would have been in Wicked if she had sung the score like this...hmmm...I'm sure it'd still be great

[GClef2]

Posted: 8/9/07 at 1:44am

yeah it's probably just my untrained ears.......

haha

okay

[wickedfiyeroofoz]

Posted: 8/9/07 at 2:21am

Idina just kinda sounds like she's trying to sound a certain way....like she's adding affect to her voice...I like it better today. She's a passionate singer if nothing else :)

[camp_actor]

Posted: 8/9/07 at 7:57am

She sounds slightly uncomfortable in places - but in general it's a pretty solid rendition and she looks beautiful (in a blurry kinda way!).

I think she sounds more natural in the way she sings now, but her Sleepy Man is still pretty good.

I've always really been more impressed by her presence and commitment to the moment than by her vocal ability anyway (even though she is a very good singer).

[massofmen]

Posted: 8/9/07 at 9:31am

the whole thing is bad. but mainly because the tempo is too fast. Its a lullabye. Slow it down. Its a song to soothe the man to sleep. Its best on the original cast recording.

[Holly Therese]

Posted: 8/9/07 at 9:54am

Wow, what a difference. So much healthier sounding.

[InfiniteTheaterFrenzy]

Posted: 8/9/07 at 10:01am

"Its best on the original cast recording."

I disagree. I think it's best when Liz Callaway does it on her solo CD, The Story Goes On.

[massofmen]

Posted: 8/9/07 at 11:00am

haven't heard that rendering. look forward to hearing it.

[landryjames2]

Posted: 8/9/07 at 2:49pm

I agree with GClef's first post. I am a gigantic Idina fan, but think it is laughable that people are basing how classically trained she is based on this clip. I am not saying that she wasn't classically trained...but come on...in this clip her voice sounds just like every other 20 year old wannabe singer/broadway actress in New York. Nice, somewhat powerful, nothing special.

Thank God she found the uniqueness in her voice that has made her the broadway performer/singer that we know (and a good percentage of us Love). I much prefer her now--harsher sound or not.

[AC126748]

Posted: 8/9/07 at 3:26pm

She has the right voice for the song, but she's singing it way too fast. It should be a sultry, sexy love song. She barrels through it with little to no poise.

[Broadwayboy2631]

Posted: 8/9/07 at 5:34pm

Love Patti's version on this, and I hate Idinas.

[WiCkEDrOcKS]

Posted: 8/9/07 at 5:42pm

She sounds fantastic.

Wow...she has amazing range. Not as good as Patti but who is? Still brilliant, IMO.

[elphaba.scares.me]

Posted: 8/9/07 at 7:33pm

IMHO, it's a nice sound.

But it certainly wouldn't have made her a star.

Let alone landed her a record contract.