Ignored High Notes in Musicals

[BeingAlive44Ever]

Posted: 12/2/23 at 10:57pm

So I saw a post detailing the highest notes sung in musicals and found some exclusions very odd. It occurs to me that it's most likely that people don't realize these notes are what they are and I do solely because I'm a freak who carries a pitch pipe with me everywhere. Here they are. 

Kristin Chenoweth sings an E6 in No One Mourns the Wicked at the very end, though not every Glinda does

Tim Minchin as Judas in Jesus Christ Superstar screams out a brief C#6 at the end of Superstar in the proshot, but I am pretty sure that the only other Judases who do this are ones who base their performances off of Tim Minchin 

A lot of Luisas in The Fantasticks use C#6's and D6's in the ending part of Round and Round to emphasize that it's meant to be screaming and not just an obbligato but I guess technically not all of them do that

Noel sings a B5 in Noel's Lament (Some performers actually do a C6 as well)

Patrick in Spongebob has an A#5 in Super Sea Star Savior and I refuse to pretend he doesn't

Oh also on the topic of male full voice high notes

Everybody already knows about the high F#'s in Jesus Christ Superstar that nobody does and the high G that is literally always rendered in falsetto 

But not as many people seem aware of the optional D5 in Les Mis for some reason

I can't remember the song it was in but I do remember that Ramin Karimloo did it very well

Ummmm there's not too many that aren't just high C's

School of Rock has a high D

Chess has a high C 

but oddly men very rarely get high E's even though tenors with high E's are pretty common 

I think it's just that the composing world is sexist and thinks "Oh girls aren't people so they'll be fine singing those notes that no human should sing"

Oh and I almost forgot Orpheus's high F#'s are done sometimes in full voice but I can't find actual evidence of that other than that I remember a standby doing it

Again, not as uncommon as you'd think

I'm a tenor, albeit a young one, and I have an F5 no problem, even if it's definitely smaller than the meat of my voice

Like by the time I'm fully developed I'll almost certainly have an F#5 just fine but for some reason only girls get those notes even though they're just as hard for girls to sing

In fact, physiologically speaking 

A female belt is pushing notes from one register into another

A male belt is just pushing a register up 

So even though men have lower voices, it doesn't hurt their voices as much to sing their top notes

And yet composers don't write stuff up there for men for some unknown reason 

I think I'm going to probably try to force my way into theater writing out of spite just to make other guys sing up there even though I know they probably won't do it well, then I can add to this list

[Penna2]

Posted: 12/4/23 at 9:27pm

There is a video of Ramin Karimloo singing a number his high notes on YouTube from Les Mis, Phantom, Love Never Dies, Chess and Jesus Christ Superstar to name some of the shows he's done on Broadway and overseas. It's an interesting compilation. He seems to hit the notes so easily. Good luck with your career!

[Tsao5]

Posted: 12/4/23 at 11:09pm

Regarding high male ensemble singing vs. high male solo singing-it depends, mostly on the style of the show.  Generally, in the past male singers in the ensemble never really had to go above a high B flat. For example in Camelot, there is a B flat for an ensemble member at the end of Fie on Goodness. That changed when Disney movies started to be adapted to the stage with many of the same vocals that were used in the studio. In the studio, people sing a few times, have water next to them take breaks and are done in a couple of hours. One day of work, singing a few songs. So when a show, mostly the Menken shows were recorded, it would not have been so hard on the singers, including the high tenors who might have been asked to sing some high C's.  Again, we are talking about the movie versions where you just stand there.  However, then when a show like, let's say Beauty and the Beast came to the stage- you were now asking the males to sing those same high notes 8 times a week and with blocking and stage fog sometimes and other situations that were not in the studio. In the case of Beauty and the Beast there were also a couple of high D's.  Though most people will tell you, that it's not necessary.  Really, anything above a B flat in the ensemble is not so necessary. The audience is not thinking "ooooo, there is a high D in the song in the ensemble". However, as more Disney  shows were put on stage, and with the same creatives, it seemed that both baritones and tenors in the ensembles were being asked to sing at the top of their ranges. Having males sing high C's was not common. But it became more common for shows such as Beauty, Hunchback, Newsies and a few others (such as Titanic) to have high C's and the sometimes worthless ensemble high D thrown in.  In Hellfire, the ensemble high D is also hit by a trumpet for example so one does not even hear a high tenor D. In a solo situation, in the past there were SO few high C's needed (NOT talking about shows like JCS) nor were people writing that high, as a composer and vocal arranger needs to think of the singers vocal health of course. The high D referred to from Les Miz, is indeed optional, with a singer allowed to sing it or another note or as many do, just not sing it all ( the reasoning being, why would Valjean be screaming through the streets after stealing the bread and it adds more that Valjean's Soliloquy is the first time you hear the angsty high notes to show......angsty tenor angst)  There is a youtube video that compares Valjean's from around the world singing it. In the original Hunchback in Berlin the high C at the end of Made of Stone was orchestrated so that it HAD to be a mixed voice. When the show premiered in the States the ending was reorchestrated so that the C would be optional with those who had the chops and confidence to sing it could. But either way, it still sounds impressive. But generally.........the effectiveness of a high note (be they a baritone or tenor or singing in the ensemble or solo) depends on the story of the song.....does it NEED to be there..........does it really add anything............sure, we know he can sing it, but does he have to??..........................this idea goes into and connects to certain shows recently allowing a female singer to riff in a song that in the past never needed any riffs and it totally takes the audience out of the story, and is more for vanity......looking at you "On My Own"........but that is for another thread.

[muscle23ftl]

Posted: 12/5/23 at 12:52am

The least ignored note was Sarah Brightman's last note in Phantom of the Opera, an E6 if I'm not mistaken.

[BrodyFosse123]

Posted: 12/5/23 at 8:19am

muscle23ftl said: "The least ignored note was Sarah Brightman's last note in Phantom of the Opera, an E6 if I'm not mistaken."

That note is pre-recorded. She wasn’t singing it live several performances each week.  

[baritonewithtenortendencies]

Posted: 12/5/23 at 9:10am

I wonder if this guy actually wants to write on Broadway 

Demo reel maybe? 

[baritonewithtenortendencies]

Posted: 12/5/23 at 9:23am

Also in Matilda the Musical the tenors in the ensemble sings a high C# during Loud