"Some parts are so effing high, when my voice isn't up to it, I sound like a cackling hag in heat."
Hence, Elena.
"The sexual energy between the mother and son really concerns me!"-random woman behind me at Next to Normal
"I want to meet him after and bang him!"-random woman who exposed her breasts at Rock of Ages, referring to James Carpinello
"TheatreDiva90016 - another good reason to frequent these boards less."<<>>
“I hesitate to give this line of discussion the validation it so desperately craves by perpetuating it, but the light from logic is getting further and further away with your every successive post.” <<>>
-whatever2
Elena Roger notwithstanding, I'd like to narrow the question down a bit - what's the most challenging part of the score? I would assume it's the octave leap into, "He supports you..." but I'm not a singer at all.
Agreed that Rainbow High and A New Argentina have some of the highest vocal parts, but Good Night and Thank You probably also takes tons of practice and focus because of that harmony that sounds like it's off key ..."There is noone, noone at all- never has been, and never will be...". I always think that it's the singer that's off, but seems it's written that way.
ljay889: Yes I was being serious. I don't know if you saw the show, but Jeremy talks with a thick accent every time he is on stage. It can take a toll on one's voice if they do it 8 times a week.
I agree about Diana in NEXT TO NORMAL, but disagree about the Marin comparisons.
Yes Marin has much more vocal technique then Alice, but she mixed/switched into her head voice for much of the score, and used some lower keys. There's nothing wrong with that, but she approached the score in a different manner.
"Oh look at the time, three more intelligent plays just closed and THE ADDAMS FAMILY made another million dollars" -Jackie Hoffman, Broadway.com Audience Awards
Idina-Marin tookk the role going in with the request of tweaking the score a tad to fit her voice. That is knowing your instrument and taking care of yourself. She delivered an amazing performance consistently. That part of the actor's job.
"The new york accent which he uses (which is really strong) can take a toll on ones voice as well as all of the notes he needs to belt."
Let's just say that some of these young kids aren't up to scratch. Anyone see Ebersole in GG? Two different accents, both strong and labor intensive mixed with shrieking, screaming, singing and belting and she performed with a cold. She had no alternate.
Older performers were just brought up differently.
"The sexual energy between the mother and son really concerns me!"-random woman behind me at Next to Normal
"I want to meet him after and bang him!"-random woman who exposed her breasts at Rock of Ages, referring to James Carpinello
The only way you can hurt yourself doing the New Yawk accent is if you're really bad at it and you have terrible technique anyway and perhaps strep or gonnorhea of the throat.
I think Eva is probably the hardest to sing because the expectation is that you have to belt the whole score. Of course, you don't. You can negotiate it differently, and still have it be well sung. With Emma, there's not expectation that all of it must be belted.
Lots of people think Eliza Doolittle is one of the most challenging roles vocally, because her speaking and singing at the beginning of the show should be a bit ugly, and become more refined and beautiful as the show goes on.
It is probably not the hardest role vocally, but I recently saw a crappy regional production of Legally Blonde. I have to admit Elle Woods is prodably one of the most demanding roles ever written, the only song she is not on stage for is the reprise or Ireland. Add to that fact each scene has a different costume, that she has less 30 seconds to get into each time. Shes got to lead some intense dance numbers. To top it all off she has to hold that not in "So Much Better" for around 20 seconds full belt.
Let's just say that some of these young kids aren't up to scratch. Anyone see Ebersole in GG? Two different accents, both strong and labor intensive mixed with shrieking, screaming, singing and belting and she performed with a cold. She had no alternate.
Older performers were just brought up differently.
Not to defend Jeremy Jordan, because that New York accent thing is the strangest defense I've ever heard, but I think it's incredibly unfair to say that performers have alternates because they're lazy or don't have a good work ethic.
When I see the phrase "the ____ estate", I imagine a vast mansion in the country full of monocled men and high-collared women receiving letters about productions across the country and doing spit-takes at whatever they contain.
-Kad
I just don't think Jordan's vocal technique is solid all around. You could hear it in the extreme tightness of his voice in Bonnie and Clyde, and you can hear it in Newsies too. However, I'm not arguing necessarily that the dialect he's working in is not difficult, or taxing, but maybe he just doesn't have the technique to approach it the right way.
Beat me to it about "men belting." Even though your username describes a men's vocal part as "belting"... And I agree about Jordan's texhnique. He slams into some notes harder than Bailey Hanks slams a Chick-fil-A brownie into her mouth. Can't be healthy.
"These rabid fans...possess the acting talent to portray the hooker...Linda Eder..." -The New York Times
Wicked1492, I'm always just a little bit embarrassed by my username (hence, my signature), but I went to school with this boy who always referred to himself as a belting baritone, and I just cracked me up.
And holy cow! I just became a Broadway Star! My mom will be so proud!
Reading the first page and half of this thread and the vast majority of the other Evita-related thread has made me really nostalgic of the way this board used to be.
"I've got to get me out of here
This place is full of dirty old men
And the navigators and their mappy maps
And moldy heads and pissing on sugar cubes
While you stare at your books."
Random throw in on an old thread: Tina is a MUCH more difficult sing. I believe Adrienne Warren sings 25 Tina Turner songs a night and most of them are full. It’s even harder than Janis Joplin.