Male playing the Narrator in "Joseph"?

#1

Male playing the Narrator in "Joseph"?

Posted: 3/18/05 at 3:35pm

Has there ever been a male that played the role of narrator in "Joseph"?. I think a guy could sing it all an octave lower. It's not really that gender specific of a role, it just happens that mostly females play it.
Just curious.

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#2

re: Male playing the Narrator in 'Joseph'?

Posted: 3/18/05 at 3:41pm

It was actually originally written for a male...

#3

re: Male playing the Narrator in 'Joseph'?

Posted: 3/18/05 at 3:51pm

Laurie Beechman was the first female Narrator in the US. (Jackie Marks was the first in the UK.)

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#4

re: Male playing the Narrator in 'Joseph'?

Posted: 3/18/05 at 3:58pm

wow i didn't know that...but I actually perfer the narrator as a woman. Joseph is a really big lead, so I think that they also need a girl lead, which is the narrator... just a thought

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#5

re: Male playing the Narrator in 'Joseph'?

Posted: 3/18/05 at 4:01pm

Shouldn't bogus political correctness be left out of casting decisions.

#6

re: Male playing the Narrator in 'Joseph'?

Posted: 3/18/05 at 4:09pm

I guess it could be a male. Just by convention its a female.

#7

re: Male playing the Narrator in 'Joseph'?

Posted: 3/18/05 at 4:23pm

i think i would rather stick to a female in the part.

#8

re: Male playing the Narrator in 'Joseph'?

Posted: 3/18/05 at 4:27pm

I had an album (not cd) of the show from th 70's and it was a male.

#9

re: Male playing the Narrator in 'Joseph'?

Posted: 3/18/05 at 6:18pm

"Shouldn't bogus political correctness be left out of casting decisions."

I don't think political correctness was a phrase in the '70s.

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"This thread reads like a series of White House memos." — Mister Matt

#10

re: Male playing the Narrator in 'Joseph'?

Posted: 3/18/05 at 6:20pm

haha Lizzie.

I actually find that VERY interesting..I'd be interested in hearing it played by a male. Clips anyone?

#11

re: Male playing the Narrator in 'Joseph'?

Posted: 3/18/05 at 6:22pm

Get the OLC recording. :)

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"This thread reads like a series of White House memos." — Mister Matt

#12

re: Male playing the Narrator in 'Joseph'?

Posted: 3/18/05 at 7:37pm

I suspect it was only made female to give the vocal sound some variety rather than out of "political correctness".

#13

re: Male playing the Narrator in 'Joseph'?

Posted: 3/18/05 at 8:25pm

I saw it done once where they split the part and had a male and female share it--very interesting and very well done.

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#14

re: Male playing the Narrator in 'Joseph'?

Posted: 3/18/05 at 8:48pm

There was a revival here in Seattle of the show where they totally reorchestrated EVERYTHING and made the show sound brand new and better than any version I've ever heard. It had gospel and REAL rock music and it was really fun. They should do it on Broadway with Shoshana Bean as the Narrator and Cheyenne Jackson as Joseph. Excuse me while I go pat myself on the back for perfect casting...

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#15

re: Male playing the Narrator in 'Joseph'?

Posted: 3/18/05 at 9:46pm

Im actually in Joseph right now (Levi and Joseph understudy) the part seems very high for a male. In our production we have two female narrators.

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#16

re: Male playing the Narrator in 'Joseph'?

Posted: 3/18/05 at 10:05pm

there's a cast recording, from an old animated joseph made for school use, w/ a male narrator.

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#17

re: Male playing the Narrator in 'Joseph'?

Posted: 3/18/05 at 10:10pm

The part would definitely work for a male, and I'd love to hear it done. Methinks a nice baritone could sing it easily enough; I don't recall any parts where the narrator goes drastically high. It just seems to me to create a nice balance between Joseph as the lead and another female character who does most of the singing ... "political correctness" I doubt is the issue.

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#18

re: Male playing the Narrator in 'Joseph'?

Posted: 3/18/05 at 10:32pm

Really, the only female role with any kind of prominence is Mrs. Potiphar, and I think that was some of the reasoning behind getting a female Narrator for Broadway.

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"This thread reads like a series of White House memos." — Mister Matt

#19

re: Male playing the Narrator in 'Joseph'?

Posted: 3/18/05 at 10:43pm

The original studio recording in the '70s used a male narrator.

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/clipserve/B000002NWN001003/1/102-4753491-4673767

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#20

re: Male playing the Narrator in 'Joseph'?

Posted: 3/19/05 at 12:47am

I think it works for a male but the show is so male dominated that it pretty much must be given to a woman if there is a talented woman up for the part. I think it could also work to have 2 or 3 people sing the role as well.

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#21

re: Male playing the Narrator in 'Joseph'?

Posted: 3/19/05 at 1:01am

I saw one production which had two female narrators. It worked pretty well, but I was too distracted by the MANY unlicensed changes to the lyrics. Oops.

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"This thread reads like a series of White House memos." — Mister Matt

#22

re: Male playing the Narrator in 'Joseph'?

Posted: 3/19/05 at 1:16am

I've seen it with two female narrators and actually one female and one male. It wasn't a big deal.

#23

re: Male playing the Narrator in 'Joseph'?

Posted: 3/19/05 at 1:56am

If a man were to play the role they would need to change the keys. Part of the thrill of having a woman play that role is the fact that she's belting those high notes throughout the show. If a man were to do it it wouldn't be very thrilling because it's not in a man's belt range, really. It would have to be made into a tenor part instead of a baritone.

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#24

re: Male playing the Narrator in 'Joseph'?

Posted: 3/19/05 at 1:58am

I'm a male and I've played the Narrator twice. Loved singing that role!

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#25

re: Male playing the Narrator in 'Joseph'?

Posted: 3/19/05 at 6:22am

the narrator doesn't really have any particularly high notes. I think their highest is a G. Alot of baritones can fairly easily belt that high, and can a tenor who can't call themselves a tenor?