Most Difficult Broadway Song To Sing? — Page 3

""Kiss Me" from Sweeney Todd is a mouthful, mainly because both parts are intricate and then putting them together. And Johanna's is all over the place in terms of range."

I adore that song. I love how it takes place as though it were a real conversation... it's just brilliant.


Re: "Ya Got Trouble"

That is a difficult song as far as stamina goes...especially when you have to keep rehearsing it over and over again. Another song from The Music Man that is also stamina demanding is "Wells Fargo Wagon"... though it's not that different (singing wise).

Oh...I just thought of a song... oh! "Quintet" from West Side Story. That one can get a bit tricky.

But...going back to what Rath said... it highly depends on the person. Obviously, a person with opera training will have no issues in handling a song spefically written for that genre. (well, you know what I mean. )

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Another vote for "Pity the Child".

I also think the roles of Floyd and Homer in "Floyd Collins" are also very difficult, especially Homer's part in "The Riddle Song".

I have to disagree with all the "Into the Woods" songs that are being brought up. I've heard them all done very skillfully by both amateurs and professionals... if the score was *that* difficult it wouldn't be done by high schools and community theatres all over the place. (Granted these productions aren't always successful, but I've seen many which have been.)

Giants in the Sky. It kills me!

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As a singer, I think the most difficult thing to deal with is a song that sits right in the passaggio. I can work a song over and over until I don't have to think about breath and pitch, and of course, I have the range that I have. Stamina can improve through vocal exercise, but except for singing through it and mixing really well, there's not much to do about dealing with passaggio. My voice teacher always gives me really hard songs that sit right there, and it makes placement a b*tch.

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Lot's Wife from Caroline or, Change

-I would like to see you sing this is sounds really difficult vocally

If i could sing well, i'd love to sing The Confrontation!

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Sophisticated Ladies is my big book o' songs.

Great song, but it happens to fit my voice well. I could see how it's a bitch to sing, in range, and vocal negotiation.

Gorgeous, though.

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KISS ME from Sweeney Todd. It is also amazing to listen to.

nobodyhome---Yes, I did actually played the cello as Henrik.

I was on a voice and viola double-scholarship in college. I had played violin and viola for many years prior, so I wasn't starting completely from scratch.

I'm pretty proud of it.

EDIT: And I've also sung "Giants in the Sky" on stage... not an easy-breezy song... but it's a walk in the park compared to "Later."

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Updated On: 11/24/06 at 10:18 AM

"Maria" from WEST SIDE STORY is difficult at the end because of the high tenor notes. Larry Kert did it justice. It's hard for me to sing, at any rate, but I am not a professional tenor.

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Thanks for the reply, best12bars. It sure didn't look easy when Korbich did it, though I guess that sort of thing has become a bit more common.

If Korbich does play the cello, I wonder why he hasn't been in a Doyle show yet. Of course, he's employed now. And I guess they had enough cellists in Sweeney.

Btw, Gypsy9, Kert didn't sing the high B-flat that's in the score in "Maria" (though perhaps it's marked optional?). I guess Bernstein decided Kert's other good points compensated for him not being a true tenor, since all the tenors they could find would not have been believable in other ways.

And IIRC, there's also an optional high C for Tony at the end of the quintet, and Kert didn't sing that note but a lower one (a G, perhaps?).

Updated On: 11/25/06 at 12:26 PM

i definitely agree with a lot of these..

"The tirade section of the Octet from The Light in the Piazza is extremely difficult to sing; the intervals, the syntax, the tessitura. That takes some surefire power of placement... all while emotionally breaking down."

totally, watching it live was just a slap in the face because all of the actors were so emotionally and physically torn by it, very impressive.. highly difficult.

and also from piazza, autiami & even il mondo era vuoto, purely for the italian. yes, i realize it's not uncommon to sing in another language but that is an intense emotionally draining song, and i doubt it being easy.

and i definitely agree with all the JRB stuff. though he is my favorite composer, some of his stuff is quite challenging.

but the hardest song in musical theatre, i seriously don't think just ONE song could take the cake for that. i mean, out of thousands of songs, just one? i don't think that would be accurate to say. but i definitely think you guys have seriously nailed many of them.

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