Most Difficult Broadway Song To Sing?- Page 4

[Horton]

Posted: 11/25/06 at 10:55pm

Just so you know, if I were to say Solilquy 1/2 of the people would not know what I was talking about.

[inlovewithjerryherman]

Posted: 11/25/06 at 11:00pm

I agree with best12 - "Later" is a bitch.

I also agree that "Solilioquy" from Carousel requires tremendous focus and dedication as well as a big voice, one of the most difficult out there.

[GClef2]

Posted: 11/25/06 at 11:03pm

Glitter and be Gay is fairly simple for any woman who has studied as a coleratura Soprano.

Everybody Says Dont is one of the hardest songs to sing in the world. It is wordy, rythmically difficult and the accompaniment gives the singer absolutley NOTHING.


Alot of Bernstein is difficult to sing, as most of West Side Story is buit on tritones.

[The_Jackal2]

Posted: 11/25/06 at 11:12pm

Hmm, I guess it really does depend on the person because someone mentioned "I Know Things Now" from Into the Woods, but I personally never found that song all that difficult to sing...go figure!

[aspiringactress]

Posted: 11/25/06 at 11:12pm

I have a friend who sings an INCREDIBLE "Everybody Says Don't" and he always astounds me. That song is a complete b*tch.

[worrell4077]

Posted: 11/26/06 at 11:45am

I would think "Trouble" from The Music Man would be pretty difficult to sing, along with "Kiss Me", seeing that both are sung particularly fast. I've tried to keep up with both but sadly I can't.

With the Jukebox side of Broadway, I would think almost any song in "Jersey Boys" that requires the falsetto, but then again it all depends on what you're range is.

[coolphantom919]

Posted: 11/26/06 at 1:47pm

What about Putting It Together from Sunday In The Park With George????

[TomMonster]

Posted: 11/26/06 at 2:26pm

I don't think "Getting Married Today" is that hard. Once you learn the lyric (which is not that hard, because it tells a very specific story), all of the rhythms falls right into place. It sounds ALOT harder to sing than it actually is.

LATER is hard. I had to play (and learn) Cello when I did it.

The hardest song I can think of is "Never Will I Marry" from GREENWILLOW. Very difficult jumps and a very difficult melody. John Lloyd Young sang it beautifully recently at the Broadway Unplugged concert.

[Hawker]

Posted: 11/26/06 at 2:36pm

"Ya Got Trouble" from "The Music Man". Not vocally challenging but it really takes a certain type to pull it off. There is no wiggle room whatsoever for the slightest mistake.

It's made a lot of performers sleep with the lights on.

[SporkGoddess]

Posted: 11/26/06 at 3:32pm

I dunno about the MOST difficult, but Johanna's part in "Kiss Me" from Sweeney Todd is haaaard. Not the range, really, but the words...

Honestly, "Glitter and be gay" isn't that difficult if you're an operatically-trained coloratura soprano. It's about on par with Rossini, Offenbach, or Delibes. The range isn't bad if you have the tessitura (which a lot of sopranos do) and a secure Eb6.

The hardest LitP song for me is "The Joy You Feel" because it's hard to follow, but I haven't actually studied it (not like it's in the vocal sections book anyway. ) I think JRB songs can be quite difficult--I remember that one of my voice teacher's students wanted to learn stuff from The Last Five Years, and she wouldn't let her because the girl just didn't have the knowledge yet--and ALW songs just because he seems to think that all females have a 6 octave range or something.

[Anti-Romanticist]

Posted: 11/26/06 at 4:53pm

Personally, I think it depends on a person's voice, style and singing experience. I mean, a song could be incredibly hard for one person, but then somebody else could sing it with ease.

However I have to say Sondheim has definitely got some of the more difficult music around.

[Look_Out_Broadway]

Posted: 11/26/06 at 6:39pm

if i had to pick one i would say it would have 2 be....

"And I'm Telling You I'm Not Going" - Dreamgirls

[Look_Out_Broadway]

Posted: 11/26/06 at 6:42pm

oh and

"Funny" - City Of Angels

[All_For_Laura]

Posted: 11/26/06 at 7:23pm

I think getting the harmony right for "Two's Company" from The Magic Show can be a task. Alice and Emily sing it gorgeously!

[JustABroadwaybaby2]

Posted: 11/26/06 at 7:51pm

Nobody thinks "The Beauty Is" from Piazza is at all hard? I find it difficult.

[overthemoon419]

Posted: 11/26/06 at 8:01pm

Personally, the hardest song I've ever had to perform is "That Dirty Old Man" from Forum, because of the quick transitions and the fact that I was working with a middle/high school student orchestra.

I would definitely agree with "And I Am Telling You I'm Not Going" and "I Am What I Am." Not that I'm disagreeing with anyone else, but I'm familiar enough with those to cast my vote.

[broadway_socialite]

Posted: 11/26/06 at 8:36pm

Perpetual anticipation from A little night music.
Its one of those songs where if one person screws up, the other 2 are screwed too because the orchestra is giving you nothing, plus its fast and high.
Quite possibly the hardest 45 seconds of music I've ever sung.

[IAMmyownMUSICAL]

Posted: 11/27/06 at 2:18am

I'm sorry NEVERANDY I have to disagree with you. Chris is an extremly challenging part to sing vocally, one of the hardest I have ever come upon. I'm a high tenor with a belt almost to high c, and a falsetto even higher, and I find that song very challenging. It has octive jumps randomly, the notes are always at the top of your voice...and you never really get room to just rest your voice in the song. It's a challenging piece of musical theater.

If its so easy for you, I'd LOVE to hear you do it.

[IAMmyownMUSICAL]

Posted: 11/28/06 at 2:12pm

^bump

[roquat]

Posted: 11/28/06 at 2:31pm

Not exactly full songs, but the two most difficult pieces of music in SWEENEY TODD are the search for Tobias ("Toby, where are you, luv?") and the confrontation before the oven waltz at the end ("No, not lied at all/No I never lied"). Mrs. Lovett and Sweeney are both singing in different time signatures and Mrs. Lovett has a breathless rush of tricky rhythms to spit out, while Sweeney has to count awkward rests and emote at the same time. I've done the show twice, and a disproportionately large chunk of music rehearsal time had to go to those two twelve-measure bits, because it's fiendishly difficult for the two singers to end at the same time.

I'm going to offer a couple of unexpected choices--Sister Amnesia's puppet number, "So You Want to be a Nun" in NUNSENSE--she has to switch from a low, hoarse character-belt voice for the puppet to a crystalline operatic tone for herself in a fraction of a second.

Also, the entire score of FOREVER PLAID. Twewnty-seven songs all done in four-part harmony. It's all completely exposed; no one can go off-pitch or stick out of the blend once without being noticed, and everyone has at least a few harmonies that are absolute bitches--no one is always on melody, which is all some tenors (and sopranos) know how to sing.

[TabooPhan1]

Posted: 11/28/06 at 2:47pm

I definitely agree with "I Am What I Am". I never heard Gary Beach sing it, so I can't comment on his performance, but I wasn't really enthused with Engel's performance. The only performance that I thought did this song complete justice was George Hearn. That is, any that I've seen...

Another difficult song (maybe not the most challenging, but certainly difficult), I would say, is "Petrified" from Taboo. The original key had the man holding a high B for about eight seconds, throwing in a grace note (high c), and doing about a 3 second trill afterwards. For most men, I would say that's pretty challenging. Even if you change the key (which I do for this song) the emotions required to sell the song are extremely challenging...

[JoseLee_]

Posted: 12/17/15 at 2:13pm

"Gethsemane (I Only Want to Say)"-Jesus Christ Superstar

"The Revolutionary Costume for Today"-Grey Gardens

"Dance of the Robe"-Aida

"No Good Deed"-Wicked

"A New Argentina"-Evita

"And I Am Telling You I'm Not Going"-Dreamgirls

"Satisfied"-Hamilton

"I Am What I Am"-La Cage aux Folles

"Veronique"-On the Twentieth Century

"Fabulous, Baby!"- Sister Act

"Boy Falls from the Sky"-Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark

"The Final Scene"-Sunset Boulevard

"Un Hombre Así/I Have a Love"-West Side Story

"The Life of the Party"-The Wild Party

"Home"-The Wiz

[Mr Roxy]

Posted: 12/17/15 at 2:17pm

If performed the way in was in the original & not the recent horrendous revival:

 

Confrontation - Jekyll & Hyde

[Peter2]

Posted: 12/18/15 at 1:26am

A singer I once worked with finally just dropped "West End Avenue" altogether from her repertoire because she couldn't reliably nail all the time signature changes.

[Plannietink08]

Posted: 12/18/15 at 1:39am

Contact from RENT.

 

I still have nightmares from singing that song.