Most Difficult Musical Theatre Song — Page 2

What about "And I'm Telling You..." and "I'm NOt Changing" from Dreamgirls...

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If You Hadn't But You Did isn't difficult - it seems like it is because it's fast and has a lot of words. Try singing it - it's more fun than work.

I think this question is difficult to answer because it's not black and white - hardest to sing musically? Emotionally? To "act"?

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I must say that I do agree that many of Sondheim's works are difficult, has anyone listened to some of the more contemporary shows by contemporary music theatre composers such as Adam Guettel. I'm doing a performance of "Floyd Collins" this semester at the university I attend and I got the CD over Thanksgiving break and MAN, IS IT HARD! Lovely score, but there are parts where I honestly wonder how some of these actors got their notes. For a singer who knows every Sondheim show (even "Bounce"...lol), I would say this is pretty difficult.

Sweeney Todd is a beautiful, spine tingling, friggin hard show, that's all i have to say...:)

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I think it all depends on what kind of "difficult" you're talking about.

There are those songs that are not so horrible vocally but when combined with something (either the accompaniment, the acting required, or what's happening on stage) are really hard. Most of Sweeney Todd falls into this category.

But then there are the songs that are just b*tches vocally; ranges all over the place, crazy lyrics, length (a lot of JRB stuff requires endurance), etc.

More modern musicals that don't follow traditional harmonic patterns as the earlier stuff did (although not always..and don't jump on me, I love the classics), can sometimes be more difficult to master.

It's all relative..yay!

The most physically demanding would have to be "Confrontation" from Jekyll & Hyde

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"Lion Tamer" from The Magic Show

It's not that bad for the singer
But the poor musicians...
It's in 7/4 time and switches between having 5 flats and 5 sharps, and the singer totally holds the reigns on the tempo.

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Glitter and Be Gay is definitely up there. Forgot that the first time. And Green Finch and Linnet Bird is really tough as well. Getting Married today is tough just to sing that fast without getting tongue-tied. Your Fault really isn't that hard. You just need a good music director.

If we're going for hardest physically/emotionally, I would most definitely say "And I Am Telling You" which is just high notes after high notes with emtional breakdowns and more vocal pyrotechnics. Many said that Jennifer Holliday would faint offstage after singing that song. Also hard physically is a lot of the stuff in Brooklyn, just because it is so high AND it's belted. For a song to end on a high F belted, you can't find many women that can do that 8 nights a week.

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Since it's been mentioned, I would say that the most difficult Sondheim lyric to sing isn't "Not Getting Married" or "Green Finch and Linnet Bird."

It's that god-awful tongue-twister in "Kiss Me":

"I'm a silly little ninny noddle."

I can't even speak those words in tempo. I can't imagine how anyone can sing them.

Another Hundred People

I'm singing "Marry Me a Little" from COMPANY for a class... its so hard for me at least...

I fear for any performer who brings Giants in the Sky into an audition, I've heard stories of accompiants saying "hell no" when its stuck in their faces at auditions

Once Upon a Time... okay out of context of the show, its HARD! And Raven from Brooklyn as well

Pity The Child from Chess

I've seen maybe 2 Jason Robert Brown songs pulled off well in any enviourment outisde of a theater, and I swear every voice class someone sings something by him and something from Wicked

Hard Sondheim

Simple-Anyone Can Whistle
Buddy's Blues-Follies
Weekend in the Country-ALNM
Please Hello-PO
God That's Good!-Sweeney
Opening Doors-Merrily
Finishing the Hat-SITPWG
First Midnight-ITW

And I Read from Passion seems pretty difficult.

yeah-I Read looks pretty difficult, not only for the wide range of notes and rhythyms that it covers but to be able to pull off that characterization is extremely difficult. Donna Murphy was crazy good in that show!

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