Musical theatre stars who never took singing lessons?- Page 2

[Jazzysuite82]

Posted: 8/19/06 at 5:03pm

Audra McDonald. That's an untrained voice if I ever heard one...

[Becoz_i_knew_you21]

Posted: 8/19/06 at 5:06pm

"did I read somewhere that Sherie Rene never had one?"

No, Sherie has had lesson's.
Updated On: 8/19/06 at 05:06 PM

[GClef2]

Posted: 8/19/06 at 5:09pm

Julia Murney DID have vocal training. She studied at Syracuse University.

Lachanze did too, studying at University of the Arts.

Carolee Carmello has claimed that she has NEVER had a voice lesson.

Sutton Foster went to Carnegie Mellon for a year, then left. I do not know if she recieved training after this, but Im guessing she did.

[Funny Face]

Posted: 8/19/06 at 5:09pm

Well, this is a rather reassuring thread.

[The Distinctive Baritone]

Posted: 8/19/06 at 6:07pm

The singing voice is a funny thing. Some people naturally have great voices that require little training, other people need more work.

It also depends on what you want to do. If you consider yourself a character singer and don't aspire to (or know you will never be able to) do anything more than say, Nathan Detroit in Guys and Dolls, little training is required. At the other end of the spectrum, if you want to do opera or musicals that require "legit" singing (i.e. Les Mis), you have to have at least SOME training unless you're one of those rare people like Carolee Carmello or Michael Ball who naturally have proper placement and technique (or were able to teach it to themselves).

By the way, Ms. Carmello has had some vocal instruction, although she likes to claim that they were "coaching sessions," not "lessons"...although I'm not sure how much of that is her trying to defend her "I've never had a singing lesson" bragging rights, lol.

[GClef2]

Posted: 8/19/06 at 6:11pm

lol.

Btw...love the avatar, distinctive.

[xluckystar2107x]

Posted: 8/19/06 at 6:16pm

i heard Lea Salonga never did.

[The Distinctive Baritone]

Posted: 8/19/06 at 6:21pm

Thanks GClef. It's of Timothy Nolen from the NYCO production.

But Lea Salonga? She must have had at least some basic training.

[HOUFlip04]

Posted: 8/19/06 at 6:36pm

I heard Lea got some training after the London Miss Saigon.

Also, some performers might not admit to 'singing lessons' because if you already know how to sing or got it naturally - you don't take lessons anymore - you go to a voice coach. So maybe the ones who say they don't take 'lessons' are telling the truth semantically.

[GClef2]

Posted: 8/19/06 at 6:39pm

I love it. He's so intense.

[The Distinctive Baritone]

Posted: 8/19/06 at 6:49pm

Sweeney's a badass motherf*cker.

[alliez92092]

Posted: 8/19/06 at 7:04pm

I know she took them at school, but I meant before and after.

[TomMonster]

Posted: 8/19/06 at 7:32pm

Mandy Patinkin hadn't had training before he did Evita. I think he's had some since...

[kaboodles041]

Posted: 8/19/06 at 7:36pm

I certainly agree that some people have naturally more pleasing voices and therefore need no traininig. However, I think training is imperative, expecially for Broadway actors and actresses so they learn proper techniques and maintenance so as not to damage their voices.

[Gypsy9]

Posted: 8/19/06 at 8:52pm

Ethel Merman began her Broadway career in GIRL CRAZY in 1930. For the opening, composer George Gershwin conducted the pit orchestra which included Benny Goodman, Glenn Miller and Jimmy Dorsey. When Merman sang "I Got Rhythm", in the second chorus she held a single C note for 16 bars! She had to perform several encores before the first act curtain came down. George Gershwin dashed up to Merman's dressing room and exclaimed,
"Ethel, you've done it!" Then he uttered the line Merman quoted for the rest of her life: "Never, but never go near a singing teacher."

[kenmarksnj]

Posted: 8/19/06 at 9:17pm

lol jazzysuite that's really funny...

i have to argue with the talk on this thread though. i don't usually like to do that on here.

there's no such thing as just having a naturally "perfect" voice.

they might sound really good, but with technical training just imagine how much better and more versatile they'd be.

[The Distinctive Baritone]

Posted: 8/19/06 at 9:34pm

Well, our "talking" may be a bit OT, but at least we're responding to each other, unlike 90% of the people on this board who just post their opinion without reading the rest of the thread.

[jo]

Posted: 8/19/06 at 10:18pm

Michael Ball took the drama course at the Guildford School where he trained for the theatre. And he was part of the SURREY YOUTH THEATRE when he was young - where he did parts in such productions as UNDER MILKWOOD. Ironically, his first professional job after school was GODSPELL, eventually followed by the role of Frederic in PIRATES OF PENZANCE ( where I think he did have just a little bit of singing lessons together with the cast) but that's about it. He was discovered by Trevor Nunn and Cameron M in Pirates and cast him promptly in LES MISERABLES... It is also a wonder that he has sang in the past with( PATIENCE with The New York City Opera in 2005)and will now be singing with opera stars ( KISMET with The English National Opera in 2007).

Hugh Jackman also took the drama course instead of musical theatre at WAAPA. As Kec has mentioned, his first job ( beside a tv part) was in BEAUTY AND THE BEAST, followed by SUNSET BOULEVARD. When he was filming Van Helsing, he did mention that not only was he learning to tap-dance in his filming location trailer, but that he had also trained with an European opera singer ( who told him he had the goods, but it was too late to go into opera ). He did say that his dramatic theatre training at WAAPA was very big on vocal training ( not including singing) - so that probably helped in developing a singing voice for the legit stage.

Quite a coincidence, both musical theatre actors were discovered by Trevor Nunn who gave them their starts in their first big stage musicals which gained international recognition, LES MISERABLES and OKLAHOMA!, respectively.




Updated On: 8/19/06 at 10:18 PM

[dazzling.grace]

Posted: 8/19/06 at 10:28pm

I believe that Sutton Foster only started taking lessons after she got the role of Millie. I'm not quite sure, but I remember that from somewhere.

[lna]

Posted: 8/20/06 at 12:15am

Hugh Jackman did sing before Beauty and the Beast. He might not have had formal training, but he sang in high school musicals. I think some pictures have surfaced.

[Becoz_i_knew_you21]

Posted: 8/20/06 at 1:08am

"I believe that Sutton Foster only started taking lessons after she got the role of Millie. I'm not quite sure, but I remember that from somewhere."

Where would you get that idea? Sutton voice is one of the voice's that you automatically tell has had a lot of training. She attended CMU for a year then, quit to do tour's.

[jo]

Posted: 8/20/06 at 7:52am

Hugh Jackman did sing in high school musicals ( what a coincidence that his first appearance was in a school production of OKLAHOMA!...he was also Henry Higgins in MY FAIR LADY, he also appeared in PAINT YOUR WAGON, etc)...but he never had musical theatre training when he decided to shift gears from a journalist career to that of an actor

[AngusN]

Posted: 8/20/06 at 9:41am

Michael Ball definitley had singing lessons because I remember hearing him say in an interview that he really struggled bridging the gap between his chest and head voice and that he needed lessons to help him bridge the gap. This will not have been 1 or 2 lessons.

[lna]

Posted: 8/20/06 at 11:50pm

Hugh Jackman did sing in high school musicals ...but he never had musical theatre training when he decided to shift gears from a journalist career to that of an actor

No, he didn't have formal training, but kec said that he'd never sung before in his life when they sent him to audition for Beauty and the Beast. There's a diference between not having had training, and not having sung at all.

[bjivie2]

Posted: 8/21/06 at 12:44am

Harry Groener graduated from the University of Washington Professional Actor Training Program. As of right now the program includes singing lessons weekly, but that might not have been there when he was there.

Has Mary Testa had any lessons?