Natalie Wood sings "Tonight" on Youtube — Page 3

I don't want this to remotely come off as a "trashing" of Marni, but in addition to a beautiful voice, it takes a combination of a special "look" and a uniqueness in presence (often referred to as "it") to become a star. Maybe Marni never had "it." What she also had was a fairly flawless voice ... but it lacked an original quality, which made her ideal for dubbing others. She could be more of a chameleon and assume other personalities (without going overboard) and assist others with their performances.

She's still a legend in my eyes, and it's her voice that I grew up with on those songs from King and I, WSS, and My Fair Lady.

The other thing about Marni's voice is that it was ideally suited for film. It wasn't a big voice. Even perhaps on the thin side, the light side, but when a microphone was pushed right up next to it the way it is for movies, her voice worked perfectly. I think that's why some of the other great stage sopranos never made it in film. Aside from the "it" factor, and the need for a certain look on film, their voices (in my opinion) were too big.

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nobodyhome, I read this years ago and so can't source it or verify its accuracy, but Schwarzkopf's singing Flagstad's high C's in the Tristan recording was not done electronically but was accomplished by having her stand behind Flagstad during the recording sessions and leaning into the microphone to sing the high notes in her stead. It wasn't meant to become public knowledge -- Flagstad felt humiliated when the story leaked -- but since it wasn't done in secret afterwards but right there on the soundstage in front of cast, crew and orchestra, it seems naive of producer Walter Legge to think no one would talk.

Marni Nixon also dubbed Deborah Kerr's singing in An Affair to Remember and made a lovely Heidi in the 2001 revival of Follies (she replaced Joan Roberts during the show's run).

Updated On: 12/23/13 at 04:32 PM

"I wonder if they weren't standing at the same mic when they recorded it."

Best12, from what I've read, that's exactly how it was done. Fox wanted it to be a secret but Kerr so much appreciated Nixon's work she insisted on acknowledging it publicly. I've read that Nixon stood behind her during the blocking of certain scenes to help her get into character.

"Shall I Tell You What I think of You" on the soundtrack LPs and CDs reveals a subtle yet obvious combination of their voices and black and white photos from the set confirm that it was filmed but not used in the final release. The footage has been searched for but never found.

Updated On: 12/22/13 at 10:12 PM

Didn't Marni Nixon and Deborah Kerr become great friends during "The King and I"? I remember reading that Kerr even saw to it that Marni got to use the "King and I" costumes when she played it in stock once.

And I thought that Audrey Hepburn did her won singing in "Funny Face." Seeing as how all those Gershwin songs were written for Gertrude Lawrence, I thought that Audrey's voice could handle them.

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"Taking My Turn" was a successful off-broadway musical, produced in 1983, which was later filmed for, I believe, PBS. Marni shared the stage with Cissy Houston, Margaret Whiting, Sheila Smith, Tiger Haynes and Ted Thurston. It was less a book musical than a review dealing with the subject of getting old. Marni was probably the youngest member of the cast.

http://www.lortel.org/LLA_archive/index.cfm?search_by=show&title=Taking%20My%20Turn

Updated On: 2/21/14 at 07:18 AM