Nathan Lane Voice Change

[Sumofallthings]

Posted: 2/13/04 at 9:36am

I seem to recall him taking voice lessons and someone mentioning that his voice has become darker and not as harsh. Can anyone confirm this?

[MasterLcZ]

Posted: 2/13/04 at 9:43am

Sum, I'm not sure for certain he HAS taken voice lessons. But after the trouble he had with his vocal polyps, I would guess it is highly likely he has taken new care of his voice and learned how to project his voice more effectively.

All that screaming and yelling had to cause him some problems. But he's in good company. Betty Hutton had polyps too!

His voice sure sounded darker and richer when I saw THE PRODUCERS on Wendesday.

In a related subject - I never liked Patti Lupones voice, but after she damaged her voice she had to take singing lessons again. When I saw her at the "Great Joy" Holiday concert a few months ago, I could not believe the warm, smoky voice I heard belonged to Patti - a tremendous improvement IMHO! I can't wait to hear her - 'the NEW Lupone' in CAN CAN tomorrow!

Updated On: 2/13/04 at 09:43 AM

[Corine2]

Posted: 2/13/04 at 11:00am

I tell you i love him. Don't you think he would be a great Edna!

[DivaMommy]

Posted: 2/13/04 at 3:03pm

I think I remember hearing that Nathan Lane at one time workshopped the part of Edna.

[Unknown User]

Posted: 2/13/04 at 5:17pm

I believe he did both parts of Timeless To Me when it was sent out as a demo.

-Christina

[broadwayguy2]

Posted: 2/13/04 at 5:34pm

That is correct. He did the demo

[Lorelai]

Posted: 2/13/04 at 6:55pm

I have noticed a change in his voice as well. But it seems at times that he's trying to save his voice or something like that. For example, in "Til Him" he doesn't seem to be holding notes as long as he used to and once in awhile I've noticed he doesn't use vibrato as much as he used to. Has anyone else noticed this?

[bwaysinger]

Posted: 2/15/04 at 11:39am

My understanding is that Nathan went to the very respected Joan (I'm going to butcher the spelling of her last name) Leider to retrain his voice after developing polyps. Joan is sort of the "Broadway star" voice fixer, having worked on Nathan, Betty Buckley and Patti. I know she has quite a roster of star singers on her schedule (a friend plays piano for a lot of her lessons) and she's very respected in the industry for helping people who aren't always the safest and healthiest of singers get over voice-related illnesses.

[MasterLcZ]

Posted: 2/15/04 at 1:11pm

If Joan worked on Nathan & Patti, then she truly is worth her weight in gold.

I never liked Patti's voice before - I found it hard and shrill. But I was pleasantly surprised by how warm and supple Patti's voice sounded at the "Great Joy" concert in December. And the qualities I so disliked in Patti's earlier singing had vanished in her smashing performance in CAN-CAN.

[Auggie27]

Posted: 2/15/04 at 3:43pm

Bwaysinger: Joan Lieder has worked miracles with many voices. She also taught Madonna how to negotiate EVITA (to my mind, with startlingly successful results, considering the size of the instrument.) I thought Madonna's work on that score was the best advertisement for Lieder possible. Listen -- she even gets away with the out-of-her-range "New Argentina." She takes on non-singers who must sing (Harvey F.) and the best people (opera folk, apparently) alike. I'd love to know what it is she does. If there are any singers here who know of her technique, share! As a layman, this is one topic I never tire of,the flexibility of the human voice, and its training.

Master, I'm intrigued by your strong negative take on LuPone's pipes, earlier. I didn't know she blew it out. I do know that she did her club act at Les Mouches after EVITA performances -- which seemed tacky for someone who didn't do matinees. She used to be a smoker, too, which many people don't know. I never especially warmed to HER vocals in EVITA, and used to tell people to see Terry Klausner, who did the matinees.(I loved the Klausner Eva, she sang it well, and was hot; you could see why people would boink her.) Whatever became of Terri?

Updated On: 2/15/04 at 03:43 PM