Phantom and live singing

[JudyDenmark]

Posted: 6/10/13 at 4:41pm

Unless I'm mistaken, the Phantom and Christine were lip synching last night. Does that happen in the actual Phantom show as well, or was that just for the Tonys? Either way... WHY? They're obviously both accomplished singers (or they wouldn't have their roles), why on earth would they lip synch at the Tony Awards?

There must be a logical explanation... right? Anyone?

[SporkGoddess]

Posted: 6/10/13 at 4:45pm

There are many threads on the lip synching in Phantom. The title song has a lot of it in the stage production.

[JudyDenmark]

Posted: 6/10/13 at 4:47pm

Ah, sorry. Still trying to figure out the search tool on this site! I'll dig for another thread.

[all that jazz]

Posted: 6/10/13 at 4:52pm

I believe Christine's last notes in the title song are lip-synched because they were too intense for any soprano to sing live every night, although I think Sarah sung them for a year in London. Other parts are Lip synched because of the blocking of the number.

[CATSNYrevival]

Posted: 6/10/13 at 4:55pm

In the show the title song is prerecorded because of the doubles used at the beginning of the song to fool the audience. Christine's note at the very end is also prerecorded. I don't know if they were lip synching at the Tonys. I can't imagine why they would, except for her last note which is usually prerecorded anyway.

[JudyDenmark]

Posted: 6/10/13 at 4:58pm

Perfectly understandable on that last note. I want to shake the hand of anyone who can perfectly hit high E's 8 shows a week. Only a half step lower than Magic Flute!

Seems weird to lip sync the whole thing, though. I'm not sure I buy the excuse of blocking since plenty of shows include much more complicated dancing while singing.

[kipster]

Posted: 6/10/13 at 5:30pm

When all that jazz refers to blocking, they're not referring to something like dancing (obviously there is no dancing in the number). I think they're talking about the fact that the Phantom and Christine are running around offstage while doubles are onstage on the travelator, etc.

[JudyDenmark]

Posted: 6/10/13 at 5:35pm

Forgive me, because I haven't seen Phantom since the late 80s and totally don't remember... but why are there body doubles in that scene?

[TheatreFan4]

Posted: 6/10/13 at 5:35pm

I can understand pre-recording when the doubles are on stage, but when they come on stage on the boat it SHOULD be transitioned out. Their performance on the Tonys was embarrassing. "Here we have to celebrate 25 years is Phantom of the Opera lip syncing!" There weren't any doubles on stage, that was cheap and an insult. Hell, if they could just own up to it publicly we could have recordings of every Phantom/Christine duo released on iTunes!

[CATSNYrevival]

Posted: 6/10/13 at 5:45pm

Judy, the real Phantom and Christine disappear behind the mirror in the dressing room scene, and then very quickly after that the audience sees the Phantom and Christine at the top of the traveler crossing the stage and ascending to the Phantom's layer. These actors are doubles dressed in the same costumes and wigs and not the actual actors playing the Phantom and Christine. The actual actors are busy getting into the boat. That's why it's prerecorded. As far as I know, they don't switch to live singing once the Phantom and Christine appear in the boat, but the Phantom's "sing my angle" etc. are sung live.

[all that jazz]

Posted: 6/10/13 at 5:49pm

Thanks, Kipster. That's exactly what I meant.

[ReggieonBway]

Posted: 6/10/13 at 6:31pm

"I believe Christine's last notes in the title song are lip-synched because they were too intense for any soprano to sing live every night, although I think Sarah sung them for a year in London. Other parts are Lip synched because of the blocking of the number."

The last notes are lip-synced by most of the girls because Sarah set a precedent. She couldn't do it more than once or twice without losing her voice for the week. (mainly because of her god awful technique) Some girls - Sierra Boggess, for instance - did it live consistently.

[SporkGoddess]

Posted: 6/10/13 at 7:47pm

Perfectly understandable on that last note. I want to shake the hand of anyone who can perfectly hit high E's 8 shows a week. Only a half step lower than Magic Flute!

It's actually more difficult than The Magic Flute. The F6s in The Magic Flute are staccato, not sustained like that E6 is. That E6 is WAY harder to sing, especially since it follows a sustained B5 and C6. The people who can hit those kind of high notes usually are light lyric or coloratura sopranos with high, flexible, thinner voices that aren't meant for that kind of heavy duty lifting. IMO that part of the song supports the accusation that ALW doesn't write for singers.

Edit: I should add that this is what I would argue, anyway.

Updated On: 6/10/13 at 07:47 PM

[all that jazz]

Posted: 6/10/13 at 7:53pm

But if he doesn't write for singers, who does he write for?

[ClapYo'Hands]

Posted: 6/10/13 at 8:11pm

The people.

[sephyr]

Posted: 6/11/13 at 12:18am

He seems to write for the aesthetic more than the vocalists' comfort who have to sing the song eight times a week, you know? I mean it's different hitting/belting a note than having little time to breathe from high notes one behind the other.

I just started Joseph and just in the ensemble parts (male tenor), they're pretty harsh especially in dance numbers. I love his writing but it's a bit of a task to sing his songs (as noted by Patti Lupone and Randy Graff).

[Movidude742]

Posted: 6/11/13 at 12:48am

There is no pit orchestra at the Tonys. The only live instrumentals were Rascals, Once and the In Memoriam. I am pretty sure some ensemble stuff was prerecorded as well in other numbers, tho i would be happy to be proven wrong. The woman factory worked in Kinky boots who is calling for help as she was going backwards down the conveyor belt seemed out of sync, but other than Phantom the leads all seemed to be singing, tho I would not be surprised if a few other bits were taped.

The Christine tho, she couldn't even pretend to be singing. Sierra Boggess could really sell it. You could see it in her throat that she was singing something.

[TheatreFan4]

Posted: 6/11/13 at 2:53am

All the instrumentals are live. They're offstage in another room, just not in the pit.

[dramamama611]

Posted: 6/11/13 at 6:20am

^This. Always.

[TheatreDiva90016]

Posted: 6/11/13 at 7:18am

" I want to shake the hand of anyone who can perfectly hit high E's 8 shows a week. "

Her name is Dale Kristian and she sang the note nightly, sometimes holding it longer than written.

She was a Kristine who put Sarah Brightman to shame

[Sally]

Posted: 6/12/13 at 6:04am

Some people don't like Dale Kristien's voice, but she certainly could rock those high notes.
I think she was Crawford's favorite Christine. Long after Phantom, she appeared with him pretty much any time he did concerts in the US.