SARAH BRIGHTMAN To Star in Australian SUNSET BLVD.- Page 8

[SuttonPeron]

Posted: 5/26/24 at 6:19pm

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7gmGp9CvkXA This is a video of the Aussie media call. The intro to As if we never said goodbye is in a much higher key than Glenn´s. 2 whole steps to be exact. That´d mean the song is in G Major, a step higher than Patti´s.

[BrodyFosse123]

Posted: 5/26/24 at 6:39pm

AlexWesthof said: "This sounds very interesting.. Can you tell us what version of “With One Look” she sings? Like Patti Lupone or with the key change down at the end likeGlen Close? I’ve been checking the forums every day to find audio recordings. I hope someone can help me"

She sings the score in a lower register - nowhere near the soprano voice she was famous for. The keys are definitely in Close’s range. She uses a heavy operatic vibrato which distorts certain words. 

[FANtomFollies]

Posted: 5/26/24 at 6:43pm

BrodyFosse123 said: "AlexWesthof said: "This sounds very interesting.. Can you tell us what version of “With One Look” she sings? Like Patti Lupone or with the key change down at the end likeGlen Close? I’ve been checking the forums every day to find audio recordings. I hope someone can help me"

She sings the score in a lower register - nowhere near the soprano voice she was famous for. The keys are definitely in Close’s range. She uses a heavy operatic vibrato which distorts certain words."

I thought someone was saying she sings the whole thing in head voice - wouldn't that be her upper register (so no belting)?

[BrodyFosse123]

Posted: 5/26/24 at 7:12pm

There’s a head voice push but the sound is low and gutteral.  Her notes are low so she sings husky. Her belting is as good as Carol Channing’s but with a distracting heavy vibrato. 

[FANtomFollies]

Posted: 5/26/24 at 8:28pm

BrodyFosse123 said: "There’s a head voice push but the sound is low and gutteral. Her notes are low so she sings husky. Her belting is as good as Carol Channing’s but with a distracting heavy vibrato."

Just heard her 2 big songs. I don't know how long they'll be up but if you search they are easy to find where you'd expect them to be. As far as her voice - I would consider it her typical operatic style like she used in Phantom. It's nowhere near as bad as I expected but its also far from impressive. She seems to have a bit of trouble controlling the notes and it gets a bit 'warble-y'. That said, she is still vocally superior to Glenn Close in the recent revival. 

[MikeInTheDistrict]

Posted: 5/26/24 at 10:13pm

She doesn’t sound as bad as I expected. I don’t think her voice is “shot.” She sounds pretty much exactly how you’d expect her to sound 30 years older than her Phantom years. I’ve always thought her sound was not really produced with proper operatic technique. Her voice would never carry unamplified in an actual opera house, even in her prime, for example. Her technique is underpowered in terms of breath support and, as a consequence, doesn’t have much dynamic range, and it’s the same here. 
 

She sings the songs completely in head voice. It works better in “As If We Never Said Goodbye”, which is transposed up a few steps. It doesn’t work at all in “With One Look”, IMO. It sits in a poor place in her range for her to try to extend head register down, whereas she should just be singing in chest voice like Glenn or a mix like Patti. 

[pmensky]

Posted: 5/27/24 at 12:32am

Out of the four clips, I think Salome is the most successful in terms of both fitting her voice and showing any emotion or intention. Surrender and As If We Never Said Goodbye also sound good in her voice, but there doesn’t seem to be any emotion behind either of them. With One Look neither fits in her voice nor shows any emotion or intention. I don’t know why she’s singing the lower notes like that when she can put it in her chest. If you watch the video of her singing Anything But Lonely live in Aspects of Love, you hear that she is capable of producing a fine sound in that register. My only guess is that she is very protective of her voice and doesn’t want to sing it in any way that might jeopardize it.

[Ensemble1716440075]

Posted: 5/27/24 at 6:09am

FANtomFollies said: "BrodyFosse123 said: "There’s a head voice push but the sound is low and gutteral. Her notes are low so she sings husky. Her belting is as good as Carol Channing’s but with a distracting heavy vibrato."

Just heard her 2 big songs. I don't know how long they'll be up but if you search they are easy to find where you'd expect them to be. 

So does that mean Youtube? Dailymotion? Why is this such a big secret? There are people who grew up listening to her and are curious and excited about this role. We want to hear her, too, since there probably will not be an official recording.

 

Updated On: 5/27/24 at 06:09 AM

[SuttonPeron]

Posted: 5/27/24 at 6:13am

The clips were on YouTube but they´ve been removed. I couldn´t get to hear them myself.

[greensgreens]

Posted: 5/27/24 at 9:26am

I would be removing the YouTube clips of Sarah's Norma as fast as they were posted if I were on her team or the production team. It is painfully evident why they haven't released clips of her singing anything officially and she hasn't performed a number anywhere publicly yet.

[rosscoe(au)]

Posted: 5/27/24 at 11:21am

Plus the silence on this is deafening. Was taking to a world famous performer the other day who said the same thing that industry just isn’t saying a thing. This should have been an event. 

[BrodyFosse123]

Posted: 5/27/24 at 11:52am

 

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 5/27/24 at 12:40pm

She looks so happy in that interview. I can’t wait to see it next month. 

[BrodyFosse123]

Posted: 5/27/24 at 12:42pm

 

[Ensemble1716440075]

Posted: 5/27/24 at 8:20pm

I admit she was a childhood idol of mine via Phantom. Although I don't follow her like I used to, nor do I understand the level of devotion from some of her fans, I've got a soft spot for her.  

Her voice has never been known as big brassy and belty like Patti LuPone, or even Glenn Close, so I was surprised as anyone she was cast. She's also 63, so her voice is probably not as strong as it once was. I don't think she's a total disaster. I would hope not, for her sake.

[pmensky]

Posted: 5/27/24 at 8:46pm

Ensemble1716440075 said: "I admit she was a childhood idol of mine via Phantom. Although I don't follow her like I used to, nor do I understand the level of devotion from some of her fans, I've got a soft spot for her.

Her voice has never been known as big brassy and belty like Patti LuPone, or even Glenn Close, so I was surprised as anyone she was cast. She's also 63, so her voice is probably not as strong as it once was. I don't think she's a total disaster. I would hope not, for her sake."

I don’t think anyone with knowledge of Glenn Close’s vocals would ever refer to them as brassy or belty. I think fans had high expectations for Sarah for a couple reasons. One would be because her earlier performances in shows like Aspects of Love and Song and Dance have proved that she has the ability to sing this role with a proper belt. Another would be because several of her performances over the years, particularly in her tours, have shown that she has a penchant for over the top artistic choices, so there was some hope that she would bring a similar approach to her portrayal of Norma. Apparently neither of these expectations were satisfactorily met. 

[Ensemble1716440075]

Posted: 5/28/24 at 4:00pm

She absolutely sees herself as the eternal ingenue. Just look at how they photographed her for the announcement she was doing the show! You can't tell me those photos didn't have a bit of help.

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 5/28/24 at 4:10pm

Are you actually trying to say that Sarah Brightman is the only actor whose press photos are photoshopped?

[pmensky]

Posted: 5/28/24 at 4:15pm

Ensemble1716440075 said: "She absolutely sees herself as the eternal ingenue. Just look at how they photographed her for the announcement she was doing the show! You can't tell me those photos didn't have a bit of help."

Norma Desmond sees herself as the eternal ingenue, so that would be apparent in Brightman’s performance and reflected in the publicity photos. Also, any publicly photo from anywhere is photoshopped these days. 

[Ensemble1716440075]

Posted: 5/28/24 at 4:19pm

Jordan Catalano said: "Are you actually trying to saythat Sarah Brightman is the only actor whose press photos are photoshopped?"

You tell me. Did I say that? Read it again.

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 5/28/24 at 4:29pm

Ok. Read it again. Now what?

[BrodyFosse123]

Posted: 5/28/24 at 5:45pm

Also, photos today are “edited.” Photoshop is used to manipulate an image - thin a face or body part, modify eyes or a nose, etc. Artists no longer accept this. Editing means they’ll soften face lines and enhance coloring but no other manipulation is accepted these days. All of Brightman’s press material was edited not Photoshopped. 

[ChairinMain]

Posted: 5/28/24 at 6:02pm

I heard the audio of the act II finale before It was removed from youtube. It is...not correct. She possesses neither the acting chops for the role (I realized this was the first time I had ever heard her deliver dialogue) nor does her voice, her signature squeezed soprano, sound correct in Norma's music. She sang what I heard of the show fully classically; chest voice to head voice, no mixing and no belt. Her voice is in decent shape for someone in her 60s, but it's not a good match of role and performer. She is miscast.

[Listener]

Posted: 5/29/24 at 3:03am

It's a shame she isn't tearing into this a bit more. It's likely her last theatrical hurrah. Why not show people you've grown as an actress?

Updated On: 5/29/24 at 03:03 AM

[FANtomFollies]

Posted: 5/29/24 at 7:28am

BrodyFosse123 said: "Editing means they’ll soften face lines and enhance coloring but no other manipulation is accepted these days. All of Brightman’s press material was edited not Photoshopped."

And what program do you think they use to 'edit' photos? Photoshop. It's not wrong to say the photos were photoshopped. Also I think you're very naive if you think no other manipulation is done in press photos other than softening lines.