Scary Spice

[mallardo]

Posted: 6/2/04 at 8:02am

I caught Melanie Brown as Mimi in Rent last night and although she threw herself into the role and was a committed actress, she seemed to be in some vocal distress. She was fine in the soft moments but when she put pressure on her voice things got hairy. She may have been sick - her voice was husky and it sounded like she was singing through phlegm. I hope that's all it was. Overall, I liked her, she looked great and she has a radiant presence on stage - but I was concerned for her vocal health last night.

BTW, star of the show for me was the wonderful Maggie Benjamin as Maureen. What a knockout!

[MusicPos2]

Posted: 6/2/04 at 11:41am

From what I heard, that's her every night. My friend told me that they had to transpose her songs. She's probably singing in her throat, which is what you heard. Sounds like she might also be on her way to vocal nodules. Vocal tiring is one of the earliest signs of them.

[ShbrtAlley44]

Posted: 6/2/04 at 12:42pm

But how do you not sing in your throat?

Posted: 6/2/04 at 12:50pm

you sing with from your diaphragm and the air that passes thru resonates in from the vocal cords and produces sound.
When people sing from their throat, they are not breathing and have little control over what is coming out.
Some are pros at it and that's the only way they know how to sing. But it's incorrect, in the sense that it can do damage.

[leomaxfrank]

Posted: 6/2/04 at 12:53pm

facial mask honeys!! send it right through!

the girl needs a better vocal coach

[JakeB]

Posted: 6/2/04 at 5:31pm

Scary Spice was on the front cover of the magazine from Britain's biggest selling daily newspaper last Saturday. The interview was genuinely honest, I found her to be a nice person. What she had to say about the British press was spot on accurate. (she basically said they ruin careers, which they do much worse than the Americans)

[GovernorSlaton]

Posted: 6/2/04 at 5:36pm

I saw Rent recently, but she wasn't there. I have heard that she doesn't show up a lot, but I have also heard that she doesn't do any matinees at all (which is what I saw). Is this true?

[broadway86]

Posted: 6/2/04 at 10:33pm

Everytime anyone that I knew went to see the show, she was not there.

[MusicPos2]

Posted: 6/3/04 at 11:50am

SINGING IS NOT FROM THE DIAPHRAGM. This is one of my pet peeves! The diaphragm is an involuntary muscle. You support mainly with the abdomen but also the intercostals. You're right that the air should separate the vocal chords. Singing in the throat refers to using muscles in the throats to make the vocal chords slam into each other, rather than gently vibrating. It's not only bad in terms of damage, but it sounds really bad. Singing should NEVER sound forced.

[broadwayguy2]

Posted: 6/3/04 at 3:37pm

I am sooo glad I didn't see RENT. Scary Spice is just that... SCARY!

The two current cast members that stand out for me are Maggie Benjaim as Maureen (HUGE VOICE -- though I miss certain riffs she did when she first started but has stopped doing) and Joshua Kobak (an all around strong performer who should have taken over as Roger by now. He easily blows just about every Roger out of the water.)