Singers who can belt super HIGH!!!

[ThE nEw KiD]

Posted: 3/17/06 at 5:35am

And I mean REALLY high but the notes must be belted...

Eden Espinosa
Adam Lambert
Jennifer Holliday
Jason Robert Brown
Sam Harris
Billy Porter
Alisan Porter
Sharon Wilkins

hmmmm who else?

[touchmeinthemorning]

Posted: 3/17/06 at 9:05am

Stephanie Block
Nancy Opel
Patti Lupone
Lilias White
Ramona Keller
Shoshana Bean

Non-Broadway people:
Mariah Carey
Celine Dion
Cyndi Lauper
Barbara Streisand
Jennifer Hudson
Patti Labelle

(and, of course, the amazing)
Rachelle Ferrell

[ljay889]

Posted: 3/17/06 at 9:06am

Sorry, but Patti LuPone can vocally kill all these so called belters of today. Like Eden, Shoshana, etc.

[Katurian2]

Posted: 3/17/06 at 9:31am

Thank you ljay! I was about to let out a long Patti love rant.

[ruprecht]

Posted: 3/17/06 at 9:39am

Orfeh (have any of you heard Trailer Park/Carols For a Cure)
Sara Ramirez
Ramona Keller

Posted: 3/17/06 at 10:13am

does it have to sound good too??? because the lists would be shortened in that case...
anne runolfson has a killer high belt...i notice Alice Ripley hadn't made the lists yet...althought I DON'T care for her belt...and how about Julia Murney? SHE can belt.

[touchmeinthemorning]

Posted: 3/17/06 at 10:30am

Julia can belt, but she doesn't belt CRAZY high. At least not that I have heard.

Same goes for Alice Ripley.

And, Patti is amazing, but I would never say she can kill any of these belters. Their belts are TOTALLY different, so I try not to compare Eden's mixy-belt to Stephanie Block's balls to the wall chest belt to Patti vibrato-infested belt to Shoshana's scream belt, etc etc etc.

[Thesbijean]

Posted: 3/17/06 at 10:31am

Jennifer Holliday's diaphram is made of steel...
Updated On: 3/17/06 at 10:31 AM

[touchmeinthemorning]

Posted: 3/17/06 at 10:47am

More like her throat.

[Thesbijean]

Posted: 3/17/06 at 10:48am

Haha, that too

[Illegally Blondish]

Posted: 3/17/06 at 10:52am

Alice belt's pretty high, though I must admit, I love her lower range more.

[Liza May]

Posted: 3/17/06 at 11:00am

are we talking honest to goodness belt or mixy belt? If we are talking mixy belt then that Eden girl certainly takes the cake...or Kate Pazakis too. Broadway Diva Christmas...she was nuts. And of course Ms. LuPone is naturally the best in this area

In terms of real belt I would say old school Liza Minnelli, Maya Days, Kathy Brier, Stephanie Block, Orfeh,...I've heard them all get up there (Es, Fs, Gs...in full chest...crazy high belts I tell you :)

[mrkringas]

Posted: 3/17/06 at 11:01am

It seems to me that super high belting as really anything over a F for female and C for male these days. And what shows actually require this of cast members?

Apart from stuff like Side Show, Brooklyn, Bat Boy and Dreamgirls I cant think of much. Wicked only has that one or two big notes in Defying Gravity. It seems standard in most shows that females belt to an E and male to B/C. Hopefully the earlier shows remain exceptions and not the norm. As i dont want to see show after show that descend into a belt-off!

I mean the whole point of using belt is to display heightened emotion. Now if you over use that then it cheapens the effect. Much better to write material that is safe and accesible to sing and save the super high notes to one or two when the story calls for them.

Attitudes have shifted over the years and belt obsession is in danger of losing sight what the purpose is. Dont get me wrong I love a money note like the next person

But dont cheapen it!

[munkustrap178]

Posted: 3/17/06 at 11:06am

What is the obsession with younger Broadway fans and beltig at the top of your lungs? I will never understand this.

[keatonbynumbers]

Posted: 3/17/06 at 11:08am

Am I the only one who thinks Shoshana's scream "belt" is the least charming thing ever?

[munkustrap178]

Posted: 3/17/06 at 11:11am

No, you're not. I wanted to Nancy Kerrigan her ass.

[Thesbijean]

Posted: 3/17/06 at 11:12am

It sounds like someone is pinching her nipples and kicking her in the stomach when she belts.

[denise2]

Posted: 3/17/06 at 11:17am

Linda Eder!

[dramaqueen2]

Posted: 3/17/06 at 11:19am

uhmmm this is old school but, julie andrews! she's classic & i love her. =)

[keatonbynumbers]

Posted: 3/17/06 at 11:21am

Thesbijean, that might be the most accurate statement in this thread.

[Thesbijean]

Posted: 3/17/06 at 11:26am

And you don't wanna know how I know that...

[ozone20]

Posted: 3/17/06 at 12:13pm

Uh lets not forget BJ CROSBY who wipes the floor with all of them. Her high belt is from the gods. Stacy Francis(another high belter)

Posted: 3/17/06 at 12:20pm

munkustrap i am with you 100%...i am sick of the screaming already. its just not pretty...VERY few make it sound good when its THAT high. of course i love to do it myself..but i don't want to hurt myself doing it 8 shows a week like so many are. or it just doesn't SOUND good 8 shows a week because its just too much of a strain...EVEN FOR EDEN....and i LOVE her but even she gets scary.
i agree about Linda Eder..one of the BEST vocalists EVER. that woman has chords of STEEL..she can BELT AND go right into a light soprano and both are equally as brilliant and beaufitul. she is amazing. i can't believe i forgot about her. i don't really consider her broadway though...

[ShuQ]

Posted: 3/17/06 at 12:31pm

Marty Thomas. Some people love it...I think it's obnoxious.

[Jon]

Posted: 3/17/06 at 12:35pm

Nancy Opel's belt notes in "A Priveledge to Pee" are amazing. It was such a letdown when Beth McVey, who played Pennywise in the tour, had to switch to her head voice.