Sopranos Becoming Scarce?

[suchclumsytime]

Posted: 3/1/05 at 9:11pm

Perhaps I'm just off my nut, or maybe it's the incessant fuss about Idina, but it seems that all the fuss these days is about altos--whoever can scream the loudest or the highest seems to get the most glory (nothing against altos, of course--I love to hear a belty showtune just as much as anyone else...but only if it's *sung*, not screamed). Is it me, or are soprano roles rapidly becoming scarce in today's shows (besides Cheno)?

Perhaps I couldn't be more wrong...and if I am, then please point it out to me!

Also, sops seem to be a dying breed. In every group I'm involved in, sopranos always seem to be in the minority. Can anyone shed any light on this?

[SallyBrown]

Posted: 3/1/05 at 9:12pm

well, most belters on Broadway can hit really high notes as mezzos as well, example: Sutton Foster, Shoshana Bean, and more

Maybe Im going crazy though

[Yankeefan007]

Posted: 3/1/05 at 9:13pm

hell yea.......its not coming back until Jan '06. wait....wrong Sopranos...

[SallyBrown]

Posted: 3/1/05 at 9:14pm

HA

[suchclumsytime]

Posted: 3/1/05 at 9:19pm

Haha!

And SB--I love me some Sutton and think she's amazing. True, she can belt some high notes, but I was thinking more about the *really* high ones, like....two Cs above middle, and the like, more akin to a Carlotta-ish/Christine-ish range...but not ALW. :0)

[SallyBrown]

Posted: 3/1/05 at 9:20pm

oh oh ooooooooooh

right i get it

[Caleb]

Posted: 3/1/05 at 9:31pm

I've kind of noticed that too, although I can't speak to the number of sopranos that there actually are. I think it's obvious, though, that there are fewer roles on Broadway that call for soprano singing. When I moved to New York last August, I went to see Phantom because I'd never seen it on Broadway and it was cheap at TKTS. As I watched it, I realized it was the ONLY show on Broadway at the time that used exclusively legit style singing. Now, at least some of the stuff in Little Women requires a higher voice, but a lot of that leans towards a more modern style as well.

[catstagestud]

Posted: 3/1/05 at 9:33pm

One great legit role is Marian in Music Man. There's also Lily in Secret Garden...Funny enough that all these are Rebecca Luker roles, but she did them all well. The revivals are what will really bring back the legit soprano roles.

C.

[suchclumsytime]

Posted: 3/1/05 at 9:34pm

Also, the money notes in Phantom are recorded...which is depressing, but somewhat understandable...I guess...

It's almost a little disheartening that they've vanished, since I'm a soprano (in case you weren't sure, teehee) who intends to pursue musical theatre on a professional level.

[marincrazy11]

Posted: 3/1/05 at 9:35pm

well today scores for women are being written for belting alto/mezzo's and tend to cover a broad lower and middle range and the same goes for men. Right now baritenors are doing great. There just isn't much being written for true soprano's or bases or ture altos or true tenors. There's alot of voice distinction blending going on right now, unlike in days gone by.

[catstagestud]

Posted: 3/1/05 at 9:40pm

Marin you hit the nail right on the head! Thank God for being a Bari-tenor. But I'm in college right now and we do a contemporary musical and a classic musical every year so that those legit girls have a role to shine in. :)

[PJ]

Posted: 3/1/05 at 9:42pm

I concur. There aren't musicals written with a coloratura lead because today's audience's want big belts rather than gorgeous soprano. I'd like to see more musicals in the future written for sopranos, such as Cheno.

[suchclumsytime]

Posted: 3/1/05 at 9:44pm

Some of my favorite parts to sing, Stagestud. :0) Hoorah for revivals!

And good point, Marin. I hope the tide will turn!

[Adoannie925]

Posted: 3/1/05 at 9:45pm

I've noticed that, too. I'm a soprano and I always feel like such a minority. Every female around me seems to be a mezzo.

I think the popular thing is the belty/riffing/screaming style of what is being referred to as singing, and there aren't many soprano roles being written as much because it's not what people want to hear. Maybe they figure you can find sopranos in opera. I hope that changes though, or some classic shows with soprano roles get revived soon!

[ShuQ]

Posted: 3/1/05 at 9:46pm

Marin's right....Seems like people want to hear belting now lately and not so much "pretty" soprano singing.

[catstagestud]

Posted: 3/1/05 at 10:10pm

Just think you can always do "Glitter and Be Gay" for an audition and get that role of Christine. hehe

[EponineThenardier]

Posted: 3/1/05 at 10:15pm

I have certainly noticed this, being soprano myself. Basically in recent years only a handful of parts are actual soprano, Christine (POTO), Glinda (though even she gets to belt here and there), Emma (J&H) etc.

I think many people don't relate sporano with strong independent women. They are many times the ingenues or the damsel (pisses me off) this is just a generalization. Don't jump on me for saying it. I would really like to see a really strong leading role be soprano soon.

[Sasha3]

Posted: 3/2/05 at 10:10am

Looks like we need a soprano support group!! I've noticed the same thing, and really thought it was becoming apparent around the time that Miss Saigon came out (ugh...can't remember the year, but it feels like it was maybe 93-ish?). Anyway, I know that lately, to get parts, the deal is that you have to belt, but as a classically trained singer, I just hate doing it. It feels like screaming, even when I support it the way you're supposed to, and at the moment I would die for a role that would let me soar into the stratosphere instead.

Does anyone see any hope of better soprano roles coming any time soon? Adam Guettel writes gorgeous stuff for sopranos (think "Migratory V" from Myths and Hymns), so maybe he'll come to the rescue....

[pndmnd]

Posted: 3/2/05 at 10:30am

The thing that I notice isn't so much the lack of soprano's (although I do think that women aren't encouraged to utilize their upper range as much anymore), but rather the lack of legit and the encouragement of belt (and the difference between types of belt).

In college, I was one of two sopranos who were actual theatre major's, and not vocal performance majors (and both of us were also active in the music department). We were both also able to sing mezzo/alto, as well. We were also both originally trained classically, so we could do legit, and then learned to belt, so our belts weren't the screaming Idina Menzel type (I love her, and I'm not dissing what she can do), but more of the belt where you can hear the singer coming through.

Really, belt is just another technique. The "screaming" belt is more about pushing your chest voice up as high as it can go, and the "pretty" belt is more about the placement. Remember, Cheno, LuPone, and McDonald can belt with the best of them! And to me, the best belt is the belt when you don't hear a drastic, recognizable difference in the tone or quality when they switch from legit to belt.

[bwaybaby891]

Posted: 3/2/05 at 7:01pm

I have noticed it too. I'm a soprano and have been annoyed that there aren't any good soprano parts on Broadway besides Glinda and Christine (and everyone and their third cousin had played that part). I can belt and have a strong lower voice but I like using my soprano voice. Where have the writers for soprano's gone? I get that people want to hear belters and hear lower voices but when I saw "Wicked" everyone was cheering their guts out for Glinda's coloratura part in the opening number. If they didn't like sopranos, why cheer one on? Also the great revivals have soprano parts, and people go to see them. The people need to make up their minds. Its either sopranos or not. That way I can know if I want to go classical or take Broadway training. lol

[phantom_tenor]

Posted: 3/3/05 at 6:40am

SOPRANOS ROCK!!

We need more!!

it's an absolute delight to sing with a good soprano

[hannahshule]

Posted: 3/3/05 at 6:50am

I think that it has to do with the kind of shows that are being written now. Women on broadway are being portrayed as strong leaders more and more, and I think that people associate that with belting more than a soprano. I believe thatwe do have some sopranos now though:

Marin Mazzie
Rachel York
Cheno
Bernadette Peters

But it's true that the whole voice of the theater has changed a bit from say, 1950!

Updated On: 3/4/05 at 06:50 AM

[twogaab2]

Posted: 3/3/05 at 10:01am

Sorry guys, most belters (or more correctly "belt-mixers") ARE sopranos.

[bjivie2]

Posted: 3/3/05 at 2:02pm

First of all, twogaab, that's not necessarily on a few points. There are so many terms for what today's "belters" are doing. It ranges from being called "mix" to "belt" to "beam" to "belt-mix" and many others. There's no REAL term for what they're doing, because they all have their own little twist on it. And NOT all of today's belters are sopranos. I may be wrong, but I don't think Idina Menzel has a legit voice. Daphne Ruben Vega doesn't. I don't know if Lillias White does. It's just way too specific to give the categorization that all high belters also have legit voices. Many do, like Eden, Heather Hedley and Shoshana, but many don't as well.

Sopranos are becoming more scarce because the style of music audiences want to see in musicals doesn't require sopranos, but belting mezzos. That's all. Cheers for Krisin doing her high stuff is just because she can do it. If she sang like that the entire show, I'm sure many people would be bored very quickly.

And while not many NEW musicals have sopranos in them, we will always need sopranos for revivals and such. Besides Chenoweth we still have Audra McDonald, Melissa Ericco, Marin Mazzie, Patti Cohenour, Kelly O'Hara, Jennifer Laura Thompson, etc. They're out there. It's not a dead species.

[pndmnd]

Posted: 3/3/05 at 3:18pm

Exactly, bjivie. And it's not so much that soprano's don't exist--it's just the women who could hit those notes aren't utilizing them. Plus, I think what has become fairly obvious here is that it's not so much "soprano vs. alto" as "legit vs. belt". Soprano's can belt and alto's can sing legit. There just aren't as many opportunities for it any more. Enough said.