Star Quality: Ben Rimalower's Favorite Belters

[Patti LuPone FANatic]

Posted: 4/19/14 at 6:20am

from Playbill.com


Ben Rimalower's Favorite Belters

Updated On: 4/19/14 at 06:20 AM

[Ed_Mottershead]

Posted: 4/19/14 at 10:39am

Sorry, any list of Broadway belters that doesn't include Ethel Merman is totally off mark. She was THE belter of all time and her exclusion from the list is inexcusable. And don't give me any malarkey about never having seen her in person -- her records tell the story. Ever hear Merman's OBCR of Gypsy?

[Reginald Tresilian]

Posted: 4/19/14 at 10:51am

I think it's fine that his list comprises performers he's experienced live. It's just a different, and personal, list.

[CurtainPullDowner]

Posted: 4/19/14 at 11:46am

A lot of the women listed can certainly "belt" when called upon, but to me the true Belters are Merman, Karen Morrow and Andrea McArdle (who is strangely left off the list). And where is Stephanie Block?

For me a true belter is one who has no break in their voice, The Merm, Morrow and McArdle can reach higher notes but it still sounds like it is coming from their chest. A lot of us older folks find fault in Rimalower's list but he is obviously catering to a younger (less informed) group. That's his thing.

[PalJoey]

Posted: 4/19/14 at 2:23pm

He says right up front: "My cut off is 1980; apologies to Angela, Barbra and Ethel, et al."

[PalJoey]

Posted: 4/19/14 at 2:24pm

And then he says: "Also, some might call some of this singing mixing, not belting — the technique is the singer's business, as long as I get the feeling of being belted at."

[CurtainPullDowner]

Posted: 4/19/14 at 5:06pm

So that shouldn't exclude Andrea and Stephanie. Block's GET OUT AND STAY OUT! (or whatever it was called) was one of the great belting moments in recent years. And I love Dame Angela to death, but never thought of her as a belter. Except in the Pub!

[Reginald Tresilian]

Posted: 4/19/14 at 5:10pm

Who would you have cut?

[givesmevoice]

Posted: 4/19/14 at 5:38pm

Not to slight McArdle's talent, but going according to Rimalower's criteria of post-1980, original cast of non-revivals only, McArdle's only two chances at the list are with Starlight Express or State Fair. To me that doesn't seem as representative of her abilities as Annie or her concert work would be.

[CurtainPullDowner]

Posted: 4/19/14 at 6:01pm

Well, that's a lot of criteria, but point taken about McArdle, but not Block.

The one I questioned when I first read the list was the Lovely, so-talented Ms Pinkins.
Not my idea of a belter.

[Reginald Tresilian]

Posted: 4/19/14 at 6:02pm

I think I agree.

[PalJoey]

Posted: 4/20/14 at 10:22pm

Marin Mazzie totally belongs on that list.

http://youtu.be/MoOQ9GTDnNg

[Kad]

Posted: 4/20/14 at 10:29pm

It's also s list of his favorite belters. Not the best belters.

[binau]

Posted: 4/21/14 at 1:56am

I find Marin Mazzie's belt really interesting because she has this awesome combination of that legit Audra/O'hara style soprano but also this really powerful ear splitting belt. I realise she might not have always sung it in the show this way but the last note of her "Eve was Weak" on the recording is scary and I will never get tired of her "Back to Before" on the RAGTIME cast recording.

I like this list.