I'm a professional. Whenever something goes wrong on stage, I know how to handle it so no one ever remembers. I flash my %#$&.
"Jayne just sat there while Gina flailed around the stage like an idiot."
I agree. RAGTIME still remains the best show I have ever seen. It was my fifth Broadway show, and still the one I loved most. Stokes, Mazzie, and McDonald were brilliant.
I don't WANT to live in what they call "a certain way." In the first place I'd be no good at it and besides that I don't want to be identified with any one class of people. I want to live every whichway, among all kinds---and know them---and understand them---and love them---THAT's what I want! - Philip Barry (Holiday)
Aaron Lazar's voice can soar. It's that quality that gets me. My other favorite singer is Juan Diego Florez. But, he's an opera tenor. Same quality...bel canto-ish.
Seriously??? Constantine Maroulis? Tony Yazbeck? Doesn't anyone care about a singer who can act the song? James Barbour? Really?
Has anyone ever heard Alfred Drake? John Raitt? Those are voices with something behind them.
Contemporarily, I agree with Jason Danieley and Norm Lewis. Jeff McCarthy, Terrence Mann, Brian D'Arcy James.
Cheyenne, Aaron Lazar, and David Burnham are fantastic, but they all have a few years before they land in this category...
Raise your expectations, friends. It's been a long time since we've seen a real Broadway Leading Man (not that this is specifically the conversation, but I digress). We should expect a lot more out of our Broadway singers than a raised eyebrow, a heavy lisp or assuming someone is a good Broadway singer simply because thy have a low baritone sound.
My grandmama used to talk about Alfred Drake in Oklahoma. I've heard some recordings and seen some things on youtube. Though I respect, it does seem awfully dated.
Of people who are still alive and performing? Stokes. It's not even close, in my opinion. Not the best male voice on Broadway ever, but if you ask me nobody else these days can touch him.
"Who else would teach my son how to catch a football ball?"
- Dr. Niles Crane
2008: Feb. 18- Rent, Feb. 19- Curtains, April 18- Xanadu, April 22- Wicked, April 26- Legally Blonde, May 31- Wicked, June 13- The Little Mermaid, June 28- Wicked and Young Frankenstein, July 2- The Little Mermaid, July 6- A Chorus Line and Legally Blonde, August 16- Xanadu, September 13- Legally Blonde and 13, September 28- Xanadu and Spring Awakening, Oct. 12-GYPSY and [title of show], Oct. 19- Hairspray & Legally Blonde, Nov. 9- Wicked and 13, Dec. 14-13, Dec. 26- Billy Elliot, 2009: Jan 1- Shrek, Jan 2- 13 and Wicked, Jan 4- 13, Feb 17- In The Heights, Feb 19- Billy Elliot, Feb 22- Sweeney Todd (tour), March 28- Mary Poppins, April 4- Mamma Mia!, April 15- Jersey Boys (on tour), April 25- next to normal & 9 to 5
May 1- Billy Elliot, May 3- Spelling Bee (tour), May 8- Chicago, May 21- Wicked, June 6- Everyday Rapture, June 23- The Wiz, June 25- Hair July 15- Shrek, August 9- Wicked, September 7- Rock of Ages, October 11- Next To Normal, October 23- The Marvelous Wonderettes, November 7- Ragtime November 29- Dreamgirls, December 25- Billy Elliot, December 30- Finian's Rainbow, 2010: January 9- Bye Bye Birdie, January 16- Memphis February 17- The Phantom of The Opera, February 18- God of Carnage, March 7- Billy Elliot, March 31- American Idiot