When did the trend of belting start??

[Fosse3]

Posted: 7/12/13 at 12:31pm

Today my friend, a soprano whose background is in opera, was complaining about how nowadays belting was preferred to other method of singing. Aside from whether this is true (whether it is really "preferred"), there certainly seem to be a lot more female roles that are belted, especially with more modern shows.
I feel that this wasn't the case with the female roles in more classic shows (e.g.Westside Story, The phantom of the opera...etc). When do you think it all happened? One particular show that I can think of is Evita (the broadway version in 1980s), but I have a feeling that there might be some shows before this. Are there any other shows you can think of?

[N2N Nate.]

Posted: 7/12/13 at 12:34pm

Ethel Merman?

[ljay889]

Posted: 7/12/13 at 12:36pm

Yes. Merman was belting since the 30's. Long before Evita.

Updated On: 7/12/13 at 12:36 PM

[Michael Bennett]

Posted: 7/12/13 at 12:45pm

And women were 'belting' in English Music Halls 100 years before Merman. My guess is that as long as there has been theater, there have been women with big voices doing robust numbers.

[Fosse3]

Posted: 7/12/13 at 1:27pm

Wow, thanks!! I wasn't aware of this. I guess I have a lot more to learn. Well, I guess I was asking about the increase in the number of female roles that require a lot of belting. Still, thanks for the reply

[Ed_Mottershead]

Posted: 7/12/13 at 1:55pm

Although Sophie Tucker was primarily a vaudeville performer, she was belting them out in the 1910's.

[dramamama611]

Posted: 7/12/13 at 2:01pm

Legit singing, particular in the soprano range is quite girly. Now that we actually have more interesting and strong women characters, belting is more appropriate.


(The above makes sense in my head, don't know how its' doing "out there", however.)

[gchris11]

Posted: 7/12/13 at 2:04pm

Did belting also come out of the fact there were no MICS and that acoustics may not have been the best back them? Serious question, Just curious.

[Wynbish]

Posted: 7/12/13 at 2:08pm

I think that was more about projecting, gchris. A soprano can project and fill a place with a high A without having to belt it.

[gchris11]

Posted: 7/12/13 at 2:15pm

Thanks for the info.

[perfectlymarvelous]

Posted: 7/12/13 at 2:44pm

Your friend is right in the sense that the way musical theater is written has changed pretty drastically in the past 40 years or so. I think Evita made high belting particularly popular, but "rock" and "pop" musical theater scores are really what changed the way that musical theater performers have to sing. The hardest part about these scores, at least for me, is the fact that often pop music on the radio is not meant to be sung live eight times a week and so when musical theater writers imitate that style it is very hard to do without incurring vocal damage, no matter how well-trained you are.

[Fosse3]

Posted: 7/12/13 at 2:54pm

I totally agree with you!! Although every role is difficult in its own way, I personally find high belts to be physically straining. However, when I'm on the other side (watching instead of performing) I really like it.

I'm just curious though, is it really impossible to belt 8 times a week or is it that the performers haven't figured out a way to belt in the right way?

[N2N Nate.]

Posted: 7/12/13 at 2:56pm

Depends on the role.

[Borstalboy]

Posted: 7/12/13 at 2:59pm

Merman,

Before that, women in labor.

[darquegk]

Posted: 7/12/13 at 3:25pm

Four main languages theatre music is written in:

Classical/operetta influence

Jazz/Tin Pan Alley/American Songbook influence

Pop/rock influence

Brechtian/Euro influence

Each of these, which have frequently overlapped, require different vocal and performance styles and skills- a legit voice with opera training would sound totally out of place in most shows with pop or jazz language, though it may work in some numbers or for some characters. Likewise, the sort of voices one hears in Brechtian-style musical language may not work as well in a classically based show.

[perfectlymarvelous]

Posted: 7/12/13 at 4:20pm

I'm just curious though, is it really impossible to belt 8 times a week or is it that the performers haven't figured out a way to belt in the right way?

I don't think it's impossible, and it also depends where the role is written and where the person's break is. It is very difficult though, and I think roles like Elphaba and Eva Peron are particularly taxing because all of the big "money notes" sit right where the weakest part of a lot of women's voices are. They're also both extremely range-y roles, which can be more taxing than just singing something that sits very high in your register. I think there is a way to do it healthily, but it's very hard and a lot of singers just don't have the technique to do it correctly and tend to scream. (This kind of makes me sound snobby, I've just been singing for a very long time and I find a lot of uber-contemporary pop/rock musical theater very frustrating because a lot of newer composers just don't have an understanding of the mechanics of the human voice and what it's capable of sustaining 8 times a week for an extended period of time.)

[Movidude742]

Posted: 7/12/13 at 4:28pm

Belting has been around forever, but the high belt is more recent.

Seth Rudetsky sort of gives credit to Betty Buckley for that trend.

[Miss Scarlett2]

Posted: 7/13/13 at 7:58am

The trend of belting is so unappealing to me. There's a fine fine line between belting and shouting/screeching. I think the prevalence of pop-rock and talent shows has helped to keep belting in fashion. I find also that belting, though present in other country's musical theatres, is very much an established Broadway tradition.

[best12bars]

Posted: 7/13/13 at 9:03am

People always think trends started when they first became aware of it.

Buckley? Only if you started seeing Broadway shows in the '80s.

If you started seeing them in the early '70s, it started with Melba Moore's Tony-winning performance:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZCAla6l6oQE

Or Kay Cole singing At the Ballet, or Laurie Beechman, belting her Star-To-Be moment in Annie.

If you started seeing shows in the '50s, you might say it started with Pat Suzuki, singing I Enjoy Being a Girl:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gGHVaUsJaM0

Or Susan Johnson in Most Happy Fella:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wCA-Gx1HKJA

In the 30s, it was Ethel Merman singing "I Got Rhythm":

Live in 1931: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IkwHO5bxGaw

[EricMontreal22]

Posted: 7/13/13 at 9:12am

Exactly, Besty. Great post--and for people to say it's something that can't be sustained, is proved wrong by that Melba clip. The gospel-church infused 60s voices it came out of prove that.

[KathyNYC2]

Posted: 7/13/13 at 9:37am

I am thinking of the difficulty (I would imagine) of an "Annie" having to belt out "Tomorrow" for 8 shows a week at age 10-13 years. I am sure Andrea McArdle was actually on 8 shows a week back then - between child labor laws in some countries and split performances in others, it's a little kinder these days to the younger developing performer.

I could think a lot of kid voices who are not trained properly might be permanently ruined if pushed to belt too hard too soon.

[theeatah]

Posted: 7/13/13 at 10:03am

I thought it was generally considered that high belting started with Streisand in Funny Girl.

And I imagine Rudetsky's comments related to Buckley in 1776, rather than Cats.

Susan Johnson et al. were old-school low(er) belters.

[Liza's Headband]

Posted: 7/13/13 at 10:39am

But the question was about "belting," not "high belting." The vocal practice of belting has been around for centuries... long before Broadway.
Updated On: 7/13/13 at 10:39 AM

[best12bars]

Posted: 7/13/13 at 10:43am

I think we better break it down into categories by belted note.

D above C above middle C.
E above C above middle C.
F above C above middle C.

Can you detect the irony? Because now I think this is really, really stupid.

[lovebwy]

Posted: 7/13/13 at 11:28am

It started with Merman, BABY. She CREATED belting on the Great White Way and don't you forget it!