When did the trend of belting start??

Ethel Merman?

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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.

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

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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.

Thanks for the info.

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?

Merman,

Before that, women in labor.

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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.)

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.

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.

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.

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.

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