Why Do Broadway Stars Lip-Sync in Macy's Parade? — Page 2

It's not just the Broadway performances that are lip-synced, every performance is. Like this year...ashley tisdale, mary poppins, xanadu, lifehouse, etc...none of it was actually live singing.

yeah thats the only one I wondered about too. I thought that might have been the only one that was actually live, but my friend said it was pre-recorded too so...I don't know.

I think its pointless to watch them lip sync. Watching a watered down performance isn't that much fun, either. (Legally Blonde, for example.)

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Updated On: 11/26/07 at 09:57 PM

Yeah, the title song from POTO is pre-recorded and Phantom and Christine doubles are used for the descent to the lake, while the real Phantom and Christine are getting into place to sail down the stage in the boat.

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And speaking of "sweetening" the vocals of performers, this has been debated ad nauseam but isn't something similar done in Jersey Boys to replicate in a "live" setting how The Four Seasons recorded their albums?

Does anyone know where i can get the leaked Mary Poppins recording. I have the legally blonde one and would love a recording with AShley

i doubt legally blonde used the tony voter cd, given that all 3 of the sorority girls in that number are replacements i thing they recorded a new version for the parade.

as for bad parade lip syncing my favorite was kristen chenoweth during the wicked performance

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Knowing Disney and the fact that they're too cheap to even take photos of the Broadway cast members to advertise all around New York City (the London cast appears in all the New York ads), it wouldn't surprise me if Ashley Brown had to lip-sync to Laura Michelle Kelly's vocals.

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Updated On: 11/26/07 at 07:38 AM

PETER PAN with Mary Martin was my very first Broadway show, in 1954 when I was 13. I do not think that Mary Martin's vocal during the "I'm Flying" sequence was pre-recorded.

When I saw 1958's GOLDILOCKS with Elaine Stritch and Don Ameche, Margaret Hamilton(the Wicked Witch of the West in the WIZARD OF OZ film) was also in the show. At the end of the number "Two Years in the Making", the final high note is lip synched by Miss Hamilton, while the actual high note is sung and credited by another singer, who I always thought sang it live from the wings, but I suppose it could have been pre-recorded. At any rate, Margaret Hamilton was a joy to watch.

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I always thought it was because it usually very cold and it would be very hard on the vocals to sing in the bitter cold.

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I don't think Mary Martin lipsynced in "Peter Pan"

Also, Dr. Theatre, the last I checked they don't do any lip-syncing in "Mamma Mia," HOWEVER all the actors, when not onstage, go into off-stage soundbooths and do backup vocals.

The last mini-tour of "Wizard of Oz" that I saw, most of the Munchkins were lip-synced.

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Ashley Brown lipsyncing to Laura Michelle Kelly...that thought reminds me of when Patty Duke performed with Oklahoma...and actually lipsynced to Andrea Martin!

That said, I don't know how factual IdinaBellFoster (or whatever the name is) is. Xanadu recorded a medley - and there's no medley like that in the show.

The Broadway Mary Poppins cast recorded a promo for marketing reasons and to send to Tony voters. It contained the "big" songs which showcased the individual cast members - Practically Perfect, Spoonfull of Sugar, Feed the Birds,Supercalif..,Chim Chim, Being Mrs. Banks, and Anything Can Happen. It sounds virtually the same - though you can tell it's the Broadway cast by the way the accents go in and out.

As far as Legally Blonde goes, I'm sure the album leak was a plant to get the buzz up. The leak supposedly contained "full" versions of the longer tracks.

They could have used the same backup tracks at the Parade, but I doubt it. They're usually good about recording their own versions.