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Okay I'm stupid and can't believe I also forgot some riffing in AIDA..

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Defying Gravity ~ Wicked

Sara Ramirez in Find Your Grail, possibly teh only part of that show I enjoyed. It was too funny.

almostxfamous - i saw Danny (but didn't see Tyler) and MAN the kid can riff.

Shoshana Bean seems to forget when she sings on stage - that she is NOT singing songs from her R&B album, she is singing musical theatre songs, and you don't have to riff all the time.

Hell, Kander & Ebb got mad that for a while there was a harmony being sung in MY OWN BEST FRIEND that they didn't write, so they had the musical director/performers take it out right away. They were mad because they didn't write that originally in the song.

I think it's at times disrespectful to the composer if you totally mess with his/her melody, and try to create your own thing. And performers are forgetting - they aren't singing their OWN material - they are singing material that is suppose to be sung a certain way.

Updated On: 8/22/05 at 09:55 PM

well, i don't really feel the same as you ljay... i don't think it's bad if they add in their own riffs... they are not completely changing the role, but doing what they are comfortable with. sometimes they are successful, sometimes they are not (none come to mind for me though... sorry!). i'm sure if there was any sign of disrespect, it would be made known. but it's all their interpretation of the character... which means the argument can be made there also if one actor says a line different from someone else playing the role.

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Not really interpretation of the character, but rather the performer's interpretation of the music in its context or the performer's personal decisions to sing it this way or sing it that way. Some may say that Shoshana "overdoes" it, but it just something that seems appropriate to her.

Edited for stupid..mistakes. It's a sickness.

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Updated On: 8/22/05 at 10:13 PM

All I'm saying is, if true legendary composers like K&E got mad over a different harmony. I don't want to know what they would think if Shoshana got a hold of Velma and riffed everything. Hell, there's even times for riffs in CHICAGO (All That Jazz ending) but I would be pissed if a performer started riffing a lot all over my music.

Listen, R&B is one of my favorite types of music. Riffing belongs in R&B. Some shows just don't need riffing. How would you like if a performer got a hold of Anna in THE KING AND I and messed with classic material, riffing all over a classic like "Hello, Young Lovers." I would be effing pissed, there is a time for riffing. But when a performer tries to be a big hotshot and riff everywhere, they come off looking like a wannabe.

GirlforTartaglia- YES! i loooove that riff in "I wish i could go back to college" from Q. Actually, I think I'm gonna go listen to that now haha.

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Can't believe no one has mentioned the original Riff in West Side Story :) J/k

I like the riffs in Rent. Especially the Seasons of love stuff.

Shoshana irks me.

but other than that, I feel riffing is only appropriate in certain songs and shows. If the show is pop, rock, or r&b driven then sure singers can do riffs, just don't over do it. But if you have classical musical type music then riffing is unnecessary.

not to mention the fact that some singers riff because they can't hold out a high note.

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I happen to love Shoshana's riffs during the Wizard and I but I can't stand the one at the end of Defying Gravity. Its very pretty, but thats the problem...I want that note to be raw and powerful, not pretty.

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one of my favorite famous riffs is in sinatra's "new york new york" when he makes a four course meal out of the word "and". who gives a crap about the word "and"? then he really hits the "d" at the end like "DUH". it sets up that bravura finish, like a wind-up. it's wrong in so many ways. it's so completely showbiz.

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