songs for a new world question

[apdarcey]

Posted: 12/6/05 at 1:15am

has anyone ever been cast as man 1 in this show? i just was and i'm having a breakdown right now. we just had our first rehearsal and i'm nearly in tears about this. not only is there the opening (the new world) and the finale (hear my song), in which i have solos and ridiculously high harmony, plus man 1's transition, but there is also 1492, steam train, king of the world and flying home. now i am white, not black gospel tenor billy porter/ty taylor. guys, i'm freaking out here. i need advice, how did you perform this role, how were you able to sustain your vocal energy and keep your voice for the run of your show? please, i would love all the help anyone can give!

thank you,
andrew

Updated On: 12/6/05 at 01:15 AM

[StageWhore]

Posted: 12/6/05 at 6:00am

I've never done this role (I'm a girl, it's sort of impossible). However, I know that any time I take on a demanding role, I follow the basic rules. Don't talk too much. Get plenty of sleep/healthy food. No dairy. Take your vitamins. Warm up well. Avoid all sick people (if you can). I know those are just the basics, but they've always worked well for me.

[ashley0139]

Posted: 12/6/05 at 7:21am

I wish I could help, but I'm also a girl. But congratulations on getting this role! I'm sure you know it's an incredible show. Best of luck to you with it!

[apdarcey]

Posted: 12/6/05 at 1:57pm

i know that it's an incredible show and the role is insane! some of the best songs in general, let alone in the show. and stage-whore, thanks, obviously all pretty common, as you said. i'm looking more for advice on singing the actual score. any performers or music directors out there who have done this show? i really REALLY need your help.

[theatreboi11]

Posted: 12/6/05 at 2:07pm

well either:

1) The director saw the talent you have and have faith you can perform the role

2) Not alot of guys so they had to cast what they could get.

Either which way, calm down! If you have the talent to perform this music then things will work out fine! Have faith in yourself and remember practice makes perfect. If you absolutly feel like this is too much talk with your director for suggestions. Take the advice of how to prtect your voice and just practice practice! If you have a hard time with the high notes then go into falsetto. Also you don;t have to sing it how it has been sung before. No need to be all gospel and soulful just do what YOU can do! Good luck and I hope it all works out for you!

[Enjolras77]

Posted: 12/6/05 at 2:18pm

In addition to what theatreboi11 said (which were great suggestions by the way):

Obviously if you are doing this show you must have a talented music director and/or talented accompanist. If there are notes hear and there that are out of your range first try falsetto as suggested, but also work with the music director and maybe there are some notes you can take down an octave or even a fifth of third (as long as it fits in the chord progression of the accompaniment). Don't rewrite entire songs of course since that is illegal, but changing a note here and there to fit someone's voice is fine. It is better for you to be comfortable with what you are singing rather than straining to hit notes out of your range. Not only will this make you look bad to the audience it could damage your voice. I bet if you play the melody line of the songs as they are written in the score and then play the cast recording you will realize that they aren't always identical either. Being a former high school chorus and drama teacher I have directed shows both as head director and as music director...so I know how hard it can be!

[Nothatsmrt]

Posted: 12/6/05 at 2:24pm

Those songs are tough, but rewarding, as are all the songs in Songs for a New World. I hope you have a good and supportive voice teacher, not just a coach, that will help you approach your higher range correctly. It's just like anything else: The more you practice doing it right, the easier it will be. Sing the songs everyday once you figure out how to sing them with proper technique, and you'll see that muscle memory is a big part of singing challenging songs...the more your muscles are used to working that way, the easier it will get. Good luck!

[apdarcey]

Posted: 12/6/05 at 2:49pm

thanks for your kind words everyone, keep the help coming please!


is there really no one here that has ever done this role before?

[AnothaPartofMe]

Posted: 12/6/05 at 2:56pm

I did SFANW; but we didn't split the show as verbatim as the Off-Broadway run slates... I sang both "She Cries" and "King of the World". I'll PM you with how I approached KOTW...

[bjivie2]

Posted: 12/6/05 at 2:56pm

Haven't done it, but I've sang the songs before.

I would suggeset working through the music with the music director and finding the parts that NEEDED to be belted. If you belt your face off for the entire show, your voice will be dead. If you have a mix or a strong falsetto, that can be very useful for songs like "On The Deck Of A Spanish Sailing Ship." Whatever you do, make sure that it's a stylistic choice, and not something that the audience will go, "oh, he can't hit those notes" at. You and the MD need to be on the same page. You also might want to see if you and Man 2 can switch off on the upper harmonies, if he can hit them.

Just go through the score and identify the parts that should be belted, and the parts where you can pull back and rest a little.

Break a leg!

[InfiniteTheaterFrenzy]

Posted: 12/6/05 at 2:58pm

you might want to try to get your hands on a copy of Deconstructing Harold Hill, by Scott Miller... there's a really interesting chapter on Songs for a New World...
( i know that doesn't exactly answer your question, but it's totally worth reading if you're in the show!)

[apdarcey]

Posted: 12/6/05 at 3:05pm

where is that? i looked on the contents and it said this:

Miller strives to set things aright by analyzing Camelot, Chicago, The King and I, March of the Falsettos, The Music Man, Passion, Ragtime, and Sunday in the Park with George.

nothing about sfanw?

[melissa errico fan]

Posted: 12/6/05 at 3:27pm

Andrew-

Just curious, but how are they going to spin a song like "Steam Train", about a young black kid from the ghetto trying to get out by playing basketball, as being performed by a white man? Just curious.

[bjivie2]

Posted: 12/6/05 at 3:42pm

There's only one lyric that alludes to the race of the character remotely, and that's "you see a shadow fast and black, then the steam train's rolling by." The rest is just about where he grew up. IN THEORY, it could just be a white guy from a hard part of town. It doesn't work as well, but it's possible.

[apdarcey]

Posted: 12/6/05 at 4:08pm

well, we haven't begun rehearsing that song, so i'm not actually sure. however there have been many productions where a white guy sings the steam train, the lyrics aren't that specific. it doesn't work as well, but we'll see.

[GClef2]

Posted: 12/6/05 at 4:15pm

In the productions of the show that I have seen, this part is most striking when there is not too much embelishment. Sure, it is a gospel role and there is room for that, but after a while it is unexciting and takes away from the meaning of the songs. Definetly put your own spin on it, but dont over do it. The audience wont appreciate a well placed riff if they cannot understand the words you are singing. Good Luck!

[B-WayHereEyeCome]

Posted: 12/6/05 at 4:55pm

JRB is a bastard, albeit a talented one, for making Man 1 seem so impossible! But to his credit, the songs are great songs, in my opinion. By the time I got to Flying Home I'd want to CRY!

I mean with people like Ty Taylor and Billy Porter originating these songs, it's clear they both have a countertenorish/gospel/pop belt that is out of this world, with riff after riff after riff......after riff. But as many a voice teacher (or American Idol judge) will say, make it your own. A well placed riff (especially coming from a white boy, no offense will be much more effective than trying to recreate the rifftastic performances of your predecessors. Definitely experiment with the falsetto, don't wear out your voice with trying to belt out this entire show, because even Ty and Billy don't do that, even though they put on a VERY good disguise.

And as a lot of people have said the recording of course is not completely true to the score, as even JRB I'm sure knows that some of the notes are quite impossible to hit consistently on a regular running show schedule. So embrace the score and go off in a different direction than the originals, no one expects you to be a "Marty Thomas" white boy, (but if you are, RIFF AWAY! haha), so as a performer just sing what's there to the best of your ability.
If all else fails save your energy and straight up rip Flying Home, since that's pretty much the emotional climax of the show. Congrats man, hope you do well.

[apdarcey]

Posted: 12/6/05 at 5:00pm

thanks for all your help man! i work with falsetto a lot. i think it's going to be absolutely necessary in this production. i take no offense, i completely am a white boy! true i'm a white boy that wishes he was black, but oh well. such is life. i am very excited. but so nervous.

[RentBoy86]

Posted: 12/6/05 at 5:06pm

Out of curiousity, what's the highest note you have to sing? or what's the highest note you have to belt?

[B-WayHereEyeCome]

Posted: 12/6/05 at 5:18pm

I believe the highest note is in "On The Deck of a Sailing Ship", when he sings that ridiculous high note about 3/4 through the song.

To the OP, this was on another thread I started awhile back, I too was intrigued by the vocally demanding part of Man 1, here are some questions and responses.

I directed/was forced to appear in the show (after our tenor dropped out)... let me see what I can tackle...

1) First of all, whoa. Their voices are amazing. But anyway, are both of them technically tenors, or is Ashmankas (or however you spell it), a baritone with the ability to hit some high notes?

Brooks A*** is what is now known as a bari-tenor, a singer with a baritone's quality but able to sing well above the typical (read: classical) range of a baritone. SFANW takes the baritone up to a solid Ab in "She Cries," and a Bb in the opening, sung with the tenor.

2) Also, does anyone know the highest note belted by Ty Taylor on the recording? The "belieeeeve" in On the Deck of a sailing ship, like the last "I'm" in King of the World, and in A New World, "the earthquake..HITS!", off the top of my head come to mind, not to mention the insane notes in some of the harmonies.

Alright, a breakdown of those insane notes... the last "believe" is a Bb. The "I'm" in "King of the World" and the "hits" in the opening are C's. He also hits a C in "River Won't Flow". The end of "Flying Home" takes him to a Dd, done in a very powerful gospel blend. The ultimate note is in "Sailing Ship", during the "I am unworthy" repetition, when he wails on high F. All of these notes are in the score.

3) Also, is that just straight belting or is there some type of mixing or something going on? (I know some people say guys don't mix or the discussion over that, but it seems to have a sort of falsetto quality to it? or maybe I'm hearing wrong). Especially the "believe", in On the Deck..I've tried to sing that so many ways to get that same sound, but it never seems to come out right.

It's a definite blend.

I would love to be able to easily sing some of the notes Taylor does but it doesn't seem to sound as easy as he makes it on the recording, I can hit some of them on good days, but I don't know about sustaining performances of it over a long period of time. I'm sure there are people that could, but more than likely is it pretty hard to find a tenor that can sing these notes for a show?

Next to impossible.

4) And not to sound racist or anything, but is the guy that usually sings the High tenor part, usually black? It seems the pop quality of the songs, seem to fit a black person's voice moreso, but again I could be wrong.

Almost always. (I'm not, but again, I was a replacement.)

5) As a tenor, would the opening male part from "It's about one moment"..to "The road will end in a new world", be good as an audition piece, or is that more geared toward a high singing baritone? I know people say JRB isn't good for auditions, but that little beginning part doesn't "sound" that difficult to play. Or maybe even the beginning male part in "I'd Give It All For You"?

That part of "New World" is fairly easy to play, and will take you to an F. "I'd Give it..." will also take you to an "F", but it will make you the enemy of every accompanist you hand it to. It is hard.

6) Last question, for people who have seen productions of this, not necessarily the actual production, but like community or college productions, has the guy who sang the high tenor part usually been singing the same notes similar to the recording, or have they been brought down a little? I wouldn't mind doing it at my school, but wouldn't want to tarnish the show by having to bring it down, just in case I couldn't get it pretty sounding enough to perform.

We played with the notes, especially some of the gospel obligato. I have a decent falsetto and a solid Bb, both of which got their workouts. Jason may or may not be lenient about changing the harmonies, I don't know. I know he loves people to do SFANW (and only partly because he gets money) so if you explained your situation he might grant permission to make a few small changes. But don't change the "I believe." That's a money not that you gotta have.

[roquat]

Posted: 12/6/05 at 5:25pm

Not to freak you out, but when I worked on this show, the guy playing man 1 ended up in the hospital (from stress and other causes, not just from blowing out his voice). I believe Billy Porter blew his voice out as well in the original, which is why he's not on the cast recording. USE FALSETTO. There is an AWFUL lot of riffing in this part, and a lot of liberty in interpretation--riff DOWN if you are having trouble, or take alternate notes. DO NOT SCREAM OUT OF YOUR THROAT. That is fatal.

[melissa errico fan]

Posted: 12/6/05 at 5:27pm

Billy Porter is not on the cast album because his record label would not let him record the album. It has nothing to do with blowing out his voice.

[jollipops]

Posted: 12/6/05 at 5:40pm

I have played Man 2 in SFANW so can't really help with that, but I can offer advice that I noticed the guy playing Man 1 following.

Basically, SFANW really requires you to feel the songs, that is not to say you don't need the technique to back it up, but the beauty of it is that you can play around with it. MAKE THE MD YOUR BEST FRIEND! Play around with what works and what doesn't. For example, Flying Home is a high pitched but beautiful song, it can be song in falsetto for the main part, and by the time you get to the strong and loud bits, your voice will have warmed into it. Also alot of what Man 1 does on the CD is NOT written in the score, he improvises alot, study your score and fiddle with bits to suit your voice. Own it!

[B-WayHereEyeCome]

Posted: 12/6/05 at 5:44pm

For the original poster, you might want to go to Billy Porter's website and he has recordings of the original cast at the Public (?, not sure). He has the opening number as well as the Sailing Ship, just so you can hear takes of the songs different from the recording with Taylor. Of course Billy is showing off as only he can, not recommmending you copy him, just to give you a different take on the song and how two performers have similar yet different takes on the songs.

[InfiniteTheaterFrenzy]

Posted: 12/6/05 at 6:22pm

Ooh sorry, you're right... the Songs for a New World chapter is actually in his book, Rebels With Applause...