HOME ALL THAT CHAT ATC WEST COAST SHOPPIN' RUSH BOARD FAQS

LOGIN REGISTER SEARCH THREADED MODE

not logged in

Threaded Order | Chronological Order

re: Nothing against Houdyshell, but from a singing perspective? Upgrade. (nm)

Posted by: Chromolume 05:26 pm EDT 03/12/14
In reply to: re: Nothing against Houdyshell, but from a singing perspective? Upgrade. (nm) - AlanScott 04:36 pm EDT 03/12/14

But the character is a singer

Indeed. Maybe the singing at the Hot Box doesn't need to be Carnegie hall quality, lol, but the fact is she IS a dancer/singer at the club.

And indeed, I can't imagine a production where the Sky and Nicely don't have real singing ability. And if that last line of "Fugue For Tinhorns" is really going to land, you need a Benny and a Charlie who can deliver the goods too - not just hit the notes, but really SING that last "right here."

Conversely, I've seen productions where indeed the Sarah must have been cast on her singing ability first - but the acting was sub par. So having a "singer" in the role is not all you need.

As for Cartwright, as originally written, it's a non-singing role. (I don't know if she joined in with the ensemble by the end of "Sit Down" or not, but there are no solo moments of any kind.) The solo high C moment, added for the Lane/Prince revival, is really a stolen moment from the original version of "Brotherhood Of Man," when the also usually non-singing (until that moment) Miss Jones joins in with the song, and holds a high F over the men singing "Oh, that noble feeling...").

Which I suppose is why the Broderick revival of How To Succeed felt they had to do something else instead, so they made Miss Jones a "real" gospel singer.


reply to this message |
And speaking of Benny . . .

Posted by: AlanScott 05:46 pm EDT 03/12/14
In reply to: re: Nothing against Houdyshell, but from a singing perspective? Upgrade. (nm) - Chromolume 05:26 pm EDT 03/12/14

Johnny Silver was never going to sing Cavaradossi or Tristan or even Eisenstein, but he had a good character tenor. For NBC's Television Opera Theatre in the 1950s, he sang Goro and Dr. Blind.


reply to this message |
re: Nothing against Houdyshell, but from a singing perspective? Upgrade. (nm)

Posted by: Chromolume 05:33 pm EDT 03/12/14
In reply to: re: Nothing against Houdyshell, but from a singing perspective? Upgrade. (nm) - Chromolume 05:26 pm EDT 03/12/14

The solo high C moment, added for the Lane/Prince revival, is really a stolen moment from the original version of "Brotherhood Of Man," when the also usually non-singing (until that moment) Miss Jones joins in with the song, and holds a high F over the men singing "Oh, that noble feeling...").

Just so no one has to correct me on this, lol, I *do* know she sings before that moment in the song (she in fact starts the "oh, that noble feeling" section on her own, before the guys join in) - but it's the "holding the big high note over the full company" aspect of the number I was focusing on. ;-)


reply to this message | reply to first message


All That Chat is intended for the discussion of theatre news and opinion
subject to the terms and conditions of the Terms of Service. (Please take all off-topic discussion to private email.)

Please direct technical questions/comments to webmaster@talkinbroadway.com and policy questions to TBAdmin@talkinbroadway.com.

[ Home | On the Rialto | The Siegel Column | Cabaret | Tony Awards | Book Reviews | Great White Wayback Machine ]
[ Broadway Reviews | Barbara and Scott: The Two of Clubs | Sound Advice | Restaurant Revue | Off Broadway | Funding Talkin' Broadway ]
[ Broadway 101 | Spotlight On | Talkin' Broadway | On the Boards | Regional | Talk to Us! | Search Talkin' Broadway ]

Terms of Service
[ © 1997 - 2014 www.TalkinBroadway.com, Inc. ]

Time to render: 0.122853 seconds.