| re: So if Sally Bowles isn't supposed to be a good singer.... | |
| Posted by: | MikeR 02:33 pm EDT 03/31/14 |
| In reply to: | re: So if Sally Bowles isn't supposed to be a good singer.... - perfectlyfrank 02:24 pm EDT 03/31/14 |
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| >Of course, certain roles aren't necessarily written for a strong voices Like Sally Bowles. The people who created the show cast Jill Haworth in the role. If they thought the role required an amazing singer, they would've cast one. | |
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| re: So if Sally Bowles isn't supposed to be a good singer.... | |
| Posted by: | PlayWiz 05:36 pm EDT 03/31/14 |
| In reply to: | re: So if Sally Bowles isn't supposed to be a good singer.... - MikeR 02:33 pm EDT 03/31/14 |
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| But Jill Haworth sounds wonderful on the recording. The original show didn't add "Maybe This Time" and "Mein Herr". It only had her singing "Don't Tell Mama", "Perfectly Marvelous" and the title song (and a reprise of it). It's not a great voice, but it is tuneful and even just by voice alone, captures the essence of this young English girl who is putting on sophisticated airs yet can't really hide the fact that she's really not who she is trying to be. Unfortunately, Walter Kerr's original review knocked Haworth's performance, but people who had seen the show said that he was dead wrong, and that she was actually superb! | |
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| re: So if Sally Bowles isn't supposed to be a good singer.... | |
| Posted by: | bobby2 08:28 pm EDT 03/31/14 |
| In reply to: | re: So if Sally Bowles isn't supposed to be a good singer.... - PlayWiz 05:36 pm EDT 03/31/14 |
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| and weren't replacements Anita Gilette and Penny Fuller good singers? | |
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| re: So if Sally Bowles isn't supposed to be a good singer.... | |
| Posted by: | sf 04:57 pm EDT 03/31/14 |
| In reply to: | re: So if Sally Bowles isn't supposed to be a good singer.... - MikeR 02:33 pm EDT 03/31/14 |
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| And then they cast Judi Dench in the London production - and again, it's not as if there was nobody else available. It depends on the role. I don't particularly want to hear an Eliza Dolittle who can't hit the high notes - but pretty much anyone can sing the role of, say, Desirée Armfeldt, *provided they can act it too*. During this 'Cabaret' revival's original 75-year run on Broadway (I'm kidding, but it felt like it), some very strong singers indeed played Sally Bowles. Some very weak ones did as well; the role works either way. That wouldn't be true of every role in every show - we saw in the film of 'Les Mis' what happens when someone who hasn't much of a voice takes on the role of Javert, for example, and it wasn't pretty - but it's true of pretty much all the leads in 'Cabaret'. | |
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| re: So if Sally Bowles isn't supposed to be a good singer.... | |
| Posted by: | perfectlyfrank 05:57 pm EDT 03/31/14 |
| In reply to: | re: So if Sally Bowles isn't supposed to be a good singer.... - sf 04:57 pm EDT 03/31/14 |
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| I agree with you. Certain roles lend themselves to actors who can sing rather than singers who can act. LES MIZ needs the latter in the leads. It is not the case with Desiree which was specifically written for a non-singing voice. Eliza, on the other hand, requires strong singing (or else why dubb Audrey Hepburn, right?) Sally Bowles, at least in the original stage show, may have been able to get by with less singing chops but she does need to be able to sing. This revival adds songs written for Liza so this ups the ante vocally and thus the requirement for an actress who can sing. Anyway, I'm sure there will be plenty of people willing to shell out big bucks to hear Williams in the role. Maybe she'll get a rave from the Times like Melanie Griffith did in CHICAGO for her musical artistry. I'll save my money and rent the film version instead. | |
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| re: So if Sally Bowles isn't supposed to be a good singer.... | |
| Posted by: | AlanScott 06:10 pm EDT 03/31/14 |
| In reply to: | re: So if Sally Bowles isn't supposed to be a good singer.... - perfectlyfrank 05:57 pm EDT 03/31/14 |
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| Yes, I do think that is a problem in this version. "Mein Herr" doesn't necessarily require a great voice, but you want a good voice for "Maybe This Time," which, IIRC, was not written for Minnelli but for Kaye Ballard. | |
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| re: So if Sally Bowles isn't supposed to be a good singer.... | |
| Posted by: | sf 06:06 pm EDT 03/31/14 |
| In reply to: | re: So if Sally Bowles isn't supposed to be a good singer.... - perfectlyfrank 05:57 pm EDT 03/31/14 |
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| Well, in this revival, last time around, the late, great Natasha Richardson *did* get raves from pretty much everybody, and she also got the additional songs from the movie, and as wonderful as she was (on CD, anyway - I didn't see her in this, although I did, when I was a teenager, see her in another musical), she didn't have much of a singing voice. The role - even the expanded role in this production - requires an actress who can put a number across. It does not necessarily require a great singing voice. | |
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| re: So if Sally Bowles isn't supposed to be a good singer.... | |
| Posted by: | perfectlyfrank 06:39 pm EDT 03/31/14 |
| In reply to: | re: So if Sally Bowles isn't supposed to be a good singer.... - sf 06:06 pm EDT 03/31/14 |
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| True. But there's a big gap between an actress who can sing and has the ability to put over a song and one who is lost in a musical. We shall see if Williams manages to put over the role as well as Richardson did. I have my doubts that she will receive the same notices in the role. Then again, this is simply not what I personally look for when going to see a musical. And as good as Richardson may have been in the role, I'll still prefer seeing and hearing Liza actually belt out "Maybe This Time" and the title song. Just as I prefer to hear Ethel Merman or Patti LuPone belt out the score of GYPSY over Tyne Daly. John Raitt over Michael Hayden in CAROUSEL. The songs are why I go to musicals. Otherwise, I'm just as happy seeing a play. Badly sung musicals do nothing for me, no matter how wonderfully acted they may be. All I remember is the bad singing, not the great acting. | |
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