I don't know that much about it, but I'm under the impression that Blitzstein conceived the role of Regina as a mezzo role. He worked with Shannon Bolin on the role while he was composing it, and I think they both hoped that she would create it. Then they needed a name for the role, and it went to Jane Pickens, who was a soprano, so Blitzstein made some changes to make it more suitable for a soprano but some of it couldn't really be adjusted. So in that version, you need a soprano who can also do that low-voice sprechstimme. I don't know if adjustments back to the original version were made for the performances at which Bolin, who ended up as the alternate, played the role during the original run.
Eventually, John Mauceri and Tommy Krasker put together a version based on Blitzstein's original intentions, including putting back the original mezzo keys. |
