I didn't hear any voices "in tatters." I just heard a few people that didn't have the chops. I thought most of the cast did really well.
If you're referring to extremes like Daniels' last few lines as Pilate, or some of the ultra-high stuff that Dixon was attempting in the title song, it's hard to know if those were rough due to fatigue, or if that's the sound they were legitimately going for. And I wouldn't doubt the latter. (Or, knowing this was the one big performance, they may have been attempting things in a way they wouldn't if they had to do a long run.) Also, they are hardly amateurs. No one in this cast was.
Legend may have shot his upper range - I don't know. Certainly Gethsemane didn't work for him, though I'll say he basically made it work for the rest of the score. But if his voice were "in tatters" he wouldn't have been able to even do what he did. When he wasn't going into head voice (and even often when he did) he sounded healthy to me. His last "see how I die" when he went up into very high territory simply didn't work at all - but did it ever for him?
But certainly "most of the cast" did not sound anywhere near "in tatters," nor do I think "most of the cast didn't realize" it was a one-shot deal and instead oversang. That's just hyperbole. |
