Perhaps worth a mention is that Pert Kelton was playing Mrs. Peachum in Threepenny Opera when she was cast in The Music Man. It's possible that some of Mrs. Peachum's music was adjusted for her, and there's a tradition of singing the role down an octave. At least one writer on Threepenny believes that the role was originally sung down an octave from how it appears in the published score (and, of course, "Die Ballade von der Sexuallen Hörigkeit" was not in the score as originally published nor in the opening-night performance in Berlin), but others dispute that. So I don't know if Kelton sang it in the keys and range in which Charlotte Rae sang it. I suppose she might have, even if she perhaps did it in a sort of squawky voice.
Rae, btw, was only in the show a few weeks. She is so associated with it, but she was in it very briefly. She was already gone when the cast recording was made, but she's on it. Carole Cook (then known as Mildred Cook) was playing Mrs. Peachum when the recording was made. A wide range of different vocal types played the role during the long Theatre de Lys run(s). |
