It was a really boneheaded decision to lower Kristin Chenoweth's keys, since she is actually most comfortable in roles whose tessitura are higher (like Cunegonde) even though she can belt (and mix), but someone involved with that production must think that the general public is scared of soprano voices. Lord knows what they must thought of Joni Mitchell, Sarah McLachlan, Judy Collins and Joan Baez whose songs frequently have them slip into head voice and soprano-land!
Sutton sounds like a mezzo, who do, certainly in opera usually have the biggest ranges required of them, but who main tessitura (where the role mainly lies) is lower than a true soprano. Of course, this role is especially known for sopranos, being that it was created by one the most famous Broadway sopranos of the Golden Age, Barbara Cook (Julie Andrews being the other). |
