Musicals and Operas

[yovargas]

I'll take Robert Plant any day.

[Old_Tom_Bombadil]

Back when I was getting voice training, I desperately wanted to be an opera singer. I had the range, the tone and the skill, but one thing I did not have, that I would've desperately needed, was the power...

Ah, well that explains your astute comment I observed earlier.

I, too, have (had?) a lighter voice. When I got away from choir singing and began singing in the opera chorus my voice really opened up. Having been an instrumentalist, I learned to blend rather than stick out in ensembles. In an opera chorus they're all singing out so it was much easier for me to break the chains that was holding back my voice. Also being more secure in my voice--really discovering what it was supposed to sound like--greatly aided my voice. I'll still never be a heldentenor, but at least now I can sing so loudly that my wife won't let me sing full-voiced in the car or in her vicinity while indoors.

Estel, I'm guessing that your voice may have eventually opened up--and become more powerful--as you progressed. The "power" doesn't come from adding more to the voice, it comes from removing things that get in the way. Tension really is the singer's worst enemy.

[Whistler]

Sweeney Todd! One of my favorite musicals/operas/whatevers.

Is everyone aware that a screen version is due in 2008? The director will be Tim Burton, and Sweeney Todd will be...you guessed it! Johnny Depp.

I have enormous admiration for Depp, but I have no idea whether he will be able to pull this one off

[Estel]

Yeah, that's the funny thing. I don't have the tone or the range anymore, after not have trained my voice for years, and being a smoker, but since I've gotten older, I definitely have more power to my voice. Maybe now I'm not afraid to let it out.

[Old_Tom_Bombadil]

Is everyone aware that a screen version is due in 2008? The director will be Tim Burton, and Sweeney Todd will be...you guessed it! Johnny Depp.

You're kidding? Someone must have read my mind!

How will Johnny Depp pull it off? Voiceover.


Is it too late for me to try out for the role of Toby?

Nothing's going to harm you, not while I'm around...
Demons will charm you for awhile
With a smile
But in time
Nothing's gonna harm you, not while I'm around

[Whistler]

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0408236/fullcredits

Nothing here about Tim Burton, but I've read about it elsewhere. And given Depp's involvement and the bizarre nature of the material, Burton seems the natural choice.

[truehobbit]

Sweeney Todd was performed at Cologne opera some years ago.

Hehe, I wonder if Johnny Depp would be singing. He's usually so softspoken in his roles, it's hard to imagine him singing.
As to the skills, though, I wouldn't be surprised if he pulled that off. (I looked up the Cologne performance, and it seems the two main roles weren't taken by real singers.) Voiceovers would make it seem contrived, unless that's the idea.

[Whistler]

Depp is not the kind of performer to use a "safety net." His whole appeal is that he can throw himself into anything and be anybody. If he cheated in the singing, it would be a huge blow to his image.

The whole report may be bogus, but if it's real Depp will do it all himself and either sink or swim. I really respect the way the man insists on being a true actor when he could easily sit back on his money, content to be a "movie star" instead.

[JewelSong]

D
The whole report may be bogus, but if it's real Depp will do it all himself and either sink or swim. I really respect the way the man insists on being a true actor when he could easily sit back on his money, content to be a "movie star" instead.

I respect the way the man is totally hawt.

[Whistler]

Thank you for that astute and mature observation.

[JewelSong]

Thank you for that astute and mature observation.

I knew you'd appreciate it, Whistler.

[MaidenOfTheShieldarm]

*cringe* Yes, I have.

I'd describe her voice as "pinched". She lacks the clear, open sound that is most suitable for opera.

Sorry. She does have a rather pinched voice, but it works in the roles she's in -- Glinda in Wicked and Sally in Charlie Brown. I do quite like her in the Candide clip. She seems (to me) to open up more in it. Other than that, I know nothing of her opera skills except what I said about. I also know little about singing, my only experience being a mediocre high school choir and sporadic voice lessons, so this is entirely my opinion.

No, Candide is not an opera. It's a musical by Leonard Bernstein.

Mea culpa. I wasn't sure and quite a few of the descriptions google came up with involved calling it an opera. She was the only person I could think of . . . so I went with it.

I thought I said something very close to that.

Indeed you did. Again, mea culpa.

Is everyone aware that a screen version is due in 2008? The director will be Tim Burton, and Sweeney Todd will be...you guessed it! Johnny Depp.

Yes, and I'm skeptical. I love Sweeney, and I really hope they do it justice. Johnny Depp is a great actor, but is he really right for the role or is he a name like Gerard Butler was for Phantom? He might be the only name who could pull it off, though. We'll see. I definitely respect him as an actor, I just wonder how he'll fare in such a show.

[Whistler]

I'm sure they're considering the likelihood that Depp is one of the few actors who could draw target (read: young male) audiences into what can almost be described as an opera.

And I wouldn't be surprised if the music is de-emphasized somewhat, or perhaps even tweaked for lesser voices. You know how stage shows fare in translation to film.

[Old_Tom_Bombadil]

She was the only person I could think of . . . so I went with it.

Well, you showed me a side of Ms. Chenoweth I hadn't seen. Thank you. *bows and doffs feathered hat*

I was impressed how she could go back and forth between her fine operatic voice and the nasally voice I'm accustomed to hearing. She apparently is able to do it at will, which demonstrates a tremendous amount of skill. Why she'd ever want to use that pinched voice, however, is a mystery to me.

Perhaps I'm mistaken, but until proven otherwise I'm inclined to think that Ms. Chenoweth, who I understand is a huge star, is a rare example of someone who excels in musicals but quite possibly could be an operatic star as well.

I admit I have a somewhat limited knowledge of musicals (mostly from my wife's recordings), but while thinking of this topic I thought about Bernadette Peters. She is an excellent actress and fine all-around performer. As far as I know she lacks the training and/or vocal ability to sing opera, yet she's a HUGE star on Broadway.

The Tony's are on tomorrow night, btw. Goldberry and I will be watching.

So, anyone have a limerick?

[MaidenOfTheShieldarm]

I was impressed how she could go back and forth between her fine operatic voice and the nasally voice I'm accustomed to hearing. She apparently is able to do it at will, which demonstrates a tremendous amount of skill. Why she'd ever want to use that pinched voice, however, is a mystery to me.

She does have skill. I don't know why she'd want to sound more pinched when she's got such a great operatic voice, but I guess it works. They seem to go with that in quite a few shows. She pulls it off a heck of a lot better than some others.

Perhaps I'm mistaken, but until proven otherwise I'm inclined to think that Ms. Chenoweth, who I understand is a huge star, is a rare example of someone who excels in musicals but quite possibly could be an operatic star as well.

I would agree with that.



And to get back on topic . . .

The Tonies tomorrow will be on TV.
Who will win I cannot wait to see.
A Woman in White
Singing all afright
Jersey Boys, lots of noise, a Chaperone drowsy.

[truehobbit]

I respect the way the man is totally hawt.

Then I'd advise you to check out the Party Tree!

[Alatar]

Operatic and Musical? I submit for your consideration one Anthony Warlow.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anthony_Warlow

Highlights for me include his Captain of the Pinnafore, Jekyll and Hyde, and Enjolras in Les Miserables. A truly multi-talented performer.


I though Kelsey Grammer was slated to play Sweeney Todd? Perhaps Depp would play Toby or Anthony?

[Old_Tom_Bombadil]

Operatic and Musical? I submit for your consideration one Anthony Warlow.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anthony_Warlow

I listened to some clips of Warlow at his website--http://www.anthonywarlow.com/awarlow.html--and some of the Jekyll and Hyde at Amazon.

His voice strikes me as fairly typical of those you'd hear in musicals. I could not find any recordings of his in the classical section at Amazon.com, although he apparently appears on a video of Poulenc's Dialogue of the Carmelites in the role of Thierry. This production is in English rather than French.

Okay, I just played some of the Jekyll & Hyde for my wife. I asked her whether she could picture Warlow performing opera. Her response, "No, he has a typical musical theatre voice." That was without any prompting from me, nor has she read my comments. When she said that I laughed then said to her, "That's nearly verbatim what I said!" (No, I did not use any Jedi mind tricks on her. )

Alatar, I'm sure he's very talented. Heck, I found recordings on Amazon that he made with Olivia Newton-John! (She was my absolute favorite back when I was in Junior High School. Unfortunately there were no samples. )

I'm sorry, Alatar, but I really can't picture Warlow doing opera. Perhaps he could have if he'd gone that route in his training many years ago, but I don't think he could have cut it with the skill and training he has at present (or when those recordings were made).


So anyone for limericks? I’ll start…

There once was a horse that was dead
I thumped it once more in the head
I’m not sure how it died
But nobody cried
At least that’s what somebody said



Disclaimer: No horses were injured in the writing of this limerick. The horse depicted in said limerick is strictly metaphorical as in "Beating a dead horse" which I am extremely guilty of. Mea culpa...mea culpa...

Oh wait, didn't that awful Judge Turpin sing some bit about "Mea culpa" while flagellating himself in Sweeney Todd? Gee, this thing keeps getting turned back on itself!

Please trout me, Prim. I deserve it.

[Estel]

There is an actor named Depp
who really has quite the rep
He's in big demand
His looks are quite grand
And no one would call him a schlep

[MaidenOfTheShieldarm]

Kelsey Grammar as Sweeney Todd?
That sounds really quite odd.
Though no Len Cariou
Johnny Depp just might do,
For using people in pies versus cod.

Now on the subject of shows I am done.
For the topic of this thread has spun
Really quite far
From it's original star.
No more off topic posts here, not a one.