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| Alice Ripley: fierce, fierce actress. But that voice of hers is a little wonky lately. |
Happy fall, everyone!
Now that the weather here in NYC has gotten a little brisk, it’s time to
end my impromptu summer vacation from blogging and get back to talking about
the theatre.
This is a blog I meant to write a few weeks ago, when I
stumbled across this video on Playbill.com.
In the midst of interviewing/goofing off with Broadway’s Stephanie J.
Block, musician and internet personality Seth Rudetsky asks Block how familiar
she was with the score of her next gig, The
Mystery of Edwin Drood, before being cast in the show. Block admits she’d only heard the soprano
ballad “Moonfall,” and sings a few bars before Rudetsky cuts her off and
jokingly tells her to “never sing like that again.”
The joke is that Block actually sounds fabulous singing with
a legit soprano, but should only belt because that is what she is known for
(having been a high profile replacement for roles like Elphaba and Reno
Sweeney). Sky high belting is what’s
currently in vogue on Broadway, and Block bemoans the fact that she never gets
to sing “Moonfall” at auditions because no one wants to hear her do it. And the implications of that statement worry
me.
If you are an up and coming actor who wants to be on Broadway
these days, you have to be able to belt.
Contemporary musicals are almost invariably written as marathon belting
sessions, and many classic shows are revived with a more pop-influenced sound. This isn’t bad in and of itself, and I enjoy
a good belt show as much as the next guy.
I lost track of how many times I listened to Rent when it first came out, and one of my biggest complaints about
the current Evita revival is the
distinct lack of belting done by its leading lady. BUT legit singing is equally valuable, and
should be a major part of any young singer’s training.
When someone learns how to sing in the classical/legit
style, two of the most important things they learn are proper placement and
breath support. These form the basis of
healthy singing in any genre, and are essential to anyone who wants to have a
long career in the industry. Without
them, it is simply a matter of time before nodules or some other type of vocal
damage renders a singer unable to manage the demands of doing eight shows a week.
I would argue the reason someone like Block is able to
consistently belt into the rafters is because her background in legit singing
taught her proper placement and healthy vocal production. These principles can be adapted into the
contemporary/pop musical vein, but are much easier to practice and learn in
classical singing. The problem with
belting and pop-influenced scores is that many of the hallmarks of the style
can be achieved through strain and poor technique. This may work in the short term, but over
time it will absolutely destroy someone’s voice (see: Side Show Alice Ripley vs. Next
to Normal Alice Ripley, or to use an example from pop music Songs in A Minor Alicia Keys vs. Element of Freedom Alicia Keys).
But since nobody is interested in hearing legit singing, it
isn’t being taught as much. We won’t
have proof for another ten years or so, but I fear this is producing a
generation of Broadway singers who are using poor technique to wail to the
rafters now, but will be unable to sing much of anything by their mid-30s due
to all the vocal damage they’ve sustained.
Resilient young voices can handle a fair amount of poor technique, but
it will always catch up with you in the end. Unless something changes, we’re looking at a
future where catching that Tony-nominated performance will be a matter of luck,
because the actor giving it doesn’t have the vocal stamina to do eight shows a
week. And nobody wants that
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