[kiwitechgirl]

Having just got home from a full-sing through of Saigon (we open in four weeks!) it struck me that all four male principals (Chris, the Engineer, John and Thuy) are tenor parts. I don't think I know of any other show where all the male principals are tenors - wonder what the reasoning behind it was, whether it was a conscious decision on Schoenberg's part, or whether that's just the way it turned out?

[High-baritonne]

Thuy and the Engineer are usually played by baritones, in the Norwegian Premiere of Miss Saigon both the Engineer and Thuy are played by baritones.

[kiwitechgirl]

The MTI page does list the Engineer as a "high baritone" so I'll give you that one(our Engineer is a tenor), but Thuy has to sing top B-flats and is listed, like Chris, as a "pop tenor".

[High-baritonne]

Okay, my bad. Most of the ensemble parts are also tenors, perhaps it's the "style"?

[Pannic]

The Engineer has several high A-flats, in both his solos. Just look at what's in the songbook. He might not go *as* high as the others, but he still has a high tessitura. At our school, he's being played by a tenor.

It's a slight annoyance to me whenever I forget that I don't particularly like Miss Saigon.

Also, all the female principles (Kim, Gigi, and Ellen) are mezzo-soprano belters.

I don't know why, though. It seems alot of Schoenberg's music (for the males, at least) tends to be somewhat high-lying. Even Javert, who's considered a quintessential baritone, has a fairly high tessitura in some places.

[The Russian]

I think the high, scream, rock yelling for male voices came out of the 70s when bands like Led Zeppelin began using incredible amplification on the other instruments so the voice had to find a way to compensate by achieving a higher pitch that carried through the sound system at a similar timbre and tone as the electric guitar. I mean, Robert Plant basically INVENTED heavy metal singing!

Look at really good male rock singers: Freddy Mercury (Queen), Steve Perry (Journey), Sebastian Bach (Skid Row) or Jon Bon Jovi. These were/are guys who gave show after show after show of that vocal cord shredding music and all of them (except the brilliant Freddy Mercury, God bless that man!) are still singing today, and singing just as well as they were back in the day. I've had the pleasure of hearing all of them live and they all certainly know a thing or two about their own voices and what to do with them!

I've sung in several cover bands (mostly hair metal) and the technique--while completely inappropriate for the operatic stage--is perfect for the rock stage. Basically a beefed-up falsetto, it's an extension of the belt range. I've carried mine up to about F above high C and then straight falsetto to B above that. It's a crazy-bright sound and if one over-pressurizes there's trouble, but there's a balance to be had and it isn't stressful on the voice at all.

I think singers like Kurt Cobain and Eddie Vetter (Vedder??) have had such a HUGE influence on the male singers of today. As far as vocal ability and power, the gals are doing better these days, but some of the guys who are doing well are:


Adam Pascal
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zw6xtW3lRfs
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6bY__xtl7yI

Tony Vincent
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UpyeKni5hOo

Steve Balsamo
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3-rre_BXxC0

Anthony Warlow and John Farnham
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K6uxFKmCXB8