Vichysois
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LP & Pippin range elaborations (and others...)I know this has been asked and answered before, but different answers and conclusions have been posed, so I'm asking again. What are these character's vocal classifications?
Some sources list both as tenors. Others, such as MTI and musicalschwartz, as baritones. Also, I've seen conflicting listings as far as their top notes go...some people say High A, others Ab, others G, or even C. I'm working on getting the soundtrack (I can't find a torrent...grr), but I'm curious as to what's written. How consistently are these characters supposed to sing above the staff? Are these climax notes or runs, etc?
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Vichysois
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Well I was cast in the show, so I've got the score. I'll work on providing some concrete stuff from the currently licensed MTI score.
Pippin is a lower-lying tenor OR a baritone with a good upper range.
NB:
-High Gs and Fs in "Corner of the Sky", and a written falsetto C at the end. The whole song itself has a lot of interval jumps, so you've got to be agile.
-High G in "War is a Science"
-High Ab in "With You" - but that's a more laid-back and lyrical song, and it's a mixed voice or falsetto.
-High Gs, F#s, and Fs throughout "Morning Glow." The song rests fairly high.
-High Fs in "Right Track". On the original recording, John Rubinstein sang the Abs at the end of the song "Malingering on!". But in the score it's actually not clear. Could be the Leading Player's if the music director wants it that way.
-High Fs in "Extraordinary" The song also has optional melody with a high Bb and Gs.
-High Gs and Fs in the "Finale". He's also written to go down to a baritone G (G2) a couple times.
Your standard baritone singer fare in community theatre probably means you'll want a tenor for this role. And that low G in the Finale is just touched for a second, so you can just harmonize a C on it instead.
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Vichysois
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I'm sneaking glances at the score while I'm here at work...
Leading Player: I'll hold off on a classification of the voice, since s/he can be either male or female. Instead, I'll go through and find the higher written notes s/he has.
-A couple G#s in "Glory"
-Lots of F#s in "Simple Joys". This song actually requires some agility as it's fast and has some octave jumps. There's also a written A at the end, with the notation "Vamp. Feel free to improvise"
-Lots of Abs, Gbs, and Fs throughout "Right Track".
-Gs and Fs all through the "Finale"
All this makes me very skeptical of your standard baritone being able to play the Leading Player. For purposes of community theatre, he might as well be a tenor. If the Leading Player is female, I dunno. It would depend on the octave in which she sings. You could have a mezzo or soprano sing the stuff up an octave, or have a well-trained and well-projecting contralto sing the songs as written. Our current production has a female LP, and she mentioned maybe switching it up depending on the song. We'll see what happens.
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Rorgg
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If you still have it handy, I was tossing around the idea of going out for Charlemagne in a couple months. What's that range like?
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Vichysois
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Charles is a bass or baritone. He's supposed to sound older, regal, perhaps faux-English (if Pippin and the others are "American").
He has only a couple songs:
He sings one line in "Magic to Do": "Battles, barbarous and bloody." The range for that line is C4 down to E3.
He sings "Welcome Home" with Pippin twice. Both are short. The first one is straightforward B2 to B3. The second incarnation of the song has some funky time signature changes (11/8, 5/4, etc), but it's actually not that odd to sing. The range for that part is E4 down to C#3.
Charles big number is "War is a Science." It's kind of a patter song, so enunciation is doubly necessary. But the patter is low-mid staff. Nothing complicated. Highest is E4 and his lowest is G#2.
Also as written, Charles is an ensemble member, and the baritones are asked to sing high Fs and possibly high Gs. But that's up to the discretion of the music director and your available voices.
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Vichysois
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While I'm at it, how bout the other leads?
Catherine: Pretty much alto (contralto if you're inclined). But maybe mezzo. I'm bad with female vocal ranges.
"There He Was": Low G#3 to high A4.
"Kind of Woman": Low Ab3 to high Db5.
"Love Song:" Low Bb3 to G4.
"I Guess I'll Miss the Man": Low F#3 to High B4. The low F# here makes me think she's an alto.
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Vichysois
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Berthe: Alto it seems, but perhaps mezzo if you "sprechgesang" it.
She sings one of the verse bits in "Magic to Do," Similar to Charles and Fastrada.
Her song is "No Time at All," which has a written low E (E3) and a high A4. Arguably, the lower parts could be speak-sung.
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Vichysois
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Fastrada: Mezzo or Soprano. The highest of the females definitely.
She sings in "Magic to Do" like Charles and Berthe do.
Her main song is "Spread a Little Sunshine": Low C4 to High F5.
She also has a bit in the "Finale": Low D4 to High Db5.
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Vichysois
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Lewis only sings in "Magic to Do" with a similar bit to Fastrada, Charles, and Berthe.
Theo sings a bit of Corner of the Sky in the same key as Pippin. Low E3 to G4.
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Salome
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Theo only sings that in one version of the script.
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Vichysois
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^ Yeah. But I think that's the version currently licensed by MTI. It's certainly in the book I've got for our production right now.
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Salome
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most smart people dont use that ending though its so trite.
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Vichysois
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Would one technically need to get MTI to endorse that?
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Salome
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technically.
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Vichysois
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By the by, have you played in the show?
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