ellemenope
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narrator vocal rangesHave you ever seen a show where the narrator's range is pulled down/ put in a different key? I know how the official score is written, but how hard would it be for a community production to alter it? In my 1982 Broadway cast recording this is definitely the case. I kinda like it more in a belty area for her; it seems to fit better.
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Beagle On Stage
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It would be as easy to transpose as anything else. It's doable but time consuming and a lot of work. I really advise against changing the keys though. It's written the way it is for a reason - the whole tone of a song and the way the person performs it changes drastically if, for example, a song with a gorgeous high F for the climactic moment is changed to a belted high D. Trust me, the score as written is much more interesting than any of the altered versions you hear on the recordings.
"Go, Go, Go Joseph" is a great example. As written, the first two verses are a beautiful and uplifting moment between the Narrator and Joseph. If you bring it down a third and have the chorus power belt it along with the Narrator like on the CD's, it loses everything and just becomes the 10th song that chick has belted out tonight, you know?
PLEASE perform the score as written, you won't regret it.
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convict24601
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Agreed, but I have to disagree to my own preference - I really like "Close Every Door" in the key that Donny sings it in. (I think it's Bb.) The climax in the song is full of so much emotion and you have so much to work with. In its regular key, it just sounds....plain. And as a singer - I felt the song just had a better feel to it sung in that key.
The narrator though, is a different case. Changing her keys don't give the show the same feeling. If you watch the Joseph movie - the movie runs slower and therefore the audio is brought down a semi tone. I don't like it - I can already hear a difference in her songs.
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mantarnia
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| Beagle On Stage wrote: | It would be as easy to transpose as anything else. It's doable but time consuming and a lot of work. I really advise against changing the keys though. It's written the way it is for a reason - the whole tone of a song and the way the person performs it changes drastically if, for example, a song with a gorgeous high F for the climactic moment is changed to a belted high D. Trust me, the score as written is much more interesting than any of the altered versions you hear on the recordings.
"Go, Go, Go Joseph" is a great example. As written, the first two verses are a beautiful and uplifting moment between the Narrator and Joseph. If you bring it down a third and have the chorus power belt it along with the Narrator like on the CD's, it loses everything and just becomes the 10th song that chick has belted out tonight, you know?
Changing the key of songs that the narator sings with others could be a problem for other performers.
The reason the narator is so high is because it was written for a male tenor then changed to a woman with no key change.
PLEASE perform the score as written, you won't regret it. |
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Beagle On Stage
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| mantarnia wrote: | | The reason the narator is so high is because it was written for a male tenor then changed to a woman with no key change. |
And as we all know, there are many reasons why I think it should STILL be played by a man. The fact that it was never intended to be a woman and that the printed score isn't optimally suited for one is only the tip of the iceberg, but should be a huge enough consideration in itself to keep it male.
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Eponine93
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I have to disagree with everyone who thinks Joseph should not be transposed. I was in a great youth production over the summer. One of the problems of doing this show with kids, however, is that young boys who are good for the part of Joseph usually are right in the middle of their voices changing. That was the case with our Joseph. However, our AMAZING musical director transposed the entire show to fit his needs. Though it was quite a hassle, the show sounded fabulous, with every singer onstage comfortable with the range.
One of the changes our musical director did was to change the Narrator role to 3 girls, due to the number of female auditioners versus female parts. She wrote them with amazing, wonderful harmonies,which really gave the 3 talented girls playing the Narrators chances to shine. Our musical director completely changed the score so much that if the rights people had come to see the show, we probably would have gotten sued. However, it made the show wonderful (as virtually everyone, even complete strangers who saw it told me months later) and really made it an enjoyable experience. Therefore I suggest playing around with the score. It was meant to be played with.
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Beagle On Stage
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| Eponine93 wrote: | | I have to disagree with everyone who thinks Joseph should not be transposed. I was in a great youth production over the summer. One of the problems of doing this show with kids, however, is that young boys who are good for the part of Joseph usually are right in the middle of their voices changing. That was the case with our Joseph. However, our AMAZING musical director transposed the entire show to fit his needs. Though it was quite a hassle, the show sounded fabulous, with every singer onstage comfortable with the range. |
There's always an exception to a rule. Having to cast a Joseph whose voice is changing is the exception. Most men who play Joseph are going to be in their 20's or even 30's; therefore the written range of low B-flat to high G is almost never a problem.
The other part of that is that if you don't have any performers equipped to do a given role for whatever reason, a better course of action might be to choose a show that actually fits your casting needs.
| Quote: | | ...Our musical director completely changed the score so much that if the rights people had come to see the show, we probably would have gotten sued. However, it made the show wonderful (as virtually everyone, even complete strangers who saw it told me months later) and really made it an enjoyable experience. Therefore I suggest playing around with the score. It was meant to be played with. |
You suggest changing the score so much that you would probably get sued?
I really am tired of all the tinkering that goes on with "Dreamcoat." I don't think there's any musical that has been raped so violently and so consistently. If you don't want to do it the way it is, write your own show since obviously you have better ideas.
When asked for his support in making substantial changes to "Children of Eden," Stephen Schwartz once dryly suggested billing it as "Children of Eden, by Stephen Schwartz, fixed by the drama teacher." So true.
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