[theatrefanatic]

I know Sweeny is a baritone. I'm wondering what his exact range is? Any help would be appreciated.

[what_the_heck013]

I've wanted to know as well. I don't think he ever goes higher than an E or an F.

[Da_Dark_Dude]

he goes low e to top e, hes more of a bass baritone

[Monsieur D'Arque]

I've heard a tenor Sweeney, a certain J. Alexander Noble.

I went in expecting very little of him, only to have him become one of my favorite Sweeneys ever. He had a rough voice, low in quality, but capable of reaching a few soaring highs here and there. No keys were changed, but some of the lower sections, or Sweeney's more dramatic moments, went up an octave, at least in parts. His voice (I don't know if it was a character voice, or his natural one) was not pure, but somewhat ravaged, and it suited the character so well. Like a mad Jean Valjean, that's the closest I can come to describing it.

It's not common, but if they can do something artistic with it and not just half-ass it, I'd love to see a more prominent production with a Sweeney tenor.

[Da_Dark_Dude]

sounds good 2 me, i could finally play sweeney if that were the case!

[what_the_heck013]

The show has enough tenors. Sweeney doesn't need to be a tenor. Let a bass shine for once. Plus, the low voice adds to his creepy, dark quality.

[Monsieur D'Arque]

Well, his voice was different than any other tenors in the show, and we had a great bass as the Judge, and another bass as Narrator/Ensemble (due to a very small cast, one character led the ensemble, playing Fogg and singing small parts here and there. Due to his opening the show with the first two verses before "Swing Your Razor Wide," we called him the Narrator.). So our Sweeney's voice, with a jagged feel to it, contrasted quite well with the basses and the pure, high tenors. Our Pirelli had a character voice and a screeching falsetto on his high notes to emphasize his general incompetence.

[Da_Dark_Dude]

the basses have the best songs in the whole show, in epiphan and the judge's johanna.

[Sweeney Hyde]

Sweeney is also one of the only great low voices in Musical Theatre...a lot of them are tenors...

[Da_Dark_Dude]

^^ oh god yes, him and javert are bassey gold right there haha.

now having said that, i think baritones get it best, not only do they get to play the above roles, but also j/h and phantom - my 4 favourite parts - guess i'm lucky to be one then haha.

Steve

[Sweeney Hyde]

LOL ME TOO!!! I WANT TO PLAY SWEENEY, JEKYLL/HYDE, JAVERT, AND THE PHANTOM BEFORE I DIE TOO!!! THIS IS INCREDABLE

[what_the_heck013]

The Phantom is a tenor and Javert is a high baritone/tenor. Neither is a bass. An example of a bass would be Emile De Becque from South Pacific or Tevye, or Audrey II... characters that only go up to about a C-E.

[Sweeney Hyde]

WE WERE TALKING ABOUT BARITONES NOT BASSES. PHANTOM COULD BE PLAYED BY A BARITONE IF HE CAN BELT NICELY AND HAS A NICE FALSETTO!!!

[what_the_heck013]

Go away, annoying newb.

[Sweeney Hyde]

Can you truely not see a baritone phantom?

[what_the_heck013]

No, it would be painful to the ears. The Phantom has to go up to what? a G? an A? something far too high for a baritone. If you have that range, you're a tenor.

Let tenors be tenors, let baritones be baritones, let basses be basses, let bass/baritones to be bass/baritones and let bygones be bygones.

[Da_Dark_Dude]

Ab, but i disagree. anthony warlow = baritone, gerard butler = baritone, henk poort = baritone to name a few... all have played phantom, javert is also considered a baritone. hell henk poort has played jean valjean! a lot of baritones CAN go up to the A or Bb above middle c, infact its commonplace for them to hit at least a G nowadays.

Steve

[Ghost]

That's right, G is usually considered a part of the baritone range. Classical baritone's can usually reach A as well. Phantom can be played by good baritone's, for example Brad Little or Hans-Peter Janssens (who also played Valjean). Warlow to me, is a tenor-baritone hybrid, probably the ideal range for more modern musical thatre roles.

Sweeney however, doesn't require a high baritone range. In my view bass-baritones fit the role best vocally. George Hearn has the ideal singing range for Sweeney, although he is not an operatic singer.

[Sweeney Hyde]

[Ghost]

I've read the book. I understastood "budding" as he had maybe begun training, but stopped.

You can easily hear he doesn't have a legit operatic sound.

[Sweeney Hyde]

I don't know...listen to his "My Friends"..."Pretty Women" too...

[Ghost]

I have listened.

He has a nice rich voice, but it is by no means a classical singing voice.

[DaddyDiesel]

Ilike the argument but you guys have to remember that its not all about what notes you can hit its the timbre of the voice that also decides weather your a bass, baritone, or tenor. Sweeney in all respects is a real deep, thick, and warm vocal. He is a Bass. Now a baritone can play him but I dont think as good as a bass can. A tenor could never play sweeny. Even if he has the notes a tenors timbre is too bright and not deep enough. Phantom could be played by a bari but IMO I think the brighter timbres are much nicer for the phantom so I vote tenor all the way. Not to mention its pretty difficult for a Baritone to reach much higher than an G#. Im not saying it cant be done but it takes a very talented Baritone to do that and keep that rich tone. J&H this is where I contridcit myself. I believe the warmth of a baritone is meant for this role. Where the contridiction lies is in the range. There are some Bari's out there that can do it but not an amazing amount. Now tenors Obviously can do this part and in most cases people say he is a tenor but I think he so much nicer with a baritone warmth.

[what_the_heck013]

Fraaaaaaaa! You tenors. Stop trying to be bassitones, you're tenors. Be happy as a tenor and kick ass as the phantom.

[TychoBrahe]

I saw a tenor Todd last fall. He was a great tenor. He was a poor Todd.

[Mr_X]

Yeah, voice parts don't depend on the range, just the timbre of the voice. The two guys that can sing the highest both have baritone-sounding voices. It's just they were blessed to have a great range. And I'm jealous, as I'm a tenor (though I guess more of a tenor II) and I can't hit those notes they can.

Back on the subject of Todd, I believe he works best as a baritone-bass. His character needs that low, deep, growling voice. He wouldn't get his violent message across as a little high tenor. Plus tenors tend to get murky in the low ranges that Todd sings. Tenors should be the strapping young lads or the quirky character actors, like Tobias and Pirelli.

[Da_Dark_Dude]

[Sweeney Hyde]