Joined: Wed Jun 20, 2007 7:02 pm Posts: 3407 Location: MN
Main Role: Performer
Except the score isn't written for a legit voice. It wouldn't sound right. It would be like a belter screaming Glitter and be Gay-it's just not right.
Sat Sep 19, 2009 10:35 pm
Beagle On Stage
Joined: Sun Apr 21, 2002 6:32 pm Posts: 4606 Location: One hell of a glass house
You know as well as anyone about the one-way relationship I see between belting and legit and what is versatile and what isn't. Don't be an instigator.
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Sat Sep 19, 2009 11:25 pm
SmallTownIngenue
Broadway Legend / MdN Veteran
Joined: Wed Jun 20, 2007 7:02 pm Posts: 3407 Location: MN
Main Role: Performer
Beagle On Stage wrote:
You know as well as anyone about the one-way relationship I see between belting and legit and what is versatile and what isn't. Don't be an instigator.
Doesn't mean I agree with it.
Sat Sep 19, 2009 11:26 pm
Beagle On Stage
Joined: Sun Apr 21, 2002 6:32 pm Posts: 4606 Location: One hell of a glass house
But surely you can see that singing an originally-belted number is not the same as scream-belting "Glitter and be Gay."
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Sat Sep 19, 2009 11:28 pm
SmallTownIngenue
Broadway Legend / MdN Veteran
Joined: Wed Jun 20, 2007 7:02 pm Posts: 3407 Location: MN
Main Role: Performer
Beagle On Stage wrote:
But surely you can see that singing an originally-belted number is not the same as scream-belting "Glitter and be Gay."
Yes it is. I would not want to see a legit tenor sing "I'm Alive" as much as I wouldn't want to see a belter/screamer sing "Glitter and Be Gay".
Sat Sep 19, 2009 11:31 pm
Beagle On Stage
Joined: Sun Apr 21, 2002 6:32 pm Posts: 4606 Location: One hell of a glass house
So singing a belt song is exactly the same as screaming an operatic aria. Um... okay, Maggie. I'm not going to take the bait this time.
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Sat Sep 19, 2009 11:32 pm
SmallTownIngenue
Broadway Legend / MdN Veteran
Joined: Wed Jun 20, 2007 7:02 pm Posts: 3407 Location: MN
Main Role: Performer
They are both wrong. Sure one sounds a lot more offensive than the other..but still, neither should be done IMO.
Sat Sep 19, 2009 11:35 pm
RainbowJude
Broadway Legend / MdN Veteran
Joined: Wed May 14, 2003 8:33 am Posts: 3056 Location: Musical Cyberspace
Current Obsession: Musicals!
NEXT TO NORMAL and High School Productions
Beagle On Stage wrote:
Diana and Natalie are roles that the vast majority of teenagers have no business attempting because they are simply not developed enough as performers and individuals to do justice to the demands of the role. But then again, the same can be said for Luisa, Aldonza, Mrs. Walker, Blanche DuBois, Mama Rose, Lady Macbeth and a host of others that high schools cast hapless seventeen-year-olds in every year.
The root of the problem is when high schools, the audiences who visit high school productions and critics of high school shows, whether in the form of local reporters, bloggers or community members, forget that the primary function of a school production is to educate. That is the reason why shows that are beyond a high school student's abilities get produced, why we see young performers copying the performances of Broadway stars gesture for gesture and inflection for inflection and why people feel that a teenager tackling a complex role should embody that role in all its complexity when - barring the occasional exception - there is some aspect of almost every role that is beyond a high school student's abilities. That is also the reason why certain people view junior shows or school editions with snobbish disdain, when the motivation for these shows is to make particularly difficult shows accessible in particular production contexts. The primary purpose of high school productions is to educate the students who attend that high school. Is there a context where a production of Next to Normal would be a means to that end? If there is, it's a rare one, and the question is: will it fulfill the mandate of that school to provide an holistic learning experience for its students?
SmallTownIngenue wrote:
I think it's quite inaccurate to state that it's "simply a fact" that all teenagers can't play Luisa because they can't portray both her childish and damaged sides.
Beagle On Stage wrote:
If you actually read what I am writing, you will see that I am not saying that. I'm saying that the majority of teenagers would not be as competent at it as someone a little older.
I actually went back specifically to read what you wrote, having arrived in this thread at this late stage, and when you lead with a statement like:
Beagle On Stage wrote:
Everyone knows the good Luisas are in their early twenties, playing down. That's a standard convention of theatre, and it's especially vital with unusually demanding roles.
Then it is logical to conclude that you were indeed implying what the majority of people who responded to your post rather than that 'the majority of teenagers would not be as competent at it as someone a little older'. So Beagle, while I think you're trying to cover your tracks with rhetoric, as usual, I don't think that you needed to in this case because you didn't actually state that it was "simply a fact", merely a standard theatrical convention. So what exactly everyone was disagreeing with at first is a little unclear to me, although the debate changed directions after this point in the thread. Perhaps I'll pick up on some of those points later, but this its this particular point that is of interest to me right this moment because the problem has its roots in the context I've outlined above: why is anybody expecting a high school Luisa in a high school production of the show to be comparable to an older actress playing Luisa in another kind of production? If we're talking about a 17 year old actress playing Luisa in a professional production of the show, then its another story - but that was not at all the basis for this discussion.
Joined: Wed Apr 02, 2008 5:26 am Posts: 1147 Location: Australia
Current Obsession: next to normal
Re:
SmallTownIngenue wrote:
Except the score isn't written for a legit voice. It wouldn't sound right. It would be like a belter screaming Glitter and be Gay-it's just not right.
It's interesting for you to say this now that Marin Mazzie is playing Diana .
Fri Nov 19, 2010 2:01 pm
Felix Felicis
Broadway Legend
Joined: Thu Jun 21, 2007 5:56 am Posts: 1948
Re: Re:
dolbinau wrote:
SmallTownIngenue wrote:
Except the score isn't written for a legit voice. It wouldn't sound right. It would be like a belter screaming Glitter and be Gay-it's just not right.
It's interesting for you to say this now that Marin Mazzie is playing Diana .
She's had to adjust her voice to work the score. She does some bits legit, some with a rock belt and a lot of mixing.
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Fri Nov 19, 2010 4:23 pm
WickedToo
Broadway Legend
Joined: Mon Dec 22, 2008 4:59 pm Posts: 1494 Location: Ohio
Current Obsession: Bare, Next to Normal
Re: Next To Licenceing
Next to Normal would be a wonderful community theatre production after coming off Broadway (hopefully not anytime soon). I wouldn't use that show for high school because it's too hard of subject matter for high school students to express with complete success. I might be willing though if I knew I had a strong pool of actors to choose from that I knew could handle it. I would hate though to see Next to Normal done by a high school and have it become more of a mockery of the show than what the show was intended for.
This is high schoolers doing Next to Normal. Sure there's some good things about it but it is mediocre and high schoolers don't have the acting that is needed for this show for it to translate what the show is supposed to to the audience and be successful. They need more training/experience than that.
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Fri Nov 19, 2010 7:07 pm
dolbinau
Broadway Legend
Joined: Wed Apr 02, 2008 5:26 am Posts: 1147 Location: Australia
Current Obsession: next to normal
Re: Next To Licenceing
Quote:
Next to Normal would be a wonderful community theatre production after coming off Broadway (hopefully not anytime soon).
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