What's Going on on Broadway?

Abstract

AS I BEGIN WRITING THIS PIECE in April of 2009, one of my students is heading to New York City to do a callback audition for the soon-to-be Broadway show, Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark. What won her the callback was her rendition of Pat Benatar's Heartbreaker at the initial open call. She was then asked to prepare the classic Grace Slick/ Jefferson Airplane song, Rabbit. Why is my student not singing a traditional song such as I Loved from Carousel, or even a more contemporary belt/mix song such as On My Own from Les Miserables? Why rock songs? Because Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark is featuring a score by rock artists Bono and The Edge. What's going on on Broadway? Simply put, Broadway, like our universe, continues to expand. There are old shows from the Big Bang of the Great White Way in the nineteenth century, and in succeeding years, a ceaseless parade of new shows. Many of these new shows reflect the popular culture and music of the day. For teachers of singing with students involved in music theater at any level, a knowledge of both traditional and contemporary Broadway singing styles and the voice techniques needed to support those styles is absolutely necessary if their singers are to be castable in today's theater. Much like the dancer skilled in ballet, jazz, tap, and hip hop, the singer who has legit, mix, and vocal skills can show up to many more auditions than the singer fluent in only one style. A visit to www.Playbill.com tells us what's presently on Broadway, what's on the way, and what's in the works. As we look over the list of shows, we shouldn't be surprised by the large number of rock and pop-based musicals. Rock 'n roll has been with us since the early 1950s, and this Baby Boomer singer/teacher/writer is part of the first generation to grow up with this music. Two examples of how long this kind of music has been around on Broadway are the present revival of Hair that resurrected a forty-year-old theater piece, and the upcoming revival of the early 1960s musical, Bye, Bye, Birdie, about an Elvis-like rock star named Conrad Birdie. In the composing department, the aforementioned Bono and The Edge join an ever growing list of Contemporary Commercial Music (CCM) writers who have lent their talents to musicals. They include Elton John (Lion King, Aida), Phil Collins (Tarzan), Abba (Chess, Mamma Mia), and more recently, Dolly Parton (9 to 5). At the same time, it is exciting to see other, more traditional shows and composers in revival as well. Bernstein's West Side Story, Loesser's Guys and Dolls, and Rodgers and Hammerstein's South Pacific offer the theatergoer a chance to experience an even longer-standing tradition of the Broadway musical. If you are unfamiliar with any of the nineteen musicals on Broadway at this writing, www.Youtube.com gives you access to all of them. You can hear styles, see performers, and get a good sense of what work needs to be done to get your singers ready for any given show. Broadway singing styles divide into three basic categories: legit, belt, and mix. Legit or legitimate singing comes from the Western European classical singing tradition. It is a cultured sound, a trained sound that is accessible to both males and females in either register. It is the character Maria's primary voice in West Side Story, Emile's voice in South Pacific, and Mary Sunshine's voice in Chicago, as a man dressed as a woman imitates a woman's classical-like sound. Belt singing comes from less elegant and lofty origins, such as music halls, vaudeville, and ethnic folk traditions. It is a loud, often brassy, chest voice-dominant sound produced by both males and females. It is the character Anita's primary voice in West Side Story, Drew's voice in Rock of Ages, and Roxie's voice in Chicago. Mix, and its kissing cousins belt-mix and head-mix, come from a blending of and belt. Call it belt lite or legit lite-it is a speech-like sound that is conversational in nature but can be declamatory as well. …

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