Musical theatre’s omnivorous voice: Interviews with elite voice teachers in the Broadway community

Abstract

This article explores how the pluralities of vocal behaviours and vocal aesthetics in present-day musical theatre are understood and manoeuvred in the context of teaching musical theatre voice. Transcribed interviews with six elite voice teachers in the Broadway community are analysed and placed into a conceptual framework of the ‘omnivorous voice’ (based on sociologist Richard Peterson’s writings on cultural omnivorousness and sociologist Antoine Hennion’s writings on tastes); the article also engages with Braun and Clarke’s reflexive thematic analysis. Four central themes are generated and discussed: (1) understanding omnivorous code-switching and shape-shifting as a fundamental potential of the voice, (2) manoeuvring vocal omnivorousness by carefully attending to sonic information, (3) searching for authenticity in an omnivorous vocal world and (4) expanding and diversifying vocal aesthetics beyond musical styles and genres. This article contributes to the fields of performing arts pedagogy and voice training in musical theatre, and aims to provide insights into how vocal technique and vocal aesthetics are influenced by, taught in, and created in dialogue with the communities and societies in which our voices exist. The last is especially explored in light of the COVID-19 pandemic.

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