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on singing
Mar. 2nd, 2011 06:52 amI was reading through this post on Jason Robert Brown's* blog and came across something that might be relevant to those thinking about interpretations of individual songs on Idol and what a theatrical background means in terms of performing pop songs:
In a competition where you have to connect with viewers on the basis of just one song per week, I can see where heavy training in conveying the meaning of a song can be really helpful--as long as you can make it seem genuine.
...The combination of a new season of Idol and the lead-up to St. Patrick's Day, when my women's choir has a lot of gigs since we do some pieces in Gaelic, means I'm feeling very musical these days. Fun!
*JRB is a theatrical composer and a singer/songwriter; a lot of his songs have a particular kind of rhythm and chord structure that some people don't like, though I do, but he can also subsume that in the needs of a musical, best shown in Parade, which won the Tony for Best Score a while back. (It's the story of Leo Frank. ...no, really, it makes an excellent musical!) There's a recording of the Donmar Warehouse production of it in London that captured the dialogue as well, so it sounds more like a radio play, and it's really cool--check it out if you can. Here's Stuart Matthew Price doing the opening song (which he sang in that production) in concert.
Secondly, how does vocal quality differ in Broadway performers from say, pop singers or operatic/oratorio style singing? What are the most important skills for a vocalist to develop to appropriately present your work?
The primary difference between theatrical singing and the other kinds you mention is that, while technically it can be very difficult, theatrical singing is primarily concerned with communicating text. That need predominates even musical considerations, which is why there are many famous instances of theater singers who could not, in any real sense, sing at all. ... The musical choices are part of that storytelling, naturally, but the most important skills for a singer doing my work are about communicating the needs of the character.
In a competition where you have to connect with viewers on the basis of just one song per week, I can see where heavy training in conveying the meaning of a song can be really helpful--as long as you can make it seem genuine.
...The combination of a new season of Idol and the lead-up to St. Patrick's Day, when my women's choir has a lot of gigs since we do some pieces in Gaelic, means I'm feeling very musical these days. Fun!
*JRB is a theatrical composer and a singer/songwriter; a lot of his songs have a particular kind of rhythm and chord structure that some people don't like, though I do, but he can also subsume that in the needs of a musical, best shown in Parade, which won the Tony for Best Score a while back. (It's the story of Leo Frank. ...no, really, it makes an excellent musical!) There's a recording of the Donmar Warehouse production of it in London that captured the dialogue as well, so it sounds more like a radio play, and it's really cool--check it out if you can. Here's Stuart Matthew Price doing the opening song (which he sang in that production) in concert.