You're Nothing Without Me

Writing a book is hard enough (believe me, I've done National Novel Writing Month three years in a row) but transferring that book to the silver screen? Now that's gotta be tricky, especially when the director keeps making you rewrite your own screenplay so much so that your main character hops right out of the page. Literally! That's the plot of the Broadway musical "City of Angels" which opened on Broadway on December 11, 1989 and closed on January 19, 1992, for a total of 879 performances.

In this song, "You're Nothing Without Me" Stine, the author, is confronted by the star of his novel: Detective Stone. Stone is fed up with all the changes being made to his story, rewrites encouraged by producer/director Buddy Fidler, and decides to have a little chat with his creator. What ensues is a powerful, jazzy, and extremely witty song. Unfortunately, the Broadway recording of this song is not available online, so I have instead the Original London Cast Recording! Stine is played by Martin Smith and Stone is played by Roger Allam.

I absolutely adore the intro to this song. I think it's played on a harpsichord? It's so upbeat and chaotic; it really sets the tone for the song. Stine comes in at :23, and really hits each of his words with an accent. It almost sounds like "You. Are. Some. Gum-shoe. You. Just. Don't. Think-well." Smith does an excellent job of phrasing, and I love his little slides, such as on "only" at :35, and his over-exaggeration of the vowel on "I" at :36. Then, Smith gets low and intense on the line "Just what you are I'll spell out" but comes back to more excellent phrasing during the next few lines by really bringing out the annoyance in the word "pain" and in the word "picked." Also, the way he says "brain" at :41. It's almost as if he's rolling his r's! I also just have to point out how fantastic these lyrics are. "You come from my inkwell" "Your brain only holds thoughts I put in there" "You are a novel pain. One speck of lint that fell out the last time that I picked my brain."

Genius! What else would you say to something of your own creation?

But then Stone comes in at :52, handy with his own set of witty lyrics, in a singing voice that often drops into a talking range and tone. Listen to his first line: "You are so jealous of my track record." He starts off talking the first few words, "You are," then sings the next two, "so jealous," then reverts back to talking "of my," and then finishes the phrase with some vibrato for "track record." And then he goes and calls his creator "Tolstoy." That always gets me. Allam continues his talking/singing phrasing, which makes his lines, "You drool at my adventures. Your broads in bed are bored. Go home and soak your dentures. Your pen is no match for my sword" really neat. His "you" at 1:07 is gravely, but then is "drool" is light and full of vibrato. He pulls out the gravely tone again for "broads" at 1:12, and then elongates the vowel on "bored" at 1:13, which really plays on the alliteration of the line. Allam repeats this phrasing by vibrato-ing "home" at 1:16,  then letting the word "dentures" fall at 1:17. And then "Your pen is no match for my sword" is another example of the fabulous lyrics written by David Zippel.

And then the real world and the fictional world combine in a blare of trumpets! I find it really funny that both Smith and Allam drop the "g" off of "nothing." This is where Zippel's lyrical skills are really shown off. Listen to the internal rhyme at "a no-one who'd go undefined" at 1:28. It also helps that the rhymes are accented by the singers. And then comes my favorite line at 1:35. "I tell you you're out of my mind!"

Isn't it great? Cause, you know, it's the author singing to his creation, so Stone came from Stine's mind so instead of Stone being out of his mind, he's out of Stine's mind, and-yeah. It's great.

I love the harmony that starts at 1:39. It's really very well accented with the trumpets. But the two can't work together for long, and soon Stine is back, trying to assert himself over Stone at 1:55 with the lines, "You're in my plot, I'm still your creator. I call each shot, I'm your private dictator." I love the separation of "dic" and "tator" at 2:01. It's very definite. Stone retorts back, and how does Stine respond to his fiction being called cheap? Why, by showing off his literary skills, of course! "Gloating ignoramus." I mean, just come on...And Smith accents it so well! He elongates "you" as well as "glo" and then makes each syllable sharp and distinct, so the line sounds like, "youuuuuu glooo. ting. ig-nor-a-mus." Smith follows it up by bringing out the "sh" sound in "shame" at 2:15, something you don't hear very often. In my opinion, Stone accepts this insult, as he claims that he's a "famous shamus" and that Smith is the one people don't remember.

Now that's something to think on. Are characters remembered more than their authors?

Anyways, back to the song! We jump back into the trumpet-filled chorus, with plenty bam and pizzaz. What's really fantastic about this chorus is the way Smith and Allam hold the note on "disappear" until it blends into the word "right" from 2:35-2:37. As the song ends, we get back into harmonies and internal rhymes, such as "let's deal with the issue: you wish you were me" at 2:56, all leading up to the slow, deliberate finish of the song. Each word from 3:01 to 3:07 is accented by the trumpets, so the tempo seems to be slowing down as the ending builds. It's a cool effect. And of course, the song ends the only way a powerful confrontation between author and creation can: with a harmonic blending of voices holding out until the video cuts off.

So who wins? Does Stine conquer his main character, or is it the other way around? Better watch the show and find out!

One Day More!

Recently, I watched the 25th Anniversary Concert of Les Miserables. It was good, but just something about it didn't quite strike me right. Sure, it was a stellar cast and they did a marvelous job, but they just weren't THE cast. And THE cast, my cast, the dream cast, was the 10th Anniversary Concert of Les Miserables cast.

Les Miserables is the musical version of Victor Hugo's famous book by the same name. It follows the life of Jean Valjean, a man imprisoned for stealing a loaf of bread, as he tries to live a free life. However, due to breaking his parole early on, no one would hire or pay a former criminal, Valjean is pursued by the officer Javert. Valjean runs all over France, changing his name and meeting new people including the factory worker Fantine, who gives Valjean her daughter Cosette, the crooked Thenardiers, and the revolutionary students of Paris, one of whom, Marius, falls in love with Cosette, only to ignore the girl who's doting on him, Eponine daughter of the Thenardiers, completely. There are a lot of people, and a whole lot of plot crammed into this show, which can sometimes run for three hours, but it's not quite so confusing when you see it and everything flows naturally.

Les Miserables opened on Broadway on March 12, 1987 and ran until May 18, 2003, for a total of 6680 performances. I know what you're thinking. Wow. That's one hell of a show. And it is. Les Miserables is one of those huge '80's musicals that ran for years and set many records. Other such shows are Cats and Phantom of the Opera, the musical with the current record holding place of longest musical run: 22 years. Along with its stellar run, Les Miserables is a show that has touched the hearts of many. It is a show that makes people laugh and cry, and has roles that every theatre geek dreams of playing. It is because of this insane popularity and adoration that Les Miserables has these anniversary concerts, of which I believe the 10th Anniversary cast is the best.

The cast was truly a "dream cast" in that it included some of the best actors in their acclaimed roles: Colm Wilkinson as Jean Valjean (Original Broadway/London cast), Philip Quast as Javert (Original Australian cast), Ruthie Henshall as Fantine (Replacement London cast), Jenny Galloway as Madame Thenardier (Replacement London cast), Alun Armstrong as Thenardier (Original London cast), Lea Salonga as Eponine (Replacement Broadway cast), Michael Ball as Marius (Original London cast), Michael Maguire as Enjolras (Original Broadway cast), and Judy Kuhn as Cosette (Original Broadway cast.) These were the people that really took their roles and claimed it as their own; no one can sing "On my Own" like Lea Salonga can or "Who Am I" like Colm Wilkinson can. You may recognize Lea Salonga's and Judy Kuhn's voices: Salonga was the singing voice for Jasmine and Mulan in the Disney movie classics Aladdin and Mulan, and Kuhn was the singing voice for Pocahontas in the Disney film.

In this song, "One Day More," the entire cast gathers as they ponder over what the future will bring. Valjean fears that Javert has found him, and he tells Cosette, who has only recently fallen in love with Marius, that they must leave immediately. Meanwhile, the students are preparing for a revolution, a revolution which Javert is keen on stopping, and the Thenardiers are keen on making a profit on. Everyone is expressing their heart's desires, wishes, dreams, and hopes all in beautiful music. The thing that really is great about "One Day More" especially if you know the show, is that it incorporates bits and pieces of music from previous songs. It's a really neat touch that really helps wrap up Act 1 beautifully.

"One Day More" opens with those iconic violins, then with Wilkinson as Valjean singing, and his voice is such a unique tone that you will never forget. He elongates all of his vowels and sounds so "more" becomes "mo-aaaah." He sometimes drops notes and words, especially when they get to low, but it works for this song and his character. But don't let his dropping notes deceive you! Later on, you'll really see what a powerful singer Wilkinson is.

Then, Ball as Marius and Kuhn as Cosette chime in, expressing their anguish over the situation. Their harmony at :45 is just so beautiful, it would break anyone's heart. And whose heart does it break the most? Eponine's. She chimes in at :59, singing about her heartbreak as Marius will never notice her. As you listen to the fabulous Lea Salonga, who later played Fantine in the 25th Anniversary Concert, you'll understand why she has claimed the role of Eponine for herself forever more. Just listen to that girl belt and hold that note at 1:24 for a good six seconds. It's wonderful, and the swell in the music helps to usher in the charismatic revolutionary leader, who is also Marius' good friend, Enjolras. Maguire certainly makes quite an entrance here, and I find myself loving his interesting vowel placement on "barricades" at 1:37. Meanwhile, Marius is caught between staying and fighting with his friends, or following Cosette, his true love. Will he make up his mind? Wait and see.

Oh, but first, let me introduce to some people. You hear that cacophony of voices chiming in at 1:52 behind Maguire? Sounds like a pretty fantastic chorus, right? Well, just you wait until 1:55 to see how fantastic that choir really is. Just look at all those people! Not only is there a chorus dressed in costume on the stage, but there's at least a hundred people standing in Les Miserables shirts behind them, adding their wonderful voices to this beautiful. Marvelous, absolutely marvelous. It's such a powerful part of the song, and we're just barely halfway through!

Now, Wilkinson is starting to show his chops. At 1:59, he cries out his "One day more!" and holds it, powerfully, for a good six seconds as his rival, Quast as Javert, begins to sing about his plan to infiltrate the student's revolution and put it to an end. And on that morbid note, we hear from the comedic relief of the show: the Thenardiers. Alun Armstrong and Jenny Galloway are just fabulous, and their odd and quirky voices fit the Thenardiers so perfectly. Galloway, in fact, plays Madame Thenardier so well, that she reprised the role in the 25th Anniversary Concert. And then the chorus returns, echoing each other with words of hope. At 2:39, they pay homage to a previous song, sung by Enjolras to inspire his fellow revolutionaries, "Do You Hear the People Sing?" I just love the little references like that, both sung outright and sung with the notes.

And as Marius makes up his mind to stay with his brothers and fight at 2:42, all hell breaks loose in the most wonderful way. All the main characters are singing their specific anthems and lines, belting over one another so that their words can be heard. And boy, do we hear them. See if you can pick out specific people. Listen carefully. It's a beautiful mixture of notes and emotion, that comes together after Wilkinson sings "Tomorrow we'll be far away. Tomorrow is the Judgement Day" at  3:08. Everyone joins in, singling loud and clear and strong, for the powerful ending that leaves many of the audience members in tears.

"Tomorrow we'll discover what our God in Heaven has in store. One more dawn. One more day. One day more!"

Well worth the 45 seconds of standing ovation, don't you think?

Another Op'nin' Another Show!

Opening night! It's opening night!

Tonight is the first performance of Uni High's Spring Musical, Kiss Me Kate! The original Kiss Me Kate opened on Broadway on December 30, 1948 and ran for a total of 1,077 performances. We're doing the revival version of Kiss Me Kate, which opened on Broadway on Novermber 18, 1999 and closed on December 30, 2001 for a total of 881 performances. It's a wonderful play-within-a-play show, where the interior version of the play is a musical version of Shakespeare's Taming of the Shrew. In addition to getting through the show, the actors have to deal with troubled relationships and gangsters! Sounds dramatic, but it's really very funny. After all, this is a musical comedy.

The show opens with this song, "Another Op'nin' Another Show" How fitting, right? It starts off with Pops and the stagehands singing, played by yours Uni truly Arch Robison, Sam LeRoy, Will Givens, and Elbert Wang. I love Pops' voice at :05. It's just so grandfatherly! He swings around the notes a bit, which is odd since I'm so used to hearing Arch sing them right on, but I like it. And then at :20 who should enter but none other than Hattie, my character! She's the dresser to the great Lilli Vanessi, played by Sarah Sutter in the Uni version.

I really like this Hattie a lot. She and I are very different in the way we perform and sing this song, but either way is still great! This Hattie's voice is very striking to me. It's almost always placed far back in her mouth, resulting in a dark tone that can sometimes sound gravely or harsh. In a way, this Hattie almost tricks you with her voice. But we'll get to that later because guess who comes in at :38? That's right! The Wardrobe Lady, played by Uni student and good friend of mine Hannah Johlas. I actually think this Wardrobe Lady and Hannah have very similar voices! Listen for yourself, first at :42 and then sometime this weekend at Uni to compare!

Back to Hattie. You can really hear the far placement of this Hattie's voice from :51-:57. Pay special attention to the line "Another pain where the ulcers grow!" That's really where you can hear it. Then, Hattie gets gravely with the next verse. "Four weeks you rehearse and rehearse! Three weeks and it couldn't be worse. One week, will it ever be right? Then out of the hat it's that big first night!"

You don't know how right that verse is until you've been in a show. Trust me. It's amazing how some shows can come together at all.

I love the way this Hattie sings her words, especially "rehearse," "couldn't," "worse," and "night."  Rehearse is really gravely, and instead of being pronounced like "ree-herse" she sings it as "reh-hurse."  "Couldn't" at 1:05 is almost swallowed, to create a very interesting sound, leading into the double-syllable pronunciation of "worse." Her "night" at 1:12 is swallowed like the "couldn't" but the vowel is also shaped and elongated differently. It's more like "naight" then "night." This Hattie's voice does sound a bit strained a few words before "night" but let me tell you, those are some difficult notes to hit, and even if you don't hit them quite right, it's the performance quality that really carries this song along. Any song, really. Perform well, and it doesn't really matter if you flub or falter a note here and there.

The little harmony section at 1:13 is really quite cool. It has almost an echo feel to it, with the men responding to Hattie before joining her. Hattie's riff at 1:22 is also very neat. This Hattie really makes this song her own. There's a lot of room for improv and individuality, and this riff is just the tip of this Hattie's iceberg.

And now the company comes in! They sing briefly, before busting into a dance break, lasting from 1:40-2:49, with a slight interlude of singing from 2:24-2:34. This video is a bit different from what the actual opening number is like. Some of the verses have been cut out, and this version has a whole lot more dancing than we have, haha. But that's ok! That just means you all will be (pleasantly) surprised when you see our version!

Once the dance break ends, everybody is pissed off and stressed out. Nothing is going right, they sing, and everyone is in a state of panic. That's when Hattie comes in, ready to soothe and calm everyone down, reminding them that it's just "another op'nin', another show." Here's Hattie's big moment to shine. Back comes the riff at 3:18 on both the words "another" and "show." Then this Hattie does something I haven't heard anyone else do. She adds in her own little "yeahs" and "ahs" and such, really giving a personal touch to this song. I like it a lot. It's not what I do, but that doesn't mean I can't appreciate it.

Now this Hattie really struts her stuff! Remember how earlier I mentioned she was tricking you with her gravely voice? Yup. Here it is. Hattie starts to belt at 3:36, making the song her own by switching up the notes, such as during the line "and hold your heart." I also like that she barely uses any consonants when she says that line as well. "Holdya harht!" Haha! She also doesn't say the full lines. For example, the next line in the song is "It's curtain time and away we go!" She sings, "It's curtain time, away we go!" Not too big of a difference, but when you combine it with a few note changes it's a very different approach indeed. Now, one thing I can't quite do that this Hattie is great at is whistling. No, not that whistling. Whistling is that sort of high belt sound. The "we" at 3:43 is what I'm talking about. It sounds fantastic in this video, but I might sound more like a blown-out soprano or opera singer, which isn't bad, just isn't the whistling sound most people might be used to.

All in all, two very different interpretations and performances, but neither one less fabulous than the other. Come support Uni Theatre and see Kiss Me Kate this weekend! Hope to see you all there!

So Much Better

There are some things out there people say you can never make a musical out of. Superheroes, for example-oh wait no, there's Superman: the Musical and Spiderman: Turn Off the Dark. Well, no one should ever make a musical out of a dark, political book like "Wicked." Oh. Wait. Scratch that. A barber who murders his victims and bakes them into meat pies definitely should NOT become a musi-wait Sweeney Todd.

No matter what people say, musicals will be made out of and will be about the weirdest stuff: talking animals, mental illnesses, books, movies, and even poems about cats. However, one musical no one saw as being successful was Legally Blonde: the Musical, based off of the popular movie.

Legally Blonde: the Musical opened on Broadway on April 29, 2007, and ran until October 19, 2008, for a total of 595 performances. It starred Laura Bell Bundy as Elle Woods. The plot of the musical is the same as the movie. Elle Woods, blonde bombshell extraordinaire, is a Southern California fashion student and a member of the sorority Delta Nu. She believes her boyfriend Warner Huntington III is going to propose to her, but instead he breaks up with her, declaring that he needs someone more "serious" when he goes off to Harvard Law School. Basically, Elle is too stupid for him. Determined to win him back, Elle manages to get into Harvard and sets her sights on reclaiming her man. 

But how well can a fashion merchandising major deal with law?

At first, not so good. But surprisingly, Elle steps up her game and goes on to succeed in both law and love. In this number from the musical, "So Much Better" Warner has just proposed to his more "serious" girlfriend, Vivian Kensington, as the students who have been selected to help their law professor on a murder case's names have been posted on the wall. Elle is at first in shock as she sees "her" proposal vanishing before her very eyes, but then is even more surprised by the sight of her name on the list of the selective few.

Laura Bell Bundy has such a fantastically expressive voice. She knows how to phrase things, and how to really let the emotion sink in to her very words and notes. When you listen to her song, you'll notice she alternates between vibrato and vibrato-less a lot, as well as stretching out or simply speaking certain words or lines, usually for accent effect. Take, for instance, the line "You'd come to respect my mind and at last you'd find you could love me again" from :10-:17.  What Bundy does is that she speaks some of her words, stretches others, and chooses some to have vibrato. "Respect" is a word that is spoken, but the words "at last you'd find" really show a deep understanding of character on Bundy's part. You can really hear the disappointment and longing in her voice. She really thought that she could win Warner back, and you know what she really tried. Now, she realizes that she has to give up. Bundy uses vibrato on "mind" for an accent, stretches out the word "love" and gives it a little extra volume, really showing us what she means, but then backs down with lighter sound and vibrato on "again" because now she knows it won't happen again.

Another example of Bundy's excellent phrasing is in the following line, "And I have turned my whole world upside down trying not to let you go" from :19 to :26. You can really see in her face all the effort she's put into this affair, as well as hear it in her voice. The way Bundy pronounces "And I have turned my whole world" is very unique, and I'm not quite sure how to describe it. It's like her voice is in the back of her mouth and throat, almost as if she's about to cry, and yet she's overdoing the vowels. It's very interesting, and very emotionally effective. Then, Bundy accents the "side" part of "upside" by singing "up" with a straight tone, but "side" with vibrato to really accentuate how crazy her life has been since she set her mind to this crazy scheme. "Not" and "let" are also accented, and while "go" is too a little bit, it's more of a residue from "not" and "let."

Up to this point in the song, it's been very slow and melancholy. But once Bundy sees her name on that list, well rather Elle's name, everything changes. Trumpets blare, drums and guitar are kicked in, and we're off on a high-speed power roller coaster Act 1 finale.

Bundy is suddenly filled with a burst of energy, though she still remains her fantastic phrasing. I love the way she says  "up" at :38. It has so much power and force behind it, giving it a straight tone as well as a more nasally sound, kinda like the way pop stars sing. It fits Elle well though, and Bundy too. I also love her "sure" at :47. She's singing right into her mask area, resulting in a great resonating sound with powerful vibrato. She also pronounces the word differently. When you speak the word "sure" it sounds more like "sher." However, when Bundy sings it, she sings it as "sheuhr." You know, "euh" like the French. It's a good choice, and I think sounds better than "sher" would. Her "right" at :55 also has an interesting sound. Instead of "right" with emphasis on the "i" Bundy sings "rai-ight" and draws out the vowel sound, while manipulating it a bit. She has a very modern Broadway style voice, more conversational and regular speaking voice tone that almost sounds like pop star singing sometimes. You'll notice the same pronunciations of these words and their rhymes, for example "right" and "night," popping up through the song, as well as many other interesting sounding words (keep your ears open!) and the straight tone accenting. Bundy may sometimes sound a bit pitchy here and there, but keep in mind that this clip was taken from a live shooting of the play, so Bundy's been acting, dancing, and singing for a good hour now. Her voice is bound to be a little tired.

The little exchange between Elle, Warner, and the surrounding students is one of my favorite moments in the song. First off, Bundy starts singing with this more mature tone. Just listen to the difference between "I feel so much better than before" at :56 and "Sorry I've been a pest but I guess my best was not working with you. But looks like I found a cure and I so look forward to working with you" at 1:02. Suddenly, Bundy sounds older; her words and vowels are more pronounced, as is her vibrato. She almost sounds as if she's a talk show host or news anchor or something official like that. However, soon enough, Elle pops right back out again with "Hey remember when we spent Spring Break in the hot tub every night?" at 1:11. This is where the fun comes in. With this sudden gushing of gossip, all of the students are intrigued, echoing and responding to Elle's every word. I love it all, it's so fantastic. I mean, "snap?" Instant hilarity! My favorite part, though, has to be after Bundy sings "that beats the first time that we kissed," which she adds a little soul to by graveling up the "time" and vibratoing the "that," and the students respond, "Whoa they kissed?" Gets me every time.

1:42-1:52.

I'm just gonna leave those 10 seconds right there. I think that part explains itself well enough. But I will say, it sure is a hilarious moment, and the audience certainly seems to think so as well.

Once everyone leaves the stage and Bundy is alone, that's when she really starts to pull out all the stops. The tempo is fast, and her words are coming out quickly, and yet she somehow still seems to sing them, or talk/sing them, enunciated and accurate. Let me just tell you, singing all of those words and keeping them crisp and clean when the tempo picks up like that is difficult, but Bundy pulls it off. I love this one lyric in this part "better jobs or bigger rings" at 2:09 because Elle has just gotten a fantastic job, and although she's seen the ring she always though would go onto her finger go onto someone else's, she still manages to be a confident, independent woman. That lyric just always stands out to me. What also stands out to me is Bundy's gravely "I'm" at 2:12. That alongside her head and and arm shake is just so ridiculous, and so filled with exuberance and confidence, that you can't help but applaud, especially once the Greek chorus appears as Elle seizes the list and twirls with it to infinity.

Yes, that's right. Greek chorus. Elle's a sorority girl, remember? Those are all her sorority sisters up there in the white jackets at 2:14, being the Greek chorus to Elle's Clytemnestra. Such a hysterical touch.

It's impressive that Bundy is still able to sing as she is spinning, and that she recovers so quickly. She doesn't seem to be off-balance, and she continues to deliver a stellar performance. I love that at 2:28 she snaps a picture of the list with her camera phone. This play is just so ridiculous, but it works and I love it. Bundy's "and I feel so much better" at 2:31 is surprisingly really emotional. It almost sounds like she's crying. Then again, I would be too if I was on the phone with my mother telling her that after months of bad grades, I suddenly started excelling and because of that had earned a top notch job. 

By this point in the song, Bundy  is just so into it that her whole body gets into it. Watch as she turns through the revolving doors at 2:46, before getting, well, "dressed." Then comes something Bundy has become known for: her kick on "fight" at 2:52. It's now an iconic part of this number, and every Elle since Bundy has been expected to kick on that word. Careful though, it can be dangerous. One night, when she kicked, Bundy's shoe flew into the audience. But being the professional actor that she is, Bundy just kept right on singing till the very end.

I love the way she says "And" at 2:53. She sorta slides into it while changing the vowel slightly. It's a really cool sound. It's clear that Bundy has some issues hitting the low note on "better" since it's breathy and barely audible, but it works for her performance and I think it's fine that we can't quite hear it. Bundy certainly makes up for any vocal mishaps with her final note "before" from 3:10 on. True, she does take a breath at 3:16, but that note is a difficult one to sing and sustain. It's a note many professional Broadway singers have trouble with, and I think the note is just as effective with or without the breath.

What's also effective is Bundy's jump into the air and cry of "Yeah!" at the end of the song. Unfortunately, the video cuts out right before that, so we don't get to see it. That just means that the next time Legally Blonde: the Musical rolls around town, you'll have to go see it! It's a really a very fun show, and I'd recommend it to anyone.

Gimme Gimme

There are certain songs one should never sing when going to an audition. "On My Own" or "I Dreamed a Dream" from Les Miserables, "Don't Rain On My Parade" from Funny Girl, and anything from High School Musical. "Gimme Gimme" from Thoroughly Modern Millie is another song that should NEVER be sung at auditions. Why?

Because not only is it overdone, but Sutton Foster has this claimed this song as her own with her unmatchable belting starlet power.

Sutton Foster starred as the title character in Thoroughly Modern Millie, which opened on Broadway on April 18th, 2002, and closed on June 20th, 2004, for a total of 903 performances. Millie is a small town girl who comes to New York in the 1920's to marry someone wealthy and work as a woman of the time. That is, by being handy with a typewriter. In "Gimme Gimme" Millie decides that what she really wants is actually not money, but love, especially from a boy named Jimmy. We see that in the opening line to the song, "A simple choice, nothing more. This or that, either or. Marry well, social whirl, business man, clever girl. Or pin my future on the boy I love."

Two things you'll notice right off the bat about Sutton Foster is that she enunciates every word very well and has a strong vibrato. Her diction may be off-putting to some, but for a Broadway performer, it's very important to be understood. Someone put a lot of work into writing those lyrics, you know, and they damn well better hear them! Foster has a very suitable voice for Broadway, not only because of her diction and vibrato, but also because of her artistic instinct and understand of the songs she sings and unparalleled belting power.

Foster works so well with dynamics. She takes a nice pause between "business man" and "clever girl" as well as changes up the dynamics to really show the contrast. All she wanted before was to be a "clever girl" and marry a "business man." Now she's not so sure. If you listen closely, you can hear a slight hitch in Foster's breath at :30 when she says "nothing more." It almost sounds as if she's laughing.  At :52, Foster sings "what" but she uses so much breath, it sounds more like "hut." I love how she looks around during her "gimme gimme's" as if someone might be staring at her thinking, "What? This girl actually wants to fall in love! That's crazy talk!" Her "I crave it" at 1:56 is so fantastic. Not only can you hear her longing in her voice, but you can see it in her face and body language. At 2:04, Foster says "thick." That's right, says, not sings. And it works well, especially consider she follows it later with a vibrato-filled "thin", then an accented "rich," and finally an elongated vowel on "poor." It's a great phrase. Another great phrase follows suite: "Gimme years, and I'll want more time!" Foster adds an "h" to "and" so it becomes "h-and" and does almost the same thing on "time." However, on "time" she adds the "h" during the word, so the vowel is stretched out and sounds like "ti-h-ime" as she sings without vibrato; a contrast to her earlier words.

And with "Gimme gimme, that thing called love" a diva arrives.

One moment, Foster is basking in her daydreams of love, her eyes closed and her head thrown back, and the next her head is turned sharply, her eyes staring with a determined gaze as she begins to belt. Her "love" at 2:26 comes out of nowhere. You can tell that it's greatly supported, due to the vibrato, and achieved through Foster using her diaphragm in a way that would make any singing teacher proud. For those of you who don't know, the diaphragm is a handy little muscle that lays right around your stomach/rib cage area, and is used to push air and sound within a singer. Try saying "Ha! Ha! Ha!" and you'll feel it working.

Because of her strong vibrato, Foster accents "fly" and "sing" by having those words be sung with a straight tone, i.e. vibrato-less. It works well, especially since "dove" and "sparrow" are sung with vibrato. Foster also uses her breath a lot to display emotion. You can hear it during "Gimme Cupid's famous arrow" as a little hitch or break in her voice. It's a sound very common in any singer, Broadway or not.

Before we get to Foster's big moment, let's take a minute to appreciate her vowels and the way she opens her mouth. All of her vowels are pronounced excellently, and why? Because she shapes her mouth excellently. It may look weird to some that she has her mouth open so wide, but that's the way it has to be for her to sing so well. Foster doesn't sing "o's" that sound like "uh-s." When she sings "nobody" at 2:42, you can clearly hear the "o." You'll never hear "nubudy" or "nahbady" out of Sutton Foster.

Now back to your regularly scheduled big belting bridge.

This is where Foster let's it rip. Every word from "I don't care" on at 2:39  has so much power behind it. Foster could have easily let the low note on "body" at 2:43 fade away, but instead she supports it with breath and pushes the sound towards the mask area of her face (around the forehead, nose, and eyes, where one would wear a mask) so that we hear a full sound. At 2:47, Foster backs away a bit on her "somebody," almost tricking you in a way to think, "Nah, this girl can't belt." Oh ho ho, just you wait and see. It's hard to tell if Foster takes a breath between "to love" and "me." But it doesn't matter. Foster belts it out on "me" and lets it carry over into a gruff-starting, dark-toned "I need it" before jumping back up, and I mean literally lettering her voice jump back up, with "gimme" at 3:01.

I love the note swoops on "I want it" at 3:05. I also love how Foster accents every word on "my bags are packed" at 3:11, and the way she sustains "line" at 3:15 by pulling it further back in her mouth. And then Foster just has some cute little voice quirks. She adds a gravely, rough tone to her voice at the start of the word "Aphrodite," and then goes into some weird accent for "don't forget me." I have no idea what it is, but I love it. She accentuates the "u" sound on "Juliet," giving it a unique tone. Again, we see Foster's great use of her diaphragm and her unique accenting of words by singing them straight-toned at 3:21 with "Fly, dove. Sing, sparrow." "Fly" and "sing" aren't easy notes to hit, and Foster in fact sings two notes on "fly," swooping into the second note. Her head shake as she says "Gimme fat boy's famous arrow" is so adorable, and that line never fails to make me laugh, especially since she's singing it with such power and determination, it's almost threatening. Be careful with this one, Cupid.

Foster finishes it up by throwing her voice all over the place, hitting "gimme" with a sharp sound at 3:27, then a low, husky sound for "that" at 3:28, before going out with a bang for a 10 second sustained belting extravaganza note on "love."

It's a show-stopping number, that's for sure, but remember ladies: don't sing it at auditions.

And I Am Telling You I'm Not Going

There are so many roles I would love to play. Fantine or Eponine in Les Miserables. Natalie in Next to Normal. Mother in Ragtime. Elphaba in Wicked. The list goes on and on. But one role I will never play ever in my life will be Effie in Dreamgirls.

Why?

Dreamgirls is a musical about a trio of young black girls from Chicago, Deena, Lorell, and Effie, and their rise to fame. The show takes place during the 60's and 70's, and is loosely based on groups such as The Supremes. It opened on Broadway on December 20, 1981, and ran until August 11, 1985, for a total of 1521 performances. There has since been a concert version of the show, with Audra McDonald as Deena, Heather Headley as Lorell, and Lillias White as Effie, as well as a movie, with Beyonce Knowles as Deena, Anika Noni Rose as Lorell, and Jennifer Hudson as Effie. The original Effie was also a diva named Jennifer: Jennifer Holliday.

Jennifer Holliday was as much a diva as her character Effie, and with good reason too! The song above, "And I Am Telling You I'm Not Going" clearly shows how deserving Holliday is of the diva status. In this song, as the presentator so eloquently states, Effie is being kicked out of the Dreams and replaced by a skinnier and prettier singer, though with at most a fourth of Effie's voice, by Curtis Taylor Jr., the manager of the Dreams as well as her lover. Who, Effie believes, is cheating on her with Deena, especially since Effie was once the lead singer of the Dreams, when they were Dreamettes, before Curtis made Deena lead because of her "softer sound and image."

Take all that raw emotion, add a killer voice, and what you've got, ladies and gentlemen, is a hit.

Before "And I Am Telling You I'm Not Going" there is an introductory song called "It's All Over." And boy, does it come in with a bang! From the moment Holliday says "Love me"with such a pained look on her face, we're on a high speed, powerful, emotional roller coaster with no end in sight.

Holliday is amazing. Let's just get that clear right away. Jennifer Holliday is an amazing performer with an unbelievable voice.  We don't hear as much of her raw power in "It's All Over" though we do get a quick preview at 3:03, but it's not until Holliday starts "And I Am Telling You I'm Not Going" that we really hear her voice. She has such a unique voice. She works a gravely tone at times, and often scoops into or out of her notes with quick breaths. You can hear the way she drops words at moments like 3:39 when she sings "going" but after she finishes the word, she adds an extra "uh" so it sounds like "going-uh." Holliday does this a lot throughout the song, so everytime she sings"you" it often becomes "you-uh." Her "me" at 4:16 is just fabulous. I love the break at 4:20 that leads into a riff. Oh, it's just so perfectly controlled and executed. 5:09 to 5:20 is just absolutely amazing. There we really hear Holliday's gravely tone, and it works so well with the emotion of the song. My favorite part is when she says "ha ha" at 5:18. What really is amazing is how well Holliday transitions from the gravely tone to a clean sustained note at 5:21. It seems so simple and easy for her. Now that's a great singer with excellent control of their voice.

5:36 to 6:08 is a really desperate part of the song, one that Holliday executes so well with her gravely tones. However, this is where her acting chops really come in handy. Her face this entire time is just so pained and pleading. She's going crazy trying to get Curtis to stay with her, starting with the shaking of her hands and great "no" at 5:39. Holliday can make such great sounds with her voice, as seen at 5:52, and makes such great choices of how to phrase and sing things, such as the way she sings "Please don't go away from me" at 5:42. It's almost a startling change to the rest of the song because you can really feel the rhythm. Each note is separate and distinct from the other, not flowing in riffs and gravel. Another great choice Holliday makes is at 6:04 with her "I know, I know, I know, I know you can." Each "I know" is so powerful and demanding almost, though it's still very pleading and desperate. There is so much freedom in this song for Holliday to just let her voice take over and wow everyone. And that she does.

Once Curtis leaves after Holliday kisses him, however, the whole dynamic of the song changes. It really is all over for Holliday now. There is still some lingering desperation, such as in "tear down the mountains, yell (where the hand shake returns!) scream and shout," however it is more of one last fading plea than anything else. Now, depression has taken over as the realization sinks in that Curtis doesn't love her anymore and her dreams of being a star are completely and hopelessly dashed.

And here comes the powerhouse moment.

From 6:27 to 6:38, Holliday does not take a single discernable breath.

Count that with me. That's 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11 seconds of not only singing, but changing notes and words as well! That's quite impressive! The audience certainly thinks so, for that's when they began to cheer. And Holliday just keeps getting more and more amazing. Her riff on "going" at 6:43 is so cool, and the way she repeats "ever" at 6:51 until it leads into "no" is just fantastic. And then we get back to her fabulous riffs at 7:19 with "me" that leads into a chorus of "yeahs" at 7:22 and another great "you're gonna love me" at 7:27.

But Holliday doesn't stop there. Now she really shows us what she's made of. Starting at 7:38, Holliday sings "love" with so many quick note changes and riffs that make you go crazy just listening to them. And then she steps it up a notch at 7:46 with such pain-filled eyes and an impressive riff at 7:54. I mean, the woman has been sustaining this note, and then she suddenly brings her voice back up with the last of her breath. It's no wonder she needs to gasp at 7:55, especially since she's preparing to go out with a real bang.

And what a bang it is. True, there are no amazing riffs or breaks or anything, but there is such emotion and power to this last note. Holliday is half onto the table, her arm outstretched with nobody to take it. Her eyes are full of pain, desperation, and desolation. You can't help but clap and cheer along with the audience. This is not an easy song to sing, ladies and gentlemen, and Holliday just absolutely kills it!

I could go on and on about these songs. There are so many great moments in them, especially in "It's All Over."  Everyone has their own fantastic moment, such as when Lorell intervenes between Deena and Effie at 1:50, when Jimmy, Lorell's boyfriend and the star the Dreams first sang behind, comes in at 2:14, and when C.C, Effie's brother, chimes in at 2:35. Everyone's just building off of each other, making the song bigger and bigger until it becomes "And I Am Telling You I'm Not Going." There are also so many wonderful lyrics, such as when Curtis sings about how Effie is getting "fatter all the time" and she retorts "that's a lie a lie, I've never been so thin." What we don't find out until later in the show is that Effie is in fact pregnant with Curtis' child at this point in the show. Another great part is the chorus of "show biz, it's just show biz" that is heard at the very end of the song. That line really is the message of Dreamgirls. Annie Get Your Gun Other may declare "there's no business like show business" but Dreamgirls shows just how crazy show biz really can be.

The Proposal/The Night Was Alive

Whenever I mention Titanic: The Musical, every one always reacts the same way.

"Oh! You mean with Jack and Rose and 'My Heart Will Go On' and stuff?"

No. Not with Jack and Rose and most definitely not with "My Heart Will Go On."

Titanic: The Musical came months before the famed Titanic movie, opening on Broadway on April 23rd, 1997, and closing on March 21st, 1999, running for a total of 804 performances. It follows the lives of first, second, and third class passengers aboard the RMS Titanic from he beginning of their journey till the end. What I really love about this show is that there is no main part. Really, there aren't a few main parts at all. There are so many wonderful parts in this show, so many wonderful songs and great solo opportunities, and you find yourself attached to multiple people in the show. One moment you're sympathizing with the three Irish Kates and the immigrant chorus longing for a new, better life in America, and the next you're dancing with the first class.

You can't help but be moved during this show. The music is breathtakingly gorgeous; a more classical Broadway/choral style of music. There are beautiful harmonies, with sopranos reaching for high X's as tenors sing their hearts out. Though I am a huge fan of modern musicals with heavier, rock, pop, and belter type scores, such as Rent and Wicked, the music in Titanic simply pulls at my heartstrings.

I have many favorite songs in this show, but my all-time favorite is The Proposal/The Night Was Alive. In this song, Frederick Barrett, played by Brian d'Arcy James, is dictating a message to Harold Bride, played by Martin Moran, to send to his beloved Darlene back home. The tonal purity of these two men's voices is astounding. It's clear and clean with perfect vibrato. No auto-tune needed here.

You would never guess by listening to this that Brian d'Arcy James would someday go on to play Shrek in Shrek: The Musical.

There is so much passion in Brian d'Arcy James' voice. Listen to the contrast in his voice. For example, at :37 and 1:08 he has these moments of great strength that are preceded by or lead to quieter, meeker tones. I love the way he drags out the word "devoted" at 1:18 by elongating the vowel. He does the same thing with the word "sailor's." Both words have no vibrato to them. But listen to what Brian d'Arcy James does next. After these two elongated, vibrato-less words, he switches it up with a strong, powerful "heart." It's wonderful phrasing that sounds excellent with his voice, and with his accent. I really love his little riff at :37 on the word "I" and on the word "day" at  :44. It's such a unique sound that makes impact, especially after Brian d'Arcy James  makes such a bold statement with his "Marry me" at :37. You can see the decision being made in his mind through his body movements and his powerful voice.

There is passion in Martin Moran's voice as well, but it's more controlled. With Brian d'Arcy James, you feel the passion and love seeping though his voice even on the quiet and tender parts of his song. With Martin Moran, you can hear the awe and passion, such as at 2:21 when he starts to sing about Marconi's telegraph, but you don't really get the power until Moran lets it loose, at moments like 3:21. Both men are singing with love, but Brian d'Arcy James is more enamored whereas Moran is more in awe. Moran also has a more boyish sound. He has a lighter quality to his voice, whereas Brian d'Arcy James has a rich, deep tonal quality. However, the two blend well together, and the mixture of their voices from 3:27 on is just magnificent.

I really love the orchestration and harmonies in this song. Listen, for example, to Moran at 1:38 with the phrase "My telegraph sends its messages to ships at sea." You'd expect him to go up on the word "sea" but instead he stays on the same note and it is the orchestra that makes the note change, with what I believe is a flute. It's an interesting sound, but I like it. I also enjoy how the orchestration gives you a little preview of later bits of the song. For example, when Brian d'Arcy James is first singing about his proposal at :53, you hear that the orchestra is above his voice. Then, later in the song at 3:28, Brian d'Arcy James is now singing the harmony that the orchestra was playing earlier at :53.

Marvelous, isn't it?