12/19/2022
Musical Theater: The Singer's Challenges
NOTE: Reposting this article. The first class in the David Jones Vocal Pedagogy Class Series (January - March) will focus on light music singing, including musical theater, pop, and rock styles. The class will focus on the critical importance of having a classical technique as a foundation. To be placed on the email list, write [email protected].
Challenges Facing the Musical Theater Singer
Many have asked me to write about the special issues facing the musical theater singer. What can they do about these challenges that they face? How does one approach satisfying a director who wants something that is vocally unhealthy? My answer to most of these challenges is âknow your instrument and your techniqueâ. If you are curious about a musical theater singer who kept vocal health, study Elaine Page. There was a program on PBS that showed her with her teacher warming up before a performance. The entire session was based on vocalizing the high range and the head voice. Why is this critically important? Because is thins the cords and allows for more long term vocal health.
The list below reflects special problems that musical theater singers face in their professional life. Some on the list are what I call âtrapsâ where the singer is invited to embrace a less healthy function of the voice.
Raw belting:
Some directors want a more raw tone rather than one that reflects beauty and vocal health. In such a situation, the singer must learn how to employ brightness of tone with a forward tongue position and how to employ more NG ring behind the tone.
Singing directly out of the mouth cavity rather than directing breath/resonance through the soft palate area. Healthy production is not belted âout of the mouthâ. It circulates through the soft palate area and then the residual frontal vibration is a result. Sound does NOT start in frontal vibration. Frontal vibration is a RESULT of the open primary resonator with a forward tongue position and a wide soft palate.
Text over vocal health. Some directors want clear over-pronounced text too high in pitch, not allowing for vowels to alter for the high range. To achieve vocal health, either the vowels alter and the throat opens, OR the throat opens and the vowels alter. This problem presents a special challenge for the performer. In such cases, the singer must try to strike a balance between articulation and the open throat. It may take some practice to accomplish this. My biggest piece of advice? Make the âeffectâ by brightening tone using LESS air pressure.
Bad Composing for the Voice:
A great deal of newer composing requires a more screamed sound rather than beauty of tone. This is where the composer is confused on HOW to create emotion in music. If the composer is talented, the emotion is created through the musical phrasing and the âsingabilityâ of the music. But if the composer is âless talentedâ then he/she will resort to emotion through what I would consider unhealthy tonal production.
Microphone Singing:
Singing on a microphone exclusively can cause the singer to âhold backâ their authentic resonance and therefore can invite a closing of the pharynx. The pharynx is the primary resonator and this acoustical space is the âshock absorberâ for the vowel folds. If it closes, then the vocal folds must absorb the pressure. My advice? Follow Elaine Pageâs example of vocalizing the full high range and the head voice before a performance to thin the cords. ALSO vocalize full voiced and ask the sound engineer to lower the mic so that you can âsing intoâ your voice more.
Forward Jaw Thrust:
To create some of the âthroatyâ tones that are not so beautiful the singer tends to employ a forward jaw. This does NOT allow for the vocal folds to close properly. The result can be nodules, polyps, or a vocal hemorrhage depending upon how much breath pressure is employed. My advice again? Make brightness of tone again with the forward tongue position and the NG ring.
Case Study: Miscasting and the Singer / World Tour
About 2 years ago a tenor was referred to my studio by voice therapist Shirley Tennyson and the office of laryngologist Dr. Rosemary Desloge. This singer had been on a world tour and was truly miscast. He was singing in a musical that required lots of high notes and low notes. Since he did not have a solid chest register, he produced the low range with tongue-root depression. The result was a small polyp.
I work in such situations only in coordination with a medical team. In this case, this singer was scoped 3 times per week while getting voice therapy sessions from Shirley Tennyson and daily lessons in my studio. I placed him on the tiny âuâ vowel that I learned from Allan Lindquest years earlier. The polyp was interfering with the transition from the high range downward into the upper passaggio area. I used many of the exercises that I learned from Lindquest and these exercises were proven to be therapeutic for the voice through the fiberoptic research of Dr. Barbara Mathis. At the end of his 3rd week of sessions the polyp had resolved.
The lesson for this singer? When you are miscast and the role is not right for your voice, do NOT take the job. Singers are temped because they feel desperate to get their career on track. I understand this. But what happens when you establish a big career and you have little voice left? I know this scenario. I have frequently worked with singers at the end of their career and they feel desperate because their voice feels as though it is disappearing.
I know one laryngologist here in New York who said, and I quote, âOver 90% of the vocal damage that I see in my office comes from musical theater singers!â That statement should be a wakeup call for anyone in this profession
âI can remember when I was doing the Mother Abyss in âSound of Musicâ. So many of the rock musicals were coming out and the doctorâs offices were FULL with damaged singers!â Elizabeth Howell
Final Thought: Musical theater singers need to learn one BIG lesson: Make special effects through tonal coloration NOT breath pressure. If you minimize breath pressure the possibility of vocal damage is greatly reduced.
More article on the voice at www.voiceteacher.com.
