RAGTIME's score felt like a revisit to the Golden Age
Last Edit: GrumpyMorningBoy 12:58 am EDT 11/01/24
Posted by: GrumpyMorningBoy 12:57 am EDT 11/01/24
In reply to: re: Caissie Levy - Chazwaza 03:28 pm EDT 10/31/24

Marin could do no wrong in that performance.

We'd also already come to think of Ms. Mazzie as a mezzo-soprano after PASSION, and if anything, I think it was a bit of a surprise for many to hear that she would / could belt. This much we knew; they'd very intentionally chosen that key so it would line up with her belt notes for the finale of the song. Within the show, it felt like the SOUND of Mother was becoming more contemporary even as she was stepping into modernity as a woman / as a character.

While we're beating this topic like a drum, this was also a time when Audra was defiantly establishing herself as a Broadway star who was NOT a high belter, and that too felt like a surprising breath of fresh air. The range and vocal performance of "Your Daddy's Son" was just unlike anything we'd heard in a hit Broadway musical since -- gosh, Loesser?!? -- the fact that the climax of the song -- "I buried my heart in the ground!" is essentially sung in dramatic head voice?

Who was the last composer to do that on a Broadway stage before RAGTIME? (I'm not just asking rhetorically, I honestly can't remember.)

All this gorgeous mixing and fluid movement from chest through mix to head voice all felt like a return to the Golden Age, and with RENT still selling out just blocks away (and countless contemporary shows trying to be the next RENT) I think folks were thrilled for it, and we really didn't need the stars to be electrifying us with their belty high notes. We were getting enough of that already from other shows.

- GMB
reply

Previous: re: Caissie Levy - Chazwaza 03:28 pm EDT 10/31/24
Next: re: RAGTIME's score felt like a revisit to the Golden Age - Delvino 12:31 pm EDT 11/01/24
Thread:


Time to render: 0.030157 seconds.