Singing in Musical Theatre

The Training of Singers and Actors

Joan Melton

• Publisher: Allworth
• Year: 2010
• ISBN:
  9781581158090
• Topic: Mezzi di comunicazione e arti performative
• Subtopic: Arti performative e business

What does it take to be a musical theatre performer? What kind of training is required to do eight shows a weekacting, dancing, and singing in a wide variety of vocal styles? This insider's look into the unique demands of musical theatre performance establishes connecting links between voice training for the singer and drama school training for the actor. By reading these revealing interviews, performers in every area of theatre can: — Discover what it takes to go from a first lesson to a solid professional technique
Consider the requirements for singers in musical theatre today, how they have changed, and where they are going — See how different teachers approach six aspects of voice training: alignment, breathing, range resonance, articulation, and connection Understand the interconnectedness of musical theatre and theatre voice. A foreword by leading Australian actor Angela Punch McGregor personalizes the connective links among trainings as she describes her preparation for Sunset Boulevard. A must-read for anyone who is serious about voice and the theatre.Allworth Press, an imprint of Skyhorse Publishing, publishes a broad range of books on the visual and performing arts, with emphasis on the business of art. Our titles cover subjects such as graphic design, theater, branding, fine art, photography, interior design, writing, acting, film, how to start careers, business and legal forms, business practices, and more. While we don't aspire to publish a New York Times bestseller or a national bestseller, we are deeply committed to quality books that help creative professionals succeed and thrive. We often publish in areas overlooked by other publishers and welcome the author whose expertise can help our audience of readers.

PART I

I nterviews,

UNITED STATES

1. ELISABETH HOWARD

Royal Photo Studio

It was Saturday afternoon and I listened to the Met broadcast as I drove along that fantastic, winding road through mountainous countryside west of Los Angeles. The deal was that we’d do the interview as soon as the opera was over and before Liz had to leave for a late-afternoon engagement.

I parked at the top of the hill and walked down. The house was as spectacular as the view—spacious, elegant. And a magnificent ebony grand caught my eye as we moved quickly from the teaching studio into the sitting room adjoining the kitchen. There I placed my recording equipment on the coffee table, and for the next hour or so Elisabeth Howard spoke with incredible energy and enthusiasm about her career, her students, her method of teaching, and her ongoing presentations in the US and abroad.

Liz Howard has been called a “vocal chameleon.” Her expertise and ability to sing in styles from blues, R & B, and country western, to jazz, musical theatre, and opera is unparalleled. She is both a glorious coloratura soprano and a belter! In addition, Liz is a songwriter, actress, international clinician, and a master teacher of voice. She is the author of Sing! (2005), and the founder/director of the Vocal Power Academy in Los Angeles, California.

PERSPECTIVE

Will you say something about your background and about what influenced or informed your approach to teaching?

I began studying piano at age five, cello at age ten, and voice at age fifteen. I come from an Italian background where a love of the arts permeated my existence. Every Saturday, my family listened to the Met broadcasts and I would sing along, loving and imitating what I heard.

My immediate family influenced and encouraged me to teach piano, and then voice. My mother taught ballet, tap, and ballroom. My father taught violin and piano. And two uncles taught guitar and piano at the studio for my mother’s school, the Lanza School of Dance and Music. One day my mother scheduled a voice lesson for me to teach on a Saturday morning and informed me that I was going to teach a sevenyear-old. I protested, saying I didn’t know how to teach, but went along with the idea just to appease my mother at least for one lesson—or so I thought. Instead, I found that I loved teaching voice from the very first minute that I worked with this eager seven-year-old, blond, curlyhaired girl that my mother scheduled for me. And I’ve been teaching ever since!

My aunt taught me to play Bach on the piano when I was seven. I also had a great attraction to the rock and roll music that was just beginning to surface at that time, and, at the piano, I sang and wrote pop songs. In high school I studied classical voice with Julia Heinz, the wife of Hans Heinz, who was teaching at Juilliard at that time. Mr. Heinz heard me sing and said, “Keep it up and you’ll come to Juilliard,” and that’s what I did. I supported myself through Juilliard by teaching voice for my mother’s school, privately in Manhattan, and at Hunter College in New York City.

Do you work with students on classical as well as musical theatre repertoire? Do you teach vocal styles other than classical and/or musical theatre?

Yes, I work extensively on classical and musical theatre. Besides classical and musical theatre, I teach jazz, rock, R&B, blues, and alternative.

What exactly do you mean by alternative?

Alternative is a term used to describe in music what abstract means in art. It isn’t middle of the road pop, R&B, or jazz, though it may have elements of R&B and jazz. Artists like Sarah McLachlan, Alanis Morissette, and Tori Amos are alternative artists. Their songs have less structure than ABA, are free flowing, and seem through composed, stream-of-consciousness, I would say. The subjects are usually very introspective, sometimes poetic, dark, and personal.

How would you describe the vocal requirements for singers in musical theatre today? How have those requirements changed over the years and where do you think they’re going?

The demands on the musical theatre performer are greater than ever. For auditions, a singer may be required to sing an operatic aria one day and a rock song the next. But I believe we are heading back to some form of specialization in musical theatre, since there are so many styles being presented in new shows and revivals. For example, for women, there’s the light belt/soprano in shows like Thoroughly Modern Millie and Songs for a New World, and the stronger, heftier weighted vocal requirements of shows like Wild Party and Mamma Mia. Then we have an almost operatic approach to “You Don’t Know This Man,” from Parade and “Think of Me,” from Phantom. I think it’s a little easier for a man to cross over vocally, from a song like “Younger than Springtime,” from South Pacific, for example, to “One Song Glory,” from Rent.

Crossing over in style is a different matter. In classical singing, we interpret Handel very differently from Puccini, and it’s no different in musical theatre. The R&B style in Dreamgirls and The Life is very different from the pop sounds of Rent. And if any of these shows had bona fide “pop” songs in them, they’d be on the charts, on the radio, and in a video on MTV. The so-called “pop” shows are really pop-influenced, I would say. Except for songs like “I Don’t Know How to Love Him,” from Jesus Christ Superstar, and “Memory” from Cats, very few pop-style songs from shows have actually been accepted as pop by the public. “Hopelessly Devoted to You,” from Grease, was a hit on the charts for Olivia Newton-John, but was written after the stage show for the movie with the intention of becoming a pop hit, which it did.

I feel the trend in musical theatre is going to go back to specialization. Students have to explore all the styles they enjoy singing, and then decide which styles and sounds they do the best and learn all the repertoire for that voice type. For example, the Julie Andrews voice type is not also the Ethel Merman voice type. If a singer goes into an audition with an Ethel Merman-type song and sings with a Julie Andrews-type voice, she’s wasting her time. There will be an Ethel Merman-type singer who will sing an Ethel Merman-type song and get a call back, if that’s what the casting people are looking for. It’s really like opera in that sense. You’ve got to know your Fach (voice type) and sing and perfect that repertoire. A good outside ear will help—your teacher or vocal coach for starters.

Why do you teach what you teach? What drives you? What is your passion in this work?

I teach what I teach for the love of the human voice and what it can do. To experience my students’ successes and to see them accomplish their dreams is what drives me. I believe that anyone can learn how to sing and sing very beautifully at any age and I have the need to prove this every day of my life. Every day of teaching brings new experiences and new growth for me as a teacher, singer, and person. What more could I ask from a profession?

What role does voice science, or vocal anatomy and physiology, play in your work with students or clients?

I think it’s very important and exciting for us to know how things work, to know and acknowledge that some people aren’t born with a naturally good voice, and to know that with clear and logical explanations we can take the mystery out of singing. We can control the sounds that we desire with our minds, muscle coordination, and ear, and we can do it consistently, every single time, and not only with a “hope and a prayer.”

Do you use any recording equipment in your studio? Do you teach microphone techniques?

I have a tape recorder to record lessons, and a “Singing Machine” that plays CDs and tapes with the capability of transposing up or down seven halfsteps. I use two microphones for non-classical songs, one at the piano for me and one for the student. Microphone techniques are easy and can be taught in five minutes, but the student must practice.

THE TRAINING

Where do you start? What are the vital signs you check right away when a student comes to you? What are the foundational aspects of training to which you regularly attend?

I start with breathing and support, moving on to creating clear, nonbreathy tones, then the four colors (resonances) that I teach, then power and projection, head voice, chest voice, blending registers, the mix, vibrato, and so on. I check for a good ear, the ability to concentrate, energy, and the desire to sing beautifully.

Will you talk about the four colors, or resonances, that you mentioned?

I work with head, nasal, mouth, and chest resonances, which I refer to as colors. We word-paint with our colors, letting the emotions dictate. For example, if I were singing “Stormy Weather,” I would most likely choose a warm and deep color to best describe that image. Or if I were singing about a sunny day, I would use more mask/nasal for a brighter sound. We practice these four colors separately, first in exercises and then apply them to our songs.

What do you expect to observe in a singer who is well trained or in a performer who sings well, with or without training?

I appreciate vocal freedom, expression, and a love of singing and the music.

Granted, the journey is different from one singer to another, but would you say something about how students might get from A to B, or from their first lessons with you to a solid professional technique?

They must first learn many vocal techniques, systematically, from breathing, support, vocal colors, registers, mixed voice, vibrato, coloratura for classical and non-classical, blues and pentatonic scales for non-classical. These techniques and various exercises are designed to give a singer the freedom to sing in any style he or she wishes. The next step is to develop a personal style for non-classical, and for classical singers, to polish the various songs and arias. Then it all comes together when they learn how to present themselves at an audition or performance.

In the answers to earlier questions, you have touched on some, if not all, of the six aspects of training listed below:

Alignment, Breathing, Range, Resonance, Articulation,
Connection (the Acting Dimension)

Now, from the perspective of your own approach, would you comment specifically on each of these elements, to whatever extent and in whatever order you choose?

I work with body alignment with regard to breathing, support, power, projection, dynamics, and presentation. Breathing and support coordination is the first technique I teach. With good breathing and support habits, a singer can build the rest of the techniques that go into the freedom to express the lyrics and music.

Range is expanded and stretched gradually from the highest to the lowest note in every voice. I expect all my students to develop at least a three-octave range, no matter what their age or singing style.

Resonance is paramount in my teaching. My philosophy, to quote the great cellist Pablo Casals, is, “Every note deserves to live.” Color, quality, expression, vibrato, and dynamics, with a good foundation in breath control, are basic to my teaching.

Articulation. Pronunciation and articulation are very important in the determination of style. For example, articulation for a Mozart aria on a stage, is worlds apart from singing blues on a mike.

Connection. Solid technique must be so automatic and free that the singer can interpret a song or aria every single time, as if it were the first time he or she were singing those words. Every single word must be explored and personal. The singer must do the homework. Each song is a monologue and must be treated as such, the way we do in acting. We must use our five senses to give a full and sensuous performance. Singers need training in performance. In the Vocal Power Academy, we give performance workshops, which include microphone technique, acting, movement, and image, to prepare singers for the stage. Musical theatre actors and actresses need to know how to audition, and we work on audition material in the workshops. Then the singers are presented in showcases.

You mentioned the word image. What do you mean by image in this context?

We discuss and explore the vocal style of each singer and what would be appropriate on stage in terms of hairstyle, dress, pants, suit, makeup, and the like. What does the singer want the audience to know about them— casual, funky, sophisticated? We also make sure that if the song is going to be performed in a dress and high heels, that the singer practices in a dress and high heels. Or if the singer is doing a country song, it might be appropriate to wear jeans and boots for practice. In other words, no surprises the day of performance.

Again, from your perspective, how do these individual aspects of training relate to one another (1) in the learning process, and (2) in performance?

Technical skills come first. The voice is an instrument and we learn how to play it. The mind and the muscle coordination must work together, and the ear must guide the sounds. All these elements come together to create beautiful sounds that are full of passion and personal expression. I tell my students to always sing with passion, not only in song...