Mary

Since the publication of the first edition of A Spectrum of Voices there have been significant advances in voice studies. Prominent members of the new generation of voice teachers join their voices with now-canonized teachings. Asking questions about technology, pedagogy, and stylistic changes within the field, Elizabeth L. Blades brings the wisdom from the past and present to voice students at all levels. A Spectrum of Voices draws from the brilliance and combined experience of an elite group of exemplary voice teachers, presenting interviews from more than twenty-five notable teachers, six of them new to this second edition.

You joined the Musical Theatre faculty just a few years after the creation of the program. How did that opportunity come about and what led you to make that decision?

It more or less came out of the blue. I was living with my husband and two sons just north of New York City, commuting daily to my Manhattan studio, when I got a call from Bev Patton at Penn State asking if “I or anyone I knew” might be interested in applying for a job teaching singing for their newly formed musical theatre program. Bob and I sat down and made up a list of pros and cons such a life change would present. The pros won, I applied for the job, and we traveled to State College for an interview in February of 1999 with our youngest son Eddie in tow. In a blizzard, of course. It so happened my eldest son Jonathan was a high school senior and had been accepted as a theatre major by an upstate New York university. When Penn State offered me the position we told him, “The good news is you’re going to Penn State. The bad news is we’re coming along!”

What has it been like to watch the program grow and create a lasting presence in the industry?

The growth of Penn State’s Musical Theatre program has been a source of great personal and professional satisfaction to me. I had the immense good fortune to collaborate with a group of superb colleagues in building the program. We had strong visionary leadership in Cary Libkin and enthusiastic unwavering support from Graham Spanier.

We were all in the trenches digging away together. When we did look up and actually see how the students were flourishing, we realized we were making something special happen.

What is the most challenging/rewarding thing about teaching your vocal technique?

The challenge is staying current with the demands of the industry.  Any young performer dreaming of a musical theatre career today needs to be a kind of vocal chameleon capable of reproducing the sounds of contemporary culture authentically and sustainably without injury. During the 35 years I have been teaching, musical theatre has continued to re-invent and renew itself by absorbing contemporary styles of singing to tell its stories. Rock, pop, hip-hop, country, operetta, golden age, and classical styles are all fair game for musical theatre composers today. This is a tall order!

The most rewarding thing is seeing these students arrive as enthusiastic children and leave as confident, superbly trained artists.

You are, without question, one of the most respected voice teachers in the world. Do you feel you were in some way destined for this life? (Looking back, what were the twists, turns, and stepping stones that led you here)?

I do feel I have been “destined” for this work but that destiny certainly took its sweet time to manifest. I always sang and always loved singing, but my college education through graduate school was French language and French literature. I studied at the Sorbonne in Paris during graduate school and, on a whim, auditioned to study singing with the famous baritone and teacher Pierre Bernac. To my amazement, he took me on and introduced me to the wonders of French art song. For the next year, I was the very fortunate recipient of his careful, always loving attention. To this day, every time I assign a French art song to one of my students, I cherish the memory of that time. Looking back, I sense that I was inspired as much by his personal grace, kindness, and empathy as a teacher as I was by his great musical artistry.

Returning to the United States, my first job teaching French was at a professional children’s school for actors and dancers on the Upper West Side next to Lincoln Center. I remember looking at those bored American Ballet Theatre students in the first row with their long legs stretched out in front of them and their eyes rolling heavenward, envisioning other scenarios for myself. Maybe there’s a performing virus and I caught it there! I discovered I was certainly not destined to teach French. Within two short years, I had registered at the Herbert Berghof Studios on Bank Street in the West Village, taking courses in musical theatre and Shakespeare. Soon after that, I began to study acting at the Michael Howard Studio. In those days in New York City, training for musical theatre was strictly an a la carte affair. I began auditioning for musicals and the first thing I knew I was Guenevere in Camelot, then Eliza in My Fair Lady opposite the man who would become my husband. I began teaching voice almost accidentally by helping friends prepare for their auditions. Word got around that I had a gift for solving vocal problems. Money started to exchange hands and I was off.

Any national or international standing I have achieved as a teacher I owe to Penn State and the connections I have made during my time here.

What makes you most proud of your graduates?

To know that every good thing that happens to them they will pay forward.

What advice would you share with any young performing artist who wants to create a meaningful life of singing?

You are your instrument. You would treat a Stradivarius with care and respect. There is no Stradivarius as precious as you are. Train carefully, seek out trusted professionals to help and guide you, and, of course, “do it for love.”

With so many new emerging musical theatre training programs, what do you believe will continue to set Penn State apart?

Penn State has certain permanent advantages: it is within driving distance of Broadway. It doesn’t rely on adjunct teachers as many programs do, because enrollment is limited. The student-teacher ratio is very high. The musical theatre faculty is in constant communication and committed to an integrated approach to training—acting, singing, dancing. In the time I have been here, graduate programs have been added that greatly enhance the experience of our musical theatre undergraduates. Since Cary Libkin started an M.F.A. in directing for musical theatre (now headed by Susan Schulman), we have added an M.F.A. in musical direction headed by Dan Riddle and an M.F.A. in musical theatre voice pedagogy, which I initiated with the help of Norman Spivey. This “musical theatre training center” creates a unique synergy unlike any other programs I know of. With our new director John Simpkins at the helm, the knowledge and experience of our senior faculty members, and young faculty coming on board, there is unlimited potential for the program to grow in exciting directions.

If you had to distill your philosophy about vocal training in one (or two) sentence(s), what would it be?

We are training actors to sing. Dramatic context is the reference point. The singing voice needs to “speak” from the lowest to the highest note in a finely tuned balance between treble and bass qualities. This gives performers the ability to choose the voice for any story they are telling.

Right now, what excites you? What are you drawn to learn more about?

I just became a grandmother and a great aunt. I am excited by and drawn to August Delano Barton and Madaket Jane Tyler.  I want to learn from them more about the meaning and beauty of life.

What is your wish for the future of Penn State Musical Theatre?

To continue to deliver confident, capable, and kind performing artists from diverse ethnic and cultural backgrounds to Broadway, regional, national, and international musical theatre stages.

I’d like to see a musical on Broadway that originated at Penn State and was designed, directed, and performed by Penn Staters. We Are!

Norman Spivey is professor of voice and voice pedagogy at Penn State, and also maintains a large private studio. With Penn State music theater voice colleagues, he co-teaches the workshop Bel Canto/Can Belto: Learning to Teach and Sing for Musical Theatre. He is a recipient of the Penn State College of Arts and Architecture Faculty Award for Outstanding Teaching, and a member of the distinguished American Academy of Teachers of Singing. Currently serving as NATS President, his affilia­tion with NATS has included offices at the chapter, district, regional, and national levels, participation in the Intern Program (as intern, local coordinator, and master teacher), the Van L. Lawrence fellowship, and contributions to the Journal of Singing. Contact Norman at president@ nats.org, or for more information please visit www.normanspivey.com.

The Vocal Athlete: Application and Technique for the Hybrid Singer is a compilation of voice exercises created and used by well-known voice pedagogues from preeminent colleges, established private studios, and clinical settings. The exercises focus on various aspects of contemporary commercial music (CCM) including bodywork, mental preparation, registration, and much more. The book is designed to accompany its companion text, The Vocal Athlete a first of its kind in singing science and pedagogy developed for singers of all styles, with a particular emphasis on CCM.

Also included is a CD of the singing exercises to further enhance understanding of techniques and skills used in training this type of singer. Both The Vocal Athlete: Application and Technique for the Hybrid Singer and its companion text are invaluable tools for anyone who uses or trains the singing voice or works with CCM singers.

The arrival of Duncan Sheik’s Spring Awakening in 2007 created excitement because it seemed to bring with it the possibility of a new “relevance” for the musical and the promise of a younger, hipper audience. Whether this trend is actually borne out in ticket purchases over the long term remains to be seen but the rock genre is the style of choice for many young composers today.

Jon Pareles of the New York Times wrote an excellent analysis of the rock musical in 2010 concluding that “Broadway may be the final place in America, if not the known universe, where rock still registers as rebellious.” Whether that is true, it is apparent that rock music seems somehow more “dangerous” in a traditional theatre setting. Nevertheless, it doesn’t approach the excitement of the real thing.

Pareles went on to say, “Two nights after the official opening of American Idiot, Green Day itself played an unannounced encore. The show had poured on its razzle-dazzle. …. But Green Day set off pandemonium. … Green Day’s members may not be able to act or execute choreography … but they also hold rock’s wild card: the potential, realized or not, for spontaneity.”

Rock singing challenges most musical theatre voice teachers precisely because of the qualities that make it so exciting. The great appeal of rock singing is its gritty, edgy, spontaneous and above all, youthful abandon; in a word, its “untrained” quality. We’ve heard Randy on American Idol bemoan a sound that’s “too Broadway.” The clarity and freedom of the well-trained musical theatre singer seems to be at odds with this aesthetic, and voice teachers concerned for the longevity of young voices under unpredictable circumstances, are understandably befuddled.

In 2010, all four Tony contenders for best musical were rock musicals. The genre will offer for the foreseeable future the promise of considerable employment for young performers.  It is critical for voice teachers to understand the vocal requirements of these shows and how to guide singers constructively so that when they finish the American Idiot tour, they will be in good shape to go out with Oklahoma!

What exactly are we talking about here? Musical theatre performers today are vocal and physical athletes. Everybody sings, dances and acts. The sheer punishment of Elphaba’s “No Good Deed” which requires racing around a raked stage and up through a trap, screaming and ranting while metamorphosing into evil incarnate, is a huge physical and emotional challenge for a young singer regardless of talent and skill. To do this eight times a week seems almost impossible. The popular expression today, ”leave it all on the floor” suggests that you don’t have to come back in a few hours, pick up all those pieces and do it all over again!

When auditioning for shows like American Idiot, singers are asked to bring in an “authentic” rock song. Much is made of “authenticity” in this regard, as if the distinction between a theatrical production and a concert event were being intentionally blurred somehow. Here I sense the undeniable influence of American Idol. New pop musicals make the same request. Teachers and performers alike need to familiarize themselves with the different eras and styles and take advantage of the help offered by specialists in this genre so that they can find ways to win with the style without compromising their voices.

The audition process may feel style-driven at least initially. But I am inclined to put this in a different context and remind my students they are not rock singers but actors playing rock singers. A certain “persona” is required. The qualities hoped for at a rock audition are spontaneity, abandon and risk; “leaving it all on the floor”. The qualities needed to hang on to your instrument during a long run are just the opposite; skill, discipline and complete understanding of the instrument. In other words, “the art that conceals art.” In other words, zero risk. Nothing can be left to chance, although the actor needs to be able to make you believe he is doing just that, throwing caution to the wind. The character can be completely out of control: the actor must be completely in control.

Our main responsibility as voice teachers is the healthy function of the voice, whatever the style. Young professionals today should not feel threatened by extreme use of the voice provided they understand what they are doing physically. Access to a fully integrated and balanced speaking voice is critical to singing musical theatre. Speech pathologists warn of the three l’s, “too long, too low, too loud.” This is an issue of balance. Like any muscle, the vocal muscle needs to be exercised completely. If a woman is performing in a show that requires intense and extended use of her belt and chest quality she will want to re-balance by vocalizing her treble range. The same applies to a male singer.

The advent of individual stage mikes in the 80’s on Broadway paved the way for the fully amplified rock band. The sheer decibel level is challenging psychologically and the tendency even with monitors is to “blow” the voice to create the excitement of the style. A skilled performer needs to feel the difference between physical fatigue and physical injury, body or voice. It seems unfortunate to me that producers do not routinely provide voice teachers and physical therapists “on call” to monitor singers and dancers on Broadway, particularly in shows with extreme physical and vocal demands. The Public Theatre’s Joseph Papp provided a voice teacher for all of his shows and I have known of numerous producers providing this service for their stars as part of their contract. Can you imagine a college football team or the NFL without trainers and medical staff?

I think the Broadway community is behind the curve on this matter because the challenges of musical theatre performance have risen exponentially in the last ten years.

I have been working with a young woman who came to me as a classical soprano with excellent acting and dancing skills. The task was to integrate speech into her middle voice to eliminate the register break and make it possible for her to audition successfully for belt roles and contemporary rock and pop rock shows. The studio work has involved a careful and conscious knitting together of the middle range, between D4 and D5 so that the speech quality (chest dominant quality) has a train track to run on from the lowest to the highest note. The so-called “high belt” in women which creates such excitement (between E flat 5 and A flat 5 or higher) is easier for most young women than the transitional notes between C5 and E flat 5 where they feel a natural impulse to move to head voice/soprano. The trick is to help develop optional balancings in registration so that the transitional ranges become effortless but maintain the desired color. Eventually this young woman found the flexibility to belt in all ranges, notably as Mimi in Rent, without sacrificing the bloom in her soprano sound. For a recent American Idiot audition, she chose Don’t Stop Me Now by Queen. She was able to sing it with power and energy, and as of this writing, has earned a final callback. Maintaining a straight tone to the point of release was new for her. I encounter occasional difficulty helping singers achieve a straight tone quality without pushing the voice, which can lead to problems reinstating vibrato and returning to flow phonation. Pitch sometimes suffers. My only advice is to keep balancing back and forth, straight-tone to vibrato. The appearance of effort is part of a rock style but the production must be energized, not effortful.

 What this young woman has achieved is what I would hope for with any singer moving into the contemporary world of musical theatre. Being afraid of an unfamiliar use of the voice can be as much of a problem as having no concept of the possibility of harm.

We need to encourage our students to know their limits but not limit themselves.

I have a young hugely talented student who came to me with the opposite issue from the girl mentioned above. He had a powerful chest voice, baritone to F, then pushed above that with no mixed quality, i.e. not enough treble. The repertoire today kills a male voice that does not make the transition above F 4 easily. The belt quality can occur above that, bright and strong, if the register balance is correct. The first thing I address is the mixed or classical quality to bring treble into the upper tones. Mixing ensures range and flexibility and overall health of the instrument. This young man succeeded in developing his upper range and has recently been cast in Book of Mormon.

The popular “reinforced falsetto” or pop falsetto (as in Jersey Boys) is comparable to the woman’s head-dominant or soprano mix. I encourage all of these qualities in male singers just as I would in women, so that no matter what style they are singing in, they have somewhere reliable to be vocally. However, it is important that any type of falsetto use be kept as a special stylistic spice in male voices and not encroach upon the chest dominant sound as a “substitute.” The contra-tenor and the R and B falsettist are very special types. For musical theatre, there is limited work for this voice quality although men love to use it because it because it feels so easy.

No singer is immune to vocal trouble. All of us in the trenches working with musical theatre voices are responsible for understanding the requirements and the technical demands of the shows currently being cast. We can’t be frightened ourselves or we will convey that anxiety and get nowhere.  We need to encourage singers to monitor themselves, especially when they are away on tour. Young performers want to please. They might be inclined to do anything they are asked without checking in with their self-monitor. This might not be a problem at an audition (musical directors can ask for some crazy things) but if they are cast, it will be important for them to understand how they will survive a long run and still come out swinging.

As head of voice instruction for the BFA Musical Theatre Program at Penn State University, Mary Saunders-Barton has long been a proponent of healthy and effective vocal practices for a variety of styles of music. Now, as head of a new MFA in Voice Pedagogy for Musical Theatre and with her second Bel Canto Can Belto DVD forthcoming, she continues to help singers and teachers understand the pedagogy behind singing Contemporary Commercial Music (CCM).

As demand for CCM singing technique grows, classical voice teachers can find themselves scrambling for direction. There is plenty of information available about classical vocal pedagogy, but it seems there is much less available about CCM styles. Was this always the case?

Musical theatre was always—in New York City—just a fool’s paradise. You figured it out on your own, basically. The teacher didn’t know any more than you did; we just made the sounds. Some people maybe got in trouble with that, originally. Now I think we have enough groundwork and security to go forward. I feel very confident about it.

You don’t have to get rid of your other voice. This is an add-on, this awareness that you can use your voice in other ways. Originally, you went to college to learn how to sing classically. And if you went to college to sing musical theatre, you did it sort of on the sly with a teacher who was willing to teach you that. It’s not the same thing anymore.

Many musical theatre programs teach classical techniques as well as “belt.” Is that something you promote?

I love the idea of cross-training. Obviously, people in the bloom of a career on the Metropolitan stage—you’re not going to expect them to turn around and belt. But I’ve certainly taught opera singers and I haven’t found it to be a problem if they’re actually motivated to make these other sounds. A great many of them can make that shift and find it very exciting and liberating, and [it] doesn’t encroach on their voices at all.

Opera and musical theatre, to me, are the theatre forms of singing. Why would they be on separate planets? It doesn’t make sense.

What do you see as the primary difference, then, between classical and musical theatre vocalism?

Biggest difference: self-amplification. Everything in operatic and classical training is intended to be sung without a microphone. [That] makes a vast difference in terms of resonance and the way you work the voice. I think it’s valuable to train musical theatre singers in [classical technique] as well and to recognize the acoustic use of the voice, and then move them to musical theatre and still stay very resonant.

I know a lot of my colleagues are starting to teach with microphones. I’m not inclined to move in that direction at all because I don’t feel that you actually get a full sense of your voice if you’re getting that help over time.

Studies seem to indicate that from classical to belt technique, there are differences in the way we shape the resonant spaces as well as differences in what is happening at the laryngeal level. With your students, do you spend more time focusing on vowels and changes in the resonance or addressing what is occurring at the larynx?

I think probably my entire approach to teaching musical theatre is vowel based and resonance based as opposed to larynx based, even though what happens in the larynx is going to be reflected, obviously, in the sound that comes out of your mouth.

I consider a belt to be what occurs on an open vowel in male and female singers above the passaggio . . . finding the vowels that belt, which are “ah,” “uh,” “eh,” [like] if you “call out.” Then [finding] how those vowels close. These are all things that you would talk about in classical—[in] a slightly different way, but it’s the same thing. Those vowels close on “oo” and “ee.” So you have to learn to shape the closed vowels.

We spend a lot of time with girls and boys identifying those qualities and being able to shape them back and forth . . . . Obviously not every sound above that passaggio is going to be belted. So we just decide when the belt is going to happen, and that is, to me, an acoustic quality . . . . It’s where we would “call” because that’s where we’re going to make the most noise. Boys are going to make the most noise F-sharp to B-flat on an open vowel. Girls are going to make the most noise between F-sharp and C or F-sharp and B-flat.

So I would say vowels are predominant in my approach. And I use flexibility exercises to underscore the fact that you should be able to go from any of these qualities easily, even though you’re making laryngeal changes while you’re doing it.

Do you consider belt to be “mixed?”

I think, ideally, there’s always a balance. Most people at this point, who think belting exists at all or should ever happen in the voice, think that everything is mixed, but every voice has different ways of balancing. You have to just make sure that you get good, healthy function. But to me, a belt is an acoustic event that happens above the passaggio. In other words, I don’t belt in my low chest. A man in his modal voice—that’s just his modal voice. But where he reaches a point where he would turn that corner and add more treble (you know, the famous F, F-sharp, E) . . . musical theatre has other paths: falsetto is a viable option (which it’s not for opera); the mixed sound with a slightly higher larynx (I call it a speaking mix); then the belt; and then a classical mix, which is just lower larynx mixed sound—voix mixte.

So all boys in musical theatre, for the most part, have to have enough heft in the voice to carry sound with authority and they have to be able to get these high notes. Everybody’s singing high! Now, I don’t know if the market is going to change, but in response to what’s going on now, we have to train them to be able to mix up high or there’s just no work.

Would you say at least up to about A-flat or so for most musical theatre repertoire?

Oh, higher and higher. They’re going to C! It’s unbelievable what’s going on out there! Twenty years ago, you’d think it was amazing that a baritone could hit a G comfortably. They’re not baritones anymore. Period. They’re just singer boys. And the girls have to belt high, too. There’s just no end to that.

Our students are asked to sing real pop, not theatre pop [and] real rock, not theatre rock at their auditions. I teach in New York City too and I see what’s going on, and there’s so much of that. It’s high passaggio singing for everybody—way, way up there!

What is the difference between an uncovered belt and a high belt for female voices?

At the moment, girls don’t uncover or sing that open belt quality—Thoroughly Modern Millie, “Gimme Gimme”—past a D5. It just doesn’t seem physically possible. . . . There’s some play in the margins, but for the most part that seems to be it. The voice naturally turns at E-flat 5 and goes to, negatively you say, a “high scream,” but it is like a scream. That’s why everyone loves it so much. Like Wicked, “Defying Gravity”—everyone loves that. Or, not everyone. Some people still hate that sound. But it’s not going away. Well produced, it’s absolutely thrilling to hear. It’s just free and out there. And it’s a function of speech. It’s the way they would call “Help!” or “Fire!” or something like that in that high range.

It’s just so much a part of the music now that we have to figure out how it goes and try to get them healthy on it. That’s what I consider my job to be, not to say, “I don’t like that so I don’t want you doing it.”

That seems to be the focus of the MFA that you have started in Voice Pedagogy for Musical Theatre at Penn State. Tell us about that program.

It started in 2011. I recruit two students every other year in conjunction with a group of MFAs in the school of theatre at Penn State. It’s like a little musical theatre school within a school. We have musical directing, directing for the musical theatre stage and voice pedagogy all under one roof, which is really great. So far, I’m just thrilled with it.

The approach that I take is inclusive, not exclusive—that “Bel Canto Can Belto.” It’s a privilege to sing all of this music, including pop/rock, what we call Contemporary Commercial Music. Why not get them going as far as they can go? We don’t really put them in a Fach and say, “You’re going to be this person.” We just see how far they can go and how much they can stretch.

I feel it’s a second-career kind of grad program [for] someone who says, “I’ve performed; I love it; I want to give back.” Our focus is to develop teachers who have a wide range of understanding and tolerance for different styles and want to develop voices from the ground up.

What sort of resources do you use? Is there a specific textbook you incorporate?

I invite live human beings to come. I bring them especially when I teach my pedagogy series. Last year, for example, we brought in Sheri Sanders, an expert in rock-pop styles (author Rock the Audition). Lots of enrichment from the outside.

I just wrote the foreword to a new book, So You Want to Sing Musical Theatre by Karen Patton Hall, which is part of a new series of books published by Scarecrow Press under the auspices of the National Association of Teachers of Singing. They use lots of vocal examples and there’s going to be a component on the NATS website of audio and exercises. That’ll be great.

Dr. Wendy LeBorgne and her colleague Marci Rosenberg have just completed a book called The Vocal Athlete, which we all contributed exercises to that I think will be really useful.

We’ll catch up. But I just don’t want to be too quick to pin everything down because I feel like this is such an evolving art form. It’s better to come to agreements gradually as opposed to having a book that says, “This is the way we do it.”

These kids are making sounds—holy cow!—that you cannot believe and they are stronger and stronger. Our seniors right now are blowing my mind with how strong they are. They can sing for hours—every style imaginable, including classical. So I figure that’s my goal, that’s my dream—to have very strong people out there who can jump from American Idiot to Oklahoma!

Tenor Brian Manternach teaches voice at the University of Utah in the Musical Theatre Program. He holds degrees in vocal performance from Saint John’s University in Minnesota (BA), the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee (MM), and the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music (DM).

I am on my way to a conference of the National Association of Teachers of Singing (NATS) when my telephone starts flooding with excited texts. One of our recent graduates has been told to suit up for the matinee performance as Elphaba in Wicked on Broadway! I sit back and smile thinking of this young girl as a freshman and of how much skill, poise, and confidence she has acquired in a few short years. Then I think, what a wonderful job I have.

It is March 2012 and Penn State has just completed the last of its auditions for admission to its BFA in musical theater. Approximately five hundred high school seniors have been seen on campus, in New York, Chicago, Houston and Los Angeles for fourteen slots in the incoming freshman class. Every year since I arrived on campus in 1999, the preparation and training needed to qualify for acceptance has continued to rise. The skills required to compete in musical theater are worlds removed from what was expected 20 years ago. The current young musical theater professional needs to be proficient in acting, singing, and dancing. My young student covering Elphaba had to dance her way into the ensemble first. Then she had to be prepared to sing and act an exceptionally challenging role at a moment’s notice. If and when she is asked to take over the role on a permanent basis, she will have to have the vocal stamina to perform it eight times a week without fatigue. All of us who teach singing for musical theater know we are training vocal athletes in the same way we would train a runner or a football player. Endurance and healthy technique are paramount. The approach we have taken at Penn State is to train “both sides of the voice.” Over the years, I have come to recognize the value of balancing classical vocal technique with the techniques specific to musical theater singing and contemporary commercial music (CCM), an approach I affectionately refer to as “Bel Canto Can Belto.” Our students are required to sing two classical songs every semester, one in a foreign language. Someone walking down the musical theater hallway might be as likely to hear Schumann’s “Widmung,” Gluck’s “O Del Mio Dolce Ardor,” or Floyd’s “The Trees on the Mountain” from Susannah as “Take a Chance on Me” from Little Women or “Gimme, Gimme” from Thoroughly Modern Millie. First-year students begin with a group class to help them assimilate some basic information about singing and get used to each other. Creating a safe environment is one of our key responsibilities. They will learn how to support each other and how to give and receive helpful criticism. A few weeks into their freshman year, these students will add private voice studio lessons to their schedule.

 TECHNICAL TRAINING THEORY

Our goal at Penn State is to train versatile singers. Every student begins with the same fundamental techniques appropriate to classical singing. Breath management, legato, vibrancy, clean onset and release, and ease of production, for example, are all skills every musical theater singer needs. Based on the kind of training students have had prior to their admission, technical work will be tailored to their individual levels. And our students sing a lot. We are engaged from the very beginning in building vocal endurance. Every lesson is an opportunity to “work out” a young voice and to tire it in a good way. The approach taken with young men and women is essentially the same; the only difference is that the primary register transition for males is higher in their range, so that they spend more time in chest or modal voice. The repertoire chosen for each semester addresses areas of weakness in the individual student. A girl who has primarily performed in a contemporary belt and belt/mix might have six soprano songs from different eras, including two in the classical style. If the soprano is strong and the middle voice already well- established, the repertoire can begin to include a wider range of styles, including an extended belt range. A male singer who has sung only pop/rock juvenile roles might have songs for “golden age” leading men and classical songs which invite a more “vertical” vowel production and a classical approach to passaggio. The issue of extending the singer’s range begins right away for both men and women. It is important to initiate the process of stretching and opening these young voices early on. In only eight short semesters, students graduating from a BFA training program will need to be ready to meet the vocal challenges awaiting them in the profession. Musical theater singing is speech-based, so the first thing I evaluate in any student is his or her speaking voice. How freely does the singer express himself, how much range is readily accessible in speech, and how authentic is the “emotional voice” of this young person? Speaking exercises, calling out, delivering a Shakespeare monologue, are all ways to assess the flexibility of the speaking voice. There should be no feeling of “adjusting” in order to sing because the speaking voice should be flexible enough to mix in many different colors, high and low, to express different emotions. I think voice teachers and speech-language specialists would agree that the most common cause of vocal pathology in young singers is misuse and abuse of the speaking voice. Musical theater performers are usually a pretty enthusiastic, high-energy bunch, and it can be difficult to get their full attention on this matter until trouble has started. Teachers need to be vigilant about encouraging healthy speech, and have a good understanding of the importance of register balancing to prevent erosion of the instrument.

TRAINING THE MALE SINGER

I have found that the easiest way to ascertain male range is again with speech exercises. A young man calling out energetically on an open vowel, as in “Hey!” will land on or around his register transition. The location of the passaggio in the male voice is pretty much a question of career or no career: A register break around D4 that seems immutable is going to make it virtually impossible to sing musical theater. There are simply hardly any roles in such low keys. There are tricks of register “matching” that very low-voiced men can learn, but without the ability to mix chest above F#4 (which is where the magic happens in contemporary musical theater), these men will encounter frustration. A true bass, however, is a rare phenomenon. The vast majority of men fall into the very workable group called “lyric baritone” which is by far the most flexible voice type because it can encompass a wide variety of characters from juvenile to leading man and “grows” with the actor through his career. Once the potential range of the young male singer is determined, the goal is always to build a strong “core” in the middle out of which the extended range blossoms. The metaphor of a tree with strong roots is my favorite. Leaves and branches can’t survive without a trunk and roots. The approach I use for developing a core to a male voice is virtually identical to that of my classical colleagues. At the register transition between E4 and G4 (for most of these young men), I begin a process of register balancing (which is exactly what I will use for girls at the E4 to G4 transition into the middle voice). Exercises I find invaluable for young men include a combination of speaking and singing phrases I compare to “barre work” for the vocal muscles. Open vowels above the passaggio can, as with women, become the male belt. Young men need to be able to identify the sung pitch from the spoken one. The following speaking exercises move from closed to open vowels:

SPOKEN EXAMPLE:

“Hey guys!” (open)

This exercise should be practiced incorporating range above the passaggio at F4 or F-sharp 4. The two vowels should be of extended duration and floated, not yelled.

SUNG EXAMPLE:

“Hey guys!” (open)

Should mirror the top pitch range of the spoken call, descending a fifth from G4 or A-flat 4. By far the majority of young male singers come to me with the tendency to open all vowels above the passaggio.

The next step is to introduce closed vowel phrases in speech and singing.

SPOKEN EXAMPLE:

“You do!” (closed)

This is usually more difficult to speak with ease above the passaggio and will feel pinched. It is critical to develop the ability to release and lighten the high closed vowels in musical theatre singing.

SUNG EXAMPLE:

“You do!” (closed)

Same as above. Should mirror top pitch of the spoken exercise over a descending five note slur. There are an infinite number of combinations of vowels that help students develop facility in moving easily through sung phrases. Here are several of my favorites:

SPOKEN OR SUNG EXAMPLE:

“Oh, no you don’t!”

Apex of phrase is “No.”

Ascending-descending five note slur starting at B4.

SPOKEN OR SUNG EXAMPLE:

“How dare you!”

Apex of phrase is “dare.”

Can be practiced same as above.

What makes these phrases useful is that the dramatic intention is so clear. The next exercise involves moving from closed to open vowels in sequence, including falsetto bookends. If the falsetto is weak, it needs to be exercised and carried down as low as it will go.

”ooh”—”you”—

”ah”—”ooh”

(falsetto)—(closed in speech)—(open in speech)—(falsetto). All sung on one note: E4–G4.

The above exercise can be unbelievably challenging for a beginning male singer. Most of our students come to us with quite a bit of training and grab onto this pretty fast. The only difference between the closed “you” and the open “ah” is acoustic. The open vowel has the option to become a belt above the F4 passaggio as it does for women. It is important to keep working the extended range in order to accomplish a seamless transition between these qualities.The right repertoire can work magic in minutes, solidifying these concepts in a young male singer. Several examples of using repertoire to teach acoustic flexibility: “At the Fountain” from Sweet Smell of Success. The last bars of the song, “it’s time now to soar,” traverse the male passaggio and provide an opportunity to practice a closed and belted (open) quality on the word “soar” which can be very

instructive. “Black Is the Color of My True Love’s Hair” by John Jacob Niles, key of G minor: each verse provides an opportunity to lighten the voice above the passaggio and to practice a classical “head voice”quality. Men have an easier time in musical theater than their female counterparts because they do not have to manage register balancing to the same degree on every note they sing.

TRAINING THE FEMALE SINGER

For women singing musical theater, register balancing is a primary consideration. Young women come into a training program with a variety of vocal habits and predilections. Some have been emulating the wrong role models. Some are infatuated with the contemporary pop sound to the exclusion of all else. Some have spent so much time in choirs and classical voice training they are concerned they will damage their voices if they belt. So, first and foremost, we have to try to gain their trust. They have to believe that the best singer is the most flexible singer. Even more critical than with men is where a girl’s speaking voice is centered. If a young woman is unable to speak comfortably above her primary passaggio (at around F4), then singing in a speaking quality and belting in that range will be impossible. Most women have difficulty releasing speech habits that define them socially, but musical theater students are a breed apart and can usually be encouraged to relinquish any behavior not in the interest of their growth as artists.The life, beauty and buoyancy of a woman’s voice in musical theater depends on the coordination of her middle voice. From an opulent classical timbre to Adelaide’s lamenting, women need to have complete acoustical control of their instrument, speaking and singing. If the head voice is weaker than the chest voice, I will always start there and work on building a bridge between the upper and lower registers. The head-dominant mix is usually the most difficult quality for young women to achieve because the chest will tend to overpower it. The best songs for developing a head- dominant mix in women would invariably include the “golden age” repertoire of Rodgers and Hammerstein, Lerner and Loewe, and their ilk. “Show Me” from My Fair Lady will challenge girls because they need to retain a speech-like quality in their head mix at a break-neck pace! If this proves too difficult, I would back up to slower songs like “My Ship” from Lady in the Dark, “Mr. Snow” from Carousel or “Many a New Day” from Oklahoma! I find classical Italian songs to be very helpful in opening up the head voice in women who are often more willing to enter a new vocal world when they are singing in a foreign language. Classical songs ultimately thrill them. Once the head mix is stabilized and coordinates well with the chest voice, girls can begin moving to more chest-dominant singing and belting. I approach the process of developing the mixed voice in women very much as I do for the men. Like men, women can begin to move from speaking phrases to sung phrases to reduce the transition break and to develop an effortless belt. Laryngeal and acoustical flexibility are essential characteristics of musical theater singing. Palatal control (isolation of the soft palate from the movement of the larynx) is a key element in acquiring technical proficiency. Panting like a dog, thinking of the incipient yawn or sneeze, can intro-duce sensory awareness of the soft palate tissue. Speech and speech-to-singing exercises can help train the muscles of the vocal tract and larynx much more effectively than diagrams or anatomical models. Here are a few of my favorite speaking exercises for a mixed quality in women. These exercises should cover the middle voice range and extend down to middle C and up to E-flat 5:

“Never, never no!” (great for balancing the middle voice)

“Where are you going?” (accusatory)

“Oh, no you don’t!”

“Damn cat!” (don’t be offended, I love cats!)

“No way!”

The above exercises can be sung in the same range. The results can be impressive in terms of establishing a light and buoyant mix. Start high and descend a fifth or so for the best effect. Eventually you can move her from low to high. Here is a speaking exercise to practice chest-to-head transitions:

“Yah hoo!”(“yah” in chest quality, “hoo” in head)

As with male singers, women can move from closed to open vowels in the middle voice and the belt will generally “pop “ out naturally on the open vowel, as in:

“ooh”—”you”—”ah”—”ooh” (head voice)—(speech)— (belt)—(head voice)

It is important to make the biggest possible contrast between these sounds. As with male singers, some young women will find this incredibly challenging, but if they stick with it, before you know it they will glide through these changes on every pitch! Then, they should practice the same exercise using head voice on all the vowels, then soprano mix, and finally speech mix (with no belt). They will begin to recognize the belt as an optional color. Belting exercises are just plain fun. Stay in the upper middle range and move up from there. Any energetic call will do:

“Hello!” (sarcastic lilt, “duh!”)

“Phone call!”

“Yikes!”

“Holy cow!”

This brings us to the woman’s “high belt”—currently a huge trend in CCM and musical theater (and a very exciting sound indeed). I have found it best to approach E-flat 5 and up in speech to begin to feel the “tenor” quality women achieve in this range. Too much squeezing and pressing can be a trap for either gender. The vowels are all closed in quality in a high belt range and if the balance is right, there is really no ceiling to this quality as it is a very balanced, highly energetic form of calling. Any vowels will work in this range (E-flat and up):

“Why not?” (spoken and sung in a descending slur)

“No way!”

“Taxi!”

Students entering Penn State’s musical theater program have fought hard to get there. They are hungry to learn and that is one of the reasons teaching them is so rewarding. The voice studio is an exciting place to be! I have come to believe that for most eighteen-year-olds dreaming of a Broadway career, a four-year training program after high school is the best plan for them. They need time to grow up. These four years provide an opportunity for personal and artistic growth that can be very difficult to achieve under the constant pressure to audition and perform. The support and supervision provided in a university or conservatory setting builds confidence, character and a sense of community these young performers carry into the profession.

March-April 2013 / VoicePrints