#101: I'm doing a rewrite
Monday 11/18/24
I’ll talk about it a bit more on Friday for the recap, but this weekend I saw Jesus Christ Superstar at Montclair State University. I had a student in it and my director from my first Ragtime, Luis Salgado, was the choreographer. I only do to see the shows if I know someone in them because honestly THIRTY DOLLARS FOR A TICKET TO A COLLEGE SHOW IS ACTUAL ROBBERY. But, at least at a college, you pretty much know that the quality of the mainstage productions will be high.
JCS is one of my faves. I did it as a child - it kind of has that Seussical/Godspell effect - you do it in your youth and then you are a fan for life haha. The show was good - amazing singing. Some of the concepts didn’t fully realize but the elements were all there.
But sitting through the show made me think about objective. How in a rock show so we maintain the vocal integrity needed for the score but also ensure that the acting is not secondary? I’m not saying that was the case here, but there were times I thought there was some disconnect to the objective.
This can be a hard balance to strike- it IS a rock opera of course so the singing is critical. However, in this show there are so many characters and so much happens in 90 minutes that we have to keep the story at the forefront.
Additionally, I’m all for gender bending roles, but if we do that, then we need to changes some keys! You are putting your desire for aesthetic or concept ahead of the story if you have a female singer being completely INAUDIBLE on low notes that TELL US PLOT lol. I find that we haven’t been able to crack the code on this. I find often that when female actors play roles written for male voices, that the performers isn’t at their best simply because they are negotiating octaves constantly. If the song is completely a solo, why haven’t we changed the key? There was a female Herod - which i love - but the only part she really sang were the choruses UP the octave. Great vocals but she had so talk/sing the rest and this girl was a great singer! This is a solo song - why did they adjust the key for her? They had the budget clearly!
Or, if you can’t/won’t change the key, then you have to give vocal adjustments. The Judas, played by a woman, was inaudible on important plot points trying to sing low notes. We have to help our actors! I believe this the same if someone has one note in a song that is simply out of their range. I think about this with The Fully Monty - the lead, Jerry, has to sing like a high A at the end of his 1st song for a LONG time. Well, it’s his first song and if that actor cannot sustain it, WHY DON’T YOU CHANGE IT. I’ve been IN the full monty and seen it 100 times and it’s so rare the actor can do it. Why do we make actors suffer? You aren’t paying them or aren’t paying them enough. Help them? Whats the issue? There are 88 notes. Pick another one and help them.
It also helps us understand the plot and LIKE THE CHARACTER! If an actor struggles in their first song, well, we are being told this actor can’t handle it and is going to have a tough show. Sometimes it’s just the one issue and then they are fine. Well, teams, don’t make your actors defend themselves to the audience bc you didn’t assist them.
It all goes back to story. Keys, notes, adjustments - it all helps us understand the story and stay connected to the characters. You cast them, you need to help.
Dreams Don’t Die
Julie