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Since I have a lot of students auditioning for musicals and choirs in Houston, I thought I would list the groups in Houston that perform operas, musicals, and choir concerts. Please visit their websites for audition details and to find out what their organization is about!
Musicals Theater Under the Stars The Music Box Theater West Houston Performing Arts Eklektix Theater Company Bay Area Harbour Playhouse Baytown Little Theater Clear Creek Community Theater College of the Mainland Theater (Texas City) Country Playhouse Houston Family Arts Center Island ETC (Galveston) Main Street Theater Playhouse 1960 Stage Door Inc Stages Repretory Live at the Owen Theater Texas Repretory Theater Unity Theater Upstage Theater Chorus Bay Area Chorus Houston Masterworks Houston Symphony Chorus Houston Tidelanders Chorus Houston Cecilia Chamber Choir Vox - The Rob Seible Singers Houston Grand Opera Chorus Opera Houston Grand Opera Opera in the Heights Houston Ebony Opera Opera Vista Lone Star Lyric (also does musicals) I am probably missing a few, so if you would like me to post your performance group, just let me know. DWS Rodgers and Hammerstein has numerous commercial and artistic hits on Broadway, many of which are still revived and played in theaters across the country: Oklahoma!, South Pacific, The King and I, Sound of Music and so forth. Yet perhaps their best creation - CAROUSEL - has never entered most peoples' knowledge of musicals, despite containing some of their most powerful music and storytelling.
The Music: Rodgers wrote some of his best music for Carousel. It contains the stirring anthem "You'll Never Walk Alone," which has been sung for presidential inaugurations, concerts, and happy/sad occasions of all types. It has two complicated and endearing love songs: "What's the Use of Wonderin,'" and "If I Loved You." And it has Rodgers' ultimate acting song in the male lead's "Soliloquy," in which the male lead realizes he is about to have a kid and goes through all the encompassing emotions, all in EIGHT minutes of singing. Soliloquy challenges the best singers! The Book: Carousel challenges the audience in a way most Rodgers and Hammerstein musicals, with the exception of South Pacific, does not. The male lead, Billy Bigelow, is a working class carousel man who gets a girl pregnant and marries her to take care of the baby. In an effort to make money, he steals and is killed during a heist - I cannot think of a musical that kills its LEAD in the middle of the second Act! He the proceeds to be judged in heaven and returns to earth as an angel, to redeem for his past sins. He ends up helping his daughter, all grown-up (talk about a tear jerker!). Throughout these events, Billy's wife, Julie Jordan, is a pillar of strength. She is always there for her friends, raises a daughter by herself, and endures her husband's many transgressions. Even though Carousel has been revived numerous times, it is not often done in community theater due to the very difficult music for the leading man and morally-complex characters. But it is a gem to see if it goes on stage! DWS Belting is a term used often in Broadway, when a female student carries their chest voice beyond their first passaggio (see previous posts on voice registration, passaggio etc..). When done correctly, belting is a very powerful sound with a sort of brassy tone quality for the singer. When done incorrectly, belting poorly creates a flat or nasal tone, and in severe cases, actual vocal damage due to undue stress placed on the vocal folds.
Belting is a necessary tool if women want to sing Broadway music in certain musicals. It is a tool that definitely needs to be observed and shaped by a vocal teacher, to ensure that it is done healthily. The number one goal is to ensure that belting does not hurt/irritate your throat. If you feel pain, that is NOT a good thing. The old adage "no pain, no gain" does not apply to voice lessons - you sing well when you feel well! Belting also should not be sung in certain contexts, where the vocal quality does not fit the tone quality desired by the song or ensemble. For instance, belting is not recommended for choral singers, opera, or musicals/characters based on a more 'classical' sound. Even within musicals known for belting, certain characters should avoid belting due to the personality of the character on stage. Knowing when to belt or not is a matter of research and knowledge for every song. DWS |
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