| VocalDad, I think Jason Robert Brown is wonderful and my D is very into his music and has performed it. What I read into the comment was that OCUMTInfo was saying one college offers classical voice as opposed to JRB as if the other schools do not teach the legit and traditional MT repertoire and they do, as well as contemporary MT repertoire like JRB. They include the gamut of MT, including the traditional fare, and they teach legit vocal technique. They just do not focus on or teach the classical repertoire which is more typical in a BM or VP major program. OCU is a BM program, by the way.
Like you, I think JRB is definitely tops and definitely worthy of study and performing and is a face in the contemporary MT landscape. I am not into this either/or way of thinking. To be successful in MT today, a young student ought to study legit singing, including the traditional Broadway repertoire but also the contemporary Broadway sounds that are in many musicals that are cast today. JRB is good, as you say, for acting the song. His material is overused in auditions but is wonderful for performing.
What I don't get is the knocking of programs that teach MT repertoire as being inferior to those that teach the classical vocal stuff. Classical is great and also good preparation. But a program that focuses on MT is a kind of training that is as good but simply different.
I think it would be far better to contrast PROGRAMS and what their focus is, than to imply that one is better than the other. One FITS a student better than another, that's all. Same with vocal training. Classical is not better than JRB either, but a different style of singing.
Also someone with a more classical bent is suitable for certain roles (such as in Piazza) and possibly not for other roles (such as in RENT) and then someone else who can sing the contemporary Broadway sound might be suitable for casting in The Wild Party or Avenue Q but not as much as in Pirates of Penzance.
A Broadway actor today in the MT world, needs to have a wide range of skills and be able to sing all sorts of styles, because that is what Broadway shows include these days. It is not an either/or world. You should be able to sing a classical sound, a legit sound, a contemporary sound, to be a versatile performer. Of course, some are stronger at one style than another.
Susan |