<p>My daughter has been lurking here and told me about this site. I must say after reading through these threads I have learned so much. My daughter is in high school and her greatest desire after years of performing in local youth theatre is to pursue an education and career in Musical Theatre. She has a glorious soprano voice and has had wonderful success playing roles like Cosette in Les Mis, Mabel in Pirates of Penzance and Laurie in Oklahoma. Her dream role would be Christine in Phantom of the Opera! But lately she has been feeling that perhaps she is at a disadvantage in this day and age of belters. She has such an amazingly beautiful voice, but she worries it may not be the type of voice people are seeking nowadays unless she pursues a future in opera. Musical Theatre is what she truly loves though.</p>
<p>So I would love to hear feedback from those who have students in programs currently, especially other soprono Moms and Dads. Is there still a place for sopranos in Musical Theatre?</p>
<p>My D also has a beautiful soprano voice and I had the same concerns when I found this site. She is auditioning this year. About a year ago, she starting working in earnest on her belt and mix. She has made tremendous progress and will be auditioning with both. I think there is definitely still a place for sopranos in Musical Theatre, but the trend seems to be toward the belt.</p>
<p>while the current trend of new musical theatre is going towards the belt, there will always be a place for sopranos in musical theatre so long as we keep doing productions of Oklahoma and Les Mis and Phantom are on Broadway :)</p>
<ol>
<li><p>Many shows need sopranos in the chorus to round out the voice parts.</p></li>
<li><p>Although the market is currently dominated by pop shows, musicals with soprano roles, like Light in the Piazza, keep being written and produced. In the 1970’s there was a similar swing to a pop-dominated Broadway, and then, along came the 1980’s and Broadway swung back to be dominated by sung-through shows that are basically Operettas. Who knows that the future will hold? For example, after writing Guys and Dolls, Frank Loesser turned out The Most Happy Fella.</p></li>
<li><p>Some pop shows have roles for classical soprano voices. Chicago even has one for a guy.</p></li>
<li><p>As noted in other posts, regional theatres will probably always produce shows from the Golden Age of Broadway, and, as the shows from the 1980’s (finally) become available for regional productions, the sung-through, operetta styles of ALW et. al. will no doubt be produced for many years to come.</p></li>
<li><p>A soprano who wants to work in MT, however, would be best positioned if she learned to broaden her vocal styles to include mix and belt.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>Sopranomtmom: I think there is definitely a place for sopranos in MT so tell your D to go for it! It would be a good idea for her to take voice lessons with someone who can teach her the mix/belt side of being a soprano if she isn’t already, and I wouldn’t shy away from a classical teacher if they have the ability to teach the belt/mix too. I have posted this elsewhere on other threads but I’ll post it again since it helps answer your question: my D (a coloratura soprano) has been taking voice lessons since middle school and has won as many classical awards, experiences, etc. as musical theatre on her resume. Fortunately her classical voice teacher has also been musical director for many area musical theatre productions and has a good handle on the MT style as well. When my D went through Unifieds in Chicago last year there were several schools (Boston, Carnegie Mellon and I think Ithaca if I remember right) that commented on the classical stuff on her resume. They were very complimentary to her about those experiences, and Carnegie even mentioned that they liked the fact that she was so well rounded. It appears that Carnegie was looking for a lyric soprano this year and my D was thrilled to get on the waiting list for Carnegie as well as acceptances at several other excellent schools (BoCo, Point Park, Ithaca, waitlist at TexasState, waitlist at Ball State). Who knows what each school will be looking for this time around, but in my opinion classical training will serve your D well through this crazy process and she shouldn’t worry about being a soprano!!! Best of luck to her :)</p>
<p>It is encouraging to hear these responses. Although she doesn’t have any belt to speak of now, my daughter has been working with her voice teacher on her mix voice which is developing quite nicely. I am certain she could develop more of a belt with training and practice but it just hasn’t been a focus since she has such a lovely classic soprano voice and has been primarily cast in parts that require that high range. Her vocal instructor is a former opera singer so is quite emphatic about classical training as a foundation, but she is not opposed to belting done in a healthy way. It just isn’t something she has worked on yet with my daughter, but certainly something to consider. The funny thing is that at our community theatre level where they tend to present more traditional Broadway shows, her soprano voice is in high demand since she tends to be one of only a couple of young ladies with the particular range and look required for those classic ingenue roles.</p>
<p>I just wanted to let you know I understand how you feel. My S is a baritone and I’ve wondered at times if there is still a place for him in MT. I hope there will always be classic revivals, theaters will always put on the classic shows and they’ll need people to cast in those roles. If it is her dream, I think she should go for it!</p>
<p>@sopranomtmom, my daughter is also a soprano (and now is a sophomore in college) and only recently learned to belt. (Last two years). It sounds like your daughter already has a key ingredient that she needs for success - a beautiful voice. College MT programs will know that they can teach her to belt once they get their hands on her. :)</p>
<p>As an aside, last night I attended a musical were every female cast member was belting whether or not that vocal style made sense to the character, lyrics and scene or not. It was as if they (the actors and musical director) had decided that the big belt is what and audience loves to hear, so darn it, that’s what we’re going to do. In particular the lead character, who was supposed to be a shy, friendless, 16-year old girl with an abusive mother, who is trying to survive terrible teasing in high school. I couldn’t help but think that if life truly was a musical, would that insecure girl really be belting to the rafters? I wanted to hear something softer, more sympathetic and vulnerable from her until the moment she finally breaks and gets mad. Then power up the big belt.</p>
<p>Anyway, long way of saying that I think there better still be a place for the legit soprano because a belt-o-rama doesn’t always do the story justice.</p>
<p>I appreciate all the great responses and in particular I thank the two of you who sent me the helpful PMs. Apparently you need a minimum number of posts before you are able to send a PM, so I can’t respond yet but I want you to know how helpful your comments were. My daughter is feeling much more encouraged. We attended a Performing Arts College Fair in Los Angeles today which left her feeling very excited and motivated. In particular we were impressed by the programs at Oklahoma City University, Arizona State University and Sonoma State University. I think she feels confident now that she will find her perfect fit when the time comes.</p>
<p>sopranomtmom: our daughter is a soprano who is an MT freshman at Oklahoma City University. I can promise you they do learn to mix and belt in a very healthy way. They offer a wide variety of musicals and operas to be a part of so there should be something for most voice types there. For example, this Fall they have done 9 to 5 (more pop style voices), Violet (mix) and Street Scene (more classical). They also are doing several different short operas or operettas and Spelling Bee as well. I can’t remember all of the shows they have on tap for next semester but I know one is South Pacific which is one of the more classic pieces of musical theater. If you have any questions about OCU, please feel free to ask. So far, our daughter adores everything about her school. She can’t imagine training anywhere else.</p>
<p>My daughter is a lyric coloratura soprano who is auditioning for MT this year. My friend thought this thread was me! My D has the same roles as your daughter and her dream role is Christine! She will also audition for vocal performance at three schools as well. I will keep you posted on how it goes for her.</p>
<p>Princessjpmom it sounds like our girls have much in common! My daughter is still a couple of years away from auditions so I would very much like to hear about your experiences with the process this year. I will be following you closely and rooting for your daughter. Best of luck to her as she goes through this process! Thank you for sharing your journey!</p>
<p>Your D sounds similar to mine. Her #1 passion is MT, but she also loves classical singing, and is also a soprano. She auditioned for mostly MT programs last year, but also included 3 vocal performance programs in her list of schools (like Princesssjpmom’s D). Her dream role is, of course - Christina in Phantom of the Opera! D found that many schools really loved the classical voice, but she also does well with belting and is improving her mixing. As vvnstar mentioned, OCU does MANY shows a year, both musicals and operas. D was accepted at OCU into both the MT and VP programs, so could have double majored there. My oldest D is a senior at OCU (a music ed and violin performance major, not MT), and she loves the school. She has a roommate who is currently double majoring in both MT and VP there, and it is VERY intense, according to her! So if your D is very ambitious and also uncertain which way to go, she might want to apply to OCU for both MT and VP and see what happens. Our younger MT D opted NOT to attend there, but VP was more of a “back-up” plan for her, in case she couldn’t get into any of the MT programs on her list! She did love their 3-week summer MT program several years back…and of course they offer a BM, not a BFA MT degree, if that matters to your D at all.</p>
<p>Schools that seem to like a classically trained voice/have voice focused training that you might want to consider:
Baldwin-Wallace
Penn State
NYU Steinhard
Carnegie Mellon
Belmont
OCU
Michigan
I’m sure there are many others so everyone please add suggestions - these are ones we found to be favorable to classical voice training during our search.</p>
<p>adding the BM in Music Theatre in the School of Music at James Madison. Students in the BM program take some classes in acting, musical theatre, and dance with the students in the auditioned BA program in the School of Theatre & Dance, but their vocal training is more classically focused. All students may audition for operas, musicals, and plays.</p>
<p>sopranomtmom, I think you answered your own question! If your daughter is in demand for the traditional Broadway shows in community theater, she will continue to be in demand for those shows as long as they keep being produced. And there certainly are more modern shows that have roles for a classical soprano too, as I’m sure you know! But it sounds like it could “type” her out at some schools if they already have enough with her voice type. Just like anything else, they can only take so many of a certain “type.” Everyone needs to remember this on rejection day :(.</p>