Would Ethel have made it today?
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I asked an interesting question in the dressing room recently, which started a very interesting discussion on musicals, changing tastes and whether Broadway’s biggest stars of yesterday would have their incredible careers today.“So, Ethel Merman,” I said, “do you think she’d be as big a star if she came along today?” I immediately answered my own question with “Cuz I sure as hell don’t think so.”
To be honest, I’m not a huge fan of the old chestnut musicals. I’ve always been more interested in theatre that really says something about my life today, and many of the “musicales” are just too showy.
A few cast members disagreed with me. One made the very good point that Ethel’s voice was something you really loved or hated, but made everyone talk. If they’re talking about you, ultimately you’re already somewhat successful because you’re worth talking about, right?
Musical Director, Bruce Kellett, listened to the discussion intently for a moment or two before chiming in to say it would be impossible to tell. “Tastes have changed. Technology has changed.”
Composers wrote their best score for Merman who could belt them effortlessly to the back of any theatre, eight times a week. Today, singers are able to lean (or sometimes rely) on a microphone to be heard by the audience. We’re trained to use our voices differently and the scores are far more “pop-y” which requires a different style.
The next day, Bruce emailed me this bit of discussion. While it really revolves around the recording of performances, I think it’s points are just as salient to the question I asked.
But it’s true… musicals are different today than they were decades ago, and the power of a performance is only really there in the live theatre. Therefore, it’s impossible to tell.
At the end of the day, I think that musical theatre is certainly changing with the times. Although that means we’re getting fewer original stories on the great white way, we also get the incredible theatrical experiences of “Spring Awakening”, “In the Heights” and many other shows that would never have made it back in Ethel’s day.
Your thoughts?
About The Author
Jeremy Crittenden
Jeremy Crittenden is an actor based in Vancouver, BC, Canada. See him onstage next at the Belfry Theatre in Victoria, BC, as "The Stranger" in The Life Inside from November 16th to December 19th.
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Fascinating thoughts Jeremy.
Not much to chime in with, I think you’ve got it covered, but this is what I would say they are still making shows that Ethel Merman could potentially kill in (I don’t know if she could sing it, but I think she’s definitely got the crazy to tackle the mother in Next to Normal and I would love to see her play the ballet teacher in Billy Elliott.) If you’re discussing vocal type I would say that yes, for the most part her voice would not suit many of the shows today… that being said she never got to sing like that, so who knows? Could she have played Donna in Mamma Mia? Who knows?
Something interesting, five years ago or so I sat in on the APPLAUSE! general auditions when they were doing a season comprised of Cole Porter, Rodgers & Hammerstein, etc. it was so great to see people who I mainly singing JRB or other pop-ish type tunes to sing “classics.” I’m not adverse to the chestnuts… Fiddler’s one of my favourite shows and I love seeing good productions of Oklahoma!, Guys & Dolls and Anything Goes (that being said I don’t know that Fighting Chance will be doing them anytime soon.)
Thanks for an interesting morning read!
I totally agree with you Jeremy. I thought the same thing a while back, I’m not a HUGE fan of Ethel’s voice, which is strange considering I prefer ‘odd’ voices (Ellen Green for example, has a ‘love it or hate it’ voice, or Alice Ripley I guess). Shows WERE a lot different back then, South Pacific, Gypsy, etc. And the celebrities were a lot different, when I think of the singers that were famous for theatre back then, they had a lot different voices from what is popular now in theatre (Carol Channing, Angela Lansbury vs. Leah Michelle, Kristin Chenoweth). While I don’t care who sings them, but more what they are about. Like what you said, Spring Awakening was such a masterpiece that wasn’t suitable for Broadway 30 years ago. RENT is another good example, Next To Normal, shows that act more like a movie. Shows that play with your heart and your mind, rather then just making you tap your foot and sway your head. Like you, I much prefer modern musicals for their story (or even comedy for that matter… Avenue Q?), but I do enjoy the old musical once and a while. The old shows with a big score. (Mmm West Side Story).
So basically I typed all that out to say I agree with you entirely.