Golden Age musicals are NOT going away. Even if things have changed and some of the themes are problematic, they still have much to offer, vocally and dramatically.
Tag Archives: Golden Age
Revisiting the Why of Golden Age Musicals
In preparation for the upcoming “Finding the Emotional Truth in Golden Age Theater Songs” masterclass with James Valcq on September 2, I thought it was a good time to revisit this blogpost from two years ago. (New additions in brackets] I hear this way too often from people: “Why should I sing golden age music?Continue reading “Revisiting the Why of Golden Age Musicals”
B2W – Meet James Valcq!
It’s 4 weeks till Back To Whatever (aka B2W) and I’d like to take this opportunity to work backwards through the three-day extravaganza and have you meet Thursday’s masterclinician, James Valcq! James is best known as the composer of the Off-Broadway musical The Spitfire Grill (Playwrights Horizons, 2001), which won the Richard Rodgers Production AwardContinue reading “B2W – Meet James Valcq!”
May Musical Challenge!
Awhile back there was a Facebook group called, “There’s more to musical theater than just Wicked, Phantom, and Les Mis.” That was about ten years ago. I think nowadays it’d be “… Hamilton, Dear Evan Hanson, and … still Phantom.” There’s a lot more out there. A lot. So – since we’re all sitting at home,Continue reading “May Musical Challenge!”
Why I don’t teach pop – usually
I was reading a FB post on a teacher group where someone had mentioned that their student was recording some repertoire that was wildly age-inappropriate, both lyrically and vocally. This was repertoire that the parent had chosen but that they wanted help on from the teacher. I don’t teach pop. It’s not that I feelContinue reading “Why I don’t teach pop – usually”
Golden age musicals – why you should bother
I hear this way too often from people: “Why should I sing golden age music? It’s so old-fashioned! I don’t know any of it.” Technique. Today’s musicals tend to be very text-driven, and aren’t necessarily vehicles for mastering things like legato and breath management. (And that doesn’t make them less than, just different.) Revivals areContinue reading “Golden age musicals – why you should bother”