JakeHartge

VarsitySingers

Period6

CarouselattheLyricOpera

OnApril24th,IwentdowntowntoChicagotoseeRodgersandHammersteins

Carousel.Theproductionwashuge,withaspinningCarousel,ahuge20footpier,andmassive

backdrops.Theshowlastedalittlelongerthan3hours,includingtheintermission.Itstarredall

NewYork/MetropolitanOperastars,including:LauraOsnes,StevenPasquale,andDenyce

Graves.

LauraOsnes,whostarredasJulieJordan,wasoutstanding.Hertonewasvery

disneyesque,withherfalsettoandherfullvoicesoindistinguishableitmadeherrangesound

huge.Itcomesasnosurprisethatshesingslikeadisneyprincess,especiallybecauseofherrole

inCinderellaonBroadway.Hertonewaswarmwhentherewasafasttempoedsong,whileher

toneswitchedtoextremelyrichanddarkduringherballadafterhercostar,StevenPasquale,

dies(YoullNeverWalkAlone).Stevensvoicestayedconsistentthewholeshow.Histone

wasverynonchalant,ashisbodylanguagealsoshowed.Hissoftpalatewasobviouslylifted

throughouttheshow,becausehehadwarm,openvowelsevenwhenhismouthwasbarelyopen.

DenyceGraves,havingcamefromtheMetropolitanOpera,isawholedifferentstory.Hervowel

placementwasfartherbackthanhercostars,andhervowelswerehuge,sobigattimes,the

wordsshewassingingwereindistinguishable.Eachstarhadvowelplacementandtonethatfit

thecharacterandmoodtheywere/werein.

Thecommitmenttoroleswasextremelywelldone.AfterStevenPasqualescharacter,

BillyBigelow,stabshimselfanddies,Julie(Laura)isseencryingoverhisbody.SinceIwasin

thesixthrow,thetearsrollingdownhercheekswerevisible.Besidestheaudibleweeping,the

tearsonlysoldtheroleandaffectedtheaudiencemore.Nettie(Denyce)triestoconsoleher,and

whenshereachesBilly,isjustasupset.ShegoesontosingYoullNeverWalkAlone,andit

isnttearsthatmakesusfeelemotion,itsthewayinwhichshesingsit.Shestandsinthevery

frontofthestage,andbeltsoutasongwithpleadingeyes.Herbodylanguagemadetheaudience

leanintoeverywordshesang,aseachdeceptivecadencerippedattheaudienceshearts.Igauge

aperformancebasedonhowmanytimesIfindmyselfthinkingaboutsomethingotherthanthe

show,andthatdidnthappenonce,Iwascompletelyhypnotizedbytheamazingperformances.

Thearticulationoftheleadswasstellar,forthemostpart.Laurausedherdisneyesque

wayofsingingtomakeeachsyllablecrispandeasilyunderstandable.Fromstarringinsomany

Broadwayshows,sheknowshowcleanandcrispwordsshouldbe,andcarriedthatknowledgeto

Chicago.StevenPasqualeswordswerealsoclearlyaudible,thankstotheliftingofhissoft

palatewhenhismouthwasntopenasfarasitmaybeshouldhavebeen.SinceDenyceGraves

wasmoreusedtobeingontheOperascenethantheMusicalTheatrescene,wasmuchharderto

understandtoanuntrainedear.AswevetalkedaboutwithMr.Bramstedt,theconsonantsofthe

wordsshouldcomeasplitsecondbeforethedownbeat.Toanaivelistener,itsoundslikeshes

onlysinginghugevowelsandthatcouldcompromisethecomprehensionofthelyric.Overall

though,herdictionwasclearenoughtocatchthegistofwhatRodgersandHammersteincrafted

somarvelously.

MyuncleistheheadofthepropdivisionattheLyric,andhegavemydateandIatourof

thewholebuildingbeforetheshow.WewentonthespinningCarouselandwalkedonthe

20footpier,alongwithseeingtheorchestrapitandcostume,wig,makeup,andpropstorage.

Alongwithstellarperformancesbyeveryonefromtheleadstotheensembletothe57piece

orchestrathatwasaccompanyingthem,thiswaybyfarthebestproductionIhaveseentodate.