In the movie soundtrack of Evita, in the song "High Flying Adored," there is a key change as Evita/Madonna takes over the singing from Che/Antonio. I had heard they had to change some of the ranges and music for Madonna, who is generally a weaker singer than most Broadway divas (let the hate mail begin).
I had an original cast recording years ago. Back in the Dark Ages when you listened to music on vinyl. So I can't compare it with the original. It's a sudden and jarring change, I can't see that it makes musical sense, and must have been done to accommodate Madonna's voice.
Anyone?
Oh -- and this came up as the LTR returned from his powerlifting competition in Charlottesville. Powerlifting is for straight men what figure skating is for gay men. Powerlifting is the most red-state, testosterone-laden event imaginable. Most of the guys (who fall in the "bear" category) put on elaborate shows of testosterone before a lift, like flexing and screaming at the weights. Some also snort ammonia before a lift. When I first saw it I thought they were doing poppers. I briefly considered becoming a participant in the sport until the LTR told me what was really happening. Fortunately, the LTR is more low key, and though not the only gay powerlifter out there, he is definately in the smallest of minorities.
He still managed to lift a personal best -- 10 pounds heavier on the bench than last year, when he set the state record for his age/weight class in Virginia. Which means he likely set the record again this year.
At any rate, as we were driving home, we were listening and singing along to the Evita soundtrack. I looked at him and said, "honey, I guarantee you are the only powerlifter driving home from the competition singing show tunes." He agreed.
But that's when I heard the key change and wondered about it.
5 comments:
I don't own the original B'Way cast album, and I just have the movie on DVD, but I remember hearing at the time the movie was released that several numbers were transposed for the Madonna. I thought it was funny at the time because she was supposedly "born for" the role. I thought "What about Patti Lupone (B'Way's original Evita) or Elaine Paige (London's) or even Florence Lacey (the woman who put in more B'Way performances as Evita than anyone else) for that matter."
Florence works at Signature in Arlington a lot now, and I talked with her once about the new key signatures in the movie. She was very nice about the whole thing.
Nobody ever writes songs down for me, dammit. In my life, the solution always seems to be to cast somebody else. Not that I'm bitter!
I don't own the original B'Way cast album, and I just have the movie on DVD, but I remember hearing at the time the movie was released that several numbers were transposed for the Madonna. I thought it was funny at the time because she was supposedly "born for" the role. I thought "What about Patti Lupone (B'Way's original Evita) or Elaine Paige (London's) or even Florence Lacey (the woman who put in more B'Way performances as Evita than anyone else) for that matter."
Florence works at Signature in Arlington a lot now, and I talked with her once about the new key signatures in the movie. She was very nice about the whole thing.
Nobody ever writes songs down for me, dammit. In my life, the solution always seems to be to cast somebody else. Not that I'm bitter
Weaker singer?? While I am not musically inclined and don't really know exactly what you speak of, I think that to claim Madonna is a 'weaker' singer than most Broadway divas is a little unfair. While I have no argument that Patti or Elaine have much broader ranges and excel at what they do, it doesn't seem like the right statement to say that she is a weaker singer just because her range is more limited. As you know, Madonna is a pop singer and she did expand her range somewhat for the movie, but I don't think she'll ever be as versatile as Patti. I do believe that if Patti had been in the movie version, it would not have been as successful or as talked about without Madonna. Some people might argue that the movie wasn't successful, but it did well overall considering how avant garde the movie was at the time.
Madonna indeed has a "weak" voice. She is not a broadway Diva - she is a business woman who performs. As much as I adore her, I confess, I have thought this to be true for years. This does not - in my mind - equate to lack of range. She simply cannot crank like a true Diva. As for the movie, I loved it - I own it as well as the sound track. Now if only I could get a certain AD to put some Evita music into a DCDD program...
There is a key change in the original. It's written that way. They changed the keys of the songs in order for Madonna to be able to sing them, but there IS a key change in the original. Source: Listening to the original and being a classically trained singer.
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