Low male voice repertoire in contemporary musical theatre: a studio and performance guide of selected songs 1996-2020 by

Chapter 2:
 
MUSICAL
 
THEATRE,
 
VOICE
 
PEDAGOGY
 
AND
 
SCHOOLING 
Following the success of the rock opera Hair in 1968, amplification of the voice for the stage in 
musicals became the norm, ushering in new era for the art form. Musical theatre continues to reflect the 
popular song genres of each decade, which has led to the heavy influence of the pop/rock musical 
featured prominently in today’s canon.
1
The contemporary sound emphasizes “the enunciation of text 
rather than the beauty of the voice”.
2
This is in juxtaposition to the elements of bel canto singing that 
heavily influenced the composition and aesthetic of 20th century operetta and Golden Age musical theatre 
repertoire. The evolution of musical theatre during the 70s, 80s and beyond was paired with the growth 
of teaching studios and methods which sought to teach these “nonclassical” styles now expected on the 
Broadway stage. Contemporary commercial music (CCM) styles were being taught (but without the 
moniker) in New York City during this time through pioneers such as Jo Estill, Helena W. Monbo, Robert 
Edwin, and Jeannette LoVetri. Still, it was only at the turn of the century that CCM vocal pedagogy 
methods (and teaching systems) began to proliferate and reach a wider audience both in private and 
university program settings.
3
Within the Contemporary Musical Theatre umbrella lie different styles of music and types of 
vocalism which bring a variety of obstacles and necessities within a student’s vocal training. It is here 
where several CCM pedagogues seek to delineate technique and style. Advancements in voice science 
support the outlook that a very different technique may be required to achieve stylistic accuracy across 
contemporary genres, rather than an “it’s all the same technique-the only difference is style” argument 
made by more classically oriented vocal technicians. It is important to also note that the demands of 
musical theatre performers make an educator’s approach to teaching authenticity over a variety of styles a 
1
Karen Hall, So You Want to Sing Musical Theatre (Lanham: Rowman & Littlefield, 2014), 64. 
2
Ibid., 80. 
3
Matthew Hoch, ed., So You Want to Sing CCM (Lanham: Rowman & Littlefield, 2018), 3-11. 

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necessity in pre-professional training as opposed to having a student who wants to learn a specific genre 
(say, country) and seeks out a teacher. While there are now a wealth of diverse styles represented on 
Broadway and in theatres across the nation, they are still distinctly tied to characteristics of the Musical 
Theatre performing industry which include but are not limited to: actors “inhabiting dramatic situations, 
embodying specific characters, performing multiple shows per week, dancing while singing,”
4
et cetera. 
There exists a growing amount of research, published guides and dissertations which seek to 
illuminate the use of musical theatre in the classical voice studio. Additionally, series such as The 
Singer’s Musical Theatre Anthology, Alfred’s Singer’s Library of Musical Theatre, Sondheim for Singers, 
Bernstein for Singers, provide historical insight and access to original key and transposed repertoire from 
a wide range of composers and lyricists for the private voice studio and performance. While newer 
volumes include more recent works, the above compilations include works from the earliest decades of 
musical theatre through the 2010s. More recent series/published compilations like 21st Century Musical 
Theatre, Contemporary Theatre Songs – Songs from the 21st Century, Contemporary Musical Theatre for 
Teens offer a catalogue of works spanning either the last twenty or thirty years. Each of these series split 
volumes by gender or voice type; none of these series features an independent Bass voice edition. Rarely 
does the tessitura of material within these collections ask for sustained or frequent singing below D
3
. In 
reviewing this material, it is evident that there exists only a smattering of musical theatre bass specific 
repertoire accessible to educators and performers from works published within the last thirty years (see 
Appendix C).
Musicnotes.com, SheetMusicPlus.com, and SheetMusicDirect.com are all online retailers who 
have a large amount of the sheet music found in previously mentioned anthologies available for 
individual purchase, at times with the ability to transpose before printing the material. It should also be 
noted that websites for online and self-publication such as ContemporaryMusicalTheatre.com and 
NewMusicalTheatre.com now host catalogues with search variables such as range or voice classification 
4
Hoch, 24-29. 

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9 
for pieces written by today’s musical theatre songwriting teams. Future research should include analysis 
of songs within each website’s catalogue. However, current cost-benefit analysis for access to these 
resources, paired with the production stipulations of this document’s musical selections (as noted in the 
preface) kept these materials from making it into this document. 
In observing professional trends it is evident that professional opera companies and young artist 
programs have begun to increase the amount of musical theatre productions, concerts, and CCM 
requirements of their contracted singers; A and B opera houses program musical theatre (Jesus Christ 
Superstar, West Side Story, Light in the Piazza, Sweeney Todd, Carousel, Sound of Music) as part their 
mainstage seasons, while additionally commissioning contemporary operatic works with influence of 
mariachi, hip-hop, jazz, electronic music, and contemporary musical theatre. The flexibility and vocal 
facility required to be marketable in the changing operatic world now includes categories of music where 
performing under bel canto and operatic aesthetics no longer makes sense. Additionally, the new 
generation of opera singers are required to act and move in ways earlier generations were not; these new 
expectations call for a re-examination of one’s technical training. 
A National Association of Teachers of Singing (NATS) survey which included individuals with 
between one and three academic degrees in voice found that in 2017 “almost 60 percent of the 
professionals surveyed…do not feel their training adequately prepared them for a successful performance 
career.”
5
The quest for a modification of paradigms in teaching voice at the university level can find 
support from independent studio instructors, prominent founders of an array of CCM teaching 
methodologies, and voice pedagogues such as Scott McCoy.
6
Musical theatre is viewed as a “stylistic 
bridge between classical singing and CCM singing” due to the necessity to train in both classical and 
CCM styles for the stage. In addition to the performance-based argument for the inclusion of popular 
5
Norman Spivey and Mary Saunders Barton, Cross-Training in the Voice Studio (San Diego: Plural 
Publishing, 2018), 28. 
6
Elizabeth Benson, Training Contemporary Commercial Singers (Oxford: Compton Publishing, 2020), 17-
18.

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10 
music within classical voice programs, justifications for the integration of popular music into vocal music 
education include efforts to 1) preserve the study of singing 2) reach larger audiences 3) create conditions 
that stimulate learning through cultural and structural means which support student’s interests in non-
European music.
7
Within the CCM pedagogical field, functional training can be used as descriptor of 
techniques that “allow a vocalist to gradually develop mechanical control over any sung sound without 
sacrificing freedom or authenticity,” seek to build muscular habits, and learn “sophisticated vocal and 
physical behavior over time.”
8
When approaching the idea of voice training as one of flexibility, the scope 
of repertoire selection in the studio or programming in performance widens considerably. 
When considering creating a resource of musical theatre repertoire in juxtaposition with my 
decade of training in classical singing methods, it is important to discuss some of the commonalities and 
differences within each art form’s stylistic and pedagogical characteristics. The stylistic elements for 
classical singing (see Table 2.1) and the pedagogical considerations for Musical Theatre voice (see Table 
2.2) include informed statements from pedagogues that consider a genre’s history and evolution, 
respectively. Stylistic considerations within specific musical theatre styles will be expounded upon in 
each repertoire chapter.
Table 2.1. Stylistic Characteristics in Classical and Musical Theatre Voice (Non-treble)