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

 
Vocal Considerations 
Musical Style. Marc Shaiman remarks during the workshop process that the style of this piece 
was inspired by Frank Sinatra’s “High Hopes”
7
and as a result his composition features a big-band 
arrangement of a rollicking, swinging, duet
8
. As the lower voice in this duet, Tom Wopat sings his verse 
in E major, a third below the key of G in which Aaron Tveit begins the piece. The melody is full of large 
7
Leakaplan, “Aaron Tveit and Tom Wopat – Butter Outta Cream (Catch Me If You Can),” April 9, 2011, 
video, 4:45, https://youtu.be/csyhr-dck84. 
8
Wopat, “Butter Outa Cream”. 

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53 
leaps and chromaticism, but short note lengths and phrases shortened often to two measures due to 
marked pauses.
9
Range. This piece has one of the widest ranges of any low voice repertoire that was researched in 
this study, spanning over two octaves. The only piece studied with similar range requirements was “I’ll 
Cover You (Reprise)”, a gospel ballad from Jonathan Larson’s RENT. Video of a workshop performance 
of this piece appears to indicate that the high G#
4
(produced in almost a growl on the Broadway 
recording
10
) was not an early melodic choice, as the melody sung by Wopat was an ascent C#
4
-D#
4
-E
4
for 
“up in queens” as opposed to the noted descent G#
4
-F#
4
-E
4
.
11
Vocalism. (F
2
– G#
4
) Tom Wopat’s delivery contains a plethora of characteristics identified by 
Kim Chandler as fundamental to defining mainstream vocal styles
12
. These include glottal onsets, scoops, 
‘cry’, ‘twangy’ tone, growls, Americanized vowels, and more.
13
It is important in the development of an 
individual’s jazz-influenced style to listen to predecessors like Ella Fitzgerald, Frank Sinatra and Mel 
Tormé to practice imitating choices of phrasing, tone color, and delivery. It is also critical to attempt a 
conversational delivery where a swing feel is evident but does not overpower a performer’s natural 
inclination in delivering text and emotion. The highest range of this piece features opportunities for a low 
voice to experiment with convergent resonator shape and belt when supported in unison by the tenor 
voice, while the nature of the text encourages exploration of a character voice to imitate the personified 
animals in the story. 
Songs from the Show. “Little Boy Be a Man” (Duet). 
Songs in a Similar Style. “One of a Kind” from Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas! 
(2006 Musical), “A Lovely Night”, duet from La La Land (2016 Film). 
9
Shaiman, “Butter Outa Cream,” 69-81. 
10
Tom Wopat, “Butter Outta Cream.” 
11
Leakaplan, “Aaron Tveit and Tom Wopat.” 
12
Ibid. 
13
Kim Chandler, “Teaching Popular Music Styles,” in Teaching Singing in the 21
st
 Century, eds. Scott 
Harrison and Jessica O’Bryan (New York: Springer, 2014), 36-37. 

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54 
Table 6.3. “Out of the Sun”