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

FUTURE RESEARCH IMPLICATIONS 
While extensive, this performance and studio guide has focused on available and financially 
prominent productions or materials. Thus, the works represented in this project have been found to be 
heavily created and supported by white men; the most prominently featured female writer is the lyricist 
Lynn Ahrens. Were the sheet music available publicly for Anais Mitchell’s Hadestown, her composition 
“Hey Little Songbird” featuring Patrick Page’s spoken double-low G (G
1
)
1
would have been featured in 
substantive depth. Marginalized communities of color are rarely found as writers of repertoire in this 
document, but are featured prominently in the performers of these works, in particular as African-
American voices (see Appendix A). While composers, lyricists, and librettists from these communities 
have recently seen an uptick in their visibility within the field and pre-professional training circles, 
finding legal means and access to scores beyond those published by big online or print distributors is still 
a challenge. Furthermore, the visible and successful Broadway productions like Passing Strange, 
Motown: The Musical, Ain’t Too Proud to Beg which celebrate current and past Black popular music 
artists simply do not feature music that can be adequately excerpted for low male voice study or solo 
performance. 
I look forward to expanding my knowledge of the catalogues of composers like Michael R. 
Jackson (2020 Pulitzer Prize for his musical, Strange Loop), Terrence Blanchard (Fire Shut Up My Bones, 
delayed Metropolitan Opera debut in 2021) while actively uncovering the work of people of color, 
women, and the LGBTQ community to find additional musical theatre pieces for the low male voice.
Additionally, as the fusion of opera with popular styles (or musical theatre) continue, new repertoire may 
continue to be created that asks for both classical and contemporary techniques to be exhibited within one 
work, at times within a single piece.
1
Patrick Page, “Hey Little Songbird,” track 13 on Hadestown (Original Broadway Cast Recording), Sing
It Again LLC., 2019, Amazon Music streaming audio, 
https://music.amazon.com/albums/B07SHJR3KN?trackAsin=B07SKLN381&ref=dm_sh_6a8c-ab2c-dmcp-4b07-
cdfb5&musicTerritory=US&marketplaceId=ATVPDKIKX0DER. 

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One can use both the repertoire selection guidelines and the style song charts for academic or 
individual score study, and I cannot stress enough the influences which led to their creation. This includes 
the classes at Indiana University, the works of Carol Kimball, Dr. Christopher Arneson, and the 
Comprehensive Musicianship through Performance model, all which placed emphasis on an analysis of 
musical concept which informs style and seeks to bridge musicianship with an application of technique. 

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