Summer is approaching, and if you remember last summer, which some of us do, you’ll remember Legally Blonde: The Search for Elle Woods. (Or something along that line.) It was a crappy show, but somehow, it managed to pull my whole family together, and we were glued to the TV every Monday night. The winner of the show was a girly girl named Bailey Hanks, which didn’t really surprise me. She seemed to have an edge.
But the point I’m trying to make is on one of the episodes, they declared that a number from Legally Blonde: The Musical (So Much Better) was the hardest song to sing on Broadway.
Here is the Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3WT4HR_rDJU
While I was hearing that I was rather shocked, but I have really bad delayed reactions, so I’m not commenting on it until nearly a year later. Like any outstanding journalist I decided to poll people who were active in musical theatre as to what they thought the actual hardest Broadway show tune is, and here is what I got. And I will say that any of these songs listed here are more difficult than “So Much Better,” from Legally Blonde.
Male Vocal Numbers:
Flying Home from Songs for a New World -------------by Jason Robert Brown
Moving Too Fast from The Last Five Years ------------by Jason Robert Brown
Every Other Song from The Last Five Years------------by Jason Robert Brown
**And yes I actually mean every other song, that isn’t a title.
Female Vocal Numbers:
Your Daddy’s Son from Ragtime---------------by Stephen Flaherty and Lynn Aherns
Le Jazz Hot from Victor Victoria --------------by Henry Mancini and Leslie Bricusse
Okay, so not all of these songs have been performed on Broadway, but they’re still show tunes.
QATFYG: So if you haven’t answered, what is the hardest song on Broadway? Isn’t Jason Robert Brown the man? And have you heard Songs for a New World yet? You should.
Jason Robert Brown
But the point I’m trying to make is on one of the episodes, they declared that a number from Legally Blonde: The Musical (So Much Better) was the hardest song to sing on Broadway.
Here is the Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3WT4HR_rDJU
While I was hearing that I was rather shocked, but I have really bad delayed reactions, so I’m not commenting on it until nearly a year later. Like any outstanding journalist I decided to poll people who were active in musical theatre as to what they thought the actual hardest Broadway show tune is, and here is what I got. And I will say that any of these songs listed here are more difficult than “So Much Better,” from Legally Blonde.
Male Vocal Numbers:
Flying Home from Songs for a New World -------------by Jason Robert Brown
Moving Too Fast from The Last Five Years ------------by Jason Robert Brown
Every Other Song from The Last Five Years------------by Jason Robert Brown
**And yes I actually mean every other song, that isn’t a title.
Female Vocal Numbers:
Your Daddy’s Son from Ragtime---------------by Stephen Flaherty and Lynn Aherns
Le Jazz Hot from Victor Victoria --------------by Henry Mancini and Leslie Bricusse
Okay, so not all of these songs have been performed on Broadway, but they’re still show tunes.
QATFYG: So if you haven’t answered, what is the hardest song on Broadway? Isn’t Jason Robert Brown the man? And have you heard Songs for a New World yet? You should.
Jason Robert Brown
defying gravity from wicked. the only song I've ever heard from wicket but DAMN.
ReplyDeleteAh, good choice!
ReplyDeleteAnother one I heard someone say was Dancing Through Life also from Wicked M & L by Stephen Schwartz.
Dancing through life isn't that difficult vocally
Delete....I have no idea. O_O Nader, Nader?
Deleteuh, also, I don't know why I feel I should share this, but I totally watched The Search for the Next Elle Woods; I saw every episode. I was rooting for the old girl (old = 25).
ReplyDeleteooh, I'm on a roll now, if anyone cares: I wonder if they're taking into account how much dancing is going on during that number? Because with like, Your Daddy's Son, from Ragtime, it's an insanely difficult song (it was written for Audra MacDonald), but it's just Sarah, standing in an attic, singing. Isn't that Legally Blonde song crazy with dancing?
ReplyDeletethis is a really popular post. I never watched the show because I always forgot? but that girl's hot. the guy not so much. I have to go now.
ReplyDeleteEverything is taken into account.
ReplyDeleteWhat makes your daddy's son a difficult song is the fact that the vocals need to completely mesh with the background music, which takes a lot of rehearsing.
PS: Yay Audra MacDonald
Referrence: Zara O!
I still can't believe that with all of the research I've done that nobody has yet acknowledged the craziness of "No Good Deed" from Wicked.
ReplyDeleteI generally any song from Phantom of the Opera is quite hard. But I think the actual son Phantom of the Opera - sung by Christine and The Phantom is quite vocally challenging, especially at the end.
ReplyDelete"Confrontation" from "Jekyll and Hyde" is an extremely hard one!!! I sang it for my audition song and it literally started taking my breath away, it was hard!! Luckily, they liked it and I got the the part of Jack on "Into The Woods"
ReplyDeleteI still have nothing to contribute to this conversation.
ReplyDeleteI can sing defying gravity from wicked with no issues.. some of these others are all about having the range and the ability to hold your breath long enough to get everything out... also singing isn't just through the mouth for breathing.. you can breath in through your nose to replenish some of the air if your unable to take in a full breath... you also need to have the ability to push the sound out without running out of breath, which your body can learn to do. I would say hitting the correct pitches, and the timing, and annunciating the words are the most difficult. however, most of these can be corrected through training as long as you have the range to be able to hit everything. ive won karaoke contests singing defying gravity. its always a crowd pleaser and always super fun for me to sing.
ReplyDeleteStill nothing to contribute.
ReplyDelete