Why Heathers is So Very.

The day I have been anticipating for two months has FINALLY come.  The release date of the Heathers soundtrack.  I have been unhealthily obsessed with some of the things that are happening vocally in this show, and now that the recording is available on iTunes I can post about specifics and you can hear what I'm talking about if you haven't/aren't able to hear it for yourself in person.  If the statement is true: "You are what you eat" (look out for my next post about this theory)  and you're having trouble with contemporary Musical Theatre sounds and/or pop/rock sounds in the context of Musical Theatre then you should DEFINITELY be listening to this one.

These are the reasons why I love it:

You can find every single type of contemporary MT voice.  There's high rock belt, classic belt, contemporary chest mix, … there's everything!

Barrett Wilbert Weed (Veronica) is unreal.  There's nothing "mixy" about her voice which is insane to me because not only does she carry an entire show in a VERY vocally demanding role with MANY songs and not get exhausted by the end but I saw it twice… once in March and once in May and she sounded exactly the same two months later. So in the words of Heathers, there's no damage.  In my mind she also kind of epitomizes the word "alto" which I don't feel like we hear a lot of lately especially with young women roles in Musical Theater so that's refreshing to hear, too. We're constantly being asked for the squeakage which is the total opposite.  And you can literally SEE INTO her mouth; her soft palate is always really high so she's definitely not utilizing the whole nasality thing I'm always preaching about… Lower larynx, high soft palate, thick folds… Her stamina is unbelievable.
Listen for specifics.  Listen to the syllables "ful" and "day" and then stop the video at 1:22.



Then listen for "got" "price" "gonna" and "night".  She sounds most resonant on those open vowels.  It's amazing!  Also listen to "Dead Girl Walking" on the soundtrack which is my fave.



Speaking of squeakage, you can then hear Elle Mc Lemore (Heather McNamara) in the second act with Lifeboat which is more of the Elle Woods sound we're more recently accustomed to/being expected to produce.  That's a great example of chest mix.  So listen for that one.

Then there's also Katie Ladner (Martha Dunstock) who comes out of nowhere in the second act with this outrageous voice and shows off some rock belting in last few seconds of her song… on a particularly difficult syllable….so listen to "Kindergarten Boyfriend"

THEN there's my favorite overtone stuff (aka aliens at the studio) which can be heard by a GUY (yes, this blog has guys in it) and there's an awesome example within "Freeze Your Brain."  This is the sound that a lot of guys are looking for when they're approaching the "Jeremy Jordan"...  It's a little difficult to describe but it's like a monotone call or like a flatline at the hospital. But it's not boring to us out here at all.  Take a listen to this example…especially for the word "brain" both times.



 It's got everything we're all working towards in one show.  And it's fun!  And just so you know, there is currently a Groupon out for the show, too… so if you need it here is the link!