Company

[ali973]

I've been thinking of a few things:

1-Was Tick Tock in the first preview? That was the only performance I saw, and from the way Tic-Tock is being described, I could swear I never saw this scene.

2-Apparently Tic-Tock is not performed when Rosalie is not on. Do we have any days that Rosalie scheduled off?

3-I've been told keys were lowered for Rosalie.

4-Rumor mill: There's something going on between Mel and Patti. A lot of petty passive-aggressive cattiness from what I hear.

[LaLuPone]

Patti did an interview with Vogue recently where they asked her if she’d ever seen Mel in Bake Off and she replied something like “yes I’ve seen it in the past, but I don’t remember Mel in it at all” which I thought seemed a bit catty!

[karloscar]

I'd imagine the keys for Rosalie have been raised rather than lowered. Unless she's a natural baritone!

[will]

I was at a workshop with Joel Fram, the MD of Company, last week (best lecture of my life really), and he mentioned that he had been specifically adjusting the keys of the songs to sound best in Rosalie’s voice—I think ‘Being Alive’ was the one he specifically mentioned.

[Deleted]

Nov 26, 2018 9:47:25 GMT LaLuPone said:

Patti did an interview with Vogue recently where they asked her if she’d ever seen Mel in Bake Off and she replied something like “yes I’ve seen it in the past, but I don’t remember Mel in it at all” which I thought seemed a bit catty!

[jampot]

Was at the sat matinee...loved it and will go again..However one 10min+ tech stoppage and an annoying buzzing overhead speaker throughout..Kinda like mobile phone interference..

[Being Alive]

I was at the SAturday at the end of the first full week. Tick Tock was not in (Rosalie was not on) but i was told that wasn't why. It was being swapped in and out of the production in previews all the time.

[Deleted]

Nov 26, 2018 11:15:06 GMT jampot said:

Was at the sat matinee...loved it and will go again..However one 10min+ tech stoppage and an annoying buzzing overhead speaker throughout..Kinda like mobile phone interference..

I had what sounded like something similar at the National once. It was someone’s hearing aid interfering with the system for people with hearing aids.

[MoreLife]

Nov 26, 2018 9:42:59 GMT ali973 said:

I've been thinking of a few things:

1-Was Tick Tock in the first preview? That was the only performance I saw, and from the way Tic-Tock is being described, I could swear I never saw this scene.

2-Apparently Tic-Tock is not performed when Rosalie is not on. Do we have any days that Rosalie scheduled off?

3-I've been told keys were lowered for Rosalie.

4-Rumor mill: There's something going on between Mel and Patti. A lot of petty passive-aggressive cattiness from what I hear.

1 - indeed it wasn't.  I thought they were still workshopping it and it just wasn't as ready as the rest in time for the first preview... probably, since it doesn't really progress the story and is less essential than other numbers and transitions, it was "sacrificed" during the rehearsal process in favour of the rest of the show.   

3 - keys that make a song sit well in a tenor voice do not work equally well for a mezzo/soprano - Jeremy Jordan sings 'She used to be mine' a fifth above - a fourth below Sara Bareilles/Jessie Mueller (I'm talking in terms of keys, he sings in C major, while they sing in F major)

[showtoones]

Has Rosalie only missed 1 performance so far?

[Deleted]

Nov 26, 2018 9:49:46 GMT karloscar said:

I'd imagine the keys for Rosalie have been raised rather than lowered. Unless she's a natural baritone!

Bobby, as a male, hits something like top G or A which, if she was just singing up an octave would be very high for a female and probably beyond all but the most extreme belt (I’m pretty sure Evita gets close). To get a similar vocal weight you might need to take it down a fourth or fifth. So they are changed but lowered in comparison to the male version.

[Deleted]

Nov 26, 2018 18:10:23 GMT showtoones said:

Has Rosalie only missed 1 performance so far?

Yep, just the one. shame it was so early in previews but great she has kept on the whole time and that Jennifer got her moment too considering whilst she is great, she has a somewhat thankless role.

[karloscar]

Nov 26, 2018 19:19:27 GMT @cardinalpirelli said:

Nov 26, 2018 9:49:46 GMT karloscar said:

I'd imagine the keys for Rosalie have been raised rather than lowered. Unless she's a natural baritone!

Bobby, as a male, hits something like top G or A which, if she was just singing up an octave would be very high for a female and probably beyond all but the most extreme belt (I’m pretty sure Evita gets close). To get a similar vocal weight you might need to take it down a fourth or fifth. So they are changed but lowered in comparison to the male version.

Yeah, but she's singing at a higher pitch than any male Bobby therefore it's a higher not a lower key. It's all relative.

[Deleted]

Nov 26, 2018 20:41:24 GMT karloscar said:

Nov 26, 2018 19:19:27 GMT @cardinalpirelli said:

Bobby, as a male, hits something like top G or A which, if she was just singing up an octave would be very high for a female and probably beyond all but the most extreme belt (I’m pretty sure Evita gets close). To get a similar vocal weight you might need to take it down a fourth or fifth. So they are changed but lowered in comparison to the male version.

Yeah, but she's singing at a higher pitch than any male Bobby therefore it's a higher not a lower key. It's all relative.

Pitch and key are not equivalent.

[orchestrator]

Nov 26, 2018 21:02:33 GMT @cardinalpirelli said:

Nov 26, 2018 20:41:24 GMT karloscar said:

Yeah, but she's singing at a higher pitch than any male Bobby therefore it's a higher not a lower key. It's all relative.

Pitch and key are not equivalent.

Is G major higher or lower than D major? Higher or lower than C major?

[will]

Nov 26, 2018 21:42:22 GMT orchestrator said:

Nov 26, 2018 21:02:33 GMT @cardinalpirelli said:

Pitch and key are not equivalent.

Is G major higher or lower than D major? Higher or lower than C major?

One of those rare and amazing moments where the username definitely doesn’t match the comment! In answer to your question, I believe octaves are really important when thinking about this as, for example, you might have G major after F major when you are talking about the same octave (so G major is higher) but then you could have F major an octave higher and G major an octave lower, leaving F major almost two octaves higher than the G major. So I think it depends on what octave you are talking about too.

[Deleted]

For what it's worth, Dean Jones sings Being Alive on the original cast recording in D, Rosalie sings it in A*. In this instance a transposition to A would have been a shift 5 semitones down as opposed to 7 semitones up. If they had chosen to shift Being Alive 7 semitones up, they'd have probably needed a tank of helium onstage for each performance.

*From what I can find on YouTube. Which includes this marvellous video I didn't even know existed. This will keep me going until the cast recording release.

[Someone in a tree]

Thanks for sharing the vid. I also did not know it existed.

RC sounds great, I wish she sang the song that well the night the night I was there

[Deleted]

Nov 27, 2018 7:28:40 GMT Someone in a tree said:

Thanks for sharing the vid. I also did not know it existed.

RC sounds great, I wish she sang the song that well the night the night I was there

She does indeed. It is a very different performance to that found in Company. This came from a concert at the Royal Albert Hall at the start of 2018, well before Company was in rehearsals so there was no influence of the developed characterisation of Bobbie. 
As this version of the show was developed and Craig got into the depths of who Bobbie is (in this version of the show) I believe she found a different characterisation and thus developed a different performance for the song albeit a little more toned down but more suited to the piece as a whole. Also one more sustainable for 8 performances/week for 6 months as opposed to a one-off concert.

[BurlyBeaR]

Does anyone find Being Alive sounds very similar to Take Me To The World?

[orchestrator]

Nov 27, 2018 1:00:08 GMT will said:

Nov 26, 2018 21:42:22 GMT orchestrator said:

Is G major higher or lower than D major? Higher or lower than C major?

One of those rare and amazing moments where the username definitely doesn’t match the comment! In answer to your question, I believe octaves are really important when thinking about this as, for example, you might have G major after F major when you are talking about the same octave (so G major is higher) but then you could have F major an octave higher and G major an octave lower, leaving F major almost two octaves higher than the G major. So I think it depends on what octave you are talking about too.

Which was my point.

Here’s a bit of fun. Yes, both sonically and graphically it’s rather “in your face”:

[d'James]

Mellie did a podcast from inside the Theatre last Saturday. Don’t listen if you don’t like Mel.

itunes.apple.com/gb/podcast/the-mel-giedroyc-show/id1159763779?mt=2&i=1000424474511

[Rory]

[alece10]

Nov 29, 2018 21:17:25 GMT Rory said:

Oh we've all got lost on Hampstead Heath haven't we?
Hard to find your way around in the dark.

[ellie1981]

Saw the matinee yesterday and really enjoyed it. Jonathan Bailey is clearly the standout, and not just because he gets the funniest material. It's probably the least Sondheimy Sondheim show I've seen (I haven't seen many) and I can't even think to imagine how Bobbi was written as a male character as it fits so well as a female. Speaking as an ever-single woman in her mid-30s, I really related to it!