We’re doing a series that celebrates some of the very best voices for their vocal ranges, with a primary focus on (but not limited to!) theatre. Many will be well-known, while others you may not have heard of (until now). Hopefully, these lists will showcase a wide variety within the vocal classifications, to show there is no single way to create beautiful art!

Starting off, here are 10 sopranos that are glorious gifts to the world!

Last October, I had the chance to review Diary of a Madman, an engaging one-person show based on the short story by Nikolai Gogol, and adapted and performed by the brilliant actor Ilia Volok. At the time, I considered it to be one of the best shows – and certainly the most memorable one-person show – I had seen in 2017. Now, in the wake of its initial run’s critical acclaim and box office success, the show is moving to the John Cullum Theatre at the American Theatre of Actors for an Off-Broadway limited engagement.

There has been a lot of speculation over whether actors and actresses should be publicly voicing support for the “#Metoo” movement, which started as a way of raising awareness to the pervasive sexual harassment (or worse) in our society.  Many believe that entertainers should do just that, entertain, and stay out of social or political commentary.

Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice wrote EVITA (partially) because Tim Rice was obsessed with Evita’s face on a postage stamp as a kid. One of their source materials was The Woman with the Whip (though never credited as such? Typical.), which was written by someone who was born in Argentina, had neither met Evita or had any basis for her “sources.” Why is this depiction of Eva Péron the most notable and given the most priority?

On behalf of OnStage Blog, I had the pleasure of speaking with two of the stars of Jersey Boys. Nicolas Dromard portrays Tommy DeVito, the Four Seasons guitarist that made most of the band’s business decisions in its early days. Mark Edwards plays Nick Massi, the deep-voiced Four Seasons bassist, who has his own take on how things really went in the early days. Both Dromard and Massi look and the sound the part, and both had some fun yet inspiring responses to contribute.

In this field, rejection is common. Sometimes we blow an audition. Sometimes we drop the ball on an interview. Sometimes we get the job and make a mistake…and lose that job. Often in these cases, the blame is on us. We might not have prepared well enough, focused well enough, paid close enough attention, or done enough research. These times are hard, but them’s the breaks. If you don’t do the work, you don’t get (or keep) the job.

The entertainment industry is rough, man. We actors pound the pavement day after day to book one job, but you know what? It’s totally worth it. However, after some speculation, I began to wonder what Casting Directors could do to help us actors book that job more easily? What can they do to make our audition experience less stressful? They give us do’s and don’ts of what they need from us in the room. What if we did the same for them?

I have noticed something that is becoming a larger problem. It's a virus that seems to be creeping into the communities these local theatre inhabit which, I feel, can lead to catastrophic results. It's called complicity. 

Two days ago, when responding to a tweet regarding a potential National tour of Groundhog Day, composer Tim Minchin stated that, unfortunately, plans for the tour had been scrapped. 

The weight and overall health of performers is something that is under constant scrutiny. I've written in the past about the pressures to stay thin in order to look like a more desirable candidate for a gig. Unfortunately, that pressure can lead to catastrophic results such as eating disorders and drug abuse.