Last season, the Metropolitan Opera presented a new production of Così fan tutte relocating Da Ponte’s libretto to Coney Island. Resetting an old opera in a new locale, time, and context isn’t anything new in the opera world. We’ve found Count Almaviva colluding and canoodling in Trump Tower and Scarpia outfitted with a video camera and laptop. This type of adaptation is a form of crossover—a point or place of crossing from one side to the other—and is common in opera.
For singers, “crossover” refers more readily to achieving success in a different field or style—think Lady Gaga singing “The Sound of Music” at the Oscars or Thomas Hampson bringing the music of Cole Porter to audiences worldwide. A high-profile example of this was experienced at the Metropolitan Opera last spring as Broadway star Kelli O’Hara returned to the company’s stage as Despina in the Coney “Così.” Fifteen blocks down on Broadway, Renée Fleming began previews as Nettie Fowler in Carousel at the Imperial Theatre.
There, Fleming sang one of the show’s most enduring songs, “You’ll Never Walk Alone,” eight shows a week for several months, picking up her first Tony nomination. Fleming is, of course, classically trained as is O’Hara, who earned a BM in vocal performance at Oklahoma City University.
Understanding Successful Crossover
Discussing crossover and its related success enhances artistry and marketability. Success is a relative term—benchmarks and results vary. Regardless, vocal flexibility is a critical tool in sustaining a career as a singer and teaching artist. Career highs and lows can feel like peaks and valleys when expectations of success—both short and long term—aren’t clearly defined, recalibrated, and continually explored along the way.
So much is already asked of singers within the traditional idiom of Western opera and classical music, so the idea of expanding the skill set to cross over into traditions, stylistic nuances, and requirements of another idiom can feel daunting—but can also be rewarding. Maintaining a spirit of flexibility and technical agility can better guide and encourage singers to open new doors of interest and, yes, income.
Crossing over isn’t limited to musical theatre and classical vocal music, but these are the genres we’re going to focus on here. Let’s explore how crossover and musical theatre study and performance can help to populate a classical singer’s résumé, while hopefully boosting their learning and earning potential in the following areas.
Exposure
The frequency of musical theatre performances in the United States is significantly larger than of opera. Even in opera houses with extended runs of several weeks, solo performers are onstage only two to three days a week, whereas musical theatre performances occur anywhere from four to eight times per week. The simple reality is that in musical theatre repertoire, a singer can be seen and heard more frequently. In venues where audience members can take video and pictures like Feinstein’s/54 Below in New York City or in other similar cabaret venues across the U.S., permissible social media content can and does boost exposure for performers.
One of the very real benefits of performing musical theatre repertoire for a live audience is the power of analytics. Put social media to good use! A successful example of this is the upcoming Broadway run of the musical Be More Chill, written by musical theatre songwriter Joe Iconis. Sharable recordings and social media helped to usher the show back to an off-Broadway run a few years later, ultimately paving a firmer foundation and fanbase for the show’s upcoming Broadway run in 2019.
Educational Value
For classically trained singers exploring musical theatre crossover, there will be a new group to meet. Focus will diverge from the usual suspects of Schubert and Rossini to a group of new friends to get to know—new poets, lyricists, and composers as well as stylistic requirements and context. New performance and technical practices will begin to emerge, such as singing with a microphone and adjusting your vocalism accordingly. Additionally, there’s a wealth of performers and recordings/videos to research and enjoy.
Happily, this process does not have a classical singer starting from square one. Our classical training prepares us beautifully to more efficiently and thoughtfully digest repertoire. Everything from sight singing to theoretical and musicological analysis is readily at the disposal of a classical singer to quickly and expertly apply to new literature.
Repertoire
Whether you’re dipping your toe into the waters of musical theatre or immersing yourself more fully, you’re going to encounter repertoire that is new to you. There are significant differences from Brigadoon to Company and from Chicago to Hamilton. Learning, coaching, performing, and teaching a wide variety of musical theatre repertoire will instantly heighten your marketability. And even if you don’t live in New York City or Chicago (where auditioning and musical theatre performance opportunities present themselves more regularly), you can still submit by video for a wide variety of gigs that will engage your crossover chops.
Make it a goal to have a crossover book with stylistically varied musical theatre repertoire. To get started, think “rule of threes.” Pick three style periods within the musical theatre canon and seek out and prepare three songs for each period. This is an easy way to get started and to feel that you’re allowed and prepared to participate in this part of the musical marketplace!
Performance Opportunities and Networking
Get started! If you’re still in school, put musical theatre repertoire on your recitals. If possible, get a drummer and a bass player for a closing set rather than an encore. Give your crossover repertoire a sense of occasion—don’t let it seem like a frivolous thing you get to do now that the Schubert, Handel, and Hahn are out of the way.
Get dressed up and record the rehearsals with invited friends there to react—you’ll be practicing and you’ll get multiple takes in the process. You may also become known as the “musical theatre go-to person” in your voice department. This can lead to gigs, referrals, and opportunities you may never have considered.
If your university/conservatory days are done, get started in a different way: plan a recital that’s heavy on the musical theatre repertoire. Keep your classical repertoire chops up while experiencing how singing a significant amount of this crossover repertoire in a live performance feels. Be sure to record this for your website, future submissions, and social media. Let people know what you’re up to!
Teachers can assist in a very substantial way by making musical theatre repertoire a serious expectation in the studio and encouraging students to seek out and bring in musical theatre repertoire outside of the usual suspects. While Cole Porter and Richard Rodgers provide terrific opportunities to demonstrate operatic resonance, so does much of the repertoire of Stephen Sondheim and Jason Robert Brown.
Whether you’re in or out of school, regard your participation in crossover repertoire with a keen focus on networking. Show up to performances where you might meet other musical theatre performers, presenters, and audience members. Make the most out of social media, but also find ways to participate in real time. This reminds people that you’re out there and in the process of doing!
Opportunities present themselves at the least expected times, but when we’re prepared to take advantage of them without delay or hesitation, we up our chances significantly for more opportunities to come our way and hopefully to puff up our wallets in the process.
