Drivas 1

Nick Drivas

Dr. Steve

Voice I

October 18, 2016

Critical Response: She Loves Me

She Loves Me opened in 1963. It is a sweet and fun musical that reminds every viewer of

the classic charm that musical theatre possesses. Written by Jerry Bock and Sheldon Harnick,

this musical draws from several inspirations, but itself serves as the inspiration for the popular

movie, Youve Got Mail. Full of many fun, laugh filled songs, this show has been argued as one

of Broadways best book musicals. It follows the humorous love tory of two rivals who have

know idea that they have fallen in love with each other through their lonely hearts correspond-

ence. The protagonist finds out the truth first and comes to enjoy the thought of it. Upon this

lovely realization, he begins to frolic down the streets and sing the title song. It is She Loves Me.

Originally performed by Daniel Massey, he performs the entire song in thick folds but at

times grows even louder for emphasis. He has a very rich conversational voice that has an attrac-

tor state of a lowered larynx. He attacks many of his words with glottal onsets, but also has many

aspirate offsets. He has an interesting voice that isnt necessarily the most pleasing, but it cer-

tainly is charming and almost relatable. He is a leading man protagonist but is supposed to re-

semble a more realistic everyday man. His natural vocal quality seems to capture this very well.

The most interesting past of Masseys voice is his consistently lowered larynx. Even with the

songs highest notes, his larynx is to the floor. He certainly produces a unique sound that is eas-

ily recognizable to those who know his work.

Word Count: 285

 Drivas 2

Critical Response: Donna

The revolutionary rock musical, Hair, opened in 1967 to mixed response. The rock filled,

politically charge musical was up front and had no fear of being critical of current events of the

time. Essentially a protest of the the decades wrongs, this musical garnered a mass following

that has allowed to become a timeless piece of musical theatre history. With portions of it being

an exploration of drug use, the song, Donna, is the first song that follows the iconic opening

number. Written by James Rado and Gerome Ragni, the two also opened the show as the original

leads, Claude and Berger. As Berger, Gerome Ragni was the first to perform Donna upon the

shows conception and opening.

Possessing a very apparent natural nasality to his voice, Gerome Ragni performs Donna

with what seems to be a slightly raised larynx. Though it may be his attractor state, it seems to be

raised, comparatively. In terms of volume, he does not perform with much contrast in terms of

fold mass. He performs the entire piece in thick folds, but his voice does grow slightly thinner as

he ascends higher into the song; twice having to sustain a Bb. Also, stylistically for his character,

he seems to have chosen to his gs at the ends of words ending in ing. His performance is

lively and fun, and certainly serves as a motivation for the rest of his cast to get up and dance.

This successful approach does, for the most part, forgive his lack in vocal technique and varia-

tion.

Word Count: 257