posted
Cor and I have been asked to perform together in a Rotary Club function in March. While I am very pleased at the compliment--Cor's the really talented singer, I'm just a guy who can carry a tune if you hand it to me carefully--I'm a little bit stuck on what to sing. Believe it or not, Cor and I have never sung a duet (for an audience) before. Most of what's in my best range is not in hers, and vice versa.
Cor is a coloratura soprano, while I am a tenor two (who can dip into baritone), for those of you who know about such things.
What we are looking for is either showtunes or multi-age-friendly pop/rock/country. Actually, both of our voices are very well-suited for country music. If it's pop or country, though, it must not be of the maudlin/bathetic cliche duet variety (eg: "Endless Love," "Just You and I"). It should be reasonably upbeat and fun.
We will likely not have an accompanist, and we will have to look for accompaniment music on CD instead.
We have been asked to sing around three songs. We might "counter offer" one duet and one or two solos each.
I know March is a long way off, but I want time to pick something good for us and learn in well. I had a really traumatic experience using "Music of the Night" as an audition piece with insufficient preparation time.
posted
Well, i can't really help you on the pop/rock/country western end of the spectrum...but if you're looking for a musical numbah, i'm your gal!
It'll be near impossible to find a coloratura soprano/tenor-friendly duet out there, but I know Cor sang Abigail Adams, so obviously her range is fairly wide.
Let me discuss this with my mother (voice teacher) and get back to you. I can already think of a few...
how adverse is Cor to singing operetta? And that's NOT opera, that's operetta...because a whole bunch of Mabel's songs from Pirates of Penzance reach up to the coloratura range. "Poor Wand'ring One" springs to mind...
I just have to go talk with my mom. I'll try to have a few suggestions within the next couple of days!
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There's the "Sunshine/Moon" duet from Miss Saigon
The BEST man/woman duet IMO is "It takes Two" from Into the Woods. Fantastic and fun, shows off your voices and some nice harmony. It's Sondheim for crying out loud, how can you go wrong??
The Secret Garden "Valley" waltz duet is great. Calls for some nice voices.
As far as comedy from a musical, "Chuchi Face" from Chitty Chitty Bang Bang is probably the most hilarious ever.
There's "I've Finally Found Someone," that Babs and Brian Adams did
Then there's all the tried and true Disney fall backs. "A Whole New World" (gag) and any from Beauty and the Beast...
"People Will Say We're In Love" from Oklahoma! is a cute one. (my sister has the recording with Hugh Jackman singing Curly's role, it's fantastic!!)
The love duet from Les Miserables is beautiful too.
You could do the Shania Twain/Brian White "From this Moment" duet. Cheesy, but it's pretty...
There are tons!! I'll think of more.
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posted
Ic, I'm guessing that you'd be leaning towards the familiar tunes in your selection. Some that come to mind (either duets or with duet versions available):
- Pop:
"When I Call You Friend" (Stevie Nicks/Kenny Loggins)
"Don't Go Breaking My Heart" (Elton John/Kiki Dee)
- Show-tuney
"Let's Call the Whole Thing Off" (Fred Astaire, the tomato/tomahto song)
"Anything You Can Do I Can Do Better" (Irving Berlin)
"Brush Up Your Shakespeare" (from Kiss Me Kate)
- Motown
"Ain't No Mountain High Enough" (Marvin Gaye/Tammi Terrell)
"Ain't Nothing Like the Real Thing, Baby" (also Marvin Gaye/Tammit Terrell)
posted
Would the "Phantom of the Opera" duet work? Not comedy, I know, but it's a great one to do.
Some of the Beautiful South's duets are non-cheesy and fun - "A little time" is great, if you know it. Your audience might not know it tho - The Beautiful South made it to no 1 with that song in Britain but never quite crossed the pond.
That's all that comes to mind at the moment. Good luck with it tho.
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I can e-mail you a whole bunch of ideas after I get a list going if you want, but the first one that sprang to mind was "No Two People," by Frank Loesser. That one is so much fun!
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posted
If you do Shania Twain/Whoever's "From This Moment," you've got to remember to take a big, deep breath right in the middle of the word "because," between the "u" and the "s".
Posts: 1652 | Registered: Aug 2003
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We ended up singing two duets and one solo each. Cor is singing "I Will Always Love You," as sung in Best Little Whorehouse in Texas, and I am singing "Jessie," by Joshua Kadison. Then we are singing two duets: "The Terrace Duet," from Chess, and "Suddenly Seymour," from Little Shop of Horrors.
So, yeah, um, I notice that we didn't take any of the good suggestions offered here. Sorry about that. We found these two numbers among the stuff that we were already familiar with and were pleased to find we could sing them together. But I'm sure we'll have other occasions to sing together, so I'll keep this thread alive!
Anyway, we have an hour to kill before we have to go . . . closer to two hours before our first number. I just had a huge lunch (not a good idea, I know) and I'm trying not to fall asleep, because my voice is in terrible shape after I sleep. I'll be around here and in AIM until then (after a few minutes, that is) if anybody wants to NOT wish us luck!
We had a great night. It was a pretty large crowd. Our songs all went well. In particular, I think I sang "Suddenly Seymour" better than I had any of the times I'd practiced it before. I think I surprised a lot of people, also with "Terrace Duet," which has some very operatic notes.
Of course, everybody already knows Cor is awesome, so I don't have to say anything about that.
After our last number together, as the curtain was closing, the MC said "There ought to be a law against that much talent in one family." ::beams::
Maybe this performance will be on their minds in a few months when they cast this year's show of 1776.
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While I am very pleased at the compliment--Cor's the really talented singer, I'm just a guy who can carry a tune if you hand it to me carefully--I'm a little bit stuck on what to sing. Believe it or not, Cor and I have never sung a duet (for an audience) before. Most of what's in my best range is not in hers, and vice versa.![[Smile]](smile.gif)
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definitely. You can't forget that.
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