Ava Rose Paul

Mus - 88a
Comparisons - By My Side
April 11, 2019

Godspell 1973:

Has full control of voice. Very clear tone. Sounds deep and resonating very well. I can hear her

using her whole skull. Gilmer comes in with a dreamy tone. The harmonizing is beautiful. I’m

going to listen to this a million times, sounds so good. “I shall call the pebble dare” is haunting,

in the best way. There’s a good mix of belt from the lower voices to higher. This version shows

the dialogue and gives a whole new tone.

Godspell - The New Broadway Cast:

I can hear the pain in her voice and has so much emotion. Her “me” is elongated and it sounds

very forward and sounds dreamy. Her long notes sound amazing. Gilmer comes in completely

blending with Peggy. “I can dare myself” is so powerful and they ad an emphasis on the second

“dare” interesting, but sounds good because they are completely in sync. “New Road” in the top

voice has that haunting sound, that blends beautifully. The dialogue is here too, amazing. There’s

a higher top kind of improving during it. The last part seemed like all of the voices were

improving the last bit, but still blending. LOVE!

Original Godspell Cast:

Peggy starts in a higher key. Her “going” is angelic. The balance is a little off. Their vibratos

were off for the beginning, but then they get in sync. This company uses a lot of vibrato. Peggy

is very deep, I can hear her using her core. “By my side”s were very powerful, because Peggy’s

voice was very apparent. In this version I don’t hear the distinctions between characters when
there are the 4 people singing together, maybe because of the recording. She does a lot, a lot of

scooping. Peggy’s musicality is really good because of her use of crescendo and decrescendo.

Godspell by Wicked’s Stephen Schwartz:

Peggy starts out pretty pitchy. Her diphthongs are not very good. Gilmer is blending well with

her. They do a lot of scooping as well. Peggy is bothering me, messing with the harmony. Peggy

is just singing the wrong notes! Peggy’s placement is poor. Gilmer is much better. When

everyone comes in, it is better because you can’t hear Peggy as much. The company sounds

good, but Peggy is really throwing it off.

RMU Colonial Theatre:

Peggy starts out strong, with her long vowels. Gilmer comes in and blends beautifully with

Peggy. They are in sync and sound beautiful. Peggy does tilt her head up, straining a little. The

tricky part “take” sounds a little off, but not that bad. “I shall call the pebble dare” sung by

Gilmer is very nice because she uses her vibrato very sparingly. “By my side”s sounds really

nice and together, very full. After the dialogue, I noticed that the “by my side” by Peggy because

of her “my”. The “i” sound is a little too forced.

Revial Version: using sign language

Peggy’s tone is very nice. She lets the emotion drive the song. Gilmer is a little pitchy, because

of the placement of her vowels. Have to stay open and sing a little British. Peggy almost talks the

song, but when she sings straight, with very little vibrato. “New Road” was very strong and

powerful. Beautiful blending with the whole cast. “you are here” with the top voice sounds really

good, maybe we can play with that.

 After watching these versions I’ve learned to have open vowels, sing a little British, let

emotion drive it, and that blending is everything.