Community Theater Green Room Discussion Board: Actor without a voice

Author

Message

GoldCanyonLady
Celebrity

Joined: 2/05/05
Location: United States
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 172

Topic: Actor without a voice
Posted: 2/09/09 at 8:19pm

For the last three weeks my lead actor has had no voice. He has been to the doctor who has given him all sorts of medication (antibiotics, prednisone and stuff to gargle with) and it is not better. I think that he strained his voice (which was normally very strong) by rehearsing too much at home in his workshop. The doctor at his HMO did not do an Xray or ultra sound and can't see anything wrong (he thinks the problem is deeper than he can see). Why he hasn't referred him to an EENT doctor is beyond me but that is how Cigna works I guess.

Anyway, we rehearse three mornings a week (Wed, Thurs and Fri) and will soon be rehearsing every day (except one or two). We open in 16 days. This actor knows all his lines and has for months. What I have been doing is having him pantomime to the words while another actor reads the words. We don't have understudies. I have another actor who could read the lines with all the emotion I desire, but there is no way he could learn all 500 lines in just over 2 weeks and the blocking is complicated.

Have any of you ever done a play with the actor mouthing the words while someone else does the actual dialog? It is either that, or have the next actor go on stage with a book or a miracle.

Barb Hofmeister,
MountainBrook Village Players, Gold Canyon, Arizona.

IP Logged

TonyDi
Celebrity

Joined: 9/13/06
Location: United States
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 325

Posted: 2/10/09 at 7:14am

Several things - he MUST get to an EENT - only way to know definitively if he's strained the voice or not. Complete non-use of the voice is imperative if it's to improve - and then only using it VERY VERY cautiously at all to get it back slowly. I once did a MUSICAL of all things - The Secret Garden - playing Archie. And if you know that show, the music is insanely tough on the lead characters - beautiful, but tough stuff. I mean, come on, Mandy Patinkin did it on Broadway....not that HE is the end all, but he certainly has the chops. AT any rate, the first weekend was amazingly good for me - top form, powerhouse voice, etc. BUT the Lily character wound up with layrngitis and while she was able to get past it relatively ok, still fought it.

Fast forward, the second weekend - I got laryngitis. Trouble was we did Thursday through Sunday shows the second week. Thursday was rough, but I got through it, Friday improved a bit but it was weak, Saturday gave me hope that I might get past it. SUNDAY - I could hardly talk at all. THANK GOD the director was also a very good singer as well. And it's the ONLY TIME I have ever done this but I lip-synced all the songs (yes, Milli-Vanilli) while the director sang the songs from the pit. Dialouge I could muscle through - couldn't sing a note one!!! SCARY at least. But we got it done and MOST people I must tell you didn't know.

Moral to the story - I think I blew the pipes with that show which has been about 7 years ago because I can hardly sing anymore at all. I've lost the top end (I was a uber-high dramatic tenor voice) and the voice has dropped almost an octave overall - such that most people think I'm a baritone now. And for the last 40 years I've been a top-end tenor. CANNOT even come close anymore. Heck my audition song that people dubbed "mine" was Bring Him Home from Les Miz. BUT I DID NOT go to the doctor - which was the biggest mistake of my life. GET YOUR ACTOR TO AN EAR, NOSE and THROAT SPECIALIST ASAP if you can. ONLY way I think they're ever going to improve. And yes, I've been in shows where another actress - with great help from the rest of the cast - took over for an actress who contracted pnuemonia and used the script. However it was so artfully done that it was not a distraction and the audience knew what was going on and actually were most gracious and STILL loved the show. But to lip-sync dialogue is NOT normally done. We only dealt with the songs I had to sing when I lost my voice (first time ever in over 45 years that's ever happened). But we didn't sync the dialogue - I still muscled through that. If it can be done and be point perfect - that is no-one has slightly even altered the dialogue then maybe you can get by it. Actually as I recall now - I think that happened in one song - I was singing along - well MOUTHING along - and realized I wasn't (and hadn't been) singing the right words because for a line or two they didn't quite mesh. Luckily still most people never caught that. How funny it was that people came up to me afterwards and said how much they liked my singing. HAHA!! HAD to laugh at that and the director got a kick out of it because it was HIM doing the singing.

SHOULD it be done? Well if you have NO other possible way you can try the lip-syncing and see what it looks like. In 16 days they MIGHT have enough time to get it pretty tight. Could work if there are absolutely NO hiccups!! BUT I STILL suggest getting your actor to a doctor who can make a real assessment of what's gone/going wrong that prevents them from having their voice. Medications can help - NON USE is better. IF IT IS laryngitis - that can pass in a few days with complete non-use or it can hang on for weeks. And given that you have 16 days you do have some room to work out alternatives.

Good luck and I hope it works for you how ever you make it work.

TonyDi

"Almost famous"

IP Logged

Nanette
Celebrity

Joined: 8/01/06
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 399

Posted: 2/10/09 at 7:29am

I agree with TonyDi ... get your actor to an EENT now, and I would also get that other actor on set.

In a world of margarine, be butter!

IP Logged

MartyW
Celebrity

Joined: 2/02/04
Location: United States
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 555

Posted: 2/10/09 at 7:41am

Hey there, Already posted a reply to your AACTlist question, but I though I might as well dump it here too...

I don't know your show, or your audience... And this is not really a
suggestion, but I was just wondering, if he is currently "acting" the
part (minus his own voice) and you are happy with his "Performance" and
you have someone who can read it with "the proper emotion" would it be
possible to hope for the best as far as a recovery goes and if not, go
with a more unique delivery?

Marty W

"Till next we trod the boards.."

IP Logged

imamember
Celebrity

Joined: 8/18/08
Location: United States
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 121

Posted: 2/10/09 at 8:38am

Last year our Jojo (Seussical) got sick and nearly lost his voice. He could manage dialogue but not the songs. Our director sang the songs from backstage (super falsetto!) and it worked quite well. Only the first weekend of course.

Side story to that, we had a female chorus member (12 years old) learn all the songs, lines and blocking in just over a week in the event he was 100% voiceless. It was a shame when she didn't even get one performance for all that hard work.

IP Logged

Directing
Community Theater Green Room Discussion Board :Producing Theater :Directing

Author	Message
GoldCanyonLady Celebrity Joined: 2/05/05 Location: United States Online Status: Offline Posts: 172	Topic: Actor without a voice Posted: 2/09/09 at 8:19pm
	For the last three weeks my lead actor has had no voice. He has been to the doctor who has given him all sorts of medication (antibiotics, prednisone and stuff to gargle with) and it is not better. I think that he strained his voice (which was normally very strong) by rehearsing too much at home in his workshop. The doctor at his HMO did not do an Xray or ultra sound and can't see anything wrong (he thinks the problem is deeper than he can see). Why he hasn't referred him to an EENT doctor is beyond me but that is how Cigna works I guess. Anyway, we rehearse three mornings a week (Wed, Thurs and Fri) and will soon be rehearsing every day (except one or two). We open in 16 days. This actor knows all his lines and has for months. What I have been doing is having him pantomime to the words while another actor reads the words. We don't have understudies. I have another actor who could read the lines with all the emotion I desire, but there is no way he could learn all 500 lines in just over 2 weeks and the blocking is complicated. Have any of you ever done a play with the actor mouthing the words while someone else does the actual dialog? It is either that, or have the next actor go on stage with a book or a miracle.
	Barb Hofmeister, MountainBrook Village Players, Gold Canyon, Arizona.

	IP Logged

TonyDi Celebrity Joined: 9/13/06 Location: United States Online Status: Offline Posts: 325	Posted: 2/10/09 at 7:14am
	Several things - he MUST get to an EENT - only way to know definitively if he's strained the voice or not. Complete non-use of the voice is imperative if it's to improve - and then only using it VERY VERY cautiously at all to get it back slowly. I once did a MUSICAL of all things - The Secret Garden - playing Archie. And if you know that show, the music is insanely tough on the lead characters - beautiful, but tough stuff. I mean, come on, Mandy Patinkin did it on Broadway....not that HE is the end all, but he certainly has the chops. AT any rate, the first weekend was amazingly good for me - top form, powerhouse voice, etc. BUT the Lily character wound up with layrngitis and while she was able to get past it relatively ok, still fought it. Fast forward, the second weekend - I got laryngitis. Trouble was we did Thursday through Sunday shows the second week. Thursday was rough, but I got through it, Friday improved a bit but it was weak, Saturday gave me hope that I might get past it. SUNDAY - I could hardly talk at all. THANK GOD the director was also a very good singer as well. And it's the ONLY TIME I have ever done this but I lip-synced all the songs (yes, Milli-Vanilli) while the director sang the songs from the pit. Dialouge I could muscle through - couldn't sing a note one!!! SCARY at least. But we got it done and MOST people I must tell you didn't know. Moral to the story - I think I blew the pipes with that show which has been about 7 years ago because I can hardly sing anymore at all. I've lost the top end (I was a uber-high dramatic tenor voice) and the voice has dropped almost an octave overall - such that most people think I'm a baritone now. And for the last 40 years I've been a top-end tenor. CANNOT even come close anymore. Heck my audition song that people dubbed "mine" was Bring Him Home from Les Miz. BUT I DID NOT go to the doctor - which was the biggest mistake of my life. GET YOUR ACTOR TO AN EAR, NOSE and THROAT SPECIALIST ASAP if you can. ONLY way I think they're ever going to improve. And yes, I've been in shows where another actress - with great help from the rest of the cast - took over for an actress who contracted pnuemonia and used the script. However it was so artfully done that it was not a distraction and the audience knew what was going on and actually were most gracious and STILL loved the show. But to lip-sync dialogue is NOT normally done. We only dealt with the songs I had to sing when I lost my voice (first time ever in over 45 years that's ever happened). But we didn't sync the dialogue - I still muscled through that. If it can be done and be point perfect - that is no-one has slightly even altered the dialogue then maybe you can get by it. Actually as I recall now - I think that happened in one song - I was singing along - well MOUTHING along - and realized I wasn't (and hadn't been) singing the right words because for a line or two they didn't quite mesh. Luckily still most people never caught that. How funny it was that people came up to me afterwards and said how much they liked my singing. HAHA!! HAD to laugh at that and the director got a kick out of it because it was HIM doing the singing. SHOULD it be done? Well if you have NO other possible way you can try the lip-syncing and see what it looks like. In 16 days they MIGHT have enough time to get it pretty tight. Could work if there are absolutely NO hiccups!! BUT I STILL suggest getting your actor to a doctor who can make a real assessment of what's gone/going wrong that prevents them from having their voice. Medications can help - NON USE is better. IF IT IS laryngitis - that can pass in a few days with complete non-use or it can hang on for weeks. And given that you have 16 days you do have some room to work out alternatives. Good luck and I hope it works for you how ever you make it work. TonyDi
	"Almost famous"
	IP Logged

Nanette Celebrity Joined: 8/01/06 Online Status: Offline Posts: 399	Posted: 2/10/09 at 7:29am
	I agree with TonyDi ... get your actor to an EENT now, and I would also get that other actor on set.
	In a world of margarine, be butter!
	IP Logged

MartyW Celebrity Joined: 2/02/04 Location: United States Online Status: Offline Posts: 555	Posted: 2/10/09 at 7:41am
	Hey there, Already posted a reply to your AACTlist question, but I though I might as well dump it here too... I don't know your show, or your audience... And this is not really a suggestion, but I was just wondering, if he is currently "acting" the part (minus his own voice) and you are happy with his "Performance" and you have someone who can read it with "the proper emotion" would it be possible to hope for the best as far as a recovery goes and if not, go with a more unique delivery?
	Marty W "Till next we trod the boards.."
	IP Logged

imamember Celebrity Joined: 8/18/08 Location: United States Online Status: Offline Posts: 121	Posted: 2/10/09 at 8:38am
	Last year our Jojo (Seussical) got sick and nearly lost his voice. He could manage dialogue but not the songs. Our director sang the songs from backstage (super falsetto!) and it worked quite well. Only the first weekend of course. Side story to that, we had a female chorus member (12 years old) learn all the songs, lines and blocking in just over a week in the event he was 100% voiceless. It was a shame when she didn't even get one performance for all that hard work.
	IP Logged

Topic: Actor without a voice( Topic Closed)