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Duet where singers not beside each other

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Topic: Duet where singers not beside each other

Posted By: oremus
Subject: Duet where singers not beside each other
Date Posted: 8/31/04 at 11:00pm

Hello

I'm new here.

I'm directing an amatuer musical version of Rudyard Kipling's "Jungle Book".

In the production there is a lullaby that is sung to the child star first by his adopting wolf mother and then reprised later by the human mother when the child returns to civilization.

I think it would be a neat (and touching) effect to have the two mothers duet the reprise (to augment the transition of the child from his jungle life to his life in the village). The problem is that because the two mothers are not from the same species and would naturally have a distrust of each other they can't actually have any interaction with each other. They would have to remain at least some distance from each other.

Has anyone done this before(I'm sure it has been done)? How far were you able to have the singers apart and still maintain the blended voice qualities of a duet. Did you have any problems balancing harmonies?

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"The spirit of the Sixties may never have died; but it did get really boring!"

Replies:

Posted By: Guests
Date Posted: 9/01/04 at 8:44am

We did an original musical over the summer which had the leading lady on stage singing a duet with the leading man who was in the balcony (no audience up there). Very difficult (especially since the theater has no air conditioning - the balcony was about 100 deg. and the poor actor was wearing winter clothing!), but both pulled it off with very little rehearsal time. You need to have well trained, confident singers and a good vocal coach. Are you using microphones? Do you have a good sound tech?

Posted By: Keith D.
Date Posted: 9/01/04 at 10:12am

Fear not, this is common while not as extreme as stage to balcony. "No One Is Alone" from Into the Woods is a good example. The Baker and Jack are up in a tree; and Cinderella and Little Red Riding Hood are on the ground. Treat is like any other singing situation. Even though the actors can't hear each other, they can hear the accompaniment. It's the director's and musical director's call on blend and volume.

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KND

Posted By: oremus
Date Posted: 9/01/04 at 12:40pm

Thanks for your encouragement.

Jo: No the actresses will not be miked and yes I have an excellent sound technician with years of experience. The scene would be very similar to yours in that the wolf mother character (Raksha - for those familiar with the story) would be on platform off of, above and in front of stage left and the human mother (Messua) would be upstage center.

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"The spirit of the Sixties may never have died; but it did get really boring!"