Why Do Broadway Stars Lip-Sync in Macy's Parade?- Page 2

[DrTheatre]

Posted: 11/25/07 at 9:24pm

Thanks Margo, you said it better than me!

[alex2155]

Posted: 11/25/07 at 9:30pm

It's not just the Broadway performances that are lip-synced, every performance is. Like this year...ashley tisdale, mary poppins, xanadu, lifehouse, etc...none of it was actually live singing.

[AudreyTwoTwo]

Posted: 11/25/07 at 9:38pm

so for Lea Michele and Jonathan Groff-- did they record that song just for the parade? Because "Give My Regards" is not in Spring Awakening, so...

[alex2155]

Posted: 11/25/07 at 9:47pm

yeah thats the only one I wondered about too. I thought that might have been the only one that was actually live, but my friend said it was pre-recorded too so...I don't know.

[SpellingBeeFan4Ever]

Posted: 11/25/07 at 9:55pm

How did Legally Blonde Cast Recording leak. I don't know how i got that cd. A friend sent me a link then I bought the cd. I noticed the difference right away,.

Updated On: 11/25/07 at 09:55 PM

[nitsua]

Posted: 11/25/07 at 9:57pm

I think its pointless to watch them lip sync. Watching a watered down performance isn't that much fun, either. (Legally Blonde, for example.)

Updated On: 11/26/07 at 09:57 PM

[TechEverlasting]

Posted: 11/25/07 at 10:17pm

"In terms of using pre-recorded vocal tracks for Broadway (not the parade) it's a VERY VERY rare thing for a performer to lip-synch."

One notable exception is the "Labyrinth" sequence in Phantom, which I believe is a pre-recorded vocal track for both the Phantom and Christine.

[James885]

Posted: 11/25/07 at 10:21pm

Yeah, the title song from POTO is pre-recorded and Phantom and Christine doubles are used for the descent to the lake, while the real Phantom and Christine are getting into place to sail down the stage in the boat.

[JMVR]

Posted: 11/25/07 at 11:25pm

The "I'm flying" number is usually lip synched in Peter Pan.
I don't know if Mary Martin did it but Sandy Duncan and Cathy Rigby always lip synched the number, at least in part.

[jsg03jd]

Posted: 11/25/07 at 11:40pm

And speaking of "sweetening" the vocals of performers, this has been debated ad nauseam but isn't something similar done in Jersey Boys to replicate in a "live" setting how The Four Seasons recorded their albums?

[DefyingEDCT]

Posted: 11/25/07 at 11:54pm

The LB preformance sounds nothing like the leaked recording at all.

[wickedmenzel318]

Posted: 11/25/07 at 11:55pm

Does anyone know where i can get the leaked Mary Poppins recording. I have the legally blonde one and would love a recording with AShley

[DesperatelySeekingStranger]

Posted: 11/25/07 at 11:57pm

My favorite parade performance was the year the cast of Chicago performed. Marilu Henner was in the cast at the time and it couldn't have been more obvious they were lipsynching when Ann Reinking's voice came out of Ms. Henner during We Both Reached for the Gun.

[jonartdesigns]

Posted: 11/26/07 at 12:09am

i doubt legally blonde used the tony voter cd, given that all 3 of the sorority girls in that number are replacements i thing they recorded a new version for the parade.

as for bad parade lip syncing my favorite was kristen chenoweth during the wicked performance

[winston89]

Posted: 11/26/07 at 1:26am

I thought that Poppins never did any sort of recording using the OBC because all the promo stuff used clips from the London show.

That being said, I had the good fortune to get a backstage tour of Phantom. And Jennifer Hope Wills was talking to me about the entier title song is lip synced. She said that before her run in the show she had to go into a studio and record it. Although, she did say that there have been a few times where they accidently used the standby Christine's recording and not hers. And she did say that she is able to sing the song including the rediculas cadenza at the end. But, it is all recorded.

[Wanna Be A Foster]

Posted: 11/26/07 at 7:38am

Knowing Disney and the fact that they're too cheap to even take photos of the Broadway cast members to advertise all around New York City (the London cast appears in all the New York ads), it wouldn't surprise me if Ashley Brown had to lip-sync to Laura Michelle Kelly's vocals.

Updated On: 11/26/07 at 07:38 AM

[jordangirl]

Posted: 11/26/07 at 7:53am

They don't actually sing all the way down. Most of the time they're just waving.

And the casts that perform are ONLY at Herald Square. They don't march in the parade ~ or ride on floats. At least they didn't this year.

[Gypsy9]

Posted: 11/26/07 at 8:04am

PETER PAN with Mary Martin was my very first Broadway show, in 1954 when I was 13. I do not think that Mary Martin's vocal during the "I'm Flying" sequence was pre-recorded.

When I saw 1958's GOLDILOCKS with Elaine Stritch and Don Ameche, Margaret Hamilton(the Wicked Witch of the West in the WIZARD OF OZ film) was also in the show. At the end of the number "Two Years in the Making", the final high note is lip synched by Miss Hamilton, while the actual high note is sung and credited by another singer, who I always thought sang it live from the wings, but I suppose it could have been pre-recorded. At any rate, Margaret Hamilton was a joy to watch.

[fbueller]

Posted: 11/26/07 at 10:30am

Interesting thread. I never knew that lip-syncing occurred at all during actual live shows. Maybe it was fitting after all that Ashlee Simpson was in Chicago on West End!!

[Bettyboy72]

Posted: 11/26/07 at 10:39am

I always thought it was because it usually very cold and it would be very hard on the vocals to sing in the bitter cold.

[craftymarley]

Posted: 11/26/07 at 12:17pm

I know that last year the Grinch recorded a medley of "Who likes Christmas?" and "You're a Mean One" for their performance on the Today Show and then used the same recording for the Macy's parade performance. Of course that could have been a special situation since they never did a full cast recording, but it was the reason that last year's white cast performed both tv spots.

[husk_charmer]

Posted: 11/26/07 at 12:26pm

I don't think Mary Martin lipsynced in "Peter Pan"

Also, Dr. Theatre, the last I checked they don't do any lip-syncing in "Mamma Mia," HOWEVER all the actors, when not onstage, go into off-stage soundbooths and do backup vocals.

The last mini-tour of "Wizard of Oz" that I saw, most of the Munchkins were lip-synced.

[ChiChi]

Posted: 11/26/07 at 3:11pm

I've never heard of "Leaked Tony Recordings" How very cool.

[Yankeefan007]

Posted: 11/26/07 at 5:11pm

Ashley Brown lipsyncing to Laura Michelle Kelly...that thought reminds me of when Patty Duke performed with Oklahoma...and actually lipsynced to Andrea Martin!

That said, I don't know how factual IdinaBellFoster (or whatever the name is) is. Xanadu recorded a medley - and there's no medley like that in the show.

The Broadway Mary Poppins cast recorded a promo for marketing reasons and to send to Tony voters. It contained the "big" songs which showcased the individual cast members - Practically Perfect, Spoonfull of Sugar, Feed the Birds,Supercalif..,Chim Chim, Being Mrs. Banks, and Anything Can Happen. It sounds virtually the same - though you can tell it's the Broadway cast by the way the accents go in and out.

As far as Legally Blonde goes, I'm sure the album leak was a plant to get the buzz up. The leak supposedly contained "full" versions of the longer tracks.

They could have used the same backup tracks at the Parade, but I doubt it. They're usually good about recording their own versions.

[DrTheatre]

Posted: 11/26/07 at 6:25pm

Husk_charmer....the one in SF did...me and my guest who is a performer of Broadway and on tour, saw the opening night of the latest tour, we both turned to each other and she said "can we say TRACKS?". I so totally nodded. The vocals of the trio at the end of the show came on before they were even light and on stage...they were just getting ready and we see them rushing to the front of the stage to try to get on track with the vocals. We were both laughing so hard..but no one else noticed around us, cause they were all dancing in their seats...lol.. we also noticed that the orchestra (or track) for Act II came on before the conductor was in her seat...that is when we started to wonder and by the end of the show it all made so much more sense...yes I do know about vocals backstage or pre-recorded stuff for scene changes or whatever, and that is totally fine.

Updated On: 11/26/07 at 06:25 PM