Natalie Wood sings "Tonight" on Youtube- Page 3

[best12bars]

Posted: 12/22/13 at 4:02pm

I don't want this to remotely come off as a "trashing" of Marni, but in addition to a beautiful voice, it takes a combination of a special "look" and a uniqueness in presence (often referred to as "it") to become a star. Maybe Marni never had "it." What she also had was a fairly flawless voice ... but it lacked an original quality, which made her ideal for dubbing others. She could be more of a chameleon and assume other personalities (without going overboard) and assist others with their performances.

She's still a legend in my eyes, and it's her voice that I grew up with on those songs from King and I, WSS, and My Fair Lady.

The other thing about Marni's voice is that it was ideally suited for film. It wasn't a big voice. Even perhaps on the thin side, the light side, but when a microphone was pushed right up next to it the way it is for movies, her voice worked perfectly. I think that's why some of the other great stage sopranos never made it in film. Aside from the "it" factor, and the need for a certain look on film, their voices (in my opinion) were too big.

[darquegk]

Posted: 12/22/13 at 4:24pm

Marni Nixon appears on an unnamed Halloween album that was ubiquitous on vinyl in preschools and elementary schools, narrating and singing. Many of us (I know I did) probably heard her in our formative years and never made the connection.

[NoName3]

Posted: 12/22/13 at 4:32pm

nobodyhome, I read this years ago and so can't source it or verify its accuracy, but Schwarzkopf's singing Flagstad's high C's in the Tristan recording was not done electronically but was accomplished by having her stand behind Flagstad during the recording sessions and leaning into the microphone to sing the high notes in her stead. It wasn't meant to become public knowledge -- Flagstad felt humiliated when the story leaked -- but since it wasn't done in secret afterwards but right there on the soundstage in front of cast, crew and orchestra, it seems naive of producer Walter Legge to think no one would talk.

Marni Nixon also dubbed Deborah Kerr's singing in An Affair to Remember and made a lovely Heidi in the 2001 revival of Follies (she replaced Joan Roberts during the show's run).

Updated On: 12/23/13 at 04:32 PM

[best12bars]

Posted: 12/22/13 at 9:15pm

I still think the melding of Marni Nixon/Deborah Kerr in The King and I is one of the best (if not THE best) dubbing jobs in movie history. The transitions are seamless. I wonder if they weren't standing at the same mic when they recorded it. The switchovers from dialogue and/or spoken lyrics to singing show no change in volume or in room ambience (which is usually a dead giveaway). I know they planned it all out in advance, and that preplanning shows in the end result.

[NoName3]

Posted: 12/22/13 at 10:12pm

"I wonder if they weren't standing at the same mic when they recorded it."

Best12, from what I've read, that's exactly how it was done. Fox wanted it to be a secret but Kerr so much appreciated Nixon's work she insisted on acknowledging it publicly. I've read that Nixon stood behind her during the blocking of certain scenes to help her get into character.

"Shall I Tell You What I think of You" on the soundtrack LPs and CDs reveals a subtle yet obvious combination of their voices and black and white photos from the set confirm that it was filmed but not used in the final release. The footage has been searched for but never found.

Updated On: 12/22/13 at 10:12 PM

[nobodyhome]

Posted: 2/20/14 at 8:38am

That makes sense, NoName3, about Schwarzkopf and Flagstad. Thank you for mentioning it.

Catching up with this thread for the first time in a very long time, I'd add that while Marni Nixon did not have a huge voice, she sang unamplified with plenty of symphony orchestras in big halls. So she had to have had a voice that projected well, even though it may not have been that big.

To pick up on something else mentioned earlier, she did My Fair Lady at City Center in 1964. She may have done it in Los Angeles as well, not sure about that, but she definitely did it at City Center.

http://www.ovrtur.com/production/2892652

[sondheimboy2]

Posted: 2/21/14 at 12:57am

Didn't Marni Nixon and Deborah Kerr become great friends during "The King and I"? I remember reading that Kerr even saw to it that Marni got to use the "King and I" costumes when she played it in stock once.

And I thought that Audrey Hepburn did her won singing in "Funny Face." Seeing as how all those Gershwin songs were written for Gertrude Lawrence, I thought that Audrey's voice could handle them.

[ullabelt]

Posted: 2/21/14 at 7:00am

Nice clip of Marni Nixon here - in the PBS recording of 'Taking My Turn' which I know very little about...anyone?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_P4j6cvwy1I

[The Other One]

Posted: 2/21/14 at 7:18am

"Taking My Turn" was a successful off-broadway musical, produced in 1983, which was later filmed for, I believe, PBS. Marni shared the stage with Cissy Houston, Margaret Whiting, Sheila Smith, Tiger Haynes and Ted Thurston. It was less a book musical than a review dealing with the subject of getting old. Marni was probably the youngest member of the cast.

http://www.lortel.org/LLA_archive/index.cfm?search_by=show&title=Taking%20My%20Turn
Updated On: 2/21/14 at 07:18 AM

[Someone in a Tree2]

Posted: 2/22/14 at 11:15am

I saw Marni Nixon in the off-Broadway production of James Joyce's The Dead before sit went to Broadway in 1999, I believe. She was a lovely grandmotherly presence, very sweet, very little bite. She served the role well (and was not required to hit the glorious high notes she had been known for 40 years before).