110 in the Shade

1 Pages 371 Words

I Love “110 in the Shade”

With all 45 cast members of “110 in the Shade” singing and speaking for 2 hours plus, there are plenty of voices to analyze. Being nearly impossible to examine any chorus member other than myself (and I think my opinion would be biased), this paper will focus in on the two male leads; Starbuck, played by Chris Alloman, and File, played by the amazing Eric Skiles, while taking into account the extreme differences in their training levels and song styles.
Chris’ songs were full of upbeat tempos and plenty of rhythm changes. He also had to deal with tricky consonant combinations at lightning speed. Chris does not breathe audibly, for the most part. Every now and then you would catch him gasping for air in between long phrases, but rightfully so. He also has incredible diction. He over-annunciates his words to make it easier for the audience to hear and understand (it also causes a saliva fireworks display to those behind him on stage…Let’s just say it really does rain in the Rain Song). The only time his words we questionable was in the Rain Song in which he says “You wanna hear my deal?” yet sounded as if he was calling Jimmy, “my dear”.
Eric Skiles, well trained in voice and music, also had crisp diction and good vowels. As File he spoke lower in his range, yet still kept a genuine voice quality and never seemed to be speaking in a character voice. His breath is completely silent, even during everyone’s favorite line dancing number, The Poker Polka. Skiles kept his air smooth and abundant despite certain nights when the music director seemed to be on speed. The only questionable factor in Skiles’ vocal performance was his pronunciation of the word “Lizzie”, which came out as more of an “ss” than a “zz” sound.
The entire cast of “110 in the Shade” received numerous compliments on voice and diction. The credit goes to not only the amazingly talented c...