Top 10 Roles Every Mezzo Soprano Wants
Every mezzo soprano wants these roles. Welcome to MsMojo, and today we’re counting down our picks for the roles every mezzo is just dying to play.
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00:00 "Put down the knitting, the book and the broom, it's time for a holiday."
00:06 Welcome to Ms. Mojo, and today we're counting down our picks for the roles every mezzo is
00:12 just dying to play. Look out for slight spoilers ahead. "Just remembering you've had an
00:18 and when you're back to or."
00:20 Number 10. 8 0 Annie, Oklahoma. "Go right off to sleep if you're sleepy."
00:28 "There's no use waking up for me."
00:33 Sure, everyone knows and loves the main couple in a Rodgers and Hammerstein musical,
00:38 but real fans know that the B couple is where it's at, particularly if you're a
00:42 mezzo-soprano performing in Oklahoma. "I always say come on let's go, just when I ought to say next."
00:50 8 0 Annie is one of the funnier roles the duo ever conceived. A flirtatious gal who can't decide
00:55 between two very different men. Besides her comic chops, she's got two incredible songs,
01:00 a solo called "I Can't Say No" and a duet called "All or Nothing." Annie imbues Oklahoma with life
01:06 and charm, and she's a belter to boot. "I can't say no."
01:18 Number 9. Anita, West Side Story. "Anita's gonna get her kicks tonight.
01:23 Well I've arrived at Little Miss tonight." If you want to perform in West Side Story,
01:31 you'd better hope that you're a real triple threat. Acting, dancing, and singing at a top
01:36 level are all heavy requirements for this show, but the hardest and most desirable
01:41 role in the entire show has got to be Anita. "Doop on your pint and put that in."
01:48 Anita is such a great role that even if you aren't a mezzo-soprano, you're probably willing
01:54 to lie and say you are. In addition to her amazing dancing and singing showcases, Anita
01:59 has the most fully formed arc of any character in the show. "There is no light, oh no,
02:08 your love is your life."
02:16 Number 8. Annie Oakley, Annie Get Your Gun. "Any note you can reach, I can go higher. I can sing
02:32 anything higher than you. No you can't. Yes I can. No you can't. Yes I can. No you can. Yes I can.
02:37 No you can. Yes I can. No you can." If you're looking for a role where practically every song
02:44 you sing eventually became a standard, have we got the show for you. We guess that's what happens
02:49 when you're composed by Irving Berlin. Annie Get Your Gun is based on the life of real-life
02:54 sharpshooter Annie Oakley and features a stunning score from Berlin. "I sparkle like a crystal,
02:59 yes I shine like the morning sun." If you're cast in the role of Annie, you get to sing famous songs
03:08 such as "You Can't Get a Man with a Gun" and "I Got the Sun in the Morning." Those are only two
03:12 of the delightful tunes that Berlin wrote for this gun-slinging ingenue. Trust us, every mezzo wants
03:17 to hit the bullseye with this role. "Get paid for doing what comes naturally. Let's go on with the show."
03:28 Number seven, Reno Sweeney, "Anything Goes." "If all the hymns you like are bare limbs you like,
03:37 if Mae West you like or Mianne Dress you like, why nobody will allow." If Sutton Foster had a go at
03:44 a role, you can usually bet it's perfect for a mezzo-soprano. Her turn as Millie Dillmount in
03:49 Thoroughly Modern Millie definitely got all the mezzos in a tizzy. But today, we're taking a look
03:53 at another Sutton role that's full of belts and tap dancing. "In olden days a glimpse of stocking
03:59 was looked on as something shocking, but now God knows, Annie Mae goes."
04:06 The role of Reno Sweeney in "Anything Goes" has been played by numerous famous belters
04:11 throughout the years. From Ethel Merman to Patti LuPone to Elaine Page and so on,
04:16 this cruise ship nightclub singer is coveted by mezzos everywhere.
04:19 Number six, Belle, "Beauty and the Beast." "I want adventure in the great wide somewhere.
04:35 I want it more than I can tell." She might be a princess, but make no mistake,
04:42 Belle is no wilting flower. She has one of the most powerful belts of any Broadway baby,
04:47 and out of all the Disney-turned-Broadway princesses, she's the one mezzos want.
04:51 "I'm where and who I want to be."
04:59 If you're lucky enough to play Belle in the musical, you'll be able to sing all your
05:03 favorite songs from the 1991 film. But there are also a few new favorites that shoot the musical
05:08 score past that of the movie. In particular, the power ballad "Home" is a gorgeous tune,
05:13 and one that every mezzo-soprano worth her salt has been auditioning with for years.
05:17 "Home and free."
05:30 Number five, Desiree Armfelt, "A Little Night Music."
05:34 "Just when I'd stopped opening doors, finally knowing the one that I wanted was yours."
05:49 If you get the chance to sing one of Stephen Sondheim's greatest songs, you better take it.
05:54 Based on an Ingmar Bergman film, "A Little Night Music" debuted on Broadway in 1973
05:59 and follows the romantic entanglements of several people. One of those people is Desiree Armfelt,
06:04 an actress past the prime of her career. Desiree only has a few songs,
06:09 but one stands out from the crowd and is a treasure for any mezzo-soprano to sing.
06:13 "Isn't it bliss? Don't you approve?"
06:23 "Send in the Clowns" has become such a standard that it's hard to remember sometimes that it's
06:27 from this musical. When sung in the context of Desiree's story, the song becomes that much more
06:32 powerful.
06:45 Number four, Dot/Marie, "Sunday in the Park with George."
06:49 "I caught your eyes, George. I want your ear, George."
06:58 Here we've got not one but two amazing roles. "Sunday in the Park with George" is arguably
07:03 Stephen Sondheim's greatest achievement, and includes one of the best chances for
07:07 a singing actress as well. "No one is you, and no one can be,
07:12 but no one is me, George. No one is me."
07:17 In the first act of the show, Dot is Georges Seurat's muse who ends up leaving him when he
07:21 can't commit to her fully. In the second act, Marie is Seurat's daughter and grandmother of
07:26 a different artist. Both women are played by the same person, a fine challenge for
07:30 any actress willing to take it on, and with that challenge comes stunning songs.
07:34 Number three, "The Baker's Wife, Into the Woods."
07:46 "Wake up, stop dreaming, stop prancing about the woods."
07:50 Talk about a swan song, literally. "Into the Woods" is the Stephen Sondheim musical
07:54 based on the classic fairy tales you know and love, but with a dark twist in the second act.
07:59 The Baker and the Baker's Wife are two of our main characters, at first desperate for a child,
08:04 and then unsure how to raise that child. "It takes trust, it takes just a bit more,
08:09 and we're done. We want four, we have none, we've got three, we need one.
08:15 It takes two."
08:16 Although the Baker's Wife ends up dying in the middle of the second act,
08:22 she makes a huge impression with the time she's given. In particular,
08:26 "Moments in the Woods," sung right before she dies, is one to remember.
08:30 "Now I understand, and it's time to leave the woods."
08:38 Number two, "Sally Bowles, Cabaret."
08:43 "What good is sitting alone in your room? Come hear the music play."
08:49 Life is a cabaret, old chum, especially when you're a mezzo-soprano who gets the chance to
08:56 play Sally Bowles in Cabaret. This landmark musical revolves around a nightclub called
09:00 the Kit Kat Club, but is really about the rise of the Nazis before World War II.
09:05 Sally isn't necessarily supposed to be the greatest singer in the world,
09:08 but that's part of what makes the role so rich to perform.
09:11 "Marki and a bumble about, that clinking, clanking, clunking sound,
09:16 is all that makes a world go 'round. It makes a world go 'round."
09:21 As fascism grows around Sally and she continues to ignore it,
09:24 the show becomes darker and more brutal. The song "Cabaret," with its good-time lyrics,
09:29 isn't really supposed to be a good time at all. And a great actress and singer will find those levels.
09:34 "It's gotta happen, happen sometime, maybe this time I'll win."
09:43 Before we unveil our top pick, here are a few honorable mentions.
09:48 Kathy, "The Last Five Years." When you get to sing half the songs alone, that's a good role.
09:53 "You, and you, and nothing but you, miles and piles of you,
09:59 pushing through windows and bursting through walls, en route to the sky."
10:08 Roxy Hart, "Chicago." The name on everybody's lips is gonna be Roxy.
10:13 "I'm gonna be a celebrity, that means somebody everyone knows.
10:20 They're gonna recognize my eyes, my hair, my teeth, my boobs, my nose."
10:30 Eponine, "Les Miserables." She steals the second act.
10:33 "I love him, but every day I'm learning, all my life I've only been pretending."
10:48 Kim, "Miss Saigon." A strong mezzo-soprano performance.
10:52 "You can choose whatever heaven grants."
11:00 Sonia Rostova, "Natasha, Pierre, and the Great Comet of 1812." Sonia belts her way to the top.
11:07 "I will stand here right outside your door."
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11:29 Number 1. Fanny Bryce, "Funny Girl."
11:32 "Have you guessed?" "Yes!"
11:34 "Who's the best?" "Yes!"
11:37 "If you ain't, I'll tell ya one more time."
11:42 Perhaps the most famous Brassy Belter part, Fanny Bryce is a role that every young mezzo-soprano
11:48 dreams of playing. Funny Girl, with the help of one Barbara Streisand, brought the story of Fanny
11:53 Bryce to life for the first time in 1964. Since then, every Belter with a dream has been itching
11:59 to play this role. "I'd rather be blue over you than be hap-hap-hap-happy with somebody else."
12:15 There are so many amazing songs to sing in Funny Girl. From "I'm the Greatest Star" to "People"
12:20 to the show-stopping "Don't Rain on My Parade," Fanny gets the chance to sing her heart out at
12:25 every turn. "Rain on my parade."
12:42 If we missed any of your favorite mezzo-soprano roles, let us know in the comments below.
12:47 Do you agree with our picks? Check out this other recent clip from Ms. Mojo,
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