Musical stars who (whisper it.. can't actually sing!)

Oh that's a good one. #oscars

And worth ten million dollars!

Donovan really has good and bad shows. I think he can sing. I really liked him in Priscilla, The Rocky Horror show and both Parson Nathaniel and The Artilleryman in The War of the Worlds.

On the flip side I couldn't stand him as Sweeney Todd, was a bit sh*t in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang and the less said about his Captain Von Crapp the better.

I thought he was fantastic in Oklahoma, but I agree about the vibrato, it was awful in the Les Mis film.

I always think, when people complain about someone who 'can't sing', that they should listen to me attempt to carry a tune.

It's like when people say certain well-known actors are 'wooden' or 'can't act'.
Hah, right, that person who has a successful acting career has managed to dupe every director who has ever cast them into thinking they can act, but you, random person on the Internet, you've seen right through them!!

Sorry, bit of a bugbear there....

Whereas I think it's fine to say "hey, that performance didn't work for me", but think it's not only ridiculous but also mean-spirited to say "WELL FACE FACTS THEY LITERALLY CANNOT ACT/SING EVEN THE TINIEST LITTLE BIT LET'S NAME AND SHAME". But hey, maybe that's just me.

Jennifer? Is that you?

I'm loving this thread ...but I'm not taking it too seriously.

Are any casting directors reading this and crossing Hugh Jackman off their 'hot' lists? Doubt it ...but they might be smiling and wishing they could post anonymously on here.


Carry on, carry on

You didn't see Graham Norton in La Cage Aux Folles then...

snutte got what I meant.

The 'can't sing' of someone who has been cast in a professional musical is very different from my 'can't sing' - I can't carry a tune in a bucket!

Not every singer has the same range, power, timbre and technique, and by all means criticise them for that. Saying everyone who can't exactly hit a top note consistently or who lacks vibrato 'can't sing' makes the term meaningless.



I think my acting bugbear more relates to film actors, because I know full well that performances are constructed in the editing suite, and are as much about audience projection as what the actor is doing. You can totally change the audience's perception of an actor's performance with editing and music, not to mention the effect of typecasting. One of the pleasures of theatregoing is discovering some of those soap actors I'd written off as limited and uninteresting actually have range and talent - they just never got the chance to demonstrate that working on TV. You'd never guess what Nigel Harman is capable of from his work on Eastenders.

I've certainly seen singers on stage who were clearly cast for their voice rather than their acting range.

Sure. Doesn't mean I shouldn't throw in a different perspective, does it?

And I genuinely can't hear what some people complain about in certain performances. That could be down to my untrained ear or lack of singing ability, but I just don't hear the problem with Hugh Jackman's Jean Valjean or Sheridan Smith's Fanny Brice. They sound good to me.