Songs I Want Kelli O'Hara To Sing Part 1

So, I've been wanting Kelli to make a new album for a while now because it has been five years since her last and I can't wait to hear new songs that I haven't heard her cover yet. So here's a list of songs I want her to sing:

1. Deh Vieni Non Tardar from Marriage Of Figaro: This is a really beautiful lyric soprano aria from Mozart's masterpiece Le Nozze De Figaro, sung by Susanah. This would be a perfect role for Kelli and an even more perfect aria because the tessitura of the song goes repeatedly from the low notes up the high notes of the song which Kelli states is the kind of music she enjoys singing the most. Have a listen here!: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VMEJVyG9NC8.

2.  When Did I Fall In Love? from Fiorello: This is a mostly mediocre score with one timeless gem, the soprano solo When Did I Fall In Love? Kelli's beautifully soaring legato line would fit this one perfectly, not to mention the song is another one that jumps from very low to very high.

3. Many A New Day from Oklahoma: Kelli played this role in her home state nine years ago and has stated that this is one of her favorite shows, but besides People Will Say We're In Love, she has never sang anything from the show in her concerts. This would be a wonderful addition to the  Rodgers And Hammerstein repertoire that she so often performs in concert.

4. The Sun Whose Rays Are All Ablaze from The Mikado: Another song she has sang before, but one in which I desperately want to hear, lol. This song is gorgeous and I could just imagine her melting our hearts with it.

5. Green Finch And Linnet Bird from Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber Of Fleet Street: This is one of Sondheim's most beautifully soprano songs and she would kill this. I'm surprised she never played the role.

6. The Willow Song from The Ballad Of Baby Doe: This is one of the most purely beautiful songs I've ever heard and Kelli's voice would sound glorious here.

7. The Simple Joys Of Maidenhood and anything else from Camelot: This is a role she would be perfect for and she better hurry up before she'll be too old for it! Anyway, her voice will always be perfect for the part of Guenevere and I would love to see her either this, The Lusty Month Of May, or I Loved You Once In Silence on her next album.

8. Mira from Carnival: This a role that she has said she played in college- it's a very weird, creative, and unknown show from the 60s, but it is a good one. This would sound beautiful in her voice.

9. Falling In Love With Love from The Boys Of Syracuse:  A classic song and we all know how well Ms. O'Hara does with classics..

10. My White Knight and anything else from The Music Man: Another great role for Kelli and this song would be wonderful in her voice.

I'll be dividing it up into two parts because there is so much I want to hear her sing, lol! Stay tuned for the next post!

Kelli O'hara Caramoor Concert Review

Oh my gosh guys, I couldn't tell you how excited I was when I saw that this was up! I was DEVASTATED (Well, the world wasn't over, but you know how what I mean!) when I found out I could have listened to this live concert, but I had missed it.  Anyway, this concert was truly lovely and brought much of what Kelli does best, although I wish she had done more songs that I hadn't heard before. Still, this leaves me excited for Kelli's new solo concert act as well as the possibility of a new album.  Here's a link to the concert: http://www.wqxr.org/#!/story/listen-live-kelli-ohara-headlines-caramoors-opening-night-gala/?utm_source=local&utm_medium=treatment&utm_campaign=carousel&utm_content=item0.

My Review: The  show starts out with the pleasant, beautiful overture for Of  Thee I Sing by George and Ira Gershwin played by the Orchestra of St. Luke's conducted by  famed music director Rob Fisher . The show  is a divided into sections dedicated to honoring lyricists/composers who also are lyricists.  So,  it starts out by honoring Ira Gershwin.  The first song that Kelli sang was My Ship which has lyrics by Ira and music by the amazing Kurt Weill. Kelli's beautifully warm, spinning soprano fits the song perfectly and her phrasing was immaculate and beautifully detailed. She followed up with the classic Someone To Watch Over Me which as always she performed wonderfully.

The next composer honored was Stephen Sondheim. After a terrific rendition of Send In The Clown's by the orchestra, Kelli delivers an amazingly expressive,  highly enjoyable version of What More Do I Need, a song from one of the lesser known Sondheim shows Saturday Night(I love Sondheim, and I don't know it!). Now, I was a bit disappointed we weren't treated with something like Moments In The Woods or better yet Green Finch And Linnet Bird (Wouldn't that suit Kelli's amazing soprano?!), but the wonderfully different choices she made with the lyrics as well as the brilliant sprinkles by the orchestra made this one a really great number. Still, make sure to sing both of the above mentioned songs at some point Kelli, especially Green Finch! Next, Kelli sang the Cole Porter classic So In Love and she aced it beautifully. It was more speech like  and less operatic on the bottom notes then how she has sang it  previously which was unexpected, but the beauty of her voice and her way with the words made this one ravishing.


Afterwards, we switch over to composers/lyricists who Kelli has performed with over the years, Adam Guetel and Ricky Ian Gordon. First up was the haunting and powerful Is It Too Late? from Gordon's My Life With Albertine, a show based off the novel In Search Of Lost Time by Marcell Proust. This is a really great song and an excellent show that I'm pretty sure you can still hear all of on Youtube. The emotional journey of the song was acted perfectly by Kelli and the high notes were powerful and beautifully spun. She followed with a rendition of the title song from The Light In The Piazza, which was wonderful as always although the mix belt aspect of the song made me wish Kelli had sang all the notes in her head voice because although it was never that serious, I was a little nervous for her a couple of times. And the way the orchestra played the climax of the song was too slow for me, taking out the beautiful soaring quality of the music that is usually present. Still, it was gorgeous as always.

Of course, the next lyricist honored was Oscar Hammerstein the second and Kelli turned in great interpretations of songs that she's sung in many of the shows she's been in, which was proceeded by a great rendition of The Carousel Waltz, Kelli's favorite piece of music. The first was A Wonderful Guy, which she dedicated to her husband Greg Naughton and her son Owen at the end. Next was a wonderful sing along of Getting To Know You from The King And I with a very talented audience singing along. She then sang a great arrangement of I Have Dreamed from The King And I which was wonderfully honest and beautiful. Next up was My Favorite Things from The Sound Of Music, the one role that got away from her, although I think she still can do it! I was hoping to hear the title song instead,  but this was quite a treat. She then finished the show with a great rendition of If I Loved You which she dedicated to her dad. She then did an encore presentation of I Could Danced All Night, one of the very best songs in her repertoire. Perfectly sung with a gorgeous high G at the end which she held forever!

Overall, this was such a great treat to hear this concert- Athough I've seen Kelli live twice in The King And I and met her in person, it's a bummer that I've never seen her in concert nor heard/seen a full version of them online and this ended that fact, which I'm grateful for. I'm highly excited to see what Kelli does next in her career, especially her new album which I'll make a post about soon! If you click on the line, I hope you enjoy the concert!

Kelli's O'Hara's Vocal Profile

So, here's my first post guys! It's a vocal range profile for Kelli, which is modeled after the profiles featured on the website DivaDevotee(Check out Kristin Chenoweth's profile here: http://www.divadevotee.com/2012/07/Vocal-Profile-range-of-Kristin-Chenoweth.html).  Note: For those of you that are unfamiliar with musical terms,  pitches in music are labeled by a process called scientific pitch notation, which gives numbers to the notes that one can play on an instrument. For example, the note middle C(Which lies in the middle of the piano) is labeled C4 and the typical range for a lyric soprano such as Kelli in music lies from about C4 to C6, the glass shattering money note that even those of you who aren't music fans have heard somewhere.  Please remember though that most musical theatre roles  for a soprano don't quite go that high due to the fact that musical theatre is about the words being communicated and vowels up there are not easily distinguishable, making it problematic for composers to try to write songs in that range. Anyway, here you go! 

Kelli O’Hara 

Voice Type: Lyric Soprano 

Vocal Range:  F-Sharp3— E-flat 6.  2  Octaves And A  Major 6th

Trill: No

Vocal Pluses: Gorgeous, classically trained  lyric soprano whose technique is so good that there is never a sense of tension in the sound, only astonishing ease with every note. Trained with former OCU Professor Florence Birdwell, who also trained  Kristin Chenoweth. 

The chest  register is reasonably strong in her voice, with a full resonant sound (Although it should be noted that O’Hara often takes her head mix down into this range). That said, she can go down to an F-Sharp 3,  a very low note for a soprano. When used in classical singing(To Build A Home, When I Am Laid In Earth), this part of the voice achieves a strong, earthy power. When sung in other repertoire, this part of the voice maintains the same  accessibility  and strength but with different types of resonances.  

The middle range from about  G4  to  F -Sharp 5  is very strong and maintains a light, bright, and warm quality throughout that she mixes into the chest register in order to create a smooth transition between her chest register and her lower passagggio. Although she doesn’t belt often and does not belt in her upper middle range , her belting is of first rate quality  (I’m Not At All In Love, I’m Going Back) -It is more similar to the rounder style of belting that was popular in Broadway’s golden age that encourages less brightness and more vibrato then todays belting. When singing in the upper middle range(C5 to F-Sharp 5), she employs a strong head dominated mix  that retains her gorgeous tone and also achieves a full, carrying sound ((How Glory Goes, The Light In The Piazza, Secrets). When sung with a classical resonance model(Something Wonderful, What’s The Use Of Wondering?), this range also shines. 

The head voice range is where her classical sound fully blooms- O’Hara uses a classical resonance model to achieve a large, fully resonant sound (This Nearly Was Mine, Forever in Neverland)that would take many by surprise who are accustomed to hearing the lighter, more speech like sounds that she uses in other repertoire. Strong breath managements skills in this area result in brilliant use of dynamics(Almost Real, The Beauty Is) as well as great sustained tone in longer phrases(Somebody Somewhere, O Holy Night) that have a beautifully soaring quality. When singing coloratura passages in the the uppermost range of the head voice(Glitter And Be Gay, They Don’t Let You In The Opera If You’re A Country Star), the voice has, for the most part, impeccable agility and maintains the shimmering beauty of the lower head voice range(G5 to B-Flat 5).   

Vocal Negatives: Sometimes, the upper notes of the head voice(B5 and above) can sound somewhat piercing and spread, losing the warmth of the rest of the voice. This most likely is a result of the tessitura in musical theatre  singing being quite a bit lower for soprano voices then in operatic singing. Since O’Hara mostly sings in the former,her technique and formant tuning is not quite as consistent in this area as it is in the rest of the voice, although it is impressive none the less. 

P.S: If anybody has any information/examples of her singing higher or lower then the range I have entered here, please feel free to email me! I am hoping to make  a vocal range video for her and I would love more examples! 

Greetings/Overview

Hello everybody! My name is Bubbles 4005 and I am a huge fan of Kelli O'Hara. Anyways, I've wanted to take part in some of the fan sites online, but a lot of them have been archived due to lack of activity and others don't have the discussion opportunities that I wanted. So I decided to create one of my own, dedicated to the best Broadway soprano working today Kelli O'Hara. I'm planning on posting videos, pictures,  amazing audio clips that have been floating around the internet that some of you may not have heard before, and posts about them as well as her amazing artistry. I hope you enjoy it and spread the love for Kelli!