September 17th, 2014. Unbeknownst to me, a group that I had never heard of uploaded a video that I wouldn't come across until sometime in January of this year. The group? VoicePlay. The video? Their ACA Top 10 Broadway countdown. Confession: I originally started this about a month or so ago and was going to use it as a way to explain my love of musicals. Upon realizing that the one year anniversary of its release was approaching, I determined that this would become more of a tribute. One in which I'm going to dissect a bit in an effort to explain why I like it so much. Now this countdown was not my introduction to VoicePlay; that was "Survivor", their collaboration with Home Free. That video made me like VoicePlay enough to watch their other videos. Starting with this one. The one that made me love them. It remains my favorite of all their videos, which is saying something since I like all of them. Seeing it performed live was worth the price of the tickets to the Sing Off tour. I'm serious.
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Why do I love it so much? Three main reasons and they are as follows.
Reason #1: it's a fantastic piece of music, plain and simple. Everything works. It shouldn't; I knew all but one of these songs prior to watching this and they shouldn't fit together this well. This is what great arranging looks like, folks. This is how it sounds. I have no idea how long it took Layne Stein and Geoff Castellucci to arrange this, but it had to take a fair amount of time and thought. If it didn't, well, these guys might just qualify as musical genuises. Which they might anyway. In any event, they picked great songs, stuck them in the right order and chose the perfect guy to sing lead on each. Every member of the group gets their moment to shine and they all take advantage of it. If you've never heard them before, this is a great introduction. You get a good feel for what they can each do individually and what they can do as a group.
Reason #2: it hits me on a surprisingly personal level. I've seen versions of all but two of these and multiple versions of a couple. I do have cast recordings of each though. I've been moderately obsessed with a couple of them and others were live versions of movies I loved as a kid. Listening to this countdown has brought back a lot of memories. It puts me in a happy place. Largely due to the songs and shows themselves, but also due to VoicePlay's performances. They're always entertaining, but they take it to another level here.
Reason #3: it does a pretty terrific job of summing up what's so great about musicals. All while helping me notice some similarities between them and the country music genre. See, they both revolve around people and their stories. People tend to write them off without ever having actually seen or listened to them. People seem to believe that once you seen/heard one show/song that you've seen/heard them all. The reality is that just like there are various sub-genres that exist under the country music umbrella, there are all kinds of musicals out there. Every show is not Oklahoma. Not trying to knock Oklahoma here; the point is that different shows use different styles of music. They speak to different kinds of audiences and do so in different ways. Don't believe me? Watch the countdown. No, seriously watch it.
Watch it so you have a frame of reference when I dissect it after the jump. Here:
#10. "Everyone's a Little Bit Racist" from Avenue Q. This is basically Sesame Street for adults, specifically those right out of college. I saw this a few years ago and thought it was pretty entertaining. Doesn't take itself too seriously as you may have gleaned from this. Which makes a valid point, actually. Meanwhile, this calls for a moment of Layne appreciation. For anyone unfamiliar with VoicePlay, Layne would be the one wearing the white shirt who kicked this off. Full name: Layne Stein. Vocal percussionist. Arranger. Producer. Sign holder. Whistler. All that and he can sing too. Makes me wonder how many other talents he has hidden away. See, what you have to understand is that him singing is not a thing that happens often. He's usually too busy keeping the beat going, which, you know, is pretty important. He does some rapping here and there, but singing? Not so much. This countdown is one of the few times every member sings lead, albeit only for a couple of lines in Layne's case. Whatever, it still counts. So take a moment to appreciate him stepping up to the plate and not only doing it, but doing it well. And living to tell about it. Well done, Layne.
#9. "Sherry" from Jersey Boys. In which we learn who the high tenor of the group is: Mr. Earl Elkins. I feel like you can't fully appreciate how high this is until you try it yourself. Really, give it a shot and tell me how you fared. Earl gets up there and does so with seemingly no effort at all. His voice is not what you expect it to be and I love that. I've compared it to musical sunshine, which may not make sense to anyone else, but I'm sticking with it. There's something almost joyful about it to me. Perfect for this song. This also makes for an interesting contrast when he sings sadder or more poignant lyrics. Case in point: a link to their YouTube channel will be provided at the end, when you finish this go check out their "Stay With Me" cover. You'll hear what I mean. Back to the countdown. Jersey Boys is one of the two shows I've never seen, but I love the music.
#8. "Belle" from Beauty and the Beast. Easily one of my favorite movies as a kid. Belle was always my favorite of the Disney princesses and still is today. The first time I saw the musical was at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. when I was in 7th or 8th grade and I, of course, loved it. Enough to where I sang the song "Home" in a talent show in 8th grade. But as a kid? Well, you couldn't not sing along with Belle during, well, "Belle". Even now, they go into the "Oh isn't this amazing..." bit and I still want to sing along. I can't help it. Although Earl getting shushed is always amusing. Layne wins for best reaction. And that harmony during the "Oh"? Beautiful.
#7. "Seasons of Love" from RENT. I'm going to go out on a limb and say that if you've only ever heard one song from RENT, odds are it's this one. The thought behind it is beautiful. Measure your life in love. That's it. That's really all that matters. No surprise that Eli Jacobson would be the one taking lead on this. His voice is so perfect for it. I've determined that he's one of those singers who could sing just about anything. I'd actually love to hear them do the whole song.
#6. "Master of the House" from Les Miserables. Ah, Les Miserables. If you forced me to pick my favorite musical of all time, I'd have to pick Les Mis. The first time I saw it was in 7th grade during a theater in D.C. week my school offered. And that set off a slight obsession with the show. I've seen it live a few times since and will pretty much always be up to seeing it. I've watched the 10th Anniversary Concert an insane amount of times and worn the CD's from said concert out. Not the only cast album I own, but my favorite. My gold standard. We won't talk about the abomination that was the recent movie. My love of Les Mis forced me to soldier through that. All I can say is dishonor. Dishonor on everyone involved in the casting. I thought Nick Jonas as Marius in the 25th Anniversary was rough. That was nothing. Moving on. I get such a kick out of watching this part of the countdown. Tony's expressions, always entertaining. There's something oddly endearing about Eli's delivery to me, best exemplified by his "Jesus". Talk about odd, that was an odd sentence to write but whatever. Moving on again.
#5. "All that Jazz" from Chicago. You know what this countdown needed? A little more Castellucci. Geoff Castellucci. Oh sure, he sang in the beginning and his bass lines have, frankly, rocked. I'd advise watching again and focusing strictly on his bass. He does some pretty cool things in here. But it's always nice when he gets to sing lead. Especially when his voice sounds this smooth.
#4. "He Lives in You" from The Lion King. Easily my favorite song in the bunch. It's one I connected to immediately and is surprisingly powerful and emotional live. Best part of the musical for me. Les Mis might win as my favorite overall musical, but The Lion King is right behind it - along with the next two musicals on the list. It's truly an incredible show for what was another one of my favorite movies as a kid. I was so happy that it made the countdown and that Eli was on lead. He nailed it and it's another song I'd love to hear them do a full version of.
#3. "Popular" from Wicked. Oh, how I love this show and its music. If I'd seen the song list before I watched the countdown, I would've thought that there was absolutely no way it could work with the songs before and after. They're all so different, not just in style but in mood. But it does. It shouldn't, but it does. Great job by Earl here.
Let's be real, the Spider-Man shade is beautiful. Among the best parts of this and inserting it here made for a nice bridge from "Popular" to the next song. If you know me at all, you know that this next part is without question my favorite part of the countdown. If you know me well or have been following me for a while, you also know that there is a word that I use as a special distinction. When I started this blog, I decided it would be free of profanity so the word of choice? Flippin'. Previously only used for Eric Church. Recently given to Adam Rupp and now? Now I bestow on Tony Wakim for his lead vocal in...
#2. "Phantom of the Opera" from Phantom of the Opera. We'll get to Tony in a moment. First, we have to go back to late June/early July 2001. My parents decided to take me up to New York City for a couple of days for my 18th birthday. Where I got to see Phantom of the Opera for the very first time. On Broadway. Our seats were incredible and the show? Phenomenal. That was the second and last time I've been to New York City. Right before everything would change. I'd love to go back, but I know it won't be the same when I do. That just adds another layer to that trip and you can bet that Phantom of the Opera holds a special place in my heart. Honestly, this may have been my favorite part of the countdown even if Tony hadn't of blown my mind. But he did. Why? Because he's Tony flippin' Wakim, that's why. He did such a great job. Not just vocally, but also in the way he just morphs into the Phantom. I love it. Even if it makes me wish I could hear him sing more songs from the show. Also worth mentioning that I love the beat and the bass line is just sick. Note that beautiful bass bomb that Geoff casually throws in like a boss. But mostly: Tony. Flippin'. Wakim.
#1. "Hello!" from The Book of Mormon. The one song I hadn't heard previously. I've never seen The Book of Mormon, so can't comment on the show itself. Does that stop me from being amused by this part? No. No, it does not. Everyone's reactions when they go into it are priceless. Seriously, their expressions are the best part. These guys, people. These guys. They're so entertaining and so much fun to watch. You gotta love that the countdown ends with a song called "Hello!"
Not going to lie, I'm a little sad that I didn't know about this or them when it came out a year ago. But I'm so happy that I did find it, even if it took a few months. I love that this brought back some memories and reminded me why I love musicals. I love that in a time when so many things sound the same that there's still people who can be so creative. Who can not only come up with things like this, but actually pull them off. I'm grateful for them and acts like them who have made me excited about music again. I'm hoping that this might encourage some of you who've never heard of VoicePlay to check out their other videos and buy their music, if you enjoy it. To those of you who already liked or loved them, well, I hope I did them and this countdown some justice. Thank you to everyone for reading. And thank you to Earl, Eli, Geoff, Layne and Tony for this countdown! And for the all the ACA Top 10 countdowns. And for not being afraid to be ridiculous. We could use more acts like y'all.
Also: Earl at the very end is everything. It never fails to make me laugh.
Want to learn more about VoicePlay? Here you go.
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