Boston Common - Niche Media - A side of Boston that's anything but common.
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HOTTEST TICKET FROM LEFT: Marc Kudisch, Ben Davis, and Jeff Mattsey revive the baritone's songbook in Baritone Unbound. The Unsung Singers A NEW MUSICAL AT ARTSEMERSON LAUDS THE DEPTH AND HISTORY OF BARITONES ONSTAGE. F or Broadway star and baritone Marc Kudisch, the Merriam-Webster Dictionary is an appalling read. It defines a baritone as: "a male singing voice of medium compass between bass and tenor." "When I first read the definition I thought to myself, That's horrible," Kudisch says. "I'm a baritone, and I'm so offended by it because the only way to describe [the baritone] is by telling me about other voices." Dispirited but not undone, Kudisch turned his loathing into a labor of love. From October 8 to 20, he premieres his salute to the unheralded voice at ArtsEmerson in Baritone Unbound: Celebrating the Uncommon Voice of the Common Man. "The baritone voice is the embodiment of the common man's daily struggle," he explains. "The pain, the agony, the daily uphill walkâthat's the baritone voice." Not as dramatic as the bass, not as esteemed as the tenor, the baritone voice has lost its way in musical theater and opera, says ArtsEmerson's Director of Artistic Programs David Dower, who is also directing Baritone Unbound. "We're in a real moment of nothingness for baritones, which will surprise people when they see it," says Dower, who points out that very few roles have been written for the baritone voice since 1980. The show explores the evolution of the voice. "It goes from plainsong to opera, Broadway, and pop, through Elvis to contemporary Broadway, looking for new memorable moments for baritones," he explains. But nothing, he says, compares to the baritone boom that coincided with the golden age of Broadway. The 1940s through the 1960s saw a host of shows written for and about continued on page 78 PHOTOGRAPHY BY PAUL MAROTTA BY JARED BOWEN 76 BOSTONCOMMON-MAGAZINE.COM 076-078_BC_SPR_C_HT_LateFall13.indd 76 9/16/13 10:48 AM