University of Michigan Musical Theatre Majors Jake Wilson & Benj Pasek sing "Anytime" by William Finn in a benefit concert for Cystic Fibrosis www.pasekandpaul.com
wow. wow I think I'm in love and Im glad other people know about this song . it's my favourite on william finn's collection. You guys did an amazingggg job making it a duet. It was just perfect. I got shivers. I wana go to this school. all in all... I'm so very impressed.
AMAZING! this is one of the vidds that got me into musical theater! so happy its back! now put back nina's i see what i wanna see back too!! haha .. thank you so much!
So I went to see the Pittsburgh CLO's Oklahoma! tonight (which was fantastic), and after browsing the program, realized Jake Wilson was in it, and then had this stuck in my head the whole night.
Fantastic Work from the both of them, nice to see musical theatre isn't dying just developing, loving the pop creeping into it, both blend well as well, great work!!! Oh and your both fit as well!!! ;-)
I think that both of these guys have great voices. I feel like the song might lose a little bit of the emotional depth from the contemporary vocalizations but you can tell that they're both trained really well and have a gift. I wish I had the contemporary voice that these guys have; I'm too legit MT. :-P Great job!! Cheers, C.
These songs all carry the joy of being loved and having someone special to weather the rough patches of life.A revue creates vignettes where songs from different sources are showcased. The audience does not need to know the background of the song in order to enjoy it.
i am singing this for a musical i am directing. I just sat and listend to this over and over, and picked up the harmony on my own. Its usually in a basic 3rd position. not hard to figure out. I will post it when we are down rehearing!!!
to the first guy who sings. i love your diction and how you place your vowels on certain notes. Just amazing and love the song. Have a degree in music theater from SIUC and you have one of the sharpest "theate voices" to the second guy, i am in love, you too are amazing. however the timbre of voice the first guy in brighter sounding. the second guy has more of a rich tone. i would love to here you guys do somethin from Rent
Actually, the song was originally written for "A New Brain" in which Roger sings it to his dying lover, Gordan. It caused the show to peak emotionally to quickly so it was cut. It was later used in "Elegies."
They will automatically fill in the blanks with what is given to them. "Anytime" could remind them of someone special in their life whether it be a dead mother or a lover or a friend. If you listen to the song Benj sang called "Not Afraid" by Michael Arden (found in another video), audience members do not dwell on the question of who "Andrew" is or why a grown man is singing "Tomorrow" when he is not a little red haired orphan named Annie.
There are parts of this score that resemble a song from "A New Brain" called "Time". Basically that part at the beginning 16 measures of the piano or so.
Based on the other clips presented regarding this fundraiser, it was quite obvious that the theme was about three main broad constructs; namely, Hope, Love and Friendship. Within this framework, "Anytime" fits perfectly along with other songs such as "Not Afraid", a hilarious interpretation of "Tomorrow" from Annie by Jake and "I Will Never Leave You" from Side Show.
it was not written for a new brain. I t was written for William Finn's friend Martha, who passed away and asked him to write a song for her funeral. William Finn wanted to put it in A New Brain, and the motif appears throughout the show, but the song caused an emotional peak too early in the show.
Erin, your point would carry more weight if this was a performance of Elegies (the original revue where this song was extracted from). The specific intention of a song is most important only in the context of the show it was created for. In a revue, the original intent is less relevant.
I don't think arranging the song as a duet for two men sacrifices the intent of the song. They are both clearly singing it outwards to the audience, not to each other. Also, the song can still be about a parent, a friend, someone who maybe has died (as with Finn's friend Monica) with a man singing it as much as with a woman. And regardless, I think the song is beautiful.
The performers could have made more judicious use of riffs, but I suspect that they had used this revue as a playground to experiment with several contemporary works in musical theater. No one can fault them for trying something new, for being brave and creative enough to provide the audience with a different face to the song.
Can I just add that just because its two men singing doesn't necessarily make it a homosexual song. They are not singing to one another on the last chord, but rather looking away. If it were two women in the same staging, I'm sure no one would title it as a "Lesbian Romance Song." This song could still BE about a friend dying, and each boy is singing to that friend.
sorry this comment wast to go on this one ^^^ i thought this one was really nice, but i think theyre right it would be nice for you to sing more of the meaning instead of trying to be impressive with the noise as much...the song is beautiful without it....i really did enjoy it though well done. x
I would have to disagree with your suggestion of having these performers see an actual production or listen to the cast recording. In a revue, songs from different sources may be picked, placed and combined as long as there is an underlying theme that ties everything together. An actor is free to interpret the song to their liking as long as the end result still serves the theme.
It can make sense. get off your high horse and allow the song to be beautiful. It does make sense between two guys if you take the lyrics away from a elegy and find it as a love song. The song stands alone outside of the show very well, so please allow it to.
Ok their not riffs, they are glottal attacks if ur gonna be critical use the right terminology Glottal, closing off air in the throught to change inflection on notes
beautiful instruments, but the riffing does distract from the meaning of the song. The audience loses meaning in the song because we only hear riffs. I'm not saying take them all out, but take a cue from Shoshana Bean. She riffs, but only in select places and it enhances the song instead of taking away from it. The first guy was pretty good at this.
The first guy's voice is really irritating. Nah i don't think so, at least not for me. Second guy using belting mode all the time is more tiring although it suits him and the whole is very appealing.
Actually, it is originally from" A New Brain" in which Roger sings it to his lover, Gordon. It caused the show to peak emotionally too quickly, and thus was cut. It was later put into "Elegies." You should check your facts before you start spewing bullshit. I really don't think William Finn would be terribly upset by the homosexual undertones.
Sorry, I'm kind of a douche sometimes. I should follow my own advice about spewing bullshit. I still think that the duet is an arranging preference and doesn't really do much to hurt or help the song,
