good comment about Geoff keeping the rhythm. people often don't think about that the bass and the beatboxer both make up the rhythm section, not just the beatboxer. and Geoff and Layne work together in perfect harmony.
Dude, it's Voiceplay! You should know it's not going to be anything like what you expect. But your initial reaction was so much fun to watch!! Tony's outro said that this one was something outside what they usually do, this is the first theatrical piece that they did. You really need to get to their Little Mermaid Medley. Rachel is in it, wonderful, and it is hysterically funny. Trust me!
Rachel Potter is absolutely fantastic in everything she does, and when she collabs with voiceplay it's just magical. She's also in their little mermaid medley, Moana medley and greatest showman medley along with some others. You've already seen her in wicked. She plays an amazing Ariel in their mermaid medley 💜
This was the first video they did in what would eventually become their style. And yeah, I think a lot of people don't realize that for an Acapella group to be successful, the beatboxer and the bass have to be in sync. Geoff and Layne have been singing together since middle school so they are totally in tune with each other. They are a really strong foundation for the group to build on, and that's essential. At least it is if you wanna be really, really good anyway, lol.
To me this is the most slept on Voiceplay song. Hardly no one reacts to it and it’s so amazing! Rachel is always a goddess each time she sings with Voiceplay
That's because it's so old. When you get that far back into their past, there are a lot of second-rate and even third-rate performances. This stands out as the best thing they did during that era, and unlike Grim Grinning Ghosts and First Noel, it's not seasonal, so it doesn't come up when reactors are looking specifically for a holiday piece.
As you see this is not a medley. Just the one song, Phantom of the Opera. Tony Wakim was the soloist here and he left to work with Layne on Pattycake Productions. He has the most sparkly eyes I've ever seen and can be seen on various videos from that time. It seems that you are starting to recognise the brilliance of VoicePlay that we know and love. :) And of course no Southern accent. This was written by a British lyricist , in Britain, so naturally should sound more British. Just as Italian opera would sound italian, etc. For a total contrast, have you seen their Hall of the Mountain King yet? It's so clever and so much fun.
I can add another tidbit about this video. Tony Wakim, who sang the Phantom here, also was the person that made Rachael’s dress for this video. As co-owner of Pattycake Productions (with Layne), he sews almost all of the costuming used in their videos. That’s in addition to writing their original music (with Layne) building sets and directing.
At 8:20 where Mayze has it paused, Earl looks like Cam from Modern Family lol. Nice reaction! This was one of my favorites by Voiceplay and it's so fun to watch others react to them.
Well, you went back to the originals. Meet high tenor Earl, large guy with stand up hair, and Tony, our Phantom. Tony left, and is now very big with Patty cake Studios. When he left, J None joined. Later, Earl left us too. The guys have made do with a band of 4 and a guest since. Rachel is their more "leading lady" guest. She has appeared in most Disney medley and several Nightmare Before Christmas songs. As I recall, her latest was in the Wicked Medley.
I always think it is so ironic that before they were VoicePlay they were the called 4:2:Five. Sometimes they had four members and sometimes a hotel start the song they had five!
Yeah, when VP did this, it was by far the best thing they had ever done up to that point in time. The male lead, BTW, is Tony, now of Pattycake. He was their baritone before J-None. And you can't do anything opera-related without vibrato. The genre just requires it.
Michael Crawford's Phantom from the original cast recording (over 25 years ago now!) can be quite "airy," and is much less "bombastic" than some of the more recent versions. I would say that I prefer it that way -- it's an important contrast to the style of Raoul. This version is a little more in the middle, and it's fine, but not my favorite. What I always have trouble with, though, is seeing Geoff with short hair again -- he's been rocking the current hairstyle for so long that this looks very weird, and I sometimes confuse him with Layne in this video!
Tony back in the days was great, and I love Cesar nowadays, but for me, their best lineup will always be Geoff / Layne / Eli / Earl / JNone. If it was up to me, I'd love to have that lineup back and just add Cesar, Rachel (love her), Ashley (love her), Deejay Young (react to one of the songs in which he is featured, like "Bang") and Adriana Arellano (she was 14 or 15 when she first sang with them, and they produced some great songs featuring her). It's always impressive how Voiceplay just keeps their quality, no matter how their lineup has changed, and their featured singers are always great. I certainly recommend "Go the distance" featuring EJ Cardona from Voctave, since you are a theatre kid, as well. Both him and his brother Omar have been great feature artists for Voiceplay.
Great reaction. All of them worked at Disney World, Universal Studios or both. Rachel performed as Ariel, The Little Mermaid.. You mentioned Wizard of Oz. Pattycake Productions is owned and run by Layne and Tony (phantom). They have tons of original musicals they wrote , produced, directed, etc, etc. One being... Will of Oz. In the Unexpected Musicals series. Wizard of Oz sang to Will I Am songs. They have many like this. Most of they're videos are Disney characters. The Villains Haunted Mansion. The Villains Lair series. Princess Academy. The latest... Evolution of Cinderella If The Shoe Fits. And so many more since 2016.
You know, if you haven't, you simply MUST do Voiceplay's "Friends On The Other Side" from "The Princess and The Frog" by Disney. It'll knock your socks off!😅 But watch the movie first, if you've never seen it, to fully appreciate how awesome what they do with the song is. 😊
You may enjoy Rachel's other collabs with them like Trouble/As Long As You Love Me and Attention. And yes, Moana is delightful, and the Greatest Showman medley is fantastic.
Fantastic reaction as always :) After you did the Aca Top 10 Heroes and Villains, could you please check out the Sidekicks Video? You mentioned some Songs, that are gonna be in there :D
Should check out VoicePlay's Moana Medley, and Hall of the Mountain King cover. Also, have you checked out Pentatonix? They are also A Capella singers. Have a look at their 90s Dance Medley.
I'm waiting for the day Josh Groban plays Raoul...then someday, the Phantom! He's great live, seen him a couple times. But given his Netflix show, maybe he's more into acting now? It was a good show, pity it was only one season.
You didn’t like the movie?? OK, I kind of get it in some ways, but HOW did you not notice the pure hotness that is Gerard Butler in Point of No Return? I get he’s no top-tier Broadway singer but his rougher singing style was actually more what ALW had in mind originally-he wanted the contrast between a rocker and Sarah Brightman’s lyric soprano. (If you want to see a hilariously awful and kitschy version of this song, check out Sarah Brightman and Steve Harley’s version-don’t say I didn’t warn you. THAT was actually early concept!) Anyway, I actually loved Tony’s singing in this. And of course Sarah nailed that E6-she’s a powerhouse. Great reaction-and I’m not kidding, check out the Steve Harley version. Soooo cringey.
I like the movie well enough, but if you're heading the entire musical on the movie..Gerard Butler's singing voice isn't always the best. One note literally made me cringe. Have you listened to any of Nightwish's covers of this song? If you want to talk about breaking the high note ..