Oh hi! This came up as a suggested video for me and I couldn’t resist. 😂 It’s weird to hear someone break down my technique since I don’t really think about it in the moment. Thanks Lawrence University for the classical training. ⚫️👄⚫️👋🏻👋🏻👋🏻
Oh Hi Emily! That’s insane. Just like your performance in RTC! If you ever wanted to chat about your time with RTC let me know! I know the cyclones would flip out! I don’t think I could do what you did. Lawrence University must be amazing. I feel like this performance required a crazy amount of support and training! Brava! 👏 thanks for watching and stopping by!
Fun fact: for those whistle ranges the actress did it on accident and they kept it in, later in the cast recording and Atlanta shows she added an extra note
Actually! The reason she's singing in a more operatic choir style is that she has no memories of who she is. She sings in what's considered to be the default style of music because she has nothing else to base her song on
@@singwithAshleyits true! In the musical all the choir kids sing in their own style but jane has no memory of what she liked so she sings like that because all she knows is the carnival and choir
What I absolute love, too, is how she changes from a desperate, whistly and gentle voice to this accusing, almost bitter tone. „Why Lord?!“ Always gives me the chills.
I saw a theory that commentated on the fact that Jane doe’s song is so much more complex musically wise because she knew nothing about her past except that she was in choir. It’s her only bit of information so she pops off using that sweet, choral tone
I feel as though I should explain! This show is about a school choir from a small Canadian town who die in a rollercoaster accident. They're, in a way, pleading their cases for who should be given another chance at life. Some songs are about who they wish they could have been, some songs are about who they are, and some are about why they really should be given another chance! Jane's head is a replacement, taken from the doll she's occasionally seen holding. Every song is good but I think you really have to start with the introductory song to get the full explanation. Sometimes it's called Fall Fair Suite, sometimes it's the Uranium Suite, the song has been changed multiple times so it's really up to whether or not you want a video of it. Excellent video!!
The opening number is split into two parts "Uranium" and "Suite" each part differs each time depending on the song, and "Waiting for the drop" is completely different. The Uranium Suite (Used from the album and after) The Fall Fair Suite (Off-broadway/Chicago) Tragic fact (Canada?) Waiting for the Drop (Seattle)
It’s also important to add that they died in an accident, and they visit Karnak the fortune teller machine before getting on the ride, who knew they would die before-hand, but couldn’t say a thing because he was forced to stay shut. Everyone died, and all people were identified as poor children from the chamber choir of their school, but her body, found with the same uniform, was without a head, and since no one claimed her, no one could identify who she was. She and everyone else are ghosts in limbo battling for who lives.
The mourners behind her are there because it’s an “I want” song. She wants there to be people to mourn her because she is unidentified so no one can mourn her
What I love abt this musical is that each character’s song is a different genre that matches their personality/backstory. You should listen to talia! It’s a beautiful song and one of my favs from the musical :)
I think it’s amazing because Emily (the girl who played hand doe) is on a stage with people filming her, her chest is suppressed kind of because she’s wearing a harness, and she’s flying, and as she’s flying goes upside down and spins around while singing those high notes perfectly, she did amazing.
Another fun bit of speculation: The ascending and descending portions (as well as her flight pattern in this version) can be interpreted as the path of the roller coaster that killed her! It derailed at the top of the “loop de loop” before she was somehow decapitated, and she has a slow vocal ascent followed by the faster descent, and then the final, more isolated note in that passage could be interpreted as her head landing somewhere separately from the rest of her body. It’s a fun use of implied word painting lol. There’s a college streaming their production for free this weekend (I think it’s Ohio College? Ohio University? I don’t remember) and they really leaned into to coaster path parallel, with the backup members of the choir using a string of lights to outline the roller coaster throughout this song. One more fun fact: The actress in this version, Emily Rohm, put a rehearsal video of this song on TikTok where all of the lights were up and you could see the flight mechanism really well. It’s not wires (those would probably tangle during the flips anyway), but more of a bicycle seat strapped to a long arm that a stagehand lifts up and down like a really fancy seesaw. She does have some sort of safety harness under the costume, but I *think* most of her weight is on the seat when she’s upright.
Has that behind the scenes been put on RU-vid? I've been so fascinated by that flying effect, and knew it couldn't have been wires just because of that insane sideways 360 she does at "does no-one care". I briefly thought it might be some sort of hydraulic system attached to a seat based harness for it to be that precise, but that would have eaten up the budget and made too much noise. What a fantastic and simultaneously practical way to pull off something so darkly magical. Truly the carny spirit brought to musical theatre.
That *really* helps the roller coaster illusion, making her seem to be held by a seat even though she’s floating. I always thought it looked strange compared to other folks being suspended from a wire.
There's actually a part in the beginning where Jane Doe says "When a lioness has babies with a lion she stops making love with the lion. Sometimes he gets so jealous that he eats the babies, you would think the lioness gets upset. But it's actually quite the opposite, she makes love with the lion again." And then in this song she says "Time eats all his children in the end." Which someone said it could be because everyone including her parents didn't know who she was and just moved on.
Not sure if anyone else has mentioned this yet, but according to the people who made the musical, some of those high notes (especially the part where her voice climbs and then falls towards the beginning of the song) represent her screams during the accident. I highly recommend this show though, it's amazing!!
I think the screams at the end are an interpretation of them "flying off the rails" on the cyclone, notice everyone pretty much has some sort of scream expect for Constance, who says that "She didn't scream like the other kids".
Ok so, at the beginning of the play she's there "without a head" but then when she shows up she has a headless doll, so Jane doe "replaced" her head with the doll's. Cause in the pictures with the choir she originally has brunette hair while here she has blind hair that's styled like a doll's. Just thought that was neat for anyone who hasn't seen the play
Since they are breaking the fourth wall, they didn't want the audience to be grossed out at the sight of a headless body so they decided to use the doll's head.
10:47 I think during her introduction to her chest voice, she’s starting to get a bit frustrated and angry that her body was unidentified and that nobody knows who she is, and that she’ll forever be forgotten and unknown. :-)
Context: A choir or six students went on The Cyclone rollercoaster and all died in a freak accident. In the musical, the fortune teller (robot dude on the side) brings them all so they can tell about their hopes and dreams. The six kids, including the beheaded girl known as Jane Doe throughout the musical, can each vote for someone to be brought back to life, but it has to be unanimous Each of the kids gets their own song or two, and Jane’s song talks about how she wishes she knew who she was before dying. Nobody remembers her, not even herself. Her head was replaced by a doll’s head, which is why she has a headless doll “Jane Doe is what the coroner said. They found my body, not my head”
In reference to the thing you didn’t like at 16:00, I think the “why, oh why, oh whYy” is supposed to sound like crying, like catching breath, without the gross snotty sounds or heavy breathing. It also might be an artefact of this musical style. Edit: Oh, and a final catch: the rest of the choir sings the first four notes of Dies Ire while Jane sings her final note. You know, the medieval chant of death that asks “god, why?” I was wondering where we’d hear a full version of that since we’d been getting the half version this whole time. The last two notes are like Jane’s motif, half the chant of death, and most of her song is calling out to god to complete her (and thus her theme) since she only can sing the “ire” so she needs others to give her the “dies”. Second Edit: Although, on second thought, her cries of “why, Lord” may have the “dies” part. All the more Dies Ire.
Watching reactions to the live preformance this song is so fun because SHE SINGS UPSIDE DOWN It makes everyone shook the first time, i remember i literally cried and screeched the first time i watched it and just watched it on repeat for like an hour. Your comments are super helpful aswell!
According to the actress, Emily Rohm, she had very little time to learn with the rig (and was not informed about it till they put the harness on), so she basically had to get it down the first day.
i don't know how to explain it but her vibrato is so heavy. it's so much more pronounced, especially during the transition. which i think is insane. the amount of practice she probably had to do, doubled with the emotion and attitude of the song just makes it such an amazing, powerful song.
A bit late, but the opening scene (in the ballad) is part comedy, Jane Doe, having no knowledge of her past, doesn't have portraits fall from her past as her introduction. Every song begins with the character pushing the lever, having pictures descend behind them, and then they begin their song. So Jane, being a Jane Doe, has no past for pictures to descend *from*, it's actually a pretty good way of doing visual storytelling without being super overt.
The first decending melisma during the transition actually functions as a leit motif throughout the show for what (i think) is the roller coaster breaking down; the "fall." The last thing those kids ever heard
also at the beginning when she pulls down on the fortune teller’s (Karnak) lever on the bumpers behind her theres supposed to be childhood photos that get projected that’s why she does it multiple times and looks behind her
Everyone’s reccomending what the world needs but I disagree it’s kind of meant to sound bad vocally. You should do talia it’s beautiful and heavy on vocals
I feel like they made oceans voice kinda sound “bad” because she’s supposed to be like the bratty annoying smart character that thinks she’s better than everyone.
This is a great reaction, and the song is so good. I just wanted to point out that John Smith is just a name for an average generic man. John Doe and Jane Doe are names of unidentifiable bodies. The last name being Doe for both genders explains her “John and me” phrases.
I thought John and Jane doe were people whose names cannot be disclosed for legal or *other* reasons. But i guess they could be unidentified as well in that regard.
I remeber reading a comment saying that people speculate that the high notes in the song are ment to be her screams as the Rollercoaster decapitates her. 😰 Also the beginning was jane pulling a lever tht was ment to show photo's of her past, given the fortune teller didn't read her fortune that day nothing showed up.
Okay I love this reaction because I also love figuring out all the different aspects that make a performance and you do this beautifully. My lil fun fact I want to throw in is that she isn't on a fly system. She leaves right before her song (and with a cape right after) because she is in a hip harness that attaches to a pole. This is also why she doesn't turn around at any point during this staging. So, absolutely, the times they have the curtain closed and her "wings" (the lighting effect gives me 😍) are out are the times they're locking/unlocking her from the pole. Thought you might enjoy this knowledge, I found it fascinating. Thanks for this video!!
That makes sense! She does look a lot more stable than being on a fly rail system. You’re right! There is no way she’d be able to turn herself like that! I knew she was on something, just assumed it was a fly rail system because that’s all I’ve ever used! Still don’t know if I’d manage singing on a railing system either! Is he’s intense! Thanks for this! 🙏
Jane doe Said “Time eats all his children in the end”, this is referencing greek mythology where Kronos the god of time basically saw in the future that his children were going to eat up taking over the throne. Of course Kronos didn’t like that so he ate his own kids but luckily Zeus if I remember correctly killed his father Kronos and freed his siblings.
the wide vowel for oh whY is to go along with the rest of the whistles, representing her screams on the coaster!!! i feel like the wide y adds to the scream affect when you really analyze it.
Haha unintentionally! My hair is braided into a natural headband. Ocean’s is an actually headband. But so many have pointed out my resemblance to her! My voice is similar as well! I actually had no idea who ocean was until I read about her in the comments! I had to ask my students who she was 🤣 Thank you for watching!!
Am I the only one who thinks she looks EXACTLY like Ocean?! Also I love how many things I didn’t realize what Ms. Emma Rohm had to do until you said something lol
the entire musical was beautiful, but i was and still am intrigued by this song. it’s such a pretty song, along with a pretty voice and it’s almost mesmerizing. ❤️
16:10 There's a theory she went so high and cut it abruptly because in the ride she was screaming and then her head got ch0pped off, cutting her scream
One of my personal favorite parts of this song is when she does the descent from her "oooos" into the "AAAAaAAAaaaah" because it feels like someone on a rollercoaster going up and then down and agh I love this song so much
This was so wonderful! I've been waiting for a vocal coach to react to something from this musical, you should check out other pieces from the musical if you are interested. There's a song for a mezzo call "what the world needs" that I think would be interesting to hear your thoughts on, especially as a mezzo. Thank you for your video 🙂
Oddly enough, the first thing I thought when I heard The Ballad of Jane Doe was that it sounded almost like a cross between Stephen Sondheim and The Nightmare Before Christmas.
if you ever plan on watching this musical I give you a warning it gets very crazy and I got to say Noel's lament and space age bachelorman are very... interesting to say the least
The sad part when Jane Doe introduction she is pulling the level to show her life. Since no one remember hers and her soul doesn't remember their io picture of her childhood or family. Plus her move is like a doll marionette.
I would love to see some sort of reaction/comparison between this original version and Anna Pantsus cover of it. They are so very different performances, and while Anna's is not a live recording, She has such a different take on it, that I would love someone musically versed to put into words what those differences are because I can't seem to find the words for it, despite listening to both versions dozens of times
im LOVING this. id totally recommend watching the full musical! i don't believe its up publicly anymore but i have the link to the unlisted video if you'd like it
its a great musical- even better with context. some songs are definitely strange but they all fit the characters so well and make for a very interesting and entertaining hour and a half
This is one of my new favorite videos on RU-vid; I love this song and performance, and you give every second of it every bit of focus (and awe) it deserves!
Please please please react to more songs from Ride The Cyclone! I know that Space Age Bachelor man isn't the most impressive song but I want to know your thoughts on it!
i’d argue with the ‘not the most impressive’ part, ricky’s high notes are *amazing* also the vocal choices and difference are very interesting if you listen to the cast recording
So excited to watch this! Saw this show for the first time about a month ago and was blown away by this scene. It takes hell of acting and singing chops for an actress to pull this off
I just watched this video but I had to come back. I am not a professional singer and have 0 training. But I love singing. I watched your video and tried a few of the things you mentioned and I FINALLY hit the notes I wanted to for so long. I have played around with my mouth space and breathing and I made it!!! Thank you!
btw she was not on a fly rig during this song, behind the curtain there is a counterweight system that she gets connected to by an exposed harness on the back of her costume
about her flying, ive seen some bts and she actually isnt on a wire! the mechanics are actually super cool. its almost like an arm from way back upstage reaching out diagonally connecting to her waist. this is how it doesnt drag up her shoulders or clothes at all. oml, its so cool!!
Others may have commented this but in the show each character had their own song which are completely different styles and the other actors plat backup so the ranges on all of them was incredible. Love this song and your commentary adds such an amazing element to it as someone with no musical training. 😊
someone said that jane does ballad is actually a lament and noels lament is actually a ballad… if you search up the meaning to the words, you’ll find out why. i dont wanna do research for a yt video right now 💀
A brief synopsis of Ride The Cyclone: 6 chamber choir students perform in a choir competition at a theme park and then board the Cyclone. At the apex of the loop-de-loop, the ride derails and they all die. They then find themselves trapped in limbo, their only company being a rat and a pre-cognition machine named Karnak. Jane Doe was a member of the choir that joined later and was decapitated in the accident. The choir director died 8 hours after the accident, so nobody could identify her. That's about it lol Also something worth mentioning: in the cast recording on that last note she does an opt-up and it's phenomenal! Emily Rohm never fails to amaze me.
A headless mysterious girl in a school uniform, sings a song of an unending dream-like state ("Karnak's Dream of Life"). The Amazing Karnak, a mechanical fortune teller automaton, introduces himself as the show's narrator ("Welcome..."[This track is often not featured in live productions, rather is housed on the recording]). Karnak tells the audience that he is able to predict the exact moment of a person's death and formerly could inform the subject of the details of their demise, but the carnival in which he operated set him to "Family Fun Novelty Mode," meaning that he could only repeat vague predictions and fairground advertising. Karnak reveals that he will die soon, as a rat he has named Virgil has been gradually chewing through the rubber of his power cable and will soon bite down on 200 volts of electricity, instantly killing both of them. "As there is nothing more base than death," Virgil is enlisted to play the bass. Karnak has constructed this show as a "final apology". After their deaths, Karnak, in his guilt, summons the spirits of five teenagers before they may proceed to the true afterlife. Karnak had read the fortunes of the teenagers from Uranium City, Saskatchewan, but could not warn them of their impending death because of his family-friendly setting. Karnak introduces the audience to the Saint Cassian Chamber Choir and recounts their deaths on The Cyclone, a malfunctioning rollercoaster, while the teens sing about their hometown ("The Uranium Suite"). The five teenagers arrive at Karnak's limbo and are told of their death. Each teen is introduced and given a "catchphrase." Karnak reveals the teens are being placed into a game of life and death, where they must compete for a chance to return to life. Karnak reads a prophecy: "Whoever wants to win it the most shall redeem the loser in order to complete the whole." A sixth victim, the "mystery contestant," dubbed Jane Doe by the coroner, is introduced. She is the same character who opened the show. Since no family came to claim her body when it was found headless, and Karnak never read her fortune, her identity is unknown by both herself and everyone else ("Jane Doe's Entrance"). In the off-Broadway costume and prop design, it is suggested that Jane has replaced her head with that of a doll, whose body she carries around with her. Jane's entrance frightens the other choir members, but Karnak proceeds undisturbed and begins the competition. The first contestant is Ocean O’Connell Rosenberg, a perfectionist over-achiever. As a child of "far-left of center humanists," Ocean always felt like the self-proclaimed "white sheep" of the family. She tells Karnak that she "has seen enough reality TV" to know what he wants her to do. She proceeds to sing a song themed around her own self-importance and ego, comparing herself to the other teens and pointing out how they all fall short compared to her. She believes she is the only one worth bringing back to life, as she has the highest chance of succeeding in the world ("What the World Needs"). After her song ends, Karnak reveals that the choice of who lives will be made by group consensus. Though Ocean clumsily attempts to take back her words, the rest of the choir, including her best friend, Constance, has been incredibly offended by her social Darwinist rant. The next contestant is Noel Gruber, the only gay boy in his small town who dreams of being a cold-hearted French prostitute, but was instead stuck working at a Taco Bell. He sings about his desire to live the tragic, loveless life of his alter ego, "Monique Gibeau" (inspired by Marlene Dietrich in The Blue Angel), who dies of typhoid flu at the end of the song ("Noel's Lament"). After his song, Ocean expresses annoyance that his song did not have a moral. She insists that every story has a lesson ("Every Story's Got a Lesson") and gets Constance to perform an anti-drug improv PSA with her, though it soon becomes clear that Constance's dark sense of humor is antithetical to how Ocean wants her to be. The third contestant is Mischa Bachinski, a Ukrainian adoptee who immigrated after his mother, dying from radiation poisoning while on a Chernobyl disaster clean-up crew, put him up for adoption and lied about his age. When he reached Canada, his adoptive parents were expecting a "recently potty-trained" two-year-old, but instead received a violent teenage boy with a drinking problem. To cope with the isolating treatment he received from his adoptive parents, he turned to "self-aggrandizing commercialized hip-hop," posting his own original raps to RU-vid. His song begins as a gangsta rap track that heavily relies on autotune ("This Song Is Awesome") before transitioning into a passionate Ukrainian love ballad to his online fiancee whom he met through his RU-vid comment section ("Talia"). The fourth contestant is Ricky Potts, a boy who was born with an unnamed degenerative disease that left him mute and unable to walk, though in the afterlife his ability to speak has been restored and his physical impairment has vanished (as of the 2023 version of the script, Ricky no longer has a degenerative disease and is only mute because of trauma).[11] To combat this, Ricky developed complex fantasies, based on his childhood spent mainly with his 14 cats, to retreat into, particularly his own "religion," in which he is the savior of a race of sentient, anthropomorphic cats from a distant galaxy ("Space Age Bachelor Man"). In the off-Broadway script, he concedes his chance of being resurrected, but this was removed in later versions. Rather than singing about her hopes, dreams, and fantasies, Jane Doe sings about her own despair ("The Ballad of Jane Doe"). Jane's headless body was found in the wreckage, and though she was presumed to be a member of the choir because of her uniform, her body went unclaimed and her identity remained unknown following the stress-induced death of their choir director later that day. Her spirit has no memory of who she was. After hearing Jane's tale, the choir rallies together and holds a birthday party for her featuring a rewritten birthday song, sharing a tender moment with each other ("The New Birthday Song"). While Ricky bonds with Jane by giving her one of the names he had been "saving up" in life, and Noel and Mischa connect over seeing each other as they want to be seen, Ocean and Constance finally come to a head. Ocean, still desperate to return to life, hurts Constance deeply in her own self-obsession. Constance, fed up with being Ocean's sidekick, finally stands up for herself by punching Ocean in the breast. Finally taking her turn, Constance reveals that, just three hours prior to the accident, she had lost her virginity to a 32-year-old carnie in a porta-potty. She says she did it to "just get it out of the way"; however, she backtracks and reveals that it was more of an action of self-loathing. She enacts a conversation she thought would happen when people found out; "Constance the lifer lost it to a carnie in a porta-potty. Why, of course she did." Frustrated with her image as the "nicest girl in town," Constance talks about her family's pride for having worked in Uranium City "since they opened the mines" and that though she agreed with them at first, high school made her think it was lame to feel that way and she descended into loathing. Feeling guilt for how she resented her parents, she recalls the moment the coaster derailed, and how all her anger and misconceptions had dropped away as they flew through the air. Constance shares how she finally learned to appreciate every small moment in her life and love her small town. She laments that "it took a horrible accident for me to realize how goddamn wonderful everything is." She then sings of her love for her life and her town ("Sugar Cloud"). At the end of her song, Ocean apologizes to Constance, "as if seeing her friend for the first time." At last, it is time for the final vote. Karnak suddenly changes the rules, telling Ocean that she alone will get the deciding vote because she has the highest Grade Point Average. Having a crisis of conscience, she refuses to vote for herself. Recalling Karnak's prophecy, she realizes that Jane is the only one who doesn't have memories to take to the afterlife with her. Ocean says that while the teenagers died young, they at the very least had a life, admitting that she would "gladly take her seventeen years over nothing." The choir support Ocean in her decision and send Jane to "The Other Side." Karnak reveals her name to be Penny Lamb (a character in Richmond's play LEGOLAND). Whether she returns to life as Penny or starts a new life is left ambiguous. We see a compilation of home movies of her new life from youth to old age ("It's Not a Game"). Virgil finally tears through the rubber, killing himself and Karnak before the latter can give his final piece of insight. As Karnak dies, he says the same fairground advertising he told the teens before they rode the Cyclone: "Your lucky number is seven. You will soar to great heights. Be sure to ride The Cyclone." The remaining teens unite and sing an uplifting song ("It's Just a Ride") before their spirits travel to whatever comes next. If you read this. I LOVE YOU❤
QUESTION- (if you see this 😅) Do you know what vocal techniques is in the song? Im considering doing it as my solo for my music GCSE, but I don’t wanna choose it to seem impressive if it is not gonna get me many marks for techniques, etc
I don't know if anyone has explained it yet (and I know it's been 3 months but anyways) The choir of Uranium city went on a roller coaster and they had an acident, they all died and in the afterlife they have to vote for someone to come back to life. Also Jane Doe was the only body unidentified etc. (that was a really vague explaination guys don't worry it was just to give context to those who don't know)
You remind me of another pretty redhead vocal coach I know on youtube, maybe you and Hannah Bayles should collab sometimes! You're the sweetest and I think y'alls sense of humour would blend really well together lol Great video, glad to see this musical is getting more recognition!
I really really wish this song was popular (or even existed) like a decade ago so that I could've learned it back when I was actively training my higher register, because now I'm doing the opposite lol
Yes! As our body grows our voice is more prone to drop! I was trained as a classical soprano. Now I can barely hit some of those notes. A lot of that has to do with my desire to sing that high now… But my voice is definitely dropped.
