That was lovely. I saw the original on Broadway and it remains my favorite Broadway Play ever. I imagine that this rendition suffered because of the the poor recording quality. I watched several versions of this on youtube but I do not see the thinness that I often see when I listen to people singing. It is easily among the better renditions. Thank you.
I think if the tempo had moved a little more it would have been easier for the singers and it would have given the performance slightly more intensity.
Great combination. Would love to see that combination in the actual musical with all the set and appropriate lighting... very nice baritone voice for Neville Craven
You've gotten enough technical criticism to last you well into this year, so I am just going to say AWESOME. *dies* I think you'd be hard pressed to find live performances that are absolutely 100% perfect and all you can do is your best and this rendition completely blew me away. Congratulations on a great performance, keep it up. :)
hmmmmmm, well at first I was thinking, this isn't bad but the guy in the white had his fists clenched so tight making sound swallowed. the guy in the blue started getting all american Idol and the character went outta window. it went nowhere for me, the best part i didn't like the way ur voices blended until the last whole note, more work and it would be better, ur competing with philip quast and warlow, good luck
Nice! I really like this, Will. You have a great voice with good tone and tuning. Just one thing: I recommending working on your stage presense some more. You shuffle around a bit near the beginning and almost look like you are afraid of moving, which is never a good thing, while the fellow singing the part of Archie seems much more comfortable, and more in character. Other than that, excellent!
Very nice. I was the next person to go on right after this song in my production of TSG and it always gave me chills as I was waiting backstage. This rendition didn't fail me. Chills once again. Your voice reminds me a lot of the Neville we had. Very good job. I agree with "misterme927" though, about the pauses. I think it would have been much better tied together. But over all a VERY good job.
I suggest misterme927 take immediate action on two fronts. First, see a proctologist ASAP to clear up lower bowel issues. Secondly, see a psychiatrist ASAP to deal with anger management issues. I went to misterme927's site and see no accomplishments of any kind. I wonder what accomplishments/credentials misterme927 has to justify these criticism's. This forum should be one of support and positive critique, not one to tear down and humiliate.
On words such as "Eyes," all you have to do is really drop the jaw for that beautiful "Ah" tone, so the word is really "Lily's Ahhs." I don't mean to ramble, but I think it was very good overall, I throughouly enjoyed it. But I definitely agree with the comment below this one that says the baritone has more of a solo voice than a duet voice. But if he were to do a duet again, try singing it with another operatic voice.
The tenor does a great job of letting the higher parts float; he doesn't push his voice at all, it just floats - and that was very good. He was flat here and there, but overall, it wasn't bad at all. The baritone's got an incredible voice, but through some of the intonations, just as the word "Eyes," he puts it through more of a "Er" space then an "Ah" space in the back of the throat, and that can not only make pitch flat, but it doesn't blend with the tenor's "Ah" space well.
First off, congrats on a very good performance. A lot of the comments below this one stress all of the little bad things, but never do they see the picture as a whole. Overall, it was a fantastic performance. The baritone's got a beautiful, powerful operatic voice that in some ways clashes in blend with the tenors lighter voice.
Will, I think that you have a fantastic voice, but your voice is not for a duet. You steal the spotlight a tad too much here, and in this song the spotlight needs to be shining on both the Doctor and Archie. But, I do know that this is a very difficult song to sing. If you perform this again (or anything as a duet), I recommend that you lighten up a little and maybe brighten up your voice.
Another distracting feature was his frequent use of the parlando technique at the end of his phrases, such as at 1:30, 2:28, and 2:52. His tone often pulls to the back of his throat, especially after his high notes, which are either too high for him, or he needs to work on his breath support in that part of his range.
First off, the baritone uses WAY too much personal interpretation, adding pauses and syncopating the rythem in places that distract from the intent of the phrase such as between "Saw him happy..." and "...long ago" at 1:25 and "How can he..." and "...see the girl..." at 1:34, which would be much better be emphasized by tieing the phrase together and building to the end.
The singer's voices are average, but nothing better than anything other than some high school talent shows filmed with the video function of a picture camera.
You're certainly entitled to your opinion, but I can tell you that many people find our voices more than just average; a matter of perspective, I suppose.
As for "High School talent shows," I don't think it is fair to imply that younger performers are somehow inferior. I, for one, know many extremely talented High School-age singers, so I'm going to take that remark as a compliment :)
I hear what you are saying about the video quality, and I too am frustrated by how poor it is, but there's nothing I can do about early 90's camcorder technology; such were the limitations back then.
Regarding your additional comments, I thank you for your feedback and wish you all the best! - Will
For all the promotion of this video and slandering of comparable performances that brownstonemom was posting on almost every other rendition of this song I was able to find on YouTube, I'm dissapointed with the quality of it, especially when the statement was made by brownstonemom that this one is "better" then the performance at the High Desert Opera's New Year's Eve Gala. In all respects, there is nothing about this performance that stands out.
Speaking personally, it is not my intention or wish to see negative comparisons drawn between my performance and other renditions of Lily's Eyes. I believe that any singers, who undertake this piece are to be commended for their efforts. In my opinion, we exist in a community that is better served by mutual support, than by criticism.
Thanks very much to all of you, who have commented on this video, so far. I really appreciate your feedback.
Many viewers have stated that the tempo of the piece could be a bit faster; if I have an opportunity to perform this song again in the future, I will definitely keep that advice in mind.
Pretty good, definitely great voice quality. Everyone here seems to be in (correct) agreement, though; you take the song just a little bit too slow. It would be even more powerful with a faster tempo and more drive.
This is one of those songs that people tend to do too slowly, I don't know why, but it is too often the case. The fact that you have to take breaths in the middle of lines shows me it is too slow. Vocal quality is nice though. Just give the pianist a prod and it should be great.
I think your performance outshines Archie's to an amazing degree. Where you seemed to try to build to the finish, Archie still wanted to drag it out and performed with almost no energy. It's a shame because your performance was beautiful and genuine and the whole thing seemed dragged down at the end because of Archie. Five stars to your performance; I would love to see more of you singing with better visual quality so I could see your face and expressions as well as hear them.
I agree very much with Meghan! (bflex888) the tempo is juuuust a little too slow. Your voices go with this song perfectly I think. Very mature, trained, and classical. I would have liked to see a little more acting to go with those great voices! Keep it up, and yes...dont be afraid of the hjgh notes! :)
In my opinion, I think both of the voices had good tone quality in relation to the song. Both sounded full and classically trained. I would say the dynamics left some to be desired, especially with the tempo of the song. I think it just needed to move more and build up to the climax, the end. Nice transistions between voices. Emotions could be heard through the voices. But, don't be afraid of high notes! If you got 'em, belt them out! Overall, nice job! I'm impressed!
You both have really good voices...I feel that the song moved a little slow and could have been a little bit faster in tempo...the ending really do much for me, I guess it was the huge difference in voices...and the baritone (lower voice) had weird vowels on some of the words. But honestly it's one of the better videos on youtube.
Just suggestions. At times when you are about to hold a long note by belting it instead of using legit, you sometimes let out a hiccup of sound that foretells it's a belted note. example is around 1:14 "has come who has her eyes" right before you sing "eyes". Other than that a great voice, very good baritone. I sang the tenor part in this but my vocal classification is actually a tenor/baritone. I like to call myself a tenortone.
2. Phrase endings a) dont allow them to be unsupported ..even softest tones must be magical and absolutely at pitch. b)dont treat all phrase ends the same as it looses intensity as a whole - there should be a subtle building throughout .. you can help this with a bit of carefull shading and pacing in the baton changes. Im not saying they were bad...just a little 'safe' and predictable at times.
Very good. A most enjoyable performance and clearly a talented ensemble.
I thought two things may lift the performance
1. Be very carefull always to follow the sense of the words eg cant really break 'see the girl,,, and miss those hazel,, eyes' and make it convincing' as I believe happened once.
what is achiles05 talking about ? Your emphasis is acceptable on both words ... check Anthony Warlow in his video from several years ago ... he sings "now and Standing" in the same manner as you do. A critique is always useful whatever the singer's level of accomplishment but for someone to state emphatically that something is done "wrong" when the person making the critique doesn't have the credentials to make such a definitive statement is rather hubristic.
I am extremely impressed Dr. I am assuming you would like a critique to help you improve. The only thing I really noticed that you did wrong were the way you held out wrong parts of words like now and standing in the beginning. Although your second high note was awesome the first one sounded like u hesitated. You have an amazing voice though. keep singing
You've got a great bartione voice! I like it! I think you'll make a good Neville. The pace seems to be a bit slower than the other recordings. I like how the voices differentiate from each other yet blend in harmony. And I like the strength and passion of the music that gradually unfold and build to the end. But the Archibald's voice sounds a little week on the final high notes.
Something I really like about this song, is that the 2 voices are so different and that makes an excellent combination. really powerfull voice, Congratulations
I plan to film some all new footage during the first quarter of 2008. In the meantime, I will be posting more videos from past shows. Thank you for your support!
That was lovely. I saw the original on Broadway and it remains my favorite Broadway Play ever. I imagine that this rendition suffered because of the the poor recording quality. I watched several versions of this on youtube but I do not see the thinness that I often see when I listen to people singing. It is easily among the better renditions. Thank you.
diggiemac 3 years ago
That was really great, thanks for the invitation.
I think if the tempo had moved a little more it would have been easier for the singers and it would have given the performance slightly more intensity.
Great vocals.
I preferred Neville over Archie in this.
gerdbrown 3 years ago
Great Job Will! Sorry it took so long to see the video! You guys were great!
MovieBuffProductions 4 years ago
Beautiful! I like your interpretation of Dr. Craven. You sound like you'd rock at the part of Enjolras in Les Mis.
danigirl00 4 years ago
people just like to find things to complain about...this was beautiful :)
lea1lauren 4 years ago
Great combination. Would love to see that combination in the actual musical with all the set and appropriate lighting... very nice baritone voice for Neville Craven
doods0602 4 years ago
You've gotten enough technical criticism to last you well into this year, so I am just going to say AWESOME. *dies* I think you'd be hard pressed to find live performances that are absolutely 100% perfect and all you can do is your best and this rendition completely blew me away. Congratulations on a great performance, keep it up. :)
imshinycaptain 4 years ago
Absolutely stunning and beautiful. Thank you for the invitation again. This was incredible!!
Amkii 4 years ago
Beautiful work.
You both have dazzling voices.
IsabellaMacbeth 4 years ago
hmmmmmm, well at first I was thinking, this isn't bad but the guy in the white had his fists clenched so tight making sound swallowed. the guy in the blue started getting all american Idol and the character went outta window. it went nowhere for me, the best part i didn't like the way ur voices blended until the last whole note, more work and it would be better, ur competing with philip quast and warlow, good luck
nseal20 4 years ago
i understand what you mean about the man in blue. i thought the same thing. the guy in white didn't do too bad, but his acting was a bit...strange.
tenlittlemonkeys 4 years ago
Nice! I really like this, Will. You have a great voice with good tone and tuning. Just one thing: I recommending working on your stage presense some more. You shuffle around a bit near the beginning and almost look like you are afraid of moving, which is never a good thing, while the fellow singing the part of Archie seems much more comfortable, and more in character. Other than that, excellent!
Mare416 4 years ago
Very nice. I was the next person to go on right after this song in my production of TSG and it always gave me chills as I was waiting backstage. This rendition didn't fail me. Chills once again. Your voice reminds me a lot of the Neville we had. Very good job. I agree with "misterme927" though, about the pauses. I think it would have been much better tied together. But over all a VERY good job.
katiefoshee 4 years ago
I suggest misterme927 take immediate action on two fronts. First, see a proctologist ASAP to clear up lower bowel issues. Secondly, see a psychiatrist ASAP to deal with anger management issues. I went to misterme927's site and see no accomplishments of any kind. I wonder what accomplishments/credentials misterme927 has to justify these criticism's. This forum should be one of support and positive critique, not one to tear down and humiliate.
lroliver 4 years ago
On words such as "Eyes," all you have to do is really drop the jaw for that beautiful "Ah" tone, so the word is really "Lily's Ahhs." I don't mean to ramble, but I think it was very good overall, I throughouly enjoyed it. But I definitely agree with the comment below this one that says the baritone has more of a solo voice than a duet voice. But if he were to do a duet again, try singing it with another operatic voice.
lasalle7490 4 years ago
The tenor does a great job of letting the higher parts float; he doesn't push his voice at all, it just floats - and that was very good. He was flat here and there, but overall, it wasn't bad at all. The baritone's got an incredible voice, but through some of the intonations, just as the word "Eyes," he puts it through more of a "Er" space then an "Ah" space in the back of the throat, and that can not only make pitch flat, but it doesn't blend with the tenor's "Ah" space well.
lasalle7490 4 years ago
First off, congrats on a very good performance. A lot of the comments below this one stress all of the little bad things, but never do they see the picture as a whole. Overall, it was a fantastic performance. The baritone's got a beautiful, powerful operatic voice that in some ways clashes in blend with the tenors lighter voice.
lasalle7490 4 years ago
Will, I think that you have a fantastic voice, but your voice is not for a duet. You steal the spotlight a tad too much here, and in this song the spotlight needs to be shining on both the Doctor and Archie. But, I do know that this is a very difficult song to sing. If you perform this again (or anything as a duet), I recommend that you lighten up a little and maybe brighten up your voice.
n0ah91 4 years ago
Another distracting feature was his frequent use of the parlando technique at the end of his phrases, such as at 1:30, 2:28, and 2:52. His tone often pulls to the back of his throat, especially after his high notes, which are either too high for him, or he needs to work on his breath support in that part of his range.
misterme927 4 years ago
First off, the baritone uses WAY too much personal interpretation, adding pauses and syncopating the rythem in places that distract from the intent of the phrase such as between "Saw him happy..." and "...long ago" at 1:25 and "How can he..." and "...see the girl..." at 1:34, which would be much better be emphasized by tieing the phrase together and building to the end.
misterme927 4 years ago
The singer's voices are average, but nothing better than anything other than some high school talent shows filmed with the video function of a picture camera.
misterme927 4 years ago
You're certainly entitled to your opinion, but I can tell you that many people find our voices more than just average; a matter of perspective, I suppose.
As for "High School talent shows," I don't think it is fair to imply that younger performers are somehow inferior. I, for one, know many extremely talented High School-age singers, so I'm going to take that remark as a compliment :)
WillOliverMusic 4 years ago
I hear what you are saying about the video quality, and I too am frustrated by how poor it is, but there's nothing I can do about early 90's camcorder technology; such were the limitations back then.
Regarding your additional comments, I thank you for your feedback and wish you all the best! - Will
WillOliverMusic 4 years ago
For all the promotion of this video and slandering of comparable performances that brownstonemom was posting on almost every other rendition of this song I was able to find on YouTube, I'm dissapointed with the quality of it, especially when the statement was made by brownstonemom that this one is "better" then the performance at the High Desert Opera's New Year's Eve Gala. In all respects, there is nothing about this performance that stands out.
misterme927 4 years ago
Hi misterme927,
Speaking personally, it is not my intention or wish to see negative comparisons drawn between my performance and other renditions of Lily's Eyes. I believe that any singers, who undertake this piece are to be commended for their efforts. In my opinion, we exist in a community that is better served by mutual support, than by criticism.
WillOliverMusic 4 years ago
Thanks very much to all of you, who have commented on this video, so far. I really appreciate your feedback.
Many viewers have stated that the tempo of the piece could be a bit faster; if I have an opportunity to perform this song again in the future, I will definitely keep that advice in mind.
Thank you all for your support! - Will
WillOliverMusic 4 years ago
Wow...Your voice makes me melt. AMAZING!
jackiemac1990 4 years ago
Pretty good, definitely great voice quality. Everyone here seems to be in (correct) agreement, though; you take the song just a little bit too slow. It would be even more powerful with a faster tempo and more drive.
Happytrollmaker 4 years ago
This is one of those songs that people tend to do too slowly, I don't know why, but it is too often the case. The fact that you have to take breaths in the middle of lines shows me it is too slow. Vocal quality is nice though. Just give the pianist a prod and it should be great.
FUNCHOMCLALA 4 years ago
I think your performance outshines Archie's to an amazing degree. Where you seemed to try to build to the finish, Archie still wanted to drag it out and performed with almost no energy. It's a shame because your performance was beautiful and genuine and the whole thing seemed dragged down at the end because of Archie. Five stars to your performance; I would love to see more of you singing with better visual quality so I could see your face and expressions as well as hear them.
floramir 4 years ago
I really like this piece, would love to see the musical and cant wait to hear more from you!!
5 Stars
*****
littlecherubs 4 years ago
Really really good.
but if you really need me to suggest anything, i think you can relax a bit. cos i think this song can be sang softly.
honestly, i look forward to see more of your performance !!!
lvu,
DEB
calldebbie 4 years ago
I agree very much with Meghan! (bflex888) the tempo is juuuust a little too slow. Your voices go with this song perfectly I think. Very mature, trained, and classical. I would have liked to see a little more acting to go with those great voices! Keep it up, and yes...dont be afraid of the hjgh notes! :)
broadwaybabe99 4 years ago
In my opinion, I think both of the voices had good tone quality in relation to the song. Both sounded full and classically trained. I would say the dynamics left some to be desired, especially with the tempo of the song. I think it just needed to move more and build up to the climax, the end. Nice transistions between voices. Emotions could be heard through the voices. But, don't be afraid of high notes! If you got 'em, belt them out! Overall, nice job! I'm impressed!
bflex888 4 years ago
You both have really good voices...I feel that the song moved a little slow and could have been a little bit faster in tempo...the ending really do much for me, I guess it was the huge difference in voices...and the baritone (lower voice) had weird vowels on some of the words. But honestly it's one of the better videos on youtube.
complicatedt1 4 years ago
Just suggestions. At times when you are about to hold a long note by belting it instead of using legit, you sometimes let out a hiccup of sound that foretells it's a belted note. example is around 1:14 "has come who has her eyes" right before you sing "eyes". Other than that a great voice, very good baritone. I sang the tenor part in this but my vocal classification is actually a tenor/baritone. I like to call myself a tenortone.
adcahela 4 years ago
Wow. That was beautiful. You both have amazing voices.
astonishing16 4 years ago
2. Phrase endings a) dont allow them to be unsupported ..even softest tones must be magical and absolutely at pitch. b)dont treat all phrase ends the same as it looses intensity as a whole - there should be a subtle building throughout .. you can help this with a bit of carefull shading and pacing in the baton changes. Im not saying they were bad...just a little 'safe' and predictable at times.
pianoboyo 4 years ago
Very good. A most enjoyable performance and clearly a talented ensemble.
I thought two things may lift the performance
1. Be very carefull always to follow the sense of the words eg cant really break 'see the girl,,, and miss those hazel,, eyes' and make it convincing' as I believe happened once.
pianoboyo 4 years ago
what is achiles05 talking about ? Your emphasis is acceptable on both words ... check Anthony Warlow in his video from several years ago ... he sings "now and Standing" in the same manner as you do. A critique is always useful whatever the singer's level of accomplishment but for someone to state emphatically that something is done "wrong" when the person making the critique doesn't have the credentials to make such a definitive statement is rather hubristic.
brownstonemom 4 years ago
William! Great stuff! We really enjoy your music & this duet was super.
Keep up the good work!
Ann & Bill
billoliver101 4 years ago
I am extremely impressed Dr. I am assuming you would like a critique to help you improve. The only thing I really noticed that you did wrong were the way you held out wrong parts of words like now and standing in the beginning. Although your second high note was awesome the first one sounded like u hesitated. You have an amazing voice though. keep singing
achiles05 4 years ago
You've got a great bartione voice! I like it! I think you'll make a good Neville. The pace seems to be a bit slower than the other recordings. I like how the voices differentiate from each other yet blend in harmony. And I like the strength and passion of the music that gradually unfold and build to the end. But the Archibald's voice sounds a little week on the final high notes.
yajunwindbell 4 years ago
That's really beautiful! Which one are you? :)
EponineJavert 4 years ago
Hi EponineJavert,
I sing the part of Dr. Neville Craven. Thanks for your comment! - Will
WillOliverMusic 4 years ago
My favorite part! :D Give my compliments to Archibald also :D
EJ <3
EponineJavert 4 years ago
Something I really like about this song, is that the 2 voices are so different and that makes an excellent combination. really powerfull voice, Congratulations
leonelfran 4 years ago
you were amazing man! very very good! can ya do more from this musical?
aburny 4 years ago
marvelous .... such a beautiful song. Hope there are more to come. Will you be posting a more current video soon?
brownstonemom 4 years ago
Hi brownstonemom,
I plan to film some all new footage during the first quarter of 2008. In the meantime, I will be posting more videos from past shows. Thank you for your support!
WillOliverMusic 4 years ago