Hugh Jackman's Vocal Range

[jo]

I have found this unusual site ( called The Range - a forum for vocalist discussion and their abilities) while looking for something else -- it is a discussion of Hugh's vocal range, with specific examples of his vocal range --

therangeplace.forummotions.com/t1406-hugh-jackman

Voice type: Hugh Baritone
Vocal range: C2-B4

Significant high notes:


•B4 (''Wolverine Scream'', ''My Baby She Wrote me A Letter'' live, ''Wolverine The Musical'')

•B♭4 (''Crying'', ''Wolverine The Musical'' live on BBC radio)

•A4 (''Oscars Medley'', ''Who Am I'', ''One Day More'', ''Addicted to Love'', 'Woverine Scream, ''People Will Say We're In Love'', ''Bi-coastal'' live, ''Love Crazy'' live, ''(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction'' live, ''Tony Awards Medley'' live)

•G♯4 (''Music of the Night'', ''What Have I Done'', ''Sure Thing Baby'' live)

•G4 (''Soliloquy'', ''The Highest Judge of All'', ''Ice Cold Rita'', ''To Where You Are'', ''Mack the Knife'', ''Too Much in Love to Care'', ''Not The Boy Next Door'', ''People Will Say We're In Love'', ''Bi-coastal'' live, ''Love Crazy'' live, ''Happy Birthday'' live, ''Where You Are'' live, ''Right Here Waiting'' live, ''(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction'' live, ''Being Alive'' live on Jonathan Ross, ''Tony Awards Medley'' live, ''Blurred Lines'')

•F♯4 (''Wolverine The Musical'' live on BBC radio, ''Sure Thing Baby'' live, ''People Will Say We're In Love'', ''Oklahoma! Ok!'', I Still Call Australia Home'' live, ''My Baby She Wrote Me A Letter'' live, ''(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction'' live, ''Tony Awards Medley'' live, ''Heartbreak Hotel'')

•F4 (''Oh What A Beautiful Mornin'' live, ''Not The Boy Next Door'' live, ''Sure Thing Baby'' live, ''I Got To Rio'' live, ''I'd Rather Leave While I'm In Love'' live, ''Everything Old Is New Again'' live, ''Oklahoma! Ok!'', ''Once Before I Go'' live, ''Bi-coastal'' live, ''Continental American'' live, ''Love Crazy'' live, ''When I Get My Name In Lights'' live, ''My Baby She Wrote Me A Letter'' live, ''Where You Are'' live, ''Right Here Waiting'' live, ''(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction'' live, ''Being Alive'' live on Jonathan Ross, ''Heartbeak Hotel'', ''Kiss'')



Significant low notes:


•B2 (''Tony Awards Medley'' live)

•B♭2 (''Duet with Neil Patrick Harris at the 2011 Tony Awards'', ''Where You Are'' live)

•A2 (''Mob Song'', ''Crying'', ''Tony Awards Medley'' live)

•G♯2 (''Music of the Night'', ''Who Am I'', ''Somewhere Over The Rainbow'' live)

•E♭2 ("Happy")

•C♯2 (''I'm Wolverine'')

•C2 ("Happy")


Thread Originally By Timmerbo

[jo]

Re: Hugh Jackman
Post My Fairy King on Tue Jun 18, 2013 11:21 pm

Monstrous and sustained A4 scaling up to B4... www.youtube.com/watch?v=nbm3RKqKYPk
A4 at 0:06, B4 at 0:12 www.youtube.com/watch?v=zygvoOcPl8g

Martian5795 on Tue Oct 22, 2013 7:17 am

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www.youtube.com/watch?v=LqJxyuTMMog Sung F2 in 2:04 I think.

Timmerbo on Wed Oct 23, 2013 11:34 am

.
The C#2 'I'm Wolverine' clip is sung and should not be italicized.

EDIT: While I'm here... A4s in 'Bring Him Home' and 'Do You Hear the People Sing reprise/Finale'. The 'Who Am I' note listed as an A4 is actually a G#4 (the clip of it the original listing was based on was either sped up or from a take not used in the film).

[jo]

There a few clips illustrating Hugh's wide vocal range.

With the reference to his spoof of WOLVERINE THE MUSICAL on BBC --

He screws up the A4, but it's still really funny. This guy's still got a great voice.

Re: Hugh Jackman
Post Martian5795 on Mon Mar 31, 2014 7:24 am

.
That would have been a B4, but yeah, awesome theatrical voice!

Of all the other clips, my favorite is OH WHAT A BEAUTIFUL MORNIN' from the Hey, Mr. Producer concert ( even more than I like the version from the show - that was Curly singing) -- in the concert, it was the whole package - Hugh Jackman signing and charming the audience! Remember Lea Salonga's narrative of how they ( she and Maria Friedman) fell in love with this musical thatre newcomer when they saw him rehearsing the number smiley-love029


Presumably the members of THE RANGE FORUM know their notes and give us examples of great singing. That is why I am annoyed at how bloggers and other feedbacks emphasize that Hugh Jackman cannot sing

I am not expert on these matters, but I know how to appreciate someone's singing ability


Jo

[jo]

What are your favorite renditions of songs by Hugh?

Does the ACTING part come into it significantly?


Jo

[mamaleh]

Hugh has long said he likes hiding behind a character when he sings--although since his one-man shows, it does appear as though he has gotten past that. Jo, I also like his more casual "OWABM" in HEY, MR. PRODUCER, as well as "Pore Jud is Daid," as that shows off his lower range nicely. There's plenty of acting going on in the latter.

Ellen

[jo]

In PORE JUD IS DAID, Hugh not only impresses with his low baritone ( even if he had to sing with the classically-trained and former Opera singer Shuler Hensley) but it was great acting. That was one scene when one can almost actively dislike Curly because of how he was trying to fool simple-minded Jud. Compare that with the Gordon MacRae version from the movie.

Btw, did you see how the forum poster classified his vocal range -- he called it a "Hugh Baritone" when he obviously means "High Baritone"

Talking about low baritone -- I feel like listening to SUDDENLY now

Jo

[carouselkathy]

I've always preferred Hugh's baritone voice quality to his tenor sound. I watched OKLAHOMA! again a few nights ago, and still feel that he is at his best as "Curly" and "Billy" when he sings "Soliloquy" from CAROUSEL. I have noticed that he has trouble producing falsetto notes ("Bring Him Home"), and chooses full voice instead.

The Range Place sounds like an interesting site.

[jo]

Thanks for your input, Kathy -- you're our resident expert here on the subject


Jo

[jo]

I didn't realize there were two other pages to the discussion. Please scan Page 2 and 3 as well.

From Page 3 --

Re: Hugh Jackman
Post Starman on Fri Oct 24, 2014 12:17 pm

.
Vocally, this guy has come a long way, If memory serves, back in the early Oklahoma days he never went beyond like E♭4-F4. In the recent film if ''Les Mis'' he hits the most incredible A4s. Really proud of how far his voice has come.

Also, I would speculate he's totally capable of hitting C5 and possibly beyond, but I think musically he knows where his voice sounds good and he stays in that comfort zone.

And from Page 2 --

SHEAKENBAKEN wrote:

Iamnotafraid65 wrote:

Rodney Razorshorts wrote:
Well Jackman has actually called himself a high baritone so.... Blushing
Really??

www.vulture.com/2012/12/hugh-jackman-on-les-miz-and-his-javert-past.html

Q: Had you ever thought about playing Javert instead of Valjean?

A: Cameron asked me twice to do it! Both times I was not available, and when I rang him for the movie and said I wanted to go for Jean Valjean, he said, "Dude, you can't sing that." We had done Oklahoma together, and back then, I couldn't have sung that bit. I've been working about eight or nine years with a vocal coach, though, and although I thought I was a straight baritone, it turns out that I'm a high baritone and could expand my range by about an octave. So I said to Cameron, "I know you think that, but let me come in to audition. I want to show you what I can do now."

Jo
.

[jo]

This forum group did a lot of research on Hugh's various vocal examples.

In one of the clips, they even did a comment on MAISON DES LUNES from BEAUTY AND THE BEAST.

They have included not just musical theatre outings, but also some pop music ( Satisfaction, Happy, even the naughty Lonely Island disc)...

and even classified the iconic Wolverine scream


Jo

[jo]

What about his acting songs --

My favorites :

*Surrey with the Fringe on Top -- what a courting song smiley-love029

*Soliloquy from Les Miserables -- a man's spiritual awakening that will inform all his later actions in life

*Soliloquy from Carousel ( Back on Broadway) -- cocky, tender, solicitous, determined...the gamut of emotions

*Suddenly from Les Miserables -- how tender and poignant he expresses his newfound love and meaning in life, as he beholds the sleeping Cossette

*The Lives of Me -- not so much the facial and body language but the rueful and evocative recollection of his life through song


Maybe a few more...

[jo]

Most romantic songs ( and wide vocal range)

*Too Much In Love to Care

I love this song from Sunset Boulevard...and according to reports, this duet is also supposed to be Hugh's favorite song from the musical. I just love how his vocal range expands towards the end smiley-love029

This is only an audio version ( and not very clear because it was a bootleg from a live performance) --

www.youtube.com/watch?v=f4KsSYuJz_c

And if you had seen the documentary on the Australian Sunset Boulevard, this song ends in a very romantic kiss smiley-love029


*If I Loved You (from the Carousel concert) - although the version that made me tear up is the reprise when he whispers ( "Now I've lost you...Soon I will go in the mist of day...And you never will know...how I loved you, how I loved you") smiley-love067

The organizers of that concert should have released an official recording of that concert -- there were many requests but for one reason or another, they did not go along.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=VEXpilQYN5E

[mamaleh]

I remember calling the R&H Organization to ask about a professional recording. The person I spoke with said they'd received so many similar calls that they wished they'd known about the concert version's popularity beforehand. In that case, they would indeed have captured it for posterity--and commercial sales, of course.

Ellen