Mister D: There’s been a lot of hootin’ and hollerin’ on those dang Bette Boards concerning whether Bette is a soprano or an alto or whatever. Personally, I have never thought much about it, but when the subject came up my immediate thought was alto. However, I’m not an expert, so I tended to doubt myself.
So, with my curiosity stirred, I decided to go to 2 people that have each worked with Bette for over 30 years. One is Bruce Vilanch, her comedy writer/collaborator and the other, Marc Shaiman, her long time musical director/collaborator. I asked each of them, not to humilate anyone, but to satisfy my own thirst to be right on my first hunch:-) Marc said I could quote him, and Bruce just knows that I will…:-) So with that, here’s what they had to say on the subject:
Mr. Vilanch: “I’d say she’s an alto, but what do i know?”
Mr. Shaiman: “…and the answer is…alto. Who would even think of her as a soprano? Truth is, I would never classify Bette as anything but Bette! And you can quote me!”
So there you have it. Of course, people will think what they want to think. I just had to find out from the trainers of the horse’s mouth. That’s as close as I could get to the real thing…LOL
Love, Mister D
