Undoubtedly some of the positive reaction to Susan Boyle was due to the contrast between what one expects when they first see her (unfortunate, but true) and what one actually gets when she begins to sing. But the fact remains that even if she were a strikingly beautiful woman, this would neither enhance nor diminish the pleasure and surprise of hearing an extraordinary singing voice.

I don't know how well it could work in musical theater, but opera is legendary for "casting against type" as far as appearance is concerned:   the middle-aged and substantially overweight soprano singing the role of a twenty-year-old ingénue in the process of tragically dying of "consumption" (tuberculosis). This, of course, is a stereotype about opera which, especially within recent years, no longer holds true. With sopranos around who look like Renée Fleming (Cuter than a bug's ear) and Anna Netrebko (Very glamorous. In fact, here's another shot of the internationally famous operatic soprano), or, on the male side, guys who look like Russian baritone Dmitri Hvorostovsky or lyric tenor Juan Diego Florez, opera company directors these days are casting as much for appearance as for voice.

When it comes to musical theater, I know they do like to cast to type. In fact, I went to high school with a lad who had a fine, rich baritone when he was as young as sixteen. He tried his luck on Broadway, and after being told repeatedly, "Frank, you've got a great voice, but—(fill in cliché or your choice)." He finally got cast in "Damn Yankees." "Because," he told me, "they thought I looked like a baseball player!"

But there seems to be a fair amount of latitude. I personally didn't think Ethel Merman was all that gorgeous, and in addition, her singing voice sounded more like an air-raid siren than a human voice. I'll swap you eight Ethel Mermans for one Susan Boyle.

If the world of musical theater is so uncivilized that it would not cast her in vocally suitable roles, she could still have a fine singing career. I'm thinking of "ghost singer" Marnie Nixon, whose voice was all over the place in movies some years ago. She dubbed in the singing for Natalie Wood in "West Side Story," Audrey Hepburn in "My Fair Lady," and many others. Away from the movies, she had a substantial concert career. There is also the matter of recordings. But not just the usual collection of miscellaneous songs. One can get studio recordings of various full-length musical theater works acted and sung by singers who never actually did it on stage.

Just some random thoughts.

Don Firth