LEA SALONGA -MISS SAIGON" LOST HER VOICE TOO!!!

[wildcat75]

I FOUND THIS GREAT ARTICLES FROM AP's SITE AND I THOUGHT ABOUT ARNEL PINEDA, I"M NOT SURPRISED THEN WHY HE NEEDS TO TAKE EXTRA CARE W/ HIS VOICE

By Lea Salonga
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 21:58:00 10/22/2008

MANILA, Philippines—Over our last few months on tour, quite a few people in the group have had some vocal malaise or other— due to the hectic travel schedule, the weather, pollution levels (some cities are worse than others), an infection or just plain exhaustion. I’ve observed in productions past that there will be those gingerly taking care of themselves, while others rush off to a late night gig following a theater performance. There are singers who never seem to experience any trouble, and others who will get a throat infection every few weeks or a few months. During my time in “Les Miz” last year, I found that whenever the seasons changed, I’d need to be on vocal rest for a few days. It was inconvenient and frustrating. I don’t like missing shows.

Having said that, I shouldn’t complain, as my previous vocal troubles were much worse. I know what it’s like to be told by my doctor to not even attempt to sing or speak for a few weeks… to begin voice therapy… and then, after that, singing lessons. I was in London, playing Kim in “Miss Saigon”… I was only 18.

I had been doing eight performances a week of the show from its first preview on September 6, 1989. Weeks into the run I started getting sick, but would plow on, thinking that I’d be okay. However, it got to the point where I would, on a regular basis, lose my voice in the middle of the week. This was something that would never happen to me in Manila. I had thought of myself as invincible. For me to suddenly not have anything come out of my mouth, even in casual speech, was unusual. And very scary.

I couldn’t sing in church, I couldn’t hail a cab, I couldn’t have a conversation with my mother. All I could do was sit and wonder why it was happening to me. I would wake up at 2 a.m. in a cold sweat and cry. My poor mother didn’t know how to help me.

Finally, one of our friends advised us to see a doctor. He even made an appointment on our behalf with someone that he knew. I notified the company office of this, and they made another appointment with a different doctor. The diagnoses were exactly the same: swellings on my vocal chords that would require a lengthy rest period. “Rest” meant no speaking, no singing, no whispering. Nothing. For someone like me, that was a fate worse than death. Note that the Internet as we know and use it today didn’t exist at the time, so it was not going to be easy on either me or my mother, who would be taking care of me. I must have read quite a few very thick books to get me through that time... and I remember feeling very depressed.

Miracle worker

About a week and a half into silence I saw a therapist named Christina Shewell. I can’t remember too much about the session, except that she observed my breathing and saw a lot of tension in my body language and posture. She asked me to lie down on a table and do a few exercises with her. I saw her once; singing lessons with Mary Hammond (who was already training future “Miss Saigon” cast members) would begin soon after.

After getting the go-ahead from my doctor, Mr. Garfield Davies— for some reason, the title of “Doctor” goes to general practitioners, and “Mister” to specialists... I don’t know why— I would head almost everyday to Mary’s house and start singing with her. I will always and forever consider her my “miracle worker.” She saw each and every flaw in my technique, and then proceeded to take it apart and put it back together, but properly. She saw how my shoulders would rise as I tried to hit a high note… she watched my neck twist way too far as I tried to singing kneeling down. She noted each and every mistake I made as I sang in her living room— sitting down, kneeling, standing— and did her best to correct them. Mind you, there was much to fix.

She taught me the best way to produce sound— how to form my vowels, especially my O’s, both with my lips and from inside my mouth; how to engage my body for support. I remember that many of the lessons took a lot out of me, mentally and physically. It was exhausting work. There was so much information to process in a relatively short time.

Three weeks after my doctor-imposed vocal rest period, it came time for me to return to the show, with this brand new technique in my head that was set to make its debut. I was nervous, but glad to be back in the building. Of this first night back, I remember only two things: making sure that my new technique would be employed every step of the way, and Michael Williams (he was a swing in the show at the time) actually noticing the effort and taking the time to tell me. It’s something that, to this day, I still greatly appreciate. The rest of the evening has remained a blur.

For the rest of my London run, I wouldn’t encounter problems as great as that one, thank goodness. However, there have been others, though less grave, now and then throughout my career. In fact, I went on vocal rest for over a week just last January. I had to reschedule a Bacolod concert as a result. But I’ve come to accept that such situations come with my job. My voice is my bread and butter and sometimes, that voice gets tired and tells me, “I’m done!” I do try my very best to take care of myself, but sometimes, things just happen that strike me silent for a little while.

Actually, it’s okay. It translates to a time when my husband has a very quiet wife, and my daughter has a quiet mommy. It means being able to catch up on e-mail, reading, and the knitting I’ve been meaning to finish… adding another entry to my blog, watching a good movie on DVD, or finally hurdling that really tough level on a video game I’m playing. It also means time in very quiet prayer, a conversation with God, a contemplation on what’s going on with life.

Extra care

It’s a reminder that I’m still human, after all, and that there’s far more to life than opening my mouth to sing.

Right now, I’m thankful that I’m healthy and able to withstand the grind of travel and troubadour-ing around Asia… and I’ve been taking extra care to make sure I’m in each and every scheduled performance. One other thing I remind myself of when I’m going through “quiet time” is how much I love what I do, and how I wouldn’t trade it for any other job in the world.
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[wildcat75]

I HOPE ARNEL HAS A CHANCE TO MEET LEA SALONGA IN THE FUTURE TO SHARE EACH OTHER EXPERIENCES IN TOURING AND SINGING IN A FOREIGN COUNTRY W DIFFERENT CLIMATE AND GIVE LESSONS ON HOW TO PRESERVED HIS VOICE. LEA STARTED TOURING AT THE AGE OF 18 BUT ALREADY EXPERIENCED HAVING VOCAL PROBLEMS ,SO HOW MUCH MORE OF ARNEL W/ HIS AGE NOW?

[brywool]

VERY interesting. Nice to know that others face these issues including Augeri, Parton, Andrews, Sting, Mercury, etc..
I've been looking for 'the holy grail' to singing night after night after night with no problems. I've looked for it all my life. I'm thinking that it's actually NOT possible to sing at your best for hours a night consecutively. It's been proven time after time after time with many singers. As the article said, there are some that can do it all the time. There are others that cannot. Those that can, I believe are rare. I don't even believe that it's a question of technique anymore. I mean, sure, you can't go out and waste your voice intentionally, but I honestly don't believe anymore that most people can go out and sing 4 hours a night, night after night with proper training.

It sucks that there's not a magic bullet to fix this. Not drugs, but in methodology. I've heard voice teacher say "oh yeah, it's possible" only to watch them not be able to do it or need tons of extra goodies to accomplish this (throat lozenges, gallons of water a day, massage, teas, tons of warmup). Granted, one should always warm up and warm down with singing, but to make ALL DAY EVERY DAY about your voice is really hard to do.

Athletes constantly work out, etc. but to sing, with these tiny pieces of cartlidge... it blows my mind that so much is involved with just maintaining the voice.

Sorry to rant- I'm having similar problems myself these days and am beyond frustrated by vocal stamina.