It takes talent to step on the Broadway stage! Welcome to MsMojo, and today we’re counting down our picks for the most technically demanding or tongue-twisting songs to ever hit the Broadway stage.
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00:00I have to say, I'm gonna live a lie.
00:05Welcome to Ms. Mojo, and today we're counting down our picks for the most technically demanding
00:11or tongue-twisting songs to ever hit the Broadway stage.
00:14So, so, so, so this is what it feels like to match wits with someone at your level.
00:18What the hell is the catch? It's the feeling of freedom of seeing the light.
00:20It's been strengthened with a key and a kite. You see it right.
00:24Number 30. The Speed Test. Thoroughly Modern Millie.
00:27How's my speed, Miss Stillmount? A little slow, perhaps.
00:34Enclosed you'll find a small container of the stuff I talk about.
00:37Patters songs are fewer and farther between since the days of Gilbert and Sullivan.
00:41More on them later. But this lightning speed tune from Thoroughly Modern Millie,
00:46which sees a 1920s flapper taking a job as a stenographer, is a complicated tongue twister.
00:52Rather than just tell us how fast Millie can take dictation,
00:56the song demonstrates her abilities in real time.
01:09As her potential employer's sentences become faster and faster,
01:12and the rushed lyrics begin collapsing into themselves, the entire ensemble has to follow
01:17suit. It's a feat of cooperation and synchronization few modern musical scores demand.
01:26So I hope you solve this matter. So I hope you solve this matter.
01:32Number 29. I Read. Passion.
01:35I do not read to search for truth. I know the truth. The truth is hardly what I need.
01:45In this Stephen Sondheim musical, Fosca, a chronically ill woman tortured by her love
01:50for a soldier, finds comfort in the world she can only access through her books.
01:55I Read is a song that demands a lot of emotional shifts.
01:59I recognize the limits of my dreams. I know how painful dreams can be.
02:06Unless you know the Millie dream.
02:11It goes off on tangents about the gentle beauty of flowers, butterflies, and her own pain.
02:17The butterfly that stays too long and drinks too deep is doomed to die. I read to fly.
02:28More than a feat of vocal ability, I Read is a trick of acting acrobatics.
02:33The actor playing Fosca has to have the power and technical ability,
02:37while still conveying the character's weakness and mental anguish.
02:40I like to take excursions there. When I'm in better health,
02:45perhaps you'll join me and my cousin one day.
02:53Number 28. Flowers. Hadestown.
02:56What I wanted was to fall asleep, close my eyes and disappear.
03:06A modern reinterpretation of the myth of Orpheus and Eurydice,
03:09this Tony Award-winning musical is a tragedy of epic proportions.
03:14Flowers is sung at the top of Act 2.
03:16Dreams are sweet until they're not. Men are kind until they are end.
03:28It finds Eurydice entering Hadestown, an industrial reimagining of the underworld.
03:33Her song becomes more like a plea, increasingly lethargic and hopeless
03:37as she begins to lose her memory of the world above.
03:40I remember fields of flowers, soft beneath my heels.
03:48The great thing about the song is that, while it demands extreme emotion,
03:52a performer can choose what to play. Is it rage? Is it panic? Is it grief?
03:58Interpreters of the song have found many different angles to Eurydice's journey,
04:02and they're all profoundly devastating in their own ways.
04:06If you ever walk this way, come and find me lying in the bed I made.
04:20Number 27. Worldburn – Mean Girls
04:24Hey, Katie, how you like me now? I wanna watch the world burn.
04:37Regina George's big revenge number is a juggernaut of a song.
04:41This is a character who knows she's just lit the fuse on her high school's
04:44entire social hierarchy that she once reigned supreme over.
04:48Because you took me down, but you didn't finish me off.
04:58Regina's not a role you can get by on with great acting and mediocre vocals.
05:02Range is the key word here.
05:04Worldburn is a slow burn. It starts at a sultry coup and ends in a defiant belt.
05:15The actress playing Regina needs to clear several vocal hurdles.
05:24The most notable feature of the song is its relentless series of face-melting riffs.
05:33Number 26. The Impossible Dream – Man of La Mancha
05:37To dream, the impossible dream.
05:45Given how famous it became after the show premiered,
05:48you'd think this showtune from the classic era would be a lot easier to sing.
05:52If done well, The Impossible Dream is a powerful statement piece.
05:56But the song is deceptively hard.
05:59To reach the unreachable star. This is my quest to follow that star.
06:10There's a lot of weight to its lyrics,
06:12and the performer has to be able to pull that off, first and foremost.
06:16It requires gravitas. Its series of high notes of increasing pitch,
06:20power, and duration makes the singer have to dig deeper with each new chorus.
06:25Frequent shifts in the tempo and cadence of the lyrics also keeps you on your toes.
06:41Number 25. Soliloquy – Carousel
06:45I wonder what he'll think of me. I guess he'll call me the old man.
06:53A carnival barker who loses his job and struggles to find work
06:56has just found out he's going to be a father.
06:59Needless to say, he's got a lot to think about.
07:01Clocking in at just under eight minutes,
07:04Billy Bigelow's solo from this Rodgers and Hammerstein classic
07:07is a marathon, not a race.
07:09Like a tree he'll grow with his head held high
07:13and his feet planted firm on the ground.
07:16Soliloquy's length, depth of narrative, and extensive emotion
07:20has seen it likened to an aria rather than a traditional musical theater song.
07:34Billy is a classic baritone role.
07:37However, the song sits exceptionally high in a baritone's register.
07:41The actor has to stretch his range,
07:43just as Billy has to stretch himself to be a provider.
07:51Number 24. Octet – The Light in the Piazza
08:11Set in Florence, Italy,
08:21this musical about an American woman abroad with her daughter
08:24finds the beauty in love and regret.
08:27In this extended number,
08:28not only are the words coming at you fast and furious,
08:32but many of those lyrics are in Latin.
08:41The singing of the entire ensemble is weaved and layered so delicately
08:49that any deviation from the lyrics or music will stand out.
08:53But the actress playing Clara is given the most demanding parts.
08:56Along with the Latin,
08:58she has to keep technique while selling an entire breakdown at breakneck speed.
09:10Number 23. Kiss Me – Sweeney Todd – The Demon Barber of Fleet Street
09:29Joanna is an underappreciated role.
09:32She spends most of the show in a state of traumatized panic.
09:35This duet with her lover Anthony is paced perfectly on the page.
09:39As the two reaffirm their feelings for each other and work through some apprehension,
09:44they make plans to run away and marry.
09:59The performer playing Joanna has to make dramatic shifts emotionally
10:02to pull off all of her colliding trains of thought.
10:05It requires incredible musical timing,
10:08not to mention some excellent comedic chops.
10:22Beyond keeping in time with a fast pace,
10:24there's lots that can be done physically in the body too.
10:28Number 22. The Ballad of Jane Doe – Ride the Cyclone
10:38Although it hasn't technically hit Broadway yet,
10:45this concept musical has earned legions of fans
10:48for its innovative concept and haunting music.
10:51The Ballad of Jane Doe is a prime example of why it hits so hard.
10:55sung by the spirit of an unidentified victim of a roller coaster disaster.
11:08The song is a technically slippery piece of music.
11:12sung by the spirit of an unidentified victim of a roller coaster disaster.
11:23Jane's performer has to climb a Mount Everest of high notes.
11:26Then she has to switch modes and conquer the second half,
11:29which is a bit more jazz-inspired.
11:32sung by the spirit of an unidentified victim of a roller coaster disaster.
11:39The result is a chilling and depressing tribute to a girl with no past.
11:44Number 21. You Got Trouble – The Music Man
11:47Did you ever take and try and give an ironclad leave to yourself
11:50from a three-rail billiard shot?
11:52But just as I say it takes judgment, brains and maturity to score in a balkline game,
11:56I say that any boob can take and shove a ball in the pocket.
12:00Alleged professor and full-fledged scammer Harold Hill comes to the town
12:04of River City, Iowa with a dream.
12:06And that dream is to bilk the citizens out of their hard-earned money.
12:10You Got Trouble finds Hill rhapsodizing about the evils of moral turpitude
12:14found in pool halls.
12:15He whips the citizens into a frenzy of misplaced moral panic.
12:19And all week long your River City youth will be fritterin' away,
12:22I say your young men will be fritterin' fritterin' away
12:25their noon time, supper time, short time too.
12:27Get the ball in the pocket, never mind gettin' dandelions pulled
12:29to the screen door, patched to the beefsteak pounded.
12:32As slippery as the character who sings it,
12:34this song requires a singer to have crisp diction and a lot of breath control.
12:38To shove all those words into short phrases and still be understood
12:42is a special kind of magic that only comes with good training
12:46and a lot of talent.
12:47That game with the 15 numbered balls is the devil's too.
12:51DEVIL'S TOO!
12:52Yes, we got trouble, trouble, trouble!
12:53Number 20
12:55Climb Every Mountain
12:56The Sound of Music
12:58Climb every mountain, search high and low.
13:06What's the one thing every musical needs?
13:09An inspirational tune to get you through the hard times.
13:13And, for extra points, make it incredibly difficult to sing.
13:17In Rodgers and Hammerstein's The Sound of Music,
13:19Maria, who is training to be a nun,
13:22falls in love with Captain Von Trapp,
13:24the father of the children she serves as a governess for.
13:27Afraid of her feelings, she seeks advice from the Mother Abbess.
13:31Follow every rainbow till you find your dream.
13:43The Mother Abbess sings Climb Every Mountain,
13:46a first act closer filled with numerous successive,
13:49high sustained notes that can't be easy to sing beautifully.
13:53So it makes sense that the song is usually sung by a classically trained soprano.
13:58It's an inspiration to Maria, but also immensely impressive.
14:17Number 19
14:18She Used To Be Mine
14:19Waitress
14:28I don't recognize me.
14:31This one is full of high highs and low lows.
14:34Talk about the importance of range.
14:36In the Waitress musical based on the 2007 film of the same name,
14:40the main character Jenna sings this song as a meditation on the ways her life has gone wrong
14:45and how she's lost herself in the process.
14:48Not only is that a lot of emotional range to cover,
14:52but also the actual vocal range of this song is no easy feat.
14:56Sara Bareilles, who wrote the music and lyrics for the show,
14:59sings a version of this song herself with a vocal range stretching from F3 to D5.
15:07Take that already difficult span and add in the emotional weight of performing on Broadway
15:12and you've got yourself a difficult song to perform.
15:26Number 18
15:27Made Of Stone
15:28The Hunchback Of Notre Dame
15:30What do you know of all the things I feel?
15:34You're only made of stone
15:38Everyone knows it can be hard to hit the high notes,
15:42but have you ever tried it while maintaining the physicality demanded to convincingly portray
15:46the bell ringer?
15:47Probably not.
15:48Quasimodo, the titular character of the film,
15:51sings this killer song that contemplates the impending fate of his lost love as Meralda.
15:56The song requires the actor to be completely raw in their emotions,
16:00which is something that actors should expect and be able to do.
16:03Take all the dreams you've sown,
16:06take all your lies and leave me alone
16:12However, some of the most important parts of the song
16:14are the emotional weight of the song,
16:17However, sometimes the actor playing Quasimodo also has to affect a certain hunched physicality
16:23that makes it all the harder to really nail those high notes,
16:26especially in the last chorus.
16:28As if I
16:35Were made of stone
16:4217. Rainbow High – Evita
16:58It takes some serious lungs to pull this one off.
17:01In Andrew Lloyd Webber's musical Evita,
17:03Eva Perón sings this incredible song as she prepares to tour Europe.
17:08It may not be quite as memorable as the show's other signature tunes,
17:12such as Don't Cry For Me Argentina,
17:14or A New Argentina,
17:21but it is the most difficult in the show,
17:23and it takes a truly great singer to push it over the edge.
17:27I care for the people, they need to adore me
17:31So Christiane Dior me, my head to my toes
17:35I need to be dazzling, I want to be rainbow high
17:41The range of the number is fairly large.
17:44The lead has to sing strange intervals,
17:46and the style changes throughout.
17:49Add in those key changes and you've got yourself one heck of a song,
17:53especially when it's sung by one of the greats, Patti LuPone.
18:0716. Confrontation – Jekyll and Hyde
18:10It's over now, I know inside
18:16No one will ever know
18:18The sorry tale of Edward Hyde
18:25It can be hard enough to pull off a really difficult solo.
18:28It can be even harder to pull off a really good duet with another person.
18:32But have you ever tried to sing a duet with yourself?
18:36Well, as you can probably imagine, it's no easy feat.
18:39After tonight I shall end this demon's dream
18:43This is not a dream, my friend, and it will never end
18:48After Dr. Jekyll's evil alter-ego Mr. Hyde kills his love Lucy,
18:53Jekyll decides to confront Hyde about it.
18:55So he confronts himself, and sings a duet with himself.
19:00We'll forgive you if you're confused,
19:02because it takes a really talented actor to pull off this musical number.
19:06And I know that now and forever
19:11I'll never be able to separate Jekyll from Hyde
19:19The actor is required to switch on a dime,
19:22changing their voice, physicality, motives, and everything else.
19:26And the actual singing ability required?
19:29Pretty hard to.
19:30God damn you, Hyde!
19:32Take all your evil deeds and rot in hell!
19:34I'll see you there, Jekyll!
19:37Number 15.
19:38Rose's Turn.
19:40Gypsy
19:41Here she is, boys!
19:45Here she is, Walt!
19:48Here's Rose!
19:52Stephen Sondheim does nothing if not give his actors incredible material to work with.
19:57And this stellar 11 o'clock number from Gypsy is no exception.
20:01Rose sings the song towards the end of Act 2,
20:04when she finally admits she's been pushing her daughters towards fame
20:08to live vicariously through them.
20:11Scrapbooks full of me in the background
20:16Give on love, and what does it get you?
20:19It's not as melodic as other songs in Gypsy,
20:21but what pushes Rose's Turn over the edge isn't necessarily the musical quality,
20:26but the emotional work that needs to go into the performance.
20:29Will someone tell me when is it my turn?
20:32Don't I get a dream for myself?
20:34Starting now is gonna be my turn.
20:37Gangway world, get off of my runways!
20:39The audience has been wondering about the motivations of this character for the whole show,
20:43and here she finally admits what they are.
20:46When done right, it can be terrifying.
20:49Filled with ambition, sadness, anger, all of it.
20:54BODY!
21:14When you think of Broadway, you think of big, brassy show tunes.
21:18Well, Chess definitely isn't the quintessential Broadway musical,
21:22with music written by Abbas, Björn Ulvaeus, and Benny Anderson,
21:26and lyrics by Ulvaeus and Tim Rice,
21:29but that almost makes it harder to pull off.
21:32The song starts off slow, just a man singing over a piano,
21:35reminiscing about his horrible childhood and how it affected his life.
21:39But then the drums hit, and the song becomes more of a powerful rock anthem,
21:44where the notes get higher and higher as the song goes on.
21:48Pity the child with no such weapons!
21:52No defense, no escape from the ties that bind!
21:57It requires a heavy amount of power and range,
22:00as well as the ability to pull off the arena rock sound that gives the song its edge.
22:05I would call a crazy thing to do,
22:11just in case he said,
22:14No!
22:26All of this time I planned, I'd be patient and, you would love me again.
22:34If you love Broadway, then you love a good belt,
22:37and especially a good belty sustained note at the end of a big number.
22:42What, like it's hard?
22:43At the end of Act 1 in the musical version of Legally Blonde,
22:47Elle Woods finds out she landed an internship with Professor Callahan,
22:51even though no one expected her to.
22:53Taking my name in black and white,
22:56it's like making love with you all night.
22:59Now we can feel so much better,
23:02the love much better.
23:03It's oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, much better.
23:06She breaks out into this rousing song,
23:09which includes a heck of a lot of movement,
23:11dancing and running around the stage.
23:13This is a far cry from the only number in the show
23:16that requires an incredibly in-shape performer.
23:19Whipped Into Shape is a physical feat in and of itself
23:21that we could only dream of attempting.
23:27But that final, long, joyous note in So Much Better gets us every time.
23:40Oh, oh, oh, yeah!
23:57When have you ever known Sondheim to make things easy on his actors?
24:02Never, and especially not in Into the Woods.
24:06There are plenty of extremely difficult, wordy songs to sing.
24:10On the steps of the palace comes to mind.
24:12But then how can you know who you are till you know what you want which I don't
24:16so then which do you pick
24:17But the pacing challenge that is Your Fault is without a doubt the toughest song in the show.
24:22The number is fast and filled with so many words
24:26even some of the best singers can't wrap their mouths around them.
24:29Were they worthless beings were they oversold
24:31or tell us who persuaded you to steal that gold
24:33See it's your fault
24:34So it's your fault
24:35No
24:36It's not
24:36It's true
24:37Wait a minute but I only stole the gold to get my cow back from you
24:40Not only that but it's also got multiple singers involved
24:43so you've got a bunch of other people to worry about too.
24:46Did we mention it's fast and wordy
24:49It's just really hard
24:50Props to anyone who can pull it off
24:54Number 11
24:55I'm Here the color purple
25:05If the end of Cynthia Erivo's Tony performance doesn't give you chills then what will
25:24I'm Here serves as the culmination of Celie's journey throughout the show
25:28and it's an emotional powerhouse showcase for the actress lucky enough to play the part
25:44Vocally the song is all over the place
25:47requiring the actress to use her belt and her mix at varying intervals
25:51before exploding into that final section that if done correctly leaves the audience weeping
25:57But in addition to its vocal challenges
26:00it's all about learning to love yourself first and foremost
26:03It's part of an actor's job to bring all that emotion to the forefront
26:07but when you're able to do that while executing those notes perfectly
26:10that's truly something
26:21Number 10
26:30I am the very model of a modern major general
26:32The Pirates of Penzance
26:43Now widely known by theater kids everywhere as warm-up exercise
26:47the tongue-twisting vocal challenges of Major General's song cannot be overstated
26:53Probably the most famous of the patter songs written by the duo Gilbert and Sullivan
26:57the song is sung by Major General Stanley
26:59as he introduces himself to the other characters and the audience
27:12It's an extremely comedic satirical song
27:15which can get lost in the mix if you don't sing and perform the lyrics perfectly
27:20And with so many words to get through and so much alliteration in the mix
27:24it's a challenge for any actor worth their salt
27:37Number 9
27:38Memory Reprise, Cats
27:46We're going to focus on another Andrew Lloyd Webber original
27:56but don't worry, it won't be the last
27:59Memory is without a doubt the most famous song from Cats
28:03maybe the most famous song from a musical period
28:05but also one of the hardest songs to sing in the show
28:09Upon first listen, Memory may sound a bit repetitive
28:12but that's exactly what makes it so difficult
28:15Those high, slow, repetitive belty notes can be difficult to sustain
28:35To convey the emotional intensity of the song through those repetitive melodies
28:39the actor has to stay on top of their game
28:43Plus, if an actor can make us care about a disgraced cat
28:47we think they're doing a good job
29:10Number 8
29:11Guns and Ships, Hamilton
29:24Hamilton, an American musical, is chock full of incredibly tough and rewarding songs for actors
29:30You've got Angelica's amazing showcase in Satisfied
29:34and of course the show stopping The Room Where It Happens
29:40But for this entry, nothing gets us more hyped than Guns and Ships
29:55The running gag for Lafayette at the beginning of the show
29:58is that he hasn't quite mastered the English language yet
30:01So by the time Guns and Ships rolls around
30:04and Lafayette busts out in one of the fastest verses we've ever heard
30:08the audience is rightly amazed at his mastery of words and rhythm
30:13We hope all of the amazing Lafayettes out there have
30:15rapping with a French accent right at the top of their resume
30:30Number 7
30:31Bring Him Home, Les Miserables
30:38Folks, songs can be deceiving
30:50They might sound slow and repetitive
30:53but those very things can make it incredibly difficult to perform well
30:57So is the case with Bring Him Home
30:59a gorgeous song from the 1980s musical Les Miserables
31:08This may not be the most high energy song in the show
31:18but when the right actor performs it, boy does it leave an impact
31:23The song has a steady measured melody that builds and builds both vocally and emotionally
31:28It gets pretty high for the male voice and requires a ton of control
31:33Props to every Valjean who has nailed it live
31:38Number 6
31:57And I Am Telling You I'm Not Going, Dreamgirls
32:08There are some songs that are so difficult
32:12they're really only meant to be sung by a handful of people
32:15and this is one of them
32:17When Jennifer Holliday originated the role of Effie in Dreamgirls on Broadway
32:22she did so to thunderous acclaim
32:24and her most memorable moment from the show came in the form of its first act closer
32:29And I Am Telling You is written as a plea to Effie's lover Curtis
32:34asking him not to leave her
32:35But the way Holliday sings it, it's more of a demand
32:39She sings with such power and force
32:42almost every single performance that's come since
32:45of course, barring the great Jennifer Hudson, feels subpar
32:50Number 5
32:54Get Set, Touch My Hands
32:58There's a song that every woman would love to sing
33:02But it's worth it for it's such a passionate, coveted song
33:08and it's a song not only for the really good singer
33:11but for the person who's going to sing it
33:13And I Am Telling You is a perfection of that
33:17Number five Gethsemane I only want to say Jesus Christ Superstar
33:23I only want to say if there is a way Jesus Christ please save us from all the
33:34terrible renditions of this song for real if you're going to attempt this
33:39you better be a tenor worth your salt this powerful song comes at about the
33:44middle of act two of Jesus Christ Superstar as Jesus becomes more and more
33:48doubtful of the task he must complete namely dying
34:04on a pure acting level it takes a lot of acting chops to humanize the literal
34:09Lord Jesus which this song requires the actor to do but more than that the notes
34:14the actor has to hit are absolutely ridiculous seriously it's akin to an
34:19act of God in and of itself that anyone can hit those babies
34:39number four defying gravity wicked
34:48within me something is not the same defying gravity try defying expectations
34:58with how incredibly difficult this song is when Elphaba and Glinda go to meet
35:02the wizard they find out he's not as nice as they initially believed him to
35:07be defying gravity serves as the moment Elphaba decides to renounce the wizard
35:11and all his cronies and it's an incredibly tough act to land
35:29Elphaba has plenty of big belty moments in the show no good deed is definitely a
35:34doozy
35:46but what's really astounding about this performance are the physical demands
35:50behind the song as originally staged the actress playing Elphaba has to sing all
35:55those ridiculously high notes while literally suspended in midair talk about
36:00flying high
36:04Oh
36:19number three getting married today company
36:34Sondheim is nothing if not known for his words a 1970s company has a plethora of
36:41tough wordy songs we almost went with another hundred people
36:54but getting married today takes the cake Amy sings this song as an anthem to
36:59cold feet everywhere in the moments before her wedding through the song Amy
37:04completely self-destructs becoming more and more anxious and singing more and
37:09more quickly until she comes to an end
37:21not only is the song extremely fast-paced and wordy but it's a tough
37:26comedic line to walk the audience has to be able to laugh at Amy while
37:31simultaneously feeling bad for her as they watch her fall apart on stage but
37:36when it's done right it's hilarious and impressive to boot
37:42I'm not getting married
37:56number two the phantom of the opera the phantom of the opera
38:04me
38:09sing my angel of music sing for me and make it as high as humanly possible this
38:16one is a doozy folks the titular song in Andrew Lloyd Webber's the phantom of the
38:21opera comes when Christine first follows the phantom down into his lair and the
38:26end of the song is absolutely killer
38:34yeah
38:47the phantom begins to magically draw notes out of Christine each one higher
38:52than the last by the time she finally gets to the end of the tune she lets out
38:56an e6 the highest note in the song and in the show the phantom gets his own
39:01moment to shine later with the very difficult the music of the night
39:19but in e6 there's nothing more impressive than that poor Christine
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39:48into your settings and switch on notifications number one glitter and be
39:53gay Candide
40:02Oh
40:12dangle a shiny object in front of a soprano and you can bet they'll try to
40:17sing it my song you go but to sound good on glitter and be gay you've got to have
40:26some serious chops first of all the comedic chops needed to really sell
40:40this performance are no joke it's an extremely physical song which can be a
40:44challenge when you're consistently hitting high E flats three to be exact
40:48in addition to those ridiculous notes there are so many long languid passages
40:54that require extreme fluidity and control if you've got the guts to even
40:58attempt this one well we salute you
41:10glitter and be gay my friend what show tune do you think is the most
41:15complicated to perform tell us in the comments do you agree with our picks
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41:45you