Aug 10, 20163 min read

Female Performers: Defining our sense of voice.

Hello all! and welcome to "The Inspired Actress". WHAT THE WHAAAAAAT! I can't even begin to explain how excited I am to get started with this blog and to share all of these amazing subjects with you guys!

The first topic that I want to discuss is something that that's been on my mind for the past few months actually. Its the perfect topic that I wholeheartedly believe is the foundation of this blog. And that is....dun dun dun.....how do we, as young female performers, find our own voice. Now at first it appears simple, but trust me, it is everything BUT that.

The thought came about earlier this spring when I was given a song for a vocal jury. And that song was "Your Daddy's Son". I, of course, as soon as I heard the title of the song come out of my voice teachers mouth, melted with horror because I could hear Audra McDonald's beautiful soaring soprano clash with whatever I thought my voice sounded like at the time. For the rest of the day I kept thinking, "I don't know how I'm going to pull this off because I don't sound anything like Audra". Then it hit me: I realized that since I had started performing, I have always been pushing my voice to mimc some broadway actress or one of my peers that I have always admired, whoever that may be. I have been comparing my own talents and gifts to someone else.

I immediately flashed back to my sophomore year of high school listening to Eden Espinosa's version of "No Good Deed" from the musical Wicked and I without hesitation, began bashing my own sound and the worth of my vocals. For some reason I undeniably knew that my voice could never be like hers when in reality we are two totally different singers. Unfortunately, when we are blinded by our insecurities, we don't always see things like that right away.

I know that this isn't something that only I have experienced, there are many other women in my life who have compared their voices to others. This is endemic to a larger feature in our culture, a culture of women comparing themselves to one another. Whether that be in body image, social status, personality, etc., we still do it. Consciously or subconsciously, it's still there. However, it's more visible in our community as performers, because we are undoubtedly pitted against each other. When that cast list goes up and our name is not written under the role we were hoping for, immediately questions of "Why don't I sound like her?" or "What does she have that I don't have?" start to come into play.

Which brings me to the question: How do we as female performers, pull ourselves out of the negativity and insecurity in a world of comparison? I believe that its important that we realize that we as artists are so unique and intrinsically different from one another. There is only one Kristin Chenoweth, there is only one Idina Menzel, there is only one Sutton Foster. And believe it or not, there is only one you. Yes, YOU, How awesome is that?. No one else can offer the exact gifts and talents that you have to offer to the world.

It's important to remember that whenever those feelings of insecurity, comparison and doubt arise, that every artist is on their own path in becoming who they are intended to be. So please, continue to be grounded in who you are as an artist in all of your individuality and uniqueness that you were given. Be EXACTLY who you are. Our voices as performers are only as strong and able as we allow them to be. Its time to realize that we are enough. What are your experiences with comparison? And how would you suggest dealing with it? Comment below and stay tuned for more posts, folks!