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[jules-has-notes]

Something Just Like This — VoicePlay music video

VoicePlay are known for making cool videos to go with their incredible music, and this one is no exception. Between the dynamic vocal arrangement and the creative lighting design, it's a treat for both the eyes and the ears. It's no wonder that both J.None and Geoff still mention it as one of their favorite songs they've recorded together so many years later.

Details:

title: Something Just Like This (feat. J.None)

original performers: The Chainsmokers & Coldplay

written by: Andrew Taggart, Guy Berryman, Jonny Buckland, Will Champion, & Chris Martin

arranged by: Layne Stein & Hannah Juliano

release date: 25 May 2017

My favorite bits:

Earl joining in the rhythm section with those high legato notes

J's smooth, contemplative tone through the first verse

the gradual layering of harmony & percussion parts

the crunchy harmony line from Earl, J, & Eli toward end of the choruses

Geoff's bouncier bass line at the beginning of the second verse

passing the lead around, and the way the backing vocals change accordingly to maintain a full sound

giving the line that namechecks Superman to superfan Earl

the descending bell chord being matched by the quick lighting changes

Layne's increasingly complex percussion under those ocataves in the bridge

J's big old belts and riffs in the final chorus

easing back to end the song gently

Trivia:

Like several of their videos around this time, this was flimed at the REBL HQ studio at Full Sail University.

The lighting effects are reminiscent of the stage backdrop for The Chainsmokers & Coldplay's performance of this song at the 2017 Brit Awards (though obviously on a much more reasonable scale).

Geoff joked that he looks ragged in this video because it was filmed just a week and a half after the birth of his son, so he hadn’t slept. (He looks as handsome as ever to me, but I don’t doubt that he was tired.)

The YouTube description contains a parody verse: "She said where'd you wanna go? / I've got a dirty dish. / And I'm looking for somebody / With a super human fish." It's followed by the additional musing, "Also I'm looking for someone who likes to play Monopoly. Does anyone even like that game? I always get stuck on baltic with no dignity or pants." (Silly, silly boys.)

Their recent collaborator Kurt Hugo Schneider had released his own cover of the song with Sam Tsui a couple months earlier.

This track was later included on VoicePlay's "Citrus" album, which compiled most of the songs they recorded from 2017-19. Because the individual songs had already been made available digitally, that album is exclusively a physical item that can only be purchased at live shows or through their website.

#VoicePlay #J.None #music video #a cappella #music #video #album: Citrus

[jules-has-notes]

Michaeleficent (Unexpected Musical) — PattyCake Productions music video

Most Disney villains revel in their evilness to some degree, but few are more deliciously vindictive than Maleficent. And few pop superstars have embodied self-confidence and thwarting detractors in their musical performances like Michael Jackson. When the PattyCake guys decided to combine the two for their Unexpected Musicals series, they created a bit of magic of their own.

Details:

title: Unexpected Musicals — Michaeleficent

performers: Leah Lowman (Maleficent); Paul Kaleka (King Stefan); Doris Stein (baby Aurora); Bebe Caliberr Mercy (Aurora / additional vocals); Jason James (Phillip / additional vocals); Hannah Juliano & Eli Jacobson (additional vocals)

original songs / performer: all songs by Michael Jackson — [0:14] "Bad"; [0:25] "Beat It"; [1:09] "Human Nature"; [1:48] "Smooth Criminal"; [1:58] "Thriller"; [2:54] "Will You Be There"

written by: "Bad" by Michael Jackson; "Beat It" by Michael Jackson; "Human Nature" by Steve Porcaro & John Bettis; "Smooth Criminal" by Michael Jackson; "Thriller" by Rod Temperton; "Will You Be There" by Michael Jackson

arranged by: Layne Stein & Tony Wakim

release date: 12 May 2017

My favorite bits:

Leah's fantastic villain laugh

interweaving "Bad" and "Beat It" as a conversation

Phillip and Aurora's meet-cute sequence

Leah giving her best Vincent Price at the start of "Thriller"

cool dragon! 🐲

the excellent use of ♫ "kiss me and free me" ♫

that last shot of Maleficent leaving room for a sequel

Trivia:

The dedication "for Maggie" refers to Maggie Wakim, Tony's younger sister, who is also a singer and actor. She later appeared in the Princess Academy series.

The interior scenes for this video were filmed at the Maitland Art Center historic landmark. With the right set dressing and lighting, the building's Maya-influenced Art Deco stone structure made a pretty decent Medieval castle.

Jason James is the son of Jeremy and Shalisa James from Vox Audio, who Layne and Tony had known through both the theme park and a cappella worlds, and a talented performer in his own right.

Jaimz Dillman once again served as location and production manager, as well as appearing on screen as one of the courtiers.

The PattyCake guys had worked with Paul Kaleka for many years in his capacity as VoicePlay's sound engineer for their live shows and occasional audio mixer for their studio recordings. But this was their first opportunity to feature his acting talents.

Layne and Tony had filmed another incarnation of Maleficent two and a half years earlier in VoicePlay's video for "Once Upon A Dream".

When the Maleficent sequel film was announced, the boys got to work on a sequel of their own. Leah returned for a rendition of Billie Eilish's "Bad Guy" just in time for Halloween 2019.

If you venture into the YouTube comments, be aware that there are a lot of pedants griping about the ending being taken from Sleeping Beauty rather than the live action Maleficent film. (They did it for the portmanteau, folks. No need to be so stringent.)

#PattyCake Productions #series: Unexpected Musicals #music video #jukebox musical #music medley #music #video

[jules-has-notes]

collaboration spotlight — I Will Rise by Chris Rupp

During his long tenure with Home Free, they never shied away from spiritual music, but it was sprinkled into a catalog of secular tunes spanning country, rock, folk, and more. After he set out on his own, Chris decided to record some albums expressing his faith more overtly. And there's no better time to release a song about resurrection than the day before Easter.

Details:

title: I Will Rise

original performer: Chris Tomlin

written by: Matt Maher, Chris Tomlin, Louie Giglio, & Jesse Reeves

arranged by: Geoff Castellucci & Chris Rupp

release date: 15 April 2017

My favorite bits:

the gentle opening bell chords

Chris's clear tone on the lead vocals

the percussion kicking in at the start of the second verse (Guess he picked up a few things from his little brother.)

emerging from the trees into the meadow while singing ♫ "this darkness breaks to light" ♫

those high harmonies on ♫ "angels sing" ♫ in the bridge

dropping back to just lead and bass to begin the final chorus, then layering the harmonies in gradually

that powerful belt on the final lyrics

Trivia:

This song is the title track for "Rise: A Cappella vol. 1", which was released a month before. Other songs on the album feature guest vocals from godfather of modern a cappella Deke Sharon, Rockapella vocal percussionist Jeff Thatcher, former Home Free bass Elliot Robinson, and multi-talented performer Jen Waris.

"I Will Rise" won a 2018 CARA for Best Song by a Solo Performer.

The video was filmed at a farm outside Eugene, Oregon.

Chris released a behind the scenes video with the FifGen Films team, which had been a Patreon exclusive, to the public a year later.

#Chris Rupp #music video #a cappella #music #video

[jules-has-notes]

It Ain't Me — VoicePlay music video

The VoicePlay guys are fans of the Book of Mormon. So when an opportunity arose to collaborate with a singer who was about to join the national tour, they were pretty excited. They chose a brand new song, and created an arrangement that shifts the tone from the melancholy regret of the original to unapologetic liberation.

Details:

title: It Ain't Me (feat. John Pinto)

original performers: Kygo & Selena Gomez

written by: Kyrre "Kygo" Gørvell-Dahll, Brian Lee, Ali Tamposi, Selena Gomez, & Andrew Watt

arranged by: Layne Stein & Hannah Juliano

release date: 12 April 2017

My favorite bits:

that beautiful three-part harmony from John, Earl, and Eli with their coordinated breathy offsets

the resonant woodblock-y pops in Layne's percussion line

Geoff's little descending triplet at the end of the first verse

dropping out everything but John's melody and Geoff's bass line to create a feeling of emptiness

the driving rhythm of the choruses

the harmonized tone jump on ♫ "slee-EE-eep" ♫ in the second chorus

Geoff's long notes and slides contrasting against Layne's stacatto percussion in the breakdown section

the ♫ "no no no" ♫ bell chord and the descending run that follows

building the layers from the bottom up

John's soaring, nimble riffs

You don't need extra drums, silly!

ending on pure octaves

all the rehearsal footage and behind the scenes shenanigans

Trivia:

Bringing in John and his lovely countertenor gave the group a trial run at moving Eli into the vacant baritone spot and making a higher voice their permanent fifth member, which was an option they were considering.

This video was filmed at a new location for VoicePlay, Starke Lake Studios in Ocoee.

The YouTube description includes a parody verse: "I had a dream / you were eating something sweet / won't you please share that with me / 'cause I like ice cream. / Lieutenant Dan! Ice Cream!!!"

While John was in town, he made sure to stop by Disney World and take a dip in the Atlantic.

The guys met up again a few months later when the Book of Mormon tour spent three weeks in Salt Lake City, UT, and a week of shows took VoicePlay to nearby Park City.

After two years on the Book of Mormon tour, John joined the Broadway cast in 2019, where he has remained thus far.

John has returned to sing with VoicePlay twice to date, for the "Just Sing" mega-collaboration in 2020, and a gorgeous rendition of "Unchained Melody" the following year.

VoicePlay had included "Hello!" from The Book of Mormon in their "Aca Top 10 – Broadway" countdown, which they also performed in live shows, starting with the 2015 Sing-Off tour.

#VoicePlay #John Pinto Jr. #music video #a cappella #music #video

[jules-has-notes]

A Cappella at the Rock (Newtown, PA) — VoicePlay live performances

The annual pop a cappella festival at Council Rock High School North consists of a day of workshops and master classes, followed by an evening competition, then a concert from a professional group that includes a special group number with all the students. In 2017, the featured professionals were VoicePlay (with Erik Winger as their substitute baritone). This event was the middle of a whirlwind weekend for the guys, but they always enjoy doing educational outreach.

NOTE: The video quality for most of these recordings isn't great because the audience member was trying to be discreet and respectful of their neighbors. The audio is okay, though.

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This clip is missing the very beginning of the song and a view of the guys, but you can definitely hear them.

Details:

title: Ride

original performers: Twenty One Pilots

written by: Tyler Joseph

arranged by: Geoff Castellucci

performance date: 1 April 2017

My favorite bits:

Eli, Earl, and Winger pulling off that fast harmonized patter live

that rapid-fire percussion Layne does behind ♫ "bullets coming through" ♫

Geoff wandering into the basement on ♫ "I'm falling sooooo" ♫

the gradual layering in the bridge

Eli's big old belts in the last section

Trivia:

This arrangement was originally the third video in their PartWork series, with just Eli, Geoff, and Layne covering all five parts.

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The videographer managed to get a view of the stage in this one, albeit upside-down. The guys still sound as fantastic as always.

Details:

title: Aca Top 10 – Broadway

original songs: [0:07] "Everyone's A Little Bit Racist" from Avenue Q; [0:35] "Sherry" from Jersey Boys; [0:50] "Belle" from Beauty and the Beast; [1:14] "Seasons of Love" from Rent; [1:33] "Master of the House" from Les Miserables; [1:50] "All That Jazz" from Chicago; [2:11] "He Lives In You" from The Lion King; [2:28] "Popular" from Wicked; [2:50] gentle mockery of Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark; [2:53] "Phantom of the Opera" from Phantom of the Opera; [3:18] "Hello!" from The Book of Mormon

written by: "Everyone's A Little Bit Racist" by Robert Lopez & Jeff Marx; "Sherry" by Bob Gaudio; "Belle" by Alan Menken, Howard Ashman, & Tim Rice; "Seasons of Love" by Jonathan Larson; "Master of the House" by Claude-Michel Schönberg, Alain Boublil, & Jean-Marc Natel; "All That Jazz" by John Kander & Fred Ebb; "He Lives In You" by Lebohang "Lebo M" Morake, Mark Mancina, & Jay Rifkin; "Popular" by Stephen Schwartz; "Phantom of the Opera" by Andrew Lloyd Webber, Charles Hart, Richard Stilgoe, & Mike Batt; "Hello!" by Trey Parker, Matt Stone, & Robert Lopez

arranged by: Layne Stein & Geoff Castellucci

performance date: 1 April 2017

My favorite bits:

Layne's fun scampering percussion run at the end of Avenue Q

Winger and Eli doing their villager voices in "Belle"

the rising crescendo in "Seasons of Love"

the Spider-Man gag

Geoff's growled drop in "Phantom"

that big final ♫ "Hellooooo!" ♫

Trivia:

The guys recorded their video for this medley in September 2014, and performed it on the 2015 Sing-Off tour the following spring.

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Although the view is peeking between other audience members, you can still see a bit of the guys' antics during this romp through nonsense lyrics and phonations.

Details:

title: A Crimpella

original songs / performers: [0:55] "Walk the Dinosaur" by Was (Not Was); [1:11] "Witch Doctor" by Alvin & the Chipmunks; [1:19] "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang" from Chitty Chitty Bang Bang; [1:23] "We Go Together" from Grease!; [1:30] “Motownphilly” by Boyz II Men; [1:38] "Imma Be" by the Black Eyed Peas; [1:46] "Tutti Frutti" by Little Richard; [1:49] "Shoop" by Salt N Pepa; [1:53] "Jock-A-Mo" (aka "Iko Iko") by James "Sugar Boy" Crawford; [2:03] "Mahna Mahna" from The Muppet Show; [2:14] "Lovin, Touchin, Squeezin" by Journey; [2:38] "Goofy Goober Rock" from The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie; [2:41] "MMMBop" by Hanson; [2:53] "Hooked on a Feeling" by Blue Swede; [2:57] "Bawitdaba" by Kid Rock; [3:02] "Breaking Up Is Hard to Do" by Neil Sedaka; [3:10] "Bohemian Rhapsody" by Queen; [3:25] "Bad Romance" by Lady Gaga; [3:30] "Can't Get You Outta My Head" by Kylie Minogue;[3:36] "Limbo La La" by James Lloyd; [3:40] "All Night Long" by Lionel Richie; [3:57] "Wanna Be Starting Something" by Michael Jackson; [4:04] "Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye" by Steam

arranged by: VoicePlay

performance date: 1 April 2017

My favorite bits:

Geoff's extensive list of social media accounts before they start singing (and whoever clucks)

Eli getting launched into the air

the audience joining in with Winger before the rest of the guys return to their mics

using the final ♫ "Good-byyyyye" ♫ as their exit line

Trivia:

This medley was one of the earliest videos on their YouTube channel, and a staple of their live shows for many years.

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For the final number of the night, the guys were joined on stage by the student groups to create an ocean of sound. (And this videographer was much less shy about capturing it for posterity.)

Details:

title: Don't Stop Believin'

original songs / performers: "Don't Stop Believin'"; [2:36] "Open Arms"; and [2:45] "Any Way You Want It" by Journey; [2:29] "Oh Sherrie" by Steve Perry

written by: all songs written by Steve Perry in collaboration – "Don't Stop Believin'" with Jonathan Cain & Neal Schon; "Oh Sherrie" with Randy Goodrum, Craig Krampf, & Bill Cuomo; "Open Arms" with Jonathan Cain; "Any Way You Want It" with Neal Schon

arranged by: Layne Stein & Geoff Castellucci

performance date: 1 April 2017

My favorite bits:

all the kids dancing and connecting with each other

the guys turing around and dropping out during "on and on" to let the chorus shine

Earl's opt-up at the end of ♫ "searching" ♫

the layering of the polyphony section

Trivia:

This song has been part of their catalog since their 4:2:Five days. The earliest concert performance I've found is from a 2009 benefit concert at the University of Rochester.

They finally recorded a video for it when they were the featured artists at Camp A Cappella 2016.

This video was originally posted to Facebook by one of the parents of a student at Neshaminy High School in Langhorne, PA.

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Additional photos

pre-show naps // post-show smiles (except grumpy Layne)

#VoicePlay #Erik Winger #live performance #a cappella #music #video #long post #link-o-rama

[jules-has-notes]

Shape of You / No Diggity mashup — VoicePlay music video

One of the recurring themes in most genres of popular music is physical attraction, particularly when it leads to flirtation and infatuation. Although these two songs were released twenty years apart, they express very similar sentiments, which allows them to combine in a very satisfying way.

Details:

title: Shape of You / No Diggity mashup (feat. Matthew Darren)

original songs / performers: "Shape of You" by Ed Sheeran; "No Diggity" by Blackstreet, feat. Dr. Dre & Queen Pen

written by: "Shape of You" by Ed Sheeran, Johnny McDaid, Kandi Burruss, Kevin "She'kspere" Briggs, Steve Mac, & Tameka "Tiny" Cottle; "No Diggity" by Teddy Riley, Chauncey Hannibal, Lynise Walters, William Stewart, & Andre "Dr. Dre" Young

arranged by: Geoff Castellucci & Hannah Juliano

release date: 29 March 2017

My favorite bits:

those crunchy opening harmonies

Matthew's smooth, confident solo melody

the rhythm section holding down a solid groove

the way the lyrics from both songs weave together and work as counterpoint for each other

Layne's syncopated descending tom run at the end of the first chorus

Matthew running all the way from his falsetto down to his chest voice on ♫ "Catching feelings is a no-o-o-o" ♫

Earl climbing into the rafters with ♫ "grab on my waist and put that on me" ♫

passing the lead down from Earl through Eli to Geoff

the bounciness of ♫ "I'm in love with your bo- bo-dy" ♫

the gradual layering in the ♫ "C'mon be my baby" ♫ section

Layne's excellent scratching

everyone's reaction to Eli's final riff, and him walking away from their disapproval

Trivia:

This recording was part of the audition process for VoicePlay's new member to replace Tony. Although he ultimately wasn't chosen, Matthew did later participate in their mega-collaboration video "Just Sing" during the 2020 lockdown.

The guys knew Matthew as a fellow theme park performer, particularly as Beast in the live Beauty and the Beast show at Disney World.

Matthew's long flowing hair was the result of growing it out for five years in preparation for donation to Wigs For Kids. He had over a foot cut off a couple months later, shortly before his wedding.

The guys usually wrangle their own clothes for streetwear looks, but on this occasion they enlisted a stylist friend named Tanya Buzu. I'd say she did very well. 👍

The video description on YouTube includes the line: "Last night you were in my room, and now my bed sheets smell like food. No Diggity. No Doubt." (Geoff is very silly sometimes.)

That memorable rising hummed hook in "No Diggity" was sampled from the song "Grandma's Hands" by Bill Withers.

Ed Sheeran originally started writing "Shape of You" for Rhianna to record, but realized during the process that it would be better suited to his own sound.

Their buddies The Filharmoic released their own cover of "Shape of You" the day before. The groups joked on Twitter that they needed to coordinate their schedules better.

VoicePlay teased further behind the scenes content in a Patreon promo on social media.

#VoicePlay #Matthew Darren #music video #a cappella #mashup #music #video

[jules-has-notes]

2017 VoicePlay winter activities — ch-ch-ch-ch-changes

With a new year came new projects and collaborators, as well as several personal milestones for the guys.

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Auld Lang Syne

VoicePlay started the year on someting of a bittersweet note, finally making the offical announcement of Tony's retirement from the group. Fans had been remarking on his increasing absences from VoicePlay's content and concerts over the preceding year, so the formal confirmation that he had left was sad, but certainly less upsetting in knowing that it was an amicable decision.

Five years of frequent, extended travel had taken their toll. Tony wanted to spend more time at home with his family, and refocus his creative energies on new projects through PattyCake Productions, the studio he and Layne had been building over the previous year.

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On a happier note, Eli and Ashley entered the home stretch in preparing for their wedding.

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Hot and cold

As they said in the audition video, the remaining guys didn't let a vacancy disrupt their other plans. They continued to alternate between Erik Winger and J.None as their stand-in baritones as they hit the road almost immediately.

First they picked up Winger and headed south for a stylish wedding in the Florida Keys.

Then they scooped up J.None and returned to snowy NYC for the annual APAP conference after skipping it the year before.

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Once they got home, it was time for some more rehearsals before they performed at a couple local private events and filmed their next video.

This song wasn't fast enough already, guys? Yeesh!

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Jacobson nuptials

And of course everyone gathered to celebrate at Eli and Ashley's wedding.

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From the road to the air

Toward the end of the month, Layne and Tony gathered up a few family members and friends and headed to southern Florida for their next PattyCake project.

When they got home, VoicePlay snagged J.None again and flew out west to "crash Eli's honeymoon" and headline the annual Napa Valley A Cappella Extravaganza.

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Part of the extended family

During their week at home between road dates, Earl got to meet Jodi Benson, voice of the animated Ariel, during a Nemo post-show meet and greet session.

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Round and round

The next weekend, the guys and Winger headed up to New Jersey for a show in Rahway with opening act Garden State Sound Quartet. The concert received some preliminary hype in the local press, and a very nice recap.

photos by Love Imagery, via New Jersey Stage ; and by Garden State Sound Quartet

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Then they popped home long enough to pick up J.None and Max Herskovitz for a five day trip to the Bahamas aboard the Disney Dream. While the other guys were at sea, Layne got into some tech geekery for an interview with Lens Depot as part of their customer spotlight series.

Once they disembarked, they bade farewell to Max and scooped up Layne for a quick jaunt to Maryland.

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Making a name

After a few quiet days at home, they met up with Winger again to sing the national anthem as the opening to Full Sail University's annual alumni Hall of Fame induction ceremony.

During a shopping trip the next day, Layne found a hat with surprisingly accurate embroidery. He joked that it "should have a question mark at the end", and his sister noted that a needle and thread could easily amend it. I'd argue that, like a lot of performing artists, they're more "situationally famous".

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Frozen treats

The weekend took VoicePlay (again with Winger) north to St. Joseph, MN for a show attended by several longtime fans and local gent Chris Rupp.

sleepy Layne, Paul, and Erik heading north very early in the morning

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Home time

Over next week, Layne, Tony, and Earl were busy filming PattyCake's next project, "Beauty and the Bieber", at several locations around Orlando. Meanwhile, Geoff and Kathy took advantage of the slight lull in their schedules and had a babymoon date night at a Take 6 / Manhattan Transfer concert.

But, of course, the VoicePlay momentum picked up again at their weekly planning meeting.

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Ahoy-hoy

The week after that, they gathered up J.None and Max again for another loop around the Caribbean on the Disney Dream.

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When they got home, they headed over to a local art school to perform at a fundraiser for their theater program. The lineup for the evening also included Brian Fortuna from Dancing with the Stars and Orshi Horvath, and a newly formed local boy band called the Beatline Boys.

VoicePlay accompany Brian and Orshi for a dance

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Family time

The next few days were spent doing their own thing and marking some big milestones. Geoff and Kathy had their baby shower. Earl and Nick bought a new home.

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Back to work

The final weekend of the season was bookended by video shoots with new collaborators. Friday saw them team up with theme park pal Matthew Darren for a club jam mashup, while Monday brought a peppy breakup song with Broadway performer John Pinto, Jr.

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Once those were in the can, it was time to hit the road again, but that's a story for a another time.

#VoicePlay #traveling musicians #behind the scenes #music #video #long post #link-o-rama

[jules-has-notes]

Beauty & the Bieber (Unexpected Musical) — PattyCake Productions music video

Continuing their signature style of combining childhood classics with modern music, the PattyCake guys decided to tackle a tale as old as time for their next project. In addition to Justin Bieber's melodies and the musical motifs from the 1991 animated film, they also included elements from the forthcoming 2017 live action remake.

Details:

title: Unexpected Musicals — Beauty and the Bieber

performers: Jamie Fritz (Belle); Earl Elkins, Jr. (Beast); E. Michael Evans (Gaston); Joey D'Angelo-LaJoie (LaFou); Alexander Browne (Lumiere); Brad Pettitt (Prince Adam); Leah Lowman (village girls); Anita Wakim (Enchantress)

original songs / performers: [0:15] "I'll Show You" by Justin Bieber; [0:53] "Baby" by Justin Bieber, feat. Ludacris; [1:09] "Love Yourself" by Justin Bieber; [1:21] "Never Say Never" by Justin Bieber, feat. Jaden; [2:12] "Boyfriend" by Justin Bieber; [2:36] "Company" by Justin Bieber; [3:30] "Beauty and a Beat" by Justin Bieber, feat. Nicki Minaj; [4:10] "Sorry" by Justin Bieber; [4:22] "Let Me Love You" by DJ Snake, feat. Justin Bieber; [4:44] "Cold Water" by Major Lazer, feat. Justin Bieber & MØ

written by: "I'll Show You" by Justin Bieber, Michael "BloodPop" Tucker, Sonny "Skrillex" Moore, Theron "Neff-U" Feemster, & Joshua Gudwin; "Baby" by Justin Bieber, Christopher "Tricky" Stewart, Terius "The-Dream" Nash, Christopher "Ludacris" Bridges, & Christina Milian; "Love Yourself" by Justin Bieber, Benjamin "Benny Blanco" Levin, & Ed Sheeran; "Never Say Never" by Adam "Messy" Messinger, Nasri Atweh, Thaddis "Kuk" Harrell, Jaden Smith, Omarr Rambert, & Justin Bieber; "Boyfriend" by Mike Posner, Mason Levy, Matthew "Blackbear" Musto, & Justin Bieber; "Company" by Justin Bieber, Andreas Schuller, James Wong, Leroy Clampitt, Jason "Poo Bear" Boyd, James "JHart" Abrahart, & Thomas Troelsen; "Beauty and a Beat" by Max Martin, Anton "Zedd" Zaslavski, Savan Kotecha, & Nicki Minaj; "Sorry" by Justin Bieber, Michael "BloodPop" Tucker, Sonny "Skrillex" Moore, Justin Tranter, & Julia Michaels; "Let Me Love You" by William "DJ Snake" Grigahcine, Justin Bieber, Andrew "Watt" Wotman, Ali Tamposi, Brian Lee, & Louis Bell; "Cold Water" by Thomas "Diplo" Pentz, Justin Bieber, Karen Marie "MØ" Ørsted, Benjamin "Benny Blanco" Levin, "King Henry" Allen, Philip "Jr Blender" Meckseper, Ed Sheeran, & Jamie Scott

arranged by: Layne Stein & Tony Wakim

release date: 17 March 2017

My favorite bits:

combining the rhythmic strings and the villagers' greetings from "Belle" with the melody for "I'll Show You"

Belle explicitly giving Gaston the brush-off

the tinkling minor motif from the animated movie as Belle enters the castle

Earl's fantastic growl at the end of "Never Say Never"

LaFou's gleeful fawning over Gaston and dancing on the tables

the sneaky ♫ "May-be" ♫ from "Company" overlapping with the tavern scene and leading into the "Be Our Guest" instrumentation

the Beast's lovely vulnerability during the dinner and dancing

using the crunchy horn motif from "Battle on the Tower" to create menace in this version of "Let Me Love You"

Earl's voice being layered over the final lyrics after the transformation

Trivia:

○ The obvious starting point for this project was Jusin Beiber's "Beauty and a Beat", which Tony and Layne had performed as part of VoicePlay's "Wow! Vol. 1" medley during the 2015 Sing-Off tour, but one song does not a full plot make. The guys delved into his extended catalogue to find songs that fit certain story beats and would blend well with the animated movie's score.

○ This was an incredibly ambtious undertaking. According to the PattyCake guys, preparations took five months, and filming spanned "six long days" (and nights, clearly).

○ All that hard work paid off, though, since they were able to time their YouTube release for the same day that the Emma Watson movie hit theaters.

○ VoicePlay recorded a Beauty and the Beast medley for "Once Upon an Ever After" (2012), their first album with Tony as a member of the group. Excerpts from that arrangement later appeared in their music videos "Be Our Guest", "Aca Top 10 – Disney Sidekicks", and "Aca Top 10 – Disney Villains". They also included "Belle" in their "Aca Top 10 – Broadway" countdown.

○ "Love Yourself" was the first song in VoicePlay's PartWork series, which they started as preparation for Tony leaving the group.

○ Layne occasionally used "Baby" as his interruption at the end of VoicePlay's "Road Trip" medley / comedy sketch.

○ On top of their usual studio work, this production required multiple location shoots:

The outdoor village scenes were filmed at the Casa Feliz museum.

Beast's castle interior was the Ballroom at Church Street, which closed in 2019, and was demolished 2023.

The tavern was an actual bar, the Tap Room at Dubsdread.

○ Between the main cast and dozens of background folks, they needed so many costumes that Tony enlisted his sister Anita to help wrangle them all.

○ There are several of Tony's fellow "Beetlejuice Revue" alumni among the main cast:

Michael (Gaston) played Dracula and Frankenstein's monster.

Joey (LaFou) played Wolfman and Dracula.

Brad (Prince Adam) was a dancer in the final "Mashup" iteration of the show.

○ There are also many friends and family among background cast and crew, including several cast members from previous Unexpected Musicals. Olivia Adkins and Leah Lowman are among the village crowd as Snow White and Cinderella. Rachel Copeland and Matthew Buckner are in the tavern crowd, but not as their previous characters. Many of the other villagers were clubgoers in "Hocus Heathens".

○ This video got a nice write-up on Huffington Post.

#PattyCake Productions #series: Unexpected Musicals #music video #jukebox musical #music medley #music #video

[jules-has-notes]

2017 Full Sail Hall of Fame ceremony — VoicePlay live performance & peeks behind the scenes

After they filmed several music videos at the REBL HQ studio on the Full Sail campus over the previous year, VoicePlay were invited to open the university's annual alumni Hall of Fame induction ceremony.

Eli documented parts of the day in real time, livestreaming on VoicePlay's Facebook page. This first one is the guys and some of their spouses being escorted to their seats in preparation for singing the national anthem.

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The whole ceremony is almost three hours long, but our guys got their job done in the first few minutes.

Details:

title: U.S. national anthem (Full Sail University's 8th Annual Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony)

original song: The Star-Spangled Banner

written by: lyrics from the poem "Defence of Fort M'Henry" by Francis Scott Key; sung to the tune of "The Anacreontic Song" by John Stafford Smith

arranged by: VoicePlay

performance date: 16 February 2017

My favorite bits:

Eli starting off solo, then everyone gradually layering in

passing the lead around

the unusual harmonies on ♫ "perilous fight" ♫

Layne, Eli, and Erik's lovely unison for ♫ "were so galantly streaming" ♫

putting a little decoration on ♫ "bursting in ai-ai-aaair" ♫

upward modulation leading into another cool chord progression

Earl's big old belt on ♫ "braaave" ♫ followed by the other guys traveling up to resolve with him

Trivia:

VoicePlay had done a number of collaborations involving Full Sail over the previous year, primarily through their REBL HQ video production studio, including their 1-Minute Musicals series, "My Shot" from Hamilton, and a trio of audio production tips.

J.None (their other rotating baritone at the time) had performed "America the Beautiful" for the opening of the 2015 Hall of Fame event. He was a recent graduate, and had just competed on American Idol.

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The robot presentation Eli mentioned in the first FB livestream happened later in the evening, so he provided a peek into the designer's intro and the performance itself, complete with immersive light effects, dancers, and wire work.

[NOTE: The second video includes some flashing light effects, particularly starting at ~6:00]

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The guys were excited to meet legendary recording engineer Bruce Swedien, whose work with Quincy Jones and Michael Jackson earned him multiple Grammy awards, and who had been presented with the school's Industry Icon Award during the previous year's Hall of Fame week.

#VoicePlay #Erik Winger #live performance #behind the scenes #a cappella #music #video #Full Sail University #long post

[jules-has-notes]

20th anniversary of "Time Machine"

[YouTube] ● [Spotify] ● [Apple Music] ● [Amazon Music]

release date: 8 April 2004

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From November 2003 through May 2004, the young gentlemen of 4:2:Five were part of the shipboard entertainment on the Celebrity Constellation. The job certainly kept them busy, but it didn't take up all of their time. In between performances and rehearsals, they recorded some of the stripped-back cover songs from their setlist and produced an album.

"Time Machine" contains tracks spanning several decades and genres, from doowop and funk to classic rock and feel-good pop songs. Most of the arrangements were done by the guys themselves. The few exceptions are Rockapella's version of "Hound Dog", as well as Return 2 Zero's "How Sweet It Is to Be Loved By You" and "Love Potion #9". For "How Sweet It Is", they mixed things up even further, with Geoff singing the lead tenor part and Layne dropping down to cover bass.

The one original song on the album is "Rules", which they included as a preview for their other album that was in progress at the time, "Unstoppable". That was released later in the year.

And just in case anyone was worried that all the tracks are straightforward a cappella music, be assured that these silly boys also included a live recording of "The Chicken Song".

photos courtesy of Discogs.com

Trivia:

The physical CD packaging credits the production facility as "Mr Boat Studios, somewhere in the Caribbean".

They self-published the album through CD Baby, with preorders opening in February and finished discs shipping while they were still at sea. The wonders of modern technology.

For the duration of the cruise (and the recording of this album) 4:2:Five was a quartet once more — just Earl, James, Geoff, and Layne. Scott had left the group in July 2003 when he was selected for a stint at Tokyo Disney. After the guys returned home in the spring of 2004, Layne decided to switch over to percussion, and they recruited their theme park buddy Matthew "Bucky" Buckner as their new baritone to bring them back from four to five.

Without a fifth member allowing them to include the waitress verse of "The Chicken Song" yet, it's gum tree Geoff who tries to refuse his turn.

VoicePlay revisited "The Lion Sleeps Tonight" twenty years later with a new, more hectic arrangement.

#4:2:Five #VoicePlay #a cappella #music #album: Time Machine #Happy annivesary‚ boys!

[jules-has-notes]

Walking Dead (Unexpected Musical) — PattyCake Productions music video

Inspiration can come from surprising places. In the music video for Sia's 2016 song "The Greatest", a group of children dance their way through the rooms and hallways of what looks like a detention center, doing moves that are sometimes bizarre or even jarring against the tone of the melody. The opening scene of The Walking Dead television adaptation follows a disoriented man waking up in a ransacked hospital and stumbling his way toward the ongoing zombie apocalypse outside. PattyCake combined those two images, mashed up their accompanying music, and created something simultaneously entertaining and unsettling.

Details:

title: Unexpected Musicals – The Walking Dead

performers: Ryan Simpson (Rick Grimes); Kaley Kolb (zombie kid)

original songs / performers: "Theme from The Walking Dead" by Bear McCreary & session musicians; "The Greatest" by Sia

written by: "Theme from The Walking Dead" by Bear McCreary, Edward Trybek, & Henri Wilkinson; "The Greatest" by Sia Furler, Greg Kurstin, Kendrick Lamar, & Blair MacKichan

arranged by: Layne Stein

release date: 11 February 2017

My favorite bits:

opening with the frantic strings from the TV theme

the little cries in Ryan's voice as though he's trying to convince himself of the truth in his words

finally adding vocal harmonies on the defiant ♫ "No no no!" ♫

Ryan wandering the halls in a way that echoes both the Walking Dead pilot and the Sia video

the breath between ♫ "the greatest" ♫ and ♫ "alive" ♫ that almost separates them into two distinct thoughts

those quiet music box tones evoking childhood even before we see the little girl

Kaley lurching along in bunny slippers with a teddy bear, like the scene in the show's first episode

good stunt fall, kiddo!

Trivia:

○ Ryan was a member of the band Tigerweather, whose first EP Layne had produced at his Rayne's Room studio.

○ This project was even more of a family affair than usual with:

Layne's step-daughter Kaley playing the zombie kid

her older sister Annesley credited as assistant editor / grip

his wife Cyndi being given "special thanks" (presumably for letting her middle schooler get zombified)

additional "special thanks" to Dr. Charles Stein (I'm guessing for advice about the medical stuff.)

Tony 's sister Anita serving as production manager

and Kailey Simpson as production assistant

○ Kaley had previously played Dani in PattyCake's "Hocus Heathens" video. She and her sisters also briefly appeared as the Lullabye League in the opening section of PattyCake's "Will.of.Oz" video.

○ Kaley's zombie makeup, the grasping hand's makeup, and the mangled corpse were handled by Jonathan Shane Ferrell of Makeup and Creative Arts in Orlando. He had previously worked on, and appeared on screen in, the "Will.of.Oz" video.

○ Layne and Tony had previously performed David Guetta & Sia's "Titanium" as part of VoicePlay's live shows, and recorded a video with Rachel Potter for their arrangement of Sia's "Chandelier".

○ The filming location for this video was Broward Correctional Institution, a former women's maximum security prison in southeatern Florida that had been decomissioned five years prior.

○ The guys posted a behind the scenes look at part of the building they were filming in. (Layne does use some unfortunate language to describe the former prisoners, though. 😞)

#PattyCake Productions #series: Unexpected Musicals #music video #jukebox musical #music medley #music #video

[jules-has-notes]

Beautiful Low mashup — VoicePlay music video

One of my favorite aspects of a good mashup is when the lyrics of the component songs are placed in conversation with one another. For this arrangement, the guys combined two different perspectives on struggles with self-esteem and the ways external factors can affect the way we see ourselves.

Whether the greatest influence is something intimate like the disolution of a personal relationship leading to depression, or something more pervasive like the judgment of society at large for physical diversity that doesn't match arbitrary beauty standards, it can be difficult to feel self-love in the moments when it doesn't feel like anyone else loves you either. But even at our lowest, there are people willing to help lift us up. Sometimes in the form of a song.

Details:

title: Scars To Your Beautiful & All Time Low mashup (feat. J.None)

original songs / performers: "Scars to Your Beautiful" by Alessia Cara; "All Time Low" by Jon Bellion (see also: acoustic version) [NOTE: The original lyrics are more explicit than VP's version.]

written by: "Scars to Your Beautiful" by Alessia Cara, Warren "Oak" Felder, Sebastian Kole, Andrew "Pop" Wansel, & Justin "DJ Frank E" Franks; "All Time Low" by Jon Bellion, Mark Williams, Raul Cubina, & Travis Mendes

arranged by: Layne Stein & Hannah Juliano

release date: 1 February 2017

My favorite bits:

the back-and-forth panning on Layne's opening electronic-inspired percussion line (best experienced through headphones if you can)

J's crisp descending run on ♫ ⇘ "nooow" ⇘ ♫

the strategic lyrical substitutions to keep things PG-13

the earnestness in Earl's voice and expression when he takes over the lead vocals

those backing harmonies from Geoff, Eli, and J under the second verse, alternating between stacatto plucking and short crescendos

Layne's descending riff in the middle of the second chorus

that gradual layering and weaving of lyrics during the bridge until they reach the climax of the last chorus

Geoff's smooth slide to kick off the ending section

those soaring harmonies on the final ♫ "beautifuuul" ♫

J's little fanfares in the outro

Trivia:

This recording was part of the audition process for VoicePlay's new member to replace Tony. Since J had already been performing in that capacity at live shows with the guys for a couple months, he was tapped to go first. Consensus among many of the YouTube commenters was that he was a great fit.

The lyrics were particularly resonant for Earl, which made him a little nervous on the eve of filming day.

J recorded his vocals with Layne at Rayne's Room. He was surprised at not having to memorize his part first, and how freeform the process was, allowing him to noodle around with different dynamics, rhythms, and riffs. I'd say he adjusted to VP's methods pretty well.

The guys usually coordinate their own clothes for non-costume outfits, but for this video they enlisted a local stylist named Tanya Buzu. J.None certainly seemed to enjoy his wardrobe.

The video description on YouTube reiterates that "You should know you're beautiful just the way you are." Very sweet of them.

A fan was inspired to create drawings of some of the guys.

A couple weeks after its initial release, this mashup was played on University of Nebraska – Lincoln's campus radio station during their weekly Vocal Chords show that features a cappella music.

They garnered a bit of praise from their friend and colleague, Tim Foust. (Sadly, the potential collaboration didn't happen, but most of the guys did get to attend the Home Free show that brought him to their hometown.)

This track was later included on VoicePlay's "Citrus" album, which compiled most of the songs they recorded from 2017-19. Because the individual songs had already been made available digitally, that album is exclusively a physical item that can only be purchased at live shows or through their website.

#VoicePlay #J.None #music video #a cappella #mashup #music #video #album: Citrus

[jules-has-notes]

2017 Napa Valley A Cappella Extravaganza — VoicePlay live performances

VoicePlay on stage in Napa — photo by Haley Olson

Three years after their previous appearance, VoicePlay returned to northern California as the professional headliners for the annual high school and collegiate vocal festival in Yountville.

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J.None was excited to hit the road with the guys after performing with them at Disney World for the previous two months.

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When you're singing for other a cappella singers, it's hard to go wrong with a little musical theater. VoicePlay has plenty of Broadway material in their repertoire, and this was the most recent addition at the time.

Details:

title: Seasons of Love

original performers: cast of Rent (1996)

written by: Jonathan Larson

arranged by: VoicePlay & AJ Rafael

performance date: 28 January 2017

My favorite bits:

J.None's smooth timbre on the opening lines

the way they seamlessly pass the lead vocals around (But why doesn't Layne get a turn? 😞)

that momentary silence before they start the first chorus

when the rhythm section really kicks in 🥁🎸

Earl's crystal clear high tone on the second verse

that jazzy harmonized riff from Eli, J, and Earl

the layers of sound in the final chorus

such a lovely ending chord

Trivia:

As Geoff mentions in the intro, the guys had recorded this song as a collaboration with AJ Rafael in October, and the video premiered on his YouTube channel a couple weeks before this performance.

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VoicePlay refuse to be confined to any one genre of music. They've tackled everything from barbershop to hard rock, country to sea shanties, pop ballads to orchestral pieces. So why not revisit the rap hits of their youth?

Details:

title: Aca Top 10 – Old School Rap

original songs / performers: "La-Di-Da-Di" by Slick Rick & Doug E. Fresh; [0:16] "Going Back to Cali" by LL Cool J; [0:32] "Push It" by Salt-n-Pepa; [0:56] "Parents Just Don’t Understand" by DJ Jazzy Jeff & the Fresh Prince; [1:09] "Bust A Move" by Young MC; [1:32] "It's Tricky" by Run-DMC; [1:49] "Just A Friend" by Biz Markie; [2:12] "Ice Ice Baby" by Vanilla Ice; [2:21] "The Humpty Dance" by Digital Underground; [2:44] "Rapper's Delight" by the Sugarhill Gang; [3:10] "Walk This Way" by Run-DMC & Aerosmith

written by: "La-Di-Da-Di" by Douglas "Doug E. Fresh" Davis & Richard "Slick Rick" Walters; "Going Back to Cali" by Rick Rubin & James "LL Cool J" Smith; "Push It" by Hurby "Luv Bug" Azor & Ray Davies; "Parents Just Don’t Understand" by Pete Harris, Will "Fresh Prince" Smith, Jeffrey "DJ Jazzy Jeff" Townes; "Bust A Move" by Marvin "Young MC" Young, Matt Dike, & Michael Ross; "It's Tricky" by Joseph "Rev. Run" Simmons, Darryl "DMC" McDaniels, Doug Fieger, & Berton Averre; "Just A Friend" by Marcel "Biz Markie" Hall; "Ice Ice Baby" by Robert "Vanilla Ice" Van Winkle, Mario Johnson, Queen, & David Bowie; "The Humpty Dance" by Earl Humphrey, Gregory "Shock G" Jacobs, & George Clinton; "Rapper's Delight" by Bernard Edwards, Nile Rodgers, Sylvia Robinson, Henry "Big Bank Hank" Jackson, Michael "Wonder Mike" Wright, Guy "Master Gee" O'Brien, Curtis "Grandmaster Caz" Brown, & William Hankshaw; "Walk This Way" by Joseph "Rev. Run" Simmons, Darryl "DMC" McDaniels, Steven Tyler, & Joe Perry

arranged by: Geoff Castellucci

performance date: 28 January 2017

My favorite bits:

Layne kicking things off with some old school beatboxing

Earl recreating the breathy part in "Push It"

Eli handling the scratching in the back during "Parents"

the middle three busting some lowkey moves as the lyrics instruct them to do

everybody bouncing to the beat during "Tricky"

Geoff continuing the "Ice Ice Baby" bass line under "The Humpty Dance" after the other guys leave him hanging

Eli showing off some slides in "Rapper's Delight"

J's little wave in response to the "hello" in the lyrics

the record skip effect at the end of "Walk This Way"

Trivia:

The guys originally recorded this countdown live in the studio, where they could do as many takes as they wanted. It's even more impressive seeing them perform it in front of an audience.

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This video is missing the very beginning because the fan who recorded it got over-excited about them actually performing the song live. But how could they possibly resist singing the theme to one of the most beloved TV shows set in San Francisco when they were just north the city itself?

Details:

title: Everywhere You Look

original performers: Carly Rae Jepsen & Butch Walker for Fuller House (2016)

written by: Jesse Frederick, Bennett Salvay, & Jeff Franklin for Full House (1987)

arranged by: Layne Stein

performance date: 28 January 2017

My favorite bits:

the bouncy descending bass line leading into the chorus

Eli and J grooving along to their own harmonies

Earl's scooping crescendo as a transition into the second verse

the call and response of ♫ "never go away" ♫ "like the Olsen twins" ♫ 👭

that quick crisp diction of the ♫ "how do you know… " ♫ section

hearing a few audience members shout "Hey!" in time with the guys

that big coordinated descending riff at the end

Trivia:

This song was the second entry in VoicePlay's PartWork series, performed entirely by multiple versions of Earl and Layne.

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Additional photos

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Before they flew out of San Francisco the next day, J.None took a side trip to meet up with a friend, see a bit of the city, and get some fresh air.

#VoicePlay #live performance #a cappella #music #video #traveling musicians #behind the scenes #long post

[jules-has-notes]

collaboration spotlight — Seasons of Love by AJ Rafael & VoicePlay

To (slightly belatedly) celebrate the 20th anniversary of Rent's debut on Broadway, these five musical theater nerds teamed up for a gorgeous a cappella rendition of one of the show's most well-known songs. Just as the original tune opens the second act of the play, this video was VoicePlay's first music video released after the announcement of Tony's departure from the group, and the start of a new chapter in their history. It was also their first release of the year, even if it wasn't on their own channel.

Details:

title: Seasons of Love

original performers: cast of Rent (1996)

written by: Jonathan Larson

arranged by: AJ Rafael & VoicePlay

release date: 17 January 2017

My favorite bits:

those unmistakable opening harmonies

Layne starting simple with just body percussion for the first verse

AJ's smooth, warm timbre to kick things off

passing the lead vocals around the group

that moment of contemplative silence between the repeated questions of the verse and the answering chorus

AJ, Eli, and Earl's precise, coordinated diction when the first ♫ "sea-sons of love" ♫ hits

Earl's laserbeam tone at the start of the second verse

the powerful crescendo on ♫ "he diii-IIIED" ♫

the lovely little bell chord in the second chorus

those drum fills as the song reaches its greatest intesity

ending on a satisfying harmonic resolution

Layne refusing to let Earl leave the frame during the outro, and Earl just giving in and staring intensely into the lens

Trivia:

A portion of this song was included in VoicePlay's "Aca Top 10 – Broadway" countdown, which they also performed on the 2015 Sing-Off tour.

This video was filmed in early October during VoicePlay's swing through California. It was quite unusual for them to have such a long wait between recording and release, but collaborations are always a little more complicated than their usual workflow in which they do everything themselves.

They subsequently added this arrangement to their setlists for live shows, starting with the 12th annual Napa Valley A Cappella Extravaganza.

A fan was inspired to draw some fanart of Layne and Eli.

AJ was one of the YouTubers invited to the 2015 #DisneySide All-Star Creator Conference at Disney World, at which VoicePlay were part of the local entertainment. While there, he teamed up with Roxy Darr to film a very cute video of a date day for the official Disney YouTube channel.

AJ has also done a couple collaborations with his fellow Filipino-American singers, The Filharmonic, who were on The Sing-Off season 4 and the subsequent 2014 tour with VoicePlay.

#VoicePlay #AJ Rafael #music video #a cappella #Broadway musicals #music #video

[jules-has-notes]

Cinderswift (Unexpected Musical) — PattyCake Productions music video

When the PattyCake fellas set out to retell the classic rags-to-riches fairy tale of Cinderella, they turned to the music of Taylor Swift. Her songs' themes of overcoming detractors and self-doubt, learning from painful situations, and striving for a better life were a perfect fit for the story's narrative.

Details:

title: Unexpected Musicals – Cinderswift

performers: Leah Lowman (Cinderella); Matthew "Bucky" Buckner (Prince Charming / additional vocals); Andrea Stack (Lady Tremaine / additional vocals); Olivia Adkins (Anastasia Tremaine); Melanie Stringer (Drizella Tremaine); Rachel Copeland (fairy godmother); Michael Navarro (royal crier / coachman); Hannah Laird, Hannah Juliano, Layne Stein, & Tony Wakim (additional vocals)

original songs / performer: all songs by Taylor Swift — "Mean"; [0:32] "Style"; [0:55] "Shake It Off"; [1:30] "Bad Blood", feat. Kendrick Lamar; [1:50] "22"; [2:47] "Wildest Dreams"; [3:40] "I Knew You Were Trouble"; [3:55] "Love Story"

written by: "Mean" by Taylor Swift; "Style" by Taylor Swift, Max Martin, Karl "Shellback" Schuster, & Ali Payami; "Shake It Off" by Taylor Swift, Max Martin, & Karl "Shellback" Schuster; "Bad Blood" by Taylor Swift, Max Martin, Karl "Shellback" Schuster, & Kendrick Lamar; "22" by Taylor Swift, Max Martin, & Karl "Shellback" Schuster; "Wildest Dreams" by Taylor Swift, Max Martin, & Karl "Shellback" Schuster; "I Knew You Were Trouble" by Taylor Swift, Max Martin, & Karl "Shellback" Schuster; "Love Story" by Taylor Swift

arranged by: Layne Stein & Tony Wakim

release date: 14 January 2017

My favorite bits:

Leah singing ♫ "You can take me do-o-own" ♫ on a descending run as she crouches to reach the tea set

Andrea's absolute poise and stillness as Lady Tremaine

the tiny mouse chorus 🐁 (Ah, so those are the additional vocals.)

all the ladies' 90s-tastic ballgowns

those crunchy minor chords during "Bad Blood"

Rachel's bouncy, trilling vibratto throughout "22"

combining the 1950 animated dance sequence with some of the Regency-era steps from Taylor's "Love Story" video during "Wildest Dreams"

transforming "I Knew You Were Trouble" from a rueful reflection into a sinister threat

Bucky and Leah's lovely harmonies in the final song

Trivia:

The opening dedication "For Dori" refers to Layne's youngest daughter, Doris, who was about six months old at the time of this video's publication.

This video was filmed at the Luxemore Grande Estate in Winter Park, which is primarily used for weddings and other large events. The venue coordination was handled by Jaimz Dillman, who had played Sarah Sanderson in PattyCake's "Hocus Heathens" Halloween video, and has continued to feature in their projects.

Leah has reprised her role as Cinderella in several episodes of PattyCake's "Princess Academy" series, as well as their "Disney Girls Like You" video in 2019, and their original piece "If the Shoe Fits" in 2023.

According to Bucky, there were many outtakes during the dance sequence because "the boots were big on me and that dress was ginormous".

The guys had known Bucky for many years prior to casting him in this project. He'd played the Wolfman opposite Tony's Dracula in the "Beetlejuice Revue" show at Universal Studios, and joined 4:2:Five as their new baritone when Layne switched over to vocal percussion in 2004.

A fan combined the audio from this project with footage from the 1950 Disney animated film to create a fantastic fanvid.

Layne and Tony had previously sung a portion of "Bad Blood" in VoicePlay's "Aca Top 10 — Summer Hits 2015" countdown.

"I Knew You Were Trouble" was the foundation for VoicePlay's 2013 "Trouble" mashup music video with Rachel Potter, which led to them competing on The Sing-Off.

The dancers in the original "Shake It Off" music video include several of their fellow reality show veterans from So You Think You Can Dance — Phillip "PacMan" Chbeeb (s.5), Du-Shaunt "Fik-Shun" Stegall (s.10 winner), Jonathan "Legacy" Perez (s.6), & Melissa Sandvig (s.5).

#PattyCake Productions #series: Unexpected Musicals #music video #jukebox musical #music medley #music #video #behind the scenes

[jules-has-notes]

collaboration spotlight — White Christmas puppet video by Mark McDowell

Professional singers tend to have many friends who are also professional singers, and occasionally involve them in the side projects they do for their own amusement. So when Mark McDowell decided to indulge one of his other passions in a video Christmas card, he rounded up some of his old pals and turned them into puppets.

Details:

title: I'm Dreaming of a White Christmas

performers: Mark McDowell, Geoff Castellucci, Kathy Castellucci, & Michelle Mailhot

original performers: Bing Crosby as Jim Hardy and Marjorie Reynolds as Linda Mason in Holiday Inn (1942)

written by: Irving Berlin

arranged by: Mark McDowell

release date: 20 December 2016

My favorite bits:

puppet Kathy bopping to the beat

the contrast between Geoff and Mark's timbres as they hand the melody back and forth

Kathy's lovely, sweet tone

Michelle crooning away as her puppet's costume changes from cozy sweater to concert glam

that final deep ♫ "whiiite" ♫ briefly waking Mark from his dream

Trivia:

Geoff had previously recorded a version of this song with VoicePlay for their 2012 holiday album "Peppermint Winter", and it had become a staple in their seasonal setlists.

Michelle and the Castelluccis had known each other for many years. Michelle's a cappella group, Toxic Audio (aka Vox Audio), came up around the same time as 4:2:Five in the Orlando music scene, and Geoff had subbed as TA's bass on the road quite a bit in the mid-2000s.

Kathy and Mark had been in a few gig bands together over the years, including Soul Funktion, All Night Groove / Acoustik Groove, and Six Strings Attached.

#music video #Christmas music #puppets #Mark McDowell #Geoff Castellucci #Kathy Castellucci #Michelle Mailhot #music #video

[jules-has-notes]

O Little Town of Bethelehem — VoicePlay music video

The final entry in VoicePlay's initial round of PartWork arrangements was also their holiday offering for the year. In contrast to the previous December's upbeat and silly Christmas offerings, they opted for a little quiet simplicity to close out this season.

Details:

title: O Little Town of Bethelehem

original song: traditional American carol

written by: lyrics by Phillips Brooks (1868), music by Lewis Redner

arranged by: Geoff Castellucci

vocal parts: Earl – tenor 1; Eli – tenor 2; Geoff – baritone, bass; Layne – percussion

release date: 15 December 2016

My favorite bits:

starting out classic with some gorgeous, gentle harmonies

Geoff getting to show off his baritone range

Layne, Eli, and Earl's coordinated upward riff on ♫ "everlasting liii-i-i-iiight" ♫

the moment of suspended silence created by speeding up ♫ "the hopes" ♫ and delaying ♫ "and fears" ♫

Eli's clear tone and agile riffing

the build-up on ♫ "Emmanuel" ♫

the breadth of sound in ♫ "and peace to man on Earth" ♫ between Earl's highs and Geoff's lows

all the lovely layering the final section

Trivia:

They released an updated audio version with J.None on their "Warm Up" EP a year later in advance of their holiday shows.

The notes in the YouTube description credit "M.T. Ness" with set design. I suppose you could describe that black void of a background as an empty nest, but it's a bit of a stretch. EDIT: That is, of course, "emptiness". (Thanks to bluedolphin05 for correcting my overrthinking.)

Rev. Phillips Brooks was an Episcopalian priest, and the rector at Church of the Holy Trinity in Philadelphia. He wrote the lyrics to this song as a poem after a trip to Bethlehem in late 1866. Brooks asked the church's organist, Lewis Redner, to compose a melody for it to be included in the Christmas 1868 Sunday school service. The tune was written in less than a week, and eventually titled "St. Louis" by Rev. William Huntington when he published the new carol in his 1874 children's hymnal, The Church Porch.

#VoicePlay #music video #a cappella #Christmas music #music #video