Immediate Impact of Vocal Demand on Musical Theater Singers in Brazil

The purpose of this research was to evaluate the immediate impact of vocal demand on musical theater singers in Brazil and to explore its relationship with the presence of voice symptoms.

A total of 264 musical theater singers participated in this research. The group was formed by 126 women and 138 men, with a mean age of 33. All of them answered two questionnaires immediately after a show: (1) demographic data, vocal self-assessment, and a voice symptoms/signs list; and (2) Evaluation of the Ability to Sing Easily (EASE) Scale, translated and culturally adapted to Brazilian Portuguese as EASE-BR.

The data from the two scales were correlated. The results showed that EASE-BR total and subscales scores were lower in singers with more years of singing practice. Singers who had other professional activities besides musical theater, such as opera and solo singing, also presented lower scores. The singers presented only 1.56 voice symptoms/signs. Those with more voice symptoms/signs also presented higher scores in the EASE-BR. There was a weak correlation between the voice symptoms/signs and EASE-BR. No significance was found between gender, age, singing practice hours and singing lessons and the EASE-BR scores.

The immediate impact of vocal demand after a show is perceived as positive, and the singers considered their voices ready for a new performance. EASE-BR can be used to identify vocal changes, and it can also be used by itself because it has a weak correlation with the list of symptoms/signs.