ฝัง
- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 8 ก.พ. 2025
- It's not over until the talented lady sings! Welcome to MsMojo, and today we’re counting down our picks for the most technically difficult female roles to sing and perform, often played by some of the biggest stars of the stage. Our countdown includes roles in musicals “Anything Goes”, “Caroline, or Change”, “Miss Saigon” and more! What do you think is the hardest role on this list? Tell us in the comments.
Check out these other musical themed videos:
Top 10 Classic Musicals That Have Aged Especially Poorly: • Top 10 Classic Musical...
Top 10 Opening Songs from Broadway Musicals: • Top 10 Opening Songs f...
Top 5 Movie Musical Castings That Worked & 5 That Killed the Movie: • Top 5 Movie Musical Ca...
Don't forget to play our Live Trivia games at 3pm EST for a chance to win cash! The faster you answer, the more points you get!: www.watchmojo....
Have Your Idea Become A Video!
wmojo.com/msmo...
Subscribe for more great content!
wmojo.com/msmo...
MsMojo is a leading producer of reference online video content of Top 10 Lists, Origins, Biographies, Commentary and more on Pop Culture, Celebrity, Movies, Music, TV, Film, Video Games, Politics, News, Comics, Superheroes. Your trusted authority on ranking Pop Culture.
#female #musicals #thecolorpurple #wicked #legallyblonde #cats #chicago
What do you think is the hardest role on this list? Let us know below, and be sure to also check out our video of the Top 5 Movie Musical Castings That Worked & 5 That Killed the Movie: th-cam.com/video/8iUM-0dO9mo/w-d-xo.htmlsi=797kQN79HI-gQzVw
Definitely elephaba with all of the vocal control it takes
You skipped Jenna from WAITRESS.
Why you skipped Jane Doe from Ride the Cyclone. Imagine the stunts she did while she's singing high notes😭😭
Saw Jinkx in the Thumbnail and had to watch
I looked for him but he wasn't on the video
@@stephenairlanggaputra329 Same.
Literally same but also I love broadway and the theater
For jinks to not be on the video
And was disappointed
The hardest role is Patti Lupone being Patti Lupone. Did you notice that she has tackled a fair number of these 30 toughest roles. I remember as a kid growing up in NY the Evita commercials with Patti. Everyone else playing Evita are singers striving to be at that level.
My parents saw the original Broadway production!
@@annasahlstrom6109 saw the original as a Wednesday matinee with my high school. I didn’t see Patti and Mandy but I did see Nancy Opal and Robert Westenberg
Have you seen Patti singing Meadowlark from The Baker's Wife? It's my favorite.
@@lolsistrata Producer David Merrick kept stealing the sheet music out of the orchestra pit because he thought "Meadowlark" was too long. Schwartz came to every performance armed with more sheet music.
Meanwhile I grew up with her on life goes on
I immediately thought of Veronica Sawyer for this list. While she's a fun character to play, it's also rather demanding, since she carries the entire show, and barely even leaves the stage, except for "Kindergarten Boyfriend."
Lol "rather demanding" is such an understatement
YOU'RE EVERYWHERE BRO
Christine in Phantom of the Opera has to also be able the dance en pointe since she starts out the show as one of the ballet girls.
@@redvelvetrose Christine usually wears slippers not pointe shoes, although I know some have worn point shoes
@@cafsof2012 I suppose it just depends on the actress' ability. I have seen productions where only Meg was en pointe and all of the others just wore slippers. I've seen productions where all of the dancers were en pointe.
@@redvelvetrose I know SB was a dancer as well, and I thought she wore them. But I honestly don’t recall!
Patti LuPone has played 6 of the hardest female roles on this list and she made it look easy breezy!
I’m surprised Jane Doe from Ride the Cyclone wasn’t on the list. How hard is her role? Try singing opera while flying around the stage and even being upside down at some moments.😅✨
Probably because the song is hard vocally yes, however the actual acting role of Jane isn’t difficult,
I’m not so sure, she’s a headless unidentified schoolgirl who we’re supposed to pity, fear and laugh at and love all at once
@@Theworkthatstirredd yeah, though whoever plays her has to have at least some experience singing opera soprano. Mostly in The Ballad of Jane Doe, of course. It’s not the hardest role compared to Christine’s high note in Phantom of the Opera, but it can be a tough role to play if someone doesn’t have that experience or isn’t used to singing that high.
It's also quite a new musical compared to most if not all of these, really. There aren't enough examples of people playing this role historically, so it's difficult for the difficulty itself of the role to be appropriately shown in performance comparisons.
Not saying it's not a difficult role, just that there's not enough range for comparison in terms of performers by comparison with these other musicals.
(Also, casting calls for these roles (operatics and high-movement) state that these are necessary skills for the role. If you can't do opera in a casting call for a character that sings opera, then you obviously won't get the role. So, the performers will be able to do this because they're trained for it. It's not just a coincidence that this person can do operatic song in high-movememt)
Jane doe really deserves a spot. Especially because of Emily Rohm's preformance. SHE HAD TO FLY WHILE SINGING!
I feel like Mrs Lovett should have been higher. Sondheim has said it's the hardest roll in the show even over Sweeney. There are many times when she is singing completely out of rhythm to the orchestra and other singers on satge. Heck, when Lupone played the role for the first time, she studied a year in advance for it!!
But Rose is definetely the hardest.
Lovett definitely should have been higher. shes so difficult its actually insane
You forgot about the role of Eliza Doolittle in "MY FAIR LADY"-- an extremely demanding role in every way.
I can say from experience Maria in The Sound of Music is very hard. You certainly have to have breath control, and the final time they sing “Edelweis” is. emotional!
I had to play the witch in into the woods one time. The whole process of becoming the witch completely changed my acting career and overall voice in such good ways. She’s so impressively hard to play.
There's just so much vocal gymnastics along with altering your posture and still maintaining a steady voice through the whole first act! Literally my dream role😭
I was just waiting for Diana from Next to Normal. A hugely challenging role!
I did LSOH this year and our Audrey was OBNOXIOUSLY GOOD! My sister is friends with her and I swear after the production my parents and I never saw her the same after that stellar performance every time she comes over.
Can't believe Effie from Dreamgirls is only No. 8. Only a handful of female singers dare to sing those songs live on stage other than Jennifer Holliday.
That show has been produced multiple times regionally, in concert, worldwide and the original production toured. Yes, it's a demanding role to sing but multiple people have done it, on stage and live.
Then American Idol came around and every fat black girl sang it. Even then, the best rendition was done by a guy, Norman Gentle.
My local theater did Spamalot and one of my dear theater friends was Lady of the Lake. She can pull off the diva and the vocals while still being the sweetest cast member. I love seeing her preform.
This same local theater also did Little Shop and their Audrey, honestly the whole cast and show, was incredible.
for those of us who clicked for Jinkx, shes not in the video.
crying
WHAT A SCAMMmMMMm
How do they get away with this
But the role she's playing in the thumbnail is. Jinkx Monsoon is not a Broadway role. Audrey is.
Lo halfway in already thank you
All very challenging roles - I was glad to see you included Next to Normal. However, I'm surprised the powerhouse that is Aldonza in Man of LaMancha was overlooked. She has to alternate between a high belt to lyrical, and the challenge of playing such a character and her journey is unparalleled.
This is a great list, but there are definitely some roles that are should have honorable mentions like Sally Bowles in "Cabaret," the Christine Ebersole track in "Grey Gardens," Georgina in "Hallelujah, Baby!" and Charity in "Sweet Charity." These aren't just demanding physically, you have to be a triple-threat who is a very strong actor, you have to literally sing at extremes of your voice or putting on a unique character voice (or pretend to be a bad singer in some cases) and be able to switch emotions on a dime.
phantom of the opera is the only musical have gotten to see in person and if it remains the only one i've seen by the time I"m gone I'm content, it was magical to see
Ditto. It’s a tour de force. And likely my only live musical.
Definitely Mama Rose. Happy thursday afternoon, Emily. Take care and God bless you. Greetings from Colombia to you as well.
I just started rehearsing Gypsy (Uncle Jocko and various). It's an amateur production and although our Rose is not quite a Broadway star, she is one of the best singer/actresses in a medium-sized college-town theater-heavy metro area, and I am excited about her performance, having seen her in the role before. A couple of roles that have less featured stage time but highly emotional character-driven (in one case also chemically enhanced) solos are Fantine in Les Miz, Alice in The Addams Family, and any other female role in A Chorus Line.
All Sondheim shows are hard
I'm surprised Jo March isn't on here, she's a MARATHON, the amount she has to run around in and off stage, it's not dance heavy but god its like running a marathon, + all the wig & costume changes, and the belting??? while also balancing a character who's saving face for her family and putting up this role as the strong sister, she's chasing after her dreams while longing to be loved but not actually being able to and then inevitably settles in the end, I'm genuinely very surprised she's not here
I agree, Jo is on par with Elle Woods, she literally carries the entire show
Hey, just as a sidenote, they don’t record the high E at the end of the title song in Phantom because of a safety net for the actors. It is never sung live, it is part of the staging and the use of doubles for crossovers that makes it necessary to be prerecorded. Although I imagine that they staged it that way because the note was manufactured when Sarah Brightman played the role. She couldn’t sing it, and if you listen to the recording, it’s clearly just her screaming, and it being looped in someway. To the best of my knowledge, all of the other Christine’s after her actually sang the note, at least on the recording that they use for the performance.
Great list really enjoyed it but I'm surprised Les Miserables Fantine wasn't on the list or even Eliza Dolittle My Fair Lady. Does anyone else agree?
Seeing the glee clips for Fanny Brice is sending meee
Can I just say that this voiceover is so well done and iconic!
MsMojo lied to me, Jinkx is not in the video and she’s the only reason I’m here,MsMoojorlies I take this personally.
I love how many times Patti shows up.
I literally shouted "YESSS PATTI" each time she did!
Special mention to Lily Garland in On the 20th Century - Madeline Kahn left the show after two months because it was too difficult to do 8 performances a week. And Petra in A Little Night Music - Garn Stephens was fired during rehearsals because she just couldn't sing "The Miller's Son".
Ive done a few of these songs for school. They are so much fun to sing.
I can’t believe Sally Bowles isn’t in this list. There’s a lot of “descend into madness” roles and Sally is the queen of that role. Vocally demanding, emotional pinnacle for acting and overall portraying hard to reach emotions and character
For anyone curious look up Elaine Paige she sang don’t cry for me Argentina and did a beautiful job 😊
I'm soo excited for Ariana Grande to play Glinda because she has the vocal ability. Also yeah Christine from Phantom of the Opera is insanely difficult. The high notes are insane. And the belting in And I Am Telling You I'm Not Going is just WOW. And Elphaba is very hard as well, I'm excited for Cynthia to play her. Especially Defying Gravity. But I think Cynthia's gonna slay.
Based on musicality alone: Christine Daée
Based on character, primarily: Mrs Lovett
Based on both: Eva Perón
Have you tried to sing Mrs. Lovett before? It’s extremely demanding musically
@@loveandwar007 It is indeed, but also the madness of the character is deeply demanding to portray. Everything from desperation, the way she loves Sweeney, how she is able to be jolly and smile, though everything feels challenging… a demanding role
I’m a bit shocked that Jane Doe from Ride the Cyclone isn’t on this list, just because of her song “The Ballad of Jane Doe”
I was thinking the same thing!!😭
Same though! You have to be able to sing Sapporo notes and sing upside down because of her song!
The song may be challenging but the role as a whole isn’t compared to the list. Love the song and show tho!
Challenging for 5 minutes isn’t the same as some of these characters who have to over perform for hours. Plus if we are just going off challenging solo song, Candide’s Cunegonde should be here just for Glitter and Be Gay.
Fantine- Les Miserables
Maria- West side story
Sally- Caberet
Jenna- Waitress
Tell me on a Sunday (one woman show,)
Fantine is too small of a role to be difficult.
IMO the greatest Velma Kelly was Bebe Neuwirth, I wish we could have seen some of her performance!
Actually, for Side Show's original 1997 production, the twin's costumes are not sewn together, Alice and Emily were against the garment that connected them and they did it by sheer will ;-)
I was looking for this comment.
@@MarkvanBeelenAs was I!
Oh no, missing the Baker’s Wife from Into the Woods is a travesty. But who do you bump? I’m not sure but that’s why I don’t out these things together. Excellent work, Ms. Mojo! BTW- notice how many times Patti Lupone was shown in clips; Passion, Sweeney Todd, Anything Goes, and the top two spots- Evita & Gypsy. Plus the show she originated, Sunset Boulevard (and no one has ever sung that score better, no one!).
Grizabella could be bumped off this list for sure. She doesn’t even dance like the other cats do, she just sings Memory and that’s about it. Either the actress who plays her can sing the song or they can’t.
im so glad mrs lovett was mentioned!
Veronica from heathers. She has to sing all but one song in that musical.
Two she dosent sing lifeboat
She doesn’t sing freeze your brain, lifeboat, candy store, meant to be yours, or kindergarten boyfriend. But, all of the ones she does sing are insanely difficult
Sorry, i meant shes on stage for all but one
@@valentinadevogueofficialx oh sorry no hate just a thing that I was pointing out!
I love Carrie Hope Fletcher as Veronica in heathers .She is amazingly talented she shines in all her roles from les mis to the Addams family musical .
Despite having so many awesome ones here I can spot soooo many that are missing too! The Narrator from Joseph and the Techinicoloured dreamcoat. That lady basically sings the whole musical! It's crazy! But then again how many of andrew lloyd webber's musicals do you want to put here? He loves to write powerhouse female roles!
Also Les Miserables - fantine but eponine as well.
And now I am having a mind blank but I thought of a few more.
Angela Lansbury, Julie Andrews, Elaine Page are west end queens
Omg one of the hardest roles has to include Tina Turner in Tina Turner: The Musical
She's on for basically the entire musical, except for one or two numbers or something. It's incredible.
In that case, The Narrator in Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat should be on here too. Same thing, constantly onstage except for one or two songs.
Love the list and I've seen most of the shows on the list. I would love to see Audra McDonald who is playing Mama Rose in Gypsy right now.
I played audrey in little shop of horrors and one of my absolute favorite parts was learning to do her accent, i even had a tendency to slip into it while doing marty during grease
Really surprised that Eliza from My Fair Lady isn't on this list
I have seen so many famous singers in national tours try to do Maria in Sound of Music, such as Marie Osmond and Debbie Boone, and, meh. But I saw it once with a tom-boyish unknown actress who wowed everyone. I wish I remembered who it was.
Bette Midler as Mama Rose is one of the best performances of all time.
Nope! Patti LuPone can’t be matched in this role!
@@janphipps1492 I dont know who that even is, but ill check it out.
I love to see the top 30 difficult male performance next
Alright for everyone saying "Jane Doe" they are talking about BROADWAY
Your content related puns are on point!🎉
THANK you for acknowledging how hard Glinda is as a role
Most of this list is pretty on point but The Witch from Into The Woods is placed criminally low. It's one of the greatest and most difficult roles of the stage.
Imelda Staunton did literally THE BEST mamma Rose I have ever seen.
Same!! Amazing
She was excellent but Patti Lupone outdid her and everyone else.
Sorry, Tyne Daly rocked and knocked it out. The Best!!!❤
I can’t believe Anita from West Side Story isn’t on here. You HAVE to be a triple threat to play that part.
Right, such an impressive and important role that the character has 2 Tony’s and 2 Grammy’s like cmon.
Dead at my friend Jacquelyne Jones in the thumbnail! Shout out Chicago talent!
I know it's more of a jukebox musical, but I saw "Tina," the Tina Turner broadway musical, last year, and holy moly the person playing her has to sing like Tina, dance like Tina, and portray her over something like 20 years, including all the drama and trauma with Ike, and even perform a mini concert at the end. Made me exhausted just to watch it!
I’m commenting this before watching,and will probably edit it afterwards to see if my prediction is correct.
1.Veronica sawyer,only gets one song to be off stage,and her main solo (dead girl walking) is really hard to sing. Oh,and did I forget to mention she has an A5 note?
Oh,looks like she’s just 19.
Eh,she’s on the list at least.
Two songs lifeguard aswell
@@lissie8602 lifeguard? The closest heathers song is lifeboat,which is Macnimaras.
@@Ohnoourtableitsbrokennn i meant that one autocorrect changed it
@@lissie8602 autocorrect can be annoying.
@@Ohnoourtableitsbrokennn yep
I'm sad there was no honorable mention section this video, it needed it. First off, no Jane Doe from Ride the Cyclone? She has an extremely demanding role; she supplies most of the high notes throughout the entire show, her ballad is a difficult song to sing, and the actress has to be emotionless throughout most of the show due to her being doll-like.
Also, no Eliza from My Fair Lady? I mean come on, do I need to explain why this needs to be on the list? I feel you missed the mark on a few of these Ms. Mojo and I'm disappointed.
Ride The Cyclone is too new of a musical compared to most of these (not newer than all, but still than most), and doesn't have enough performers to establish a proper comparison. While it is an incredible role that requires a lot, the sample is too small in comparison with most of these shows
@@boxwitch You make a good point and I somewhat agree. However, musicals or parts shouldn't be "put on the shelf" so to speak because it is too small. That's why an honorable mention would have done the trick in this video.
Now you HAVE to do Top 30 Hardest Male Musical Roles and make it better this time!
Sara Ramirez had a lot of great moments on Grey’s Anatomy but nothing surpasses their Broadway chops. Sara has a Tony after all.
i think the witch is CRIMINALLY low for how absolutely nightmarishly difficult her music is
Jenna from waitress should be on here and Elsa from frozen too
Elsa is not a complex role. The writing is pretty one dimensional, it's also not physically taxing. It's a potentially exhausting sing but if you have those notes, you have those notes.
Love that Patti Lupone has played most of these roles.
the fact that caberet isnt on this list is bonkers
the narrator in joseph is an absolute beast that i would do again in a heartbeat
i'd also vouch for eve/mama noah in children of eden being up there
Patti luPone has done soooo many of these roles. Vocal beast!
Really surprised Lydia from Beetle Juice didn’t make the cut. Also this scoring system was not clear and seemed very arbitrary. Some of these roles are hard in all aspects (acting, singing, dance) while some of them only in 1 category. Disagree with the majority of this list and how it was numbered!
Do a Top 30 for Hardest Male Roles next!
Christine should have been higher on the list, like 2nd only to Elphaba. The phantom of the opera? Come on!
Considering the title song is pretty much all pre-recorded it’s not as difficult to do 8 shows a week as some of these other roles. Still tough but not the hardest role. I’d say Carlotta is more vocally challenging
@@robwilliamson5082that is why they alternate performances. They may have pre recorded the role on Broadway but I can guarantee that the West End is sung live. I worked on Phantom for a long time at Her Majesty’s Theatre.
@@michellekeeling3392 oh that’s awesome! Nice to hear that they sing it live in the west end.
Too bad y'all didn't include Madeline Kahn's version (IMO one of the best) of Getting Married Today... Also gotta second the guy in the comments who mentioned Lily Garland from On The Twentieth Century. She is quite a challenging role to sing for, but is such an underrated character. Her relationship with Oscar Jaffee is freaking hilarious. It just sucks that musical keeps getting overlooked!
Ms. Mojo, I think you need to go listen to this season's Lempicka. Tamara de Lempicka is definitely in the top five. Even former Elphaba Eden Espinosa, who played the titular role, said Lempicka is more challenging to sing.
the two hardest roles in broadway are christine and eva no one is coming close to that when patti lapone says its the hardest role she played then it probably is insanly hard with so many high notes and almost 100% of the musical being on stage it is, christine has the high voice but she also needs to know how to dance ballet and how to act realy good as well, beside the fact that thier needs to be to christine to have 8 shows a week otherwise her voice would be decemitted
Sandy from Grease, Tracy and Amber from Hairspray, and the Schuyler sisters from Hamilton
Agreed, all of those roles require strong vocals.
Sandy didn't even originally have a solo to sing.
Sandy is not a difficult role to sing, in any way. Nor is it a complex arc to act. Tracy in Hairspray is demanding for the sheer amount of material she has to marathon through, so yes. Amber? No. That's also not a difficult role. It's a stock, archetypal character that any decent musical theatre trained actor can play, if they have the right look. And vocally it's not complex or demanding, in any way.
VERY surprised that Nancy from Oliver! Is not on this list! Her songs and character overall is extremely demanding.
Im surprised at reno sweeny feel like it should have been higher not only have you got to be able to dance youve got to be able to tap dance be able to hit some really hard notes and be funny i saw it on the west end with sutton foster and i was blown away
For glinda you also have to try to get out of Kristen chenowths shadow
Please ignore my spelling of her last name idk how its supposed to be spelled
Eden Espinoza playing Maureen will always be my favourite.
She’s my favorite Elphaba too
I have to point this out, because apparently the narrator is not aware of it:
A classical singer can also sing opera. An opera singer is not necessarily able to sing classical.
The part of Lily Garland (Mildred Plotka), in the show “On the Twentieth Century”
I'm missing Christine from 'Love Never Dies' (aka Phantom of the Opera 2)
Elle Woods ahead of Norma, Effie, and so many others - I’ll have whatever you’re smoking…as usual 🤣🤣🤣
GOOD WITCH OF THE NORTH! NOOOORTH! ANYONE WHOS NOT EVEN SEEN WICKED KNOWS THAT 😭
Anyway, good video I enjoyed 😁
In the original L Frank Baum book, Glinda is the Good Witch of the South. In Wicked, they just call her Glinda the Good.
What about Mrs Johnstone from Blood Brothers?
Did this production in school the person who play mre johnstone brought the house down
On this list Mrs. Lovett is probably the most demanding. Eliza Doolittle is probably the most demanding overall.
Charity Valentine from Sweet Charity - Triple threat role
Why aren’t there mentions of Frozen? 😆 Elsa must be hard to sing live in stage.
I'm happy that trina was on this!!!!!
veronica open the, open the door please, veronica open the doorrrr
no Emma from Song & Dance? a one woman show to sing and act for an hour, 8 shows a week
GETTING MARRIED TODAY - no way in a million rehearsals could I EVER manage such rough breath support. And I thought The Very Model of a Modern Major General was tough from 'The Pirates of Penzance' 😫😫😫😫
Watch mojo Putting Jinkx Here... they knew many will come over.
Christine not even in the top 10 is sacrilege
Che(Sara Ramirez) was a belter on stage 😮
Can't believe you snubbed the dynamic role played by Angela Lansbury as the one and only MAME....
Jerry Herman songs are relatively easy compared to the Andrew Lloyd Weber and Sondheim vehicles.
Cassie in "A Chorus Line" should've been higher on the list.
the way that patti lupone was featured so much in this video