Line #52 Main/TenorBoy


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16	->''"Oh, Zara, my beloved one, bear with me!\
17	Ah, do not laugh at my attempted C!\
18	Repent not, mocking maid, thy girlhood's choice--\
19	The fervour of my love affects my voice!"''
20	-->-- '''Fitzbattleaxe''', ''Theatre/UtopiaLimited''
21
22	It's musical theatre law. The frequently [[PrettyBoy good-looking]], almost always lovestruck, and without a doubt naive, yet good-hearted young man central to the story must sing with lyrical, boyish grace. In other words: he's a tenor. In a large portion of opera (particularly Verdi and Puccini), TheProtagonist is a tenor no matter what his age or personality.
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24	Compare the InnocentSoprano, his DistaffCounterpart and probable love interest. Contrast EvilSoundsDeep.
25	----
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27	[[foldercontrol]]
28
29	!!Examples:
30
31	[[folder:Films -- Animation]]
32	* Any prince worthy of getting the girl and lines of song in Disney films is a tenor, but the Prince in ''WesternAnimation/SnowWhiteAndTheSevenDwarfs'' might be the tenorest of the tenors: he has only a few lines altogether, but dang if some of those aren't used to establish his bright and youthful timbre to complete a duet with Snow White's own InnocentSoprano. To Opera-Savvy viewers [[DarkerAndEdgier the more gruesome accusations about his motives and character]] simply don't make any sense.
33	* The title character in ''WesternAnimation/{{Hercules}}'' is naive, possesses a muscular physique, and is a NiceGuy, the latter quality attracting his LoveInterest [[SingleWomanSeeksGoodMan Megara]]. He sings in a tenor voice which is especially showcased in the reprise of his IWantSong "Go the Distance".
34	* Quasimodo from ''WesternAnimation/{{The Hunchback of Notre Dame\|Disney}}'' may not be especially good-looking (UglyCute, maybe), but he is a naive NiceGuy who sings with a tenor voice in contrast to [[EvilSoundsDeep Frollo]].
35	[[/folder]]
36
37	[[folder:Films -- Live-Action]]
38	%%* Link in ''Film/{{Hairspray\|2007}}''.
39	%%* John Savage in the film version of ''Film/{{Hair}}''.
40	%%* While usually a bit older than the average ingenue, Leo Bloom in ''Film/TheProducers'' fits.
41	* In the 1933 film ''Film/FortySecondStreet'', Billy Lawler is a charming, fresh-faced young Broadway matinee idol who sings in a tenor voice and has a romance with TheIngenue Peggy. Interestingly, in the 1980 ScreenToStageAdaptation, the WillTheyOrWontThey couple is changed to Peggy and [[spoiler: Julian, the director]]. And in the original novel both the film and stage play are based on, [[spoiler: Billy and Julian are a couple, but that type of relationship would not fly with the MoralGuardians, so both men were portrayed as heterosexual in subsequent adaptations]].
42	* ''Film/BehindTheCandelabra'': While we don't hear him sing, Scott Thorson's younger and hotter romantic rival for in-all-but-name husband Music/{{Liberace}} is summed up by Scott:
43	-->There you are, you cock-sucking tenor shit!
44	* Christian from ''Film/MoulinRouge'' has both the range and the standard personality.
45	* Troy in ''Film/HighSchoolMusical'' but ''only'' the first film. His songs were written for a tenor but Creator/ZacEfron ended up cast - and he is a baritone. So Troy sings tenor in the first film, with Drew Seeley [[NonSingingVoice dubbing the vocals]], and baritone in the remaining films.
46	[[/folder]]
47
48	[[folder:Literature]]
49	* Wylan in ''Literature/SixOfCrows'' is the youngest and the most optimistic and naive member of the crew, and has secretly spent the book harboring a crush he doesn't know what to do with. Naturally when he sings it's with a "shimmering, perfect tenor".
50	[[/folder]]
51
52	[[folder:Radio]]
53	* Radio/TheJackBennyProgram always had a tenor on board to sing popular songs, and he was always a ManChild and TheDitz. Dennis Day (replacement for Kenny Baker, who replaced Frank Parker) was the longest-running and best-developed of these, and once lampshaded this trope by saying "Tenors are a dime a dozen".
54	[[/folder]]
55
56	[[folder:Theater]]
57	* In ''Ariadne auf Naxos'', Bacchus, the overpoweringly handsome PhysicalGod with a romantic claim on Ariadne, has a relatively brief but demandingly high Heldentenor part.
58	* Billy Crocker from ''Theatre/AnythingGoes'' is a lovestruck tenor who [[BettyAndVeronica attracts both the beautiful heiress Hope Harcourt and the sexy, sassy nightclub singer Reno Sweeney]].
59	* Princeton from ''Theatre/AvenueQ'' is a fresh-faced, naive young college grad pursued by [[BettyAndVeronica kindergarten teacher Kate and a sex worker named Lucy T. Slut]]. Of course, his singing lies in the tenor range.
60	* Rodolfo from ''Theatre/LaBoheme'' is a poor poet with a heart of gold and a voice of gold.
61	* In ''Theatre/TheBookOfMormon'', Elder Kevin Price is a handsome, All-American guy who is optimistic and devoted to his faith, and sings in the tenor range.
62	* Candide from Music/LeonardBernstein's ''Literature/{{Candide}}'' is a tenor who believes he's living in the "best of all possible worlds", which is [[CrapsackWorld an overstatement]] to say the least.
63	* You might not expect Cesare Borgia to sing with lovely high notes, but in ''Theatre/CesareIlCreatoreCheHaDistrutto'', he does. But in a subversion, he's not innocent or lovestruck -- he's already showing the personality traits that would later inspire Machiavelli. Take his debate with Angelo over a point of Dante in the classroom scene, where he gives a ruthlessly practical take on things with elegant, lofty flourishes.
64	* Hoffmann in Les ''Contes d'Offmann''. A wandering poet who has to use his tenor voice on no less than four different ladies throughout the opera.
65	* Gaetano Donizetti:
66	** The tenor roles in Donizetti's three opere buffe: Nemorino in ''Theatre/{{Lelisirdamore}}'', Tonio in La fille du régiment and Ernesto in Don Pasquale. All are tenors, and in classic comedic style, total innocents.
67	** Edgardo from Donizetti's ''Lucia di Lammermoor'', one of his more tragic operas. He's young, rebellious, and in love.
68	* In ''Down in the Valley'', Brack Weaver is a tenor or high baritone, while his older romantic rival Thomas Bouché sings bass.
69	* Lensky from Tchaikovsky's ''Literature/EugeneOnegin'': Innocent. Naive. Poet. Tenor.
70	* Played with in the opera adaptation of ''Film/TheFly1986''. The two male corners of the LoveTriangle -- dorky, never-been-in-love-before Seth Brundle and manipulative, jealous, worldly Stathis Borans -- are a bass-baritone and tenor, respectively. This hints at what each character becomes over the course of the story as Seth mutates into a deranged HalfHumanHybrid and Stathis becomes the despairing Veronica's confidant. The overconfident barfly Marky -- whom Seth gruesomely defeats in OneSidedArmWrestling -- is also a tenor.
71	* Creator/GilbertAndSullivan have quite a few straight examples such as Nanki-Poo and Frederic from ''Theatre/TheMikado'' and ''Theatre/ThePiratesOfPenzance'', respectively. They are complete innocents, but it's meant for laughs, as Gilbert and Sullivan are parodying stereotypical opera characters.
72	* Orpheus from ''Theatre/{{Hadestown}}'' is another classic example, particularly Reeve Carney's take on the role. Doubly so when he's singing [[{{Leitmotif}} the refrain from the Epic triad]]. ''Triply'' so any time his voice is thrown into contrast with that of [[EvilSoundsDeep Mr. Hades]].
73	* Quasimodo in ''Theatre/TheHunchbackOfNotreDame'' stage version and the Movie. While his form is ugly his voice is beautiful; while he looks like a monster his personality is closer to an angel. It carries into the Disney film as well.
74	* Percy's actor in the musical version of ''[[Literature/PercyJacksonAndTheOlympians The Lightning Thief]]'' will usually be this, using a higher range, impetuous belting, and boyish diction to convey the impression of a much younger person. Percy the character is twelve, but due to child labor laws and the sheer difficulty of getting someone that age who can carry a show, he's typically played by a youthful tenor in his twenties.
75	* In ''Theatre/MammaMia'', Sky is [[TheIngenue Sophie]]'s good-looking, SatelliteLoveInterest fiance who sings in a tenor voice range.
76	* The Des Grieux from both Puccini's and Massenet's ''Manon'' operas are about as naive as a tenor can be.
77	* In ''Milk and Honey'', the boyishly patriotic David is a tenor, though his baritone father-in-law Phil has the more demanding singing part.
78	* Marius Pontmercy in ''Theatre/LesMiserables'' is rather tricky to place. He fits the stereotype perfectly as the lovestruck and boyish innocent, but he is listed as a lyric baritone. However, he is often played by tenors whose vocal range is too low to fit the classic "tenor boy" mold.
79	* In ''Theatre/TheMostHappyFella'', Herman is the naive ButtMonkey of the workers and eventual male half of the BetaCouple, and his light tenor voice is the highest of the male quartet that sings "Standing In The Corner."
80	* Tamino, Belmonte, Ferrando, and Ottavio -- all those gorgeous-singing Music/WolfgangAmadeusMozart tenors.
81	* Subverted with Anatole in ''Theatre/NatashaPierreAndTheGreatCometOf1812''. Anatole is introduced as a pretty boy LoveInterest with a wide tenor range who embarks on a whirlwind romance with TheIngenue and InnocentSoprano Natasha. However, it is later revealed that he is [[spoiler: already married]] and is mostly into the affair because [[UpperClassTwit he is]] [[RichBoredom bored]] and does not care if Natasha's reputation gets permanently ruined in his quest for his next thrill-seeking exploit.
82	* Raoul from ''Theatre/ThePhantomOfTheOpera'' has gradually become an example of this, though as written he's more of a flexible baritone role intended as a strapping heroic type (in contrast to the male ingenue his book counterpart is). Ironically The Phantom himself is usually a tenor (see below).
83	%%* Jonathan Harker in any and all ''Literature/{{Dracula}}'' musicals. Again, see the source material.
84	%%* Charles Darnay in a ''Literature/ATaleOfTwoCities'' musical.
85	%%* Jack in ''Theatre/IntoTheWoods''
86	%%* Buddy Foster in ''SideShow''.
87	* The title character of ''Theatre/{{Pippin}}'' is usually cast as a tenor, to represent his innocence. Originally the part was played by a baritone, though this required a few high notes to be sung in falsetto or otherwise dodged.
88	* ''Theatre/PorgyAndBess'': Inverted. Porgy, an ingenue in love if not in age, is a bass-baritone; the bad guy Sportin' Life is a tenor.
89	%%^* Frankie Epps from ''Theatre/{{Parade\|1998}}''. Of course, most of the roles Jason Robert Brown writes are tenors, regardless of type.
90	%%* Melchior Gabor in ''Theatre/SpringAwakening''.
91	%%* Mickey Johnstone ''and'' Eddie Lyons in ''Theatre/BloodBrothers''.
92	%%* Alfred in ''Theatre/TanzDerVampire''.
93	%%* Charlie in ''Theatre/{{Brigadoon}}''. Tommy, being older, is a baritone.
94	%%* Rudolf in ''Theatre/{{Elisabeth}}''.
95	* Viceroy Bánk the eponymous hero of Erkel's opera. Although he's far from being boyish.
96	%%* Discussed in Creator/LennyBruce's bit "All Tenors Sound the Same".
97	* In the opera ''Theatre/{{Salome}}'', this is zigzagged. Salome's beloved Jokanaan is a baritone, while Herod the king is a tenor. Played straight with Narraboth, the young Syrian who moons after her.
98	* In the Handel oratorio ''Theatre/{{Semele}}'', the male lead is the god Jupiter (aka Zeus)--chief of the Roman pantheon, womanizer extraordinaire, and of course the god of ''thunder''. But since he's portrayed as a lover in this story, he's a tenor.
99	* Music/StephenSondheim:
100	** Hero in ''Theatre/AFunnyThingHappenedOnTheWayToTheForum'' is a PlayedForLaughs version of this archetype. The sheltered patrician's son (played by a tenor of course) falls in LoveAtFirstSight with TheIngenue and InnocentSoprano Philia, and this motivates his actions for the rest of the show.
101	** Henrik from ''Theatre/ALittleNightMusic'' is a tenor and a naive, sheltered young man studying for the priesthood who has a secretly requited crush on his ''very'' [[OldManMarryingAChild young stepmother]] [[InnocentSoprano Anne]].
102	** On the other hand, it's actually averted in ''Theatre/SweeneyToddTheDemonBarberOfFleetStreet'': naive, good-hearted young sailor [[MeaningfulName Anthony Hope]], half of the [[OfficialCouple romantic subplot]] along with InnocentSoprano Johanna, is a baritone, the same as AntiHero Sweeney Todd and BigBad Judge Turpin. While he is sometimes played by a tenor with a flexible low range in standard musical theatre productions, he is ''always'' firmly a baritone when it's produced in opera houses. The aversions go further with the ''actual'' tenor parts in the show:
103	*** Toby is the closest to a traditional male ingenue tenor, though with the twist that his innocence is enforced by his being somewhat mentally disabled. [[spoiler:And then in the very end, he snaps and murders the title character.]] He is also sometimes played as a child, either by an actual child or by a woman, which is a different type of aversion.
104	*** Adolfo Pirelli, Sweeney's rival, is a conventional operatic tenor, specifically because he's ''parodying'' the traditional operatic type. He's also an abusive boss/guardian to Toby and [[spoiler:a total fraud]].
105	*** Beadle Bamford, Judge Turpin's chief stooge, is typically played by a lyrical high tenor. He's also a nasty piece of work who helped Turpin rape Sweeney's wife Lucy and regularly threatens Anthony from getting too close to Johanna. Pirelli and the Beadle sing a particularly eerie falsetto duet together in the final rendition of "The Ballad of Sweeney Todd", using their high voices together to create the exact opposite of the usual intent of this trope.
106	* ''Theatre/TheSpongeBobMusical'': [=SpongeBob=] fits this trope to a T, though it's largely justified by the fact that his cartoon counterpart similarly has a tenor singing voice and a naively optimistic attitude.
107	* Macheath in ''Theatre/TheThreepennyOpera'' is sometimes played like this ironically, and many performances have him singing the "Epitaph" in a sincere tenor, just to accentuate what a two-faced bastard he is.
108	* Mario Cavaradossi from Puccini's ''Theatre/{{Tosca}}'', though because he's a spinto tenor, he'll hardly be boyish. But he qualifies for all the characteristics of a tenor: young, in love, an artist, and good-hearted.
109	* Bobby Strong in ''Theatre/{{Urinetown}}'' is a satirical, subverted take on this trope. He is TheIdealist in a CrapsackWorld who falls quickly in love with InnocentSoprano Hope. However, her reminders for him to "follow his heart" lead him to [[spoiler: start a violent revolution against the CorruptCorporateExecutive Caldwell B. Cladwell (Hope's father) wherein Hope is used [[DamselInDistress as a hostage]], and ultimately makes matters worse for the town's citizens]].
110	* Lampshaded in ''Theatre/UtopiaLimited'', with Captain Fitzbattleaxe's song about how you can't sing in those high ranges if you're actually overcome with emotion instead of just acting.
111	* Music/GiuseppeVerdi
112	** ''Theatre/{{Rigoletto}}'' subverts the trope. The Duke is a good-looking tenor that all the girls fall for, but he's the opposite of an innocent - he's a ManipulativeBastard who doesn't care what happens to the women he seduces and abandons.
113	** Likewise, Radames from Verdi's ''Theatre/{{Aida\|Verdi}}'' is also a spinto tenor, so he's hardly boyish.
114	* Parsifal, Stolzing, and Siegfried -- the more "boyish" [[Music/RichardWagner Wagner]] tenors. There's a point in one of the operas where Siegfried has to impersonate another character, a baritone. It's notoriously difficult to pull off on stage. Some recordings of the opera get around it by having Siegfried sing the part in his normal voice and then editing it into a baritone. It's also been done on stage by having the actual baritone sing and act the part, then leave stage and "re-enter" as tenor Siegfried, which works since he's also supposed to be in magical disguise.
115	* Tony in ''Theatre/WestSideStory''. He is, after all, based on Theatre/{{Romeo\|AndJuliet}}, who by stereotype is incapable of being anything but a tenor.
116	[[/folder]]
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118	[[folder:Web Original]]
119	* ''WebVideo/DoctorHorriblesSingAlongBlog'': Subverted. Dr. Horrible is a tenor-voiced dorky, naive, (mostly) innocent, hopelessly romantic ShrinkingViolet...who is a WellIntentionedExtremist VillainProtagonist.
120	[[/folder]]
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122	[[folder:Western Animation]]
123	* Subverted hilariously in ''WesternAnimation/OverTheGardenWall''. During the episode "Songs of the Dark Lantern", the tavern patrons, who only refer to each other in archetypes, label Wirt as "The Young Lover" when he mentions that he is trying to find a lady named Adelaide. As such, they insist that Wirt serenade them with a love song. Wirt, who is established as being obedient to a fault, bows to the peer pressure but the song he improvises ends up being... anything but lovely, with Wirt's attempt at hitting a high note being cringe-worthy.
124	** In a later episode, "The Ringing of the Bell", the trope is PlayedStraight when [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mRvWJWgaICM Wirt sings the romantic duet "Like Ships"]] with Lorna.
125	[[/folder]]

Context Main / TenorBoy