The Next Best Thing To Love (from A Class Act): Piano Vocal

Kleban writes for the voice with genuine warmth and dramatic specificity. This song avoids the theatrical bombast that can overwhelm high school and college singers; instead, it offers an accessible entry point into contemporary musical theater that feels both honest and musically substantive.

Tender and reflective, with the kind of intimate vulnerability that comes from a character speaking directly to the audience about longing and connection. The music supports vulnerability without sentimentality, allowing singers to find sincerity in the moment.

High school and college singers preparing audition material, soloists in musical theater ensembles, and pianists seeking contemporary vocal repertoire with strong compositional craft. This works equally well for voice lessons as it does for performance contexts.

• Shape the melody with attention to the lyrical intent at each phrase ending. Kleban's songs reward singers who listen to the words as much as the notes.
• Balance the vocal line against the piano part without forcing projection. The accompaniment provides harmonic context that works best when both voices occupy their own space.
• Explore the emotional arc across all six pages rather than treating individual sections in isolation. The song builds understanding with each repetition of musical material.

Position this alongside other contemporary musical theater selections in a recital or cabaret format to showcase your singers' range of material. It also serves voice students well as a supplementary audition piece that demonstrates maturity in song interpretation.

• Phrasing contemporary vocal melody with attention to text-music relationships
• Managing accompaniment textures while maintaining vocal line independence
• Sustaining emotional consistency across repetitive musical material
• Navigating Broadway song form and harmonic language