Performing doctor specialises in art of the voice

PETER FELDMAN

Maron is a unique medical practitioner in that he is an expert in voice disorders and care of the professional voice, and a professional performer with a beautiful voice in his own right.

In fact, he can be seen in the musical, Loving You, which opens at the Auto & General Theatre on the Square on 28 January.

Maron’s patients comprise some of South Africa’s best known celebrities, actors, and singers.

Apart from treating all medical conditions relating to the ear, nose, and throat in children and adults, Maron has become a sub-specialist in the field of laryngology, which means that he has become an expert in voice disorders and care of the professional voice.

When a singer cannot sing because their voice is ailing, they call on Maron to do his special magic. He has saved the careers of many illustrious names. In his office, he has a big collection of photographs, souvenir programmes, and CDs, all signed by the artists and given to the good doctor as a token of appreciation.

He grew up loving the arts, and performed in numerous productions on stage, television, and in film. He made his debut in Mini Scandals at the age of five.

He then performed in the musical Oliver, the BBC-produced movie A Private Life with the late Bill Flynn and Jana Cilliers, and the South African TV series Oh George, A Slice of Saturday Night for Pieter Toerien. At the age of 12, he was in famous theatrical couple Joan Brickhill and Louis Burke’s production of Mame.

Eventually, Maron had to decide whether to go the arts route or to help others medically. He chose the latter, happily mixing art and science – and enjoying both.

Maron is an integral member of the Naledi Theatre Awards judging panel, and concentrates his energy on musical theatre.

An important aspect of his work is keeping abreast with developments in his field. He has spent time with voice surgeons working overseas including the Harvard surgeon of pop sensation, Adele.

He recalls an “incredible” learning curve while being on standby during the 2007 run of the South African production of The Lion King. “It was very demanding on the singers’ voices as well as physically because of the heavy costumes they wore and the puppetry they had to execute. This posed so many challenges.”

Maron contributed to the book by actress and singer Christine Weir – of Not the Midnight Mass A cappella group fame – Shut Your Trap and Sing. He wrote the foreword, explaining the coping mechanisms used by singers and actors, and the skills required to avoid getting into vocal trouble.

His services have been called upon countless times during the run of a show when a singer is having vocal difficulties. Over the years, he has worked on productions such as King Kong, The Color Purple, The Sound of Music and Dream Girls. He gets immense pleasure from applying his great medical knowledge in these instances.

In his surgery, he has an impressive array of equipment used to detect vocal pathology, ranging from trauma to infections and other benign or malignant conditions that can occur in the larynx. One expensive “toy” is the High-Definition Digital Stroboscopy System, a machine that makes a slow-motion video recording of the vocal folds to observe how they vibrate. This enables the physician to detect any pathological problems that may have arisen, allowing him to be in a better position to decide the most effective course of treatment.

However, diagnosis and treatment are only part of the journey to returning a performer back to full vocal health. The medication or surgical procedures he sometimes has to perform only gets them back on stage, but it’s the ability to recognise the vocal strain and problematic techniques that caused the problem in the first place that really makes the difference. By identifying and fixing these issues, the doctor can help to keep the artist on stage.

He describes today’s professional singers as “athletes” who have to prepare adequately to engage in the “vocal Olympics”. They have to train to the limit, and then rest to recover so that they can push themselves to even greater heights. They have to search constantly for better techniques or methods, and surround themselves with a team of professionals to help them achieve their goals – or gold.

“The act of singing is an exact science,” Maron wrote in the foreword to Weir’s book. “There is a specific physiological process that takes place when the intricate system of muscles, tendons and soft tissue of the larynx begin to interact with the flow of air from the lungs. This powers up the vocal cords, producing the source of sound that then filters through the mouth and sinuses adding resonance, timbre, and individuality or uniqueness to the voice.”

At 50, Maron is making an invaluable contribution to art and science, but feels he still has a way to go. His wife, Lauren, also has a degree in medicine as well as law, and they have three sons, 17-year-old twins, Elijah and Samuel, and 13-year-old Levi. The youngest is following in dad’s musical footsteps, having already performed in a number of professional productions including Priscilla, Queen of the Desert and Evita at the Teatro Montecasino. Levi has just returned from China, having spent more than a year in the role of Eric in the international touring production of Matilda.

“As an artist, I wish I had known then what I know now, because this whole medical field and the understanding of the science of voice has progressed beyond recognition, and there is nothing that combines science and art to the extent that caring for the professional singer does.”