re: 'Grey Gardens' cut songs
re: 'Grey Gardens' cut songs
#1"Grey Gardens" cut songs
Posted: 12/13/06 at 10:31pmWhat are some of the changes to the songs of "Grey Gardens?" Anyone?
Some people paint, some people sew, I meddle.
#1re: 'Grey Gardens' cut songs
Posted: 12/13/06 at 10:54pm
"Toyland" has been replaced with "The Girl Who Has Everything"; "Body Beautiful Beale" has been cut; "Better Fall Out of Love" has been replaced with "Going Places"; "Being Bouvier" has been replaced with "Marry Well"; "Tomorrow's Woman" has been cut; and "Peas in a Pod" Reprise has been replaced with "The Girl Who Has Everything" Reprise.
(Edited for spelling.)
"Winning a Tony this year is like winning Best Attendance in third grade: no one will care but the winner and their mom."
-Kad
"I have also met him in person, and I find him to be quite funny actually. Arrogant and often misinformed, but still funny."
-bjh2114 (on Michael Riedel)
Updated On: 12/15/06 at 10:54 PM
-Kad
"I have also met him in person, and I find him to be quite funny actually. Arrogant and often misinformed, but still funny."
-bjh2114 (on Michael Riedel)
neddyfrank2
Broadway Legend Joined: 12/23/05
#3re: 'Grey Gardens' cut songs
Posted: 12/13/06 at 11:24pm
The changes were made to give the show a more clear focus and to smoothly move the story along, without fluff. "The Girl Who Has Everything" actually comments on the impending fall of Little Edie while "Toyland" just served as filler. "Body Beautiful Beale" has been cut because of the change of a key plot point which completely disregards the song. "Going Places" makes a statement about Joe Kennedy's aspirations and how he will do anything to get to where he wants to be, and will not let anything (or anyone) stand in his way. "Better Fall Out of Love" held little meaning and felt out of place in this show. "Being Bouvier", in my opinion, had the tone of a song out of THE MUSIC MAN, while "Marry Well", again, makes a more serious point about Major Bouvier's expectations of his girls, since he sees Big Edie as a failure, and he wants only the best for Little Edie, Jackie and Lee. The purpose of "Tomorrow's Woman" as a plot moving device is achieved with "Marry Well". Inclusion of "The Girl Who Has Everything" at the start and end of the show are the perfect bookends to the tragedy of these women's lives.
So, the new songs actually serve a strong purpose in the telling of the story, while the old ones might have sounded pretty but did not add much substance to the storyline. The final result is a more tightly wound story with an intense dramatic arc and not a moment wasted. Every song assists in telling this story, which needs to be the show's primary focus.
(Edited for spelling.)
"Winning a Tony this year is like winning Best Attendance in third grade: no one will care but the winner and their mom."
-Kad
"I have also met him in person, and I find him to be quite funny actually. Arrogant and often misinformed, but still funny."
-bjh2114 (on Michael Riedel)
Updated On: 12/15/06 at 11:24 PM
-Kad
"I have also met him in person, and I find him to be quite funny actually. Arrogant and often misinformed, but still funny."
-bjh2114 (on Michael Riedel)
Wild Roses
Understudy Joined: 10/23/06
#4re: 'Grey Gardens' cut songs
Posted: 12/14/06 at 2:43am
Even though I've read all the GG threads about the cut songs, reading this one has me more antsy than ever to have an Original Broadway Cast Album. I'm dying to hear the new songs and how they fit into the show. (Especially since I don't have the money right now to come to NYC and see the show.)
Playbill.com remarked that it is still up in the air whether the show will be rerecorded though. Has anybody asked the cast whether it is/has/will be rerecorded?
#5re: 'Grey Gardens' cut songs
Posted: 12/14/06 at 3:22am
Wanna Be A Foster that is by far the BEST description of the changes I've heard!! You hit every nail on the head.
As much as I liked the original songs (or at least some of them), the changes were clearly important. The show is much tighter and more focused. The first act now leads you into the second. The bookends makes for a much more moving experience than the nice "happy" ending of the Playwrigths version.
I've been told they are doing another recording which should be fun to hear. The current recording was done before they had any idea of moving. It was clear that this wonderful score and performances needed to be preserved when it ran Off-Broadway.
Now that it's an actual "hit", it should warrant another recording. Save your Off-Broadway versions (I think Mr. Roxy predicted this!), they will become collectors' items!!
Let's wait and see. But please don't wait and see this show. JUST RUN AND SEE IT!!!
We are having an historical season here. The Broadway theatre is not dead. More theatres are currently booked and more shows are "circling the wagons" than anytime in my somewhat longterm memory.
With GARDENS, SPRING, and POPPINS so far, we will have a very interesting Tony time. (I use those 3 examples as being the most solid new shows running at the moment...PIRATE and BLOND have yet to prove... and we're still waiting for CURTAINS and LOVE MUSIK!) 
"It's not so much do what you like, as it is that you like what you do." SS
"Time flies like an arrow, fruit flies like a banana." GMarx
Updated On: 12/14/06 at 03:22 AM
"Time flies like an arrow, fruit flies like a banana." GMarx
#6re: 'Grey Gardens' cut songs
Posted: 12/14/06 at 6:56amJust a little correction "The Girl Who Has Everything"
...What happened next, was stranger still, a woman breathless and afraid, appeared out of the night, completely dressed in white. She had a secret she would tell, of one who had mistreated her. Her face and frightened gaze, my mind cannot erase...But then she ran from view. She looked so much like you...
Broadway Legend Joined: 12/31/69
#7re: 'Grey Gardens' cut songs
Posted: 12/14/06 at 7:26am
some things i miss about the TOMORROWS WOMAN scene
1. it gave the characters of Jackie & Lee a chance to show more of their personalities
2. we get to see Little Edie wrap a scarf around her head, a forshadowing of her later fashion choices
i also miss TOYLAND, because Mary Louise Wilson sang the line "GAY GOWNS!" with such gusto!
Smaxie
Broadway Legend Joined: 9/26/05
#8re: 'Grey Gardens' cut songs
Posted: 12/14/06 at 8:11amI think I may have preferred "Toyland" and "Better Fall Out of Love". "Marry Well," though, is an improvement over "Being Bouvier".
Begin at the beginning and go on till you come to the end: then stop.
C is for Company
Broadway Legend Joined: 7/16/05
#9re: 'Grey Gardens' cut songs
Posted: 12/14/06 at 1:34pmn69n, I miss the "GAY GOWNS" too lol. However, I really want "The Girl Who Has Everything" on cd so badly, I find it such a strong improvement over "Toyland".
#10re: 'Grey Gardens' cut songs
Posted: 12/14/06 at 5:01pmThe Girl Who Has Everything is so much more emotionally accurate to the situation and I really love it. It makes the ending scene so much more powerful. But I do love Mary's "Gay Gowns"!!!
...What happened next, was stranger still, a woman breathless and afraid, appeared out of the night, completely dressed in white. She had a secret she would tell, of one who had mistreated her. Her face and frightened gaze, my mind cannot erase...But then she ran from view. She looked so much like you...
#11re: 'Grey Gardens' cut songs
Posted: 12/14/06 at 6:52pm
Wanna Be a Foster and everyone else, thank you so much!
I'm so glad they cut "Tomorrow's Woman." I hated that song.
BUT, I LOVED the ending. I thought it was so great. Well, I'll have to hear the new one (and possibly see it if my mom's boss forks over a good bonus.)
I didn't hate or love "Being Bouvier," "Body Beautiful Beale," or "Better Fall Out of Love." God, I hope I get to see this show!
Some people paint, some people sew, I meddle.
