Cuts in musicals- Page 2

[Mamie]

Posted: 1/28/06 at 1:09am

I haven't seen them yet, but I've heard about the cuts made to "Dirty Rotten Scoundrels" since John Lithgow's departure. I guess they took advantage of John's leaving to implement the changes but I wonder if they were wise in making all the changes. For example, I've heard an awful lot of people complain about Norbert's box seat scene being cut.

[AlmostFamous]

Posted: 1/28/06 at 9:24am

I was very dispaointed of some of the cuts made in WIW

[Katurian2]

Posted: 1/28/06 at 9:37am

Mamie- They CUT Norbert's box scene?!! That was one of my favorite parts of the show!! What a poor decision.

[DreamFlyer22]

Posted: 1/28/06 at 10:43am

A couple things I noticed at Spamalot when I went two weeks ago as opposed to last summer (June-ish)...

First, they've cut the end of "Run Away!" where the knights used to dash off through the audience. I don't know if this was a safety issue for the actors or what, but I missed it a bit.

What I enjoyed immensely was that David Hyde Pierce seems to be regularly improv-ing the piano solo in "You Won't Succeed on Broadway...". My second time at the show he pulled out a bit of "Adelaide's Lament".

[frontrowcentre2]

Posted: 1/29/06 at 8:54pm

re: Beggar Woman's Lullaby in SWEENEY TODD

This is not on the OBC because Sondheim added it to the 1980 London production. It was never in the show originally. The first time I heard it was 1984 when the NYCO staged SWEENEY.

Here's something odd (but true): The ONLY time I have seen a production of SWEENEY that did the entire score was a community production here in Toronto about 5 years ago. They did the complete "Contest" (with the tooth-pulling sequence); the Judge's "Joanna"; all of the quartet (which several amatuer productions have cut); the entire "Parlour Songs" bit and the lullaby. And they still had the show end under 3 hours including a 15 min intermission. A STRONG director and dedicated cast kept it moving briskly and the added bits did not interfere with the pace at all.