Bway songs that remind you of other Bway songs

Ok...I've just finished my third listen of the Wicked CD. I noticed that a couple songs at one point or another reminded of melodies from other bway songs. In Wicked there are some parts of the opening that reminds me of melodies from Miss Saigon. And in the Loathing song (sorry...I don't have the titles memorized yet) at times it sounds like music from Chess. Now I can't think of the exact songs from Saigon or Chess but I'm just reminded at one point or another of some of their songs. So for discussion purposes are there any Bway songs that remind you of other Bway songs out there? Also...am I on crack for hearing a bit of Chess and Miss Saigon in these songs?

And...off the topic a bit...are Sean McCourt's characters always the "father" of freaks of nature? First he has a bat boy then his wife has a green baby! If Hunchback ever comes to Bway he could father him. Sean is typecasted as the father of the freak.

This is not related to the topic, but I want to applaud Gothampc for the quote from "In Trousers" . I don't think I've ever seen anyone quote that show. Granted it's not a wonderful show, but I like it enough just because William Finn is such a genius and the other two shows in the trilogy (Falsettos) really blossomed out of that original production. So Bravo!

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"Stay clear of love and jail. Nothing comes to nothing and a new land is a new land to explore." - In Trousers

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The Wicked music definitely has a familiar feel to it. Every time I listen to the songs I'm picturing different lyrics in my head until the real lyrics start.

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Yeah! In trousers! "Pass the Sugar Please" is the best!

Whoever mentioned Lloyd Webber, there's constant musical homage to Puccini, no less, in all his work. He has stolen so many Puccini motifs, and candidly admits same.

Speaking of Webber and this thread: At WONDERFUL TOWN, it dawned on me that Webber's "Boy Meets Girl" from SUNSET has a motif that's a lot like the verse of "What a Waste." "Came to New York, da da da da.." and "Boy meets girl, da da da da..." (Don't you love people who type da da da and expect it to mean something?) Some Bernstein expert out there -- MusicMan? I think I'm right -- ol Andrew was familiar with WT, too.

But in WT, there are orchestral interludes that forshadow WEST SIDE STORY, including "What a Waste."

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Updated On: 12/17/03 at 04:14 PM

My mom says that "A Moment With You" from Saturday Night reminds her of "Why Am I Me" from Shenandoah. Maybe because they are both duets?

WindyCityactor: great observation. That's so on the money.

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It's been cited many many times, but "Music of the Night" from Phantom of the Opera and "Come to Me, Bend to Me" from Brigadoon.

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As far as composer's stealing from themselves, listen to "Somewhere that's Green" (Little Shop) and "Part of yOur World" (Little Mermaid). It's not terrible to steal from yourself, so long as the first idea was something worth revisiting

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In the movie "Forget Paris" Billy Crystal demonstrates the School Days/ Music of the Night similarity to Deborah Winger--very funny stuff...

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There are some moments of "That Face" from THE PRODUCERS that are cribbed from "High and Low" from THE BANDWAGON - the Broadway vocal version even moreso (check out Mary Martin's version) than the brief instrumental version heard in the MGM film.

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Speaking of Alan Menken: "It's Just the Gas" from Little Shop was lifted for "The Mob Song" in Beauty and the Beast

With ALW: motifs from Aspects of Love are repeated in the re-write of Tell Me on a Sunday. It's amazing!

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The entire score of Jane Eyre reminds me of the entire score from The Secret Garden.

And "For Good" totally sounds like "I Will Never Leave You."