Cast recording different from the show

[Smaxie]

Posted: 8/26/06 at 4:13pm

A recent thread about My One and Only got me thinking about cast recordings that feature major changes or differences in songs, whole or in part, from the way the songs are performed in the theatre.

My One and Only has the most differences I can think of: "High Hat" was left off the recording, while a song cut in Boston, "Little Jazz Bird," was preserved. "S'wonderful" reverses the order of the vocal and the dance break, as to how it was performed in the show. I seem to recall that "Sweet and Low Down" was not performed the way it is on the recording. And all of the Ritz Quartet songs were left off.

The Sondheim shows have different discrepancies as well, such as "Bobby is my hobby and I'm giving it up" added to the end of "You Could Drive a Person Crazy" for Company, the addition of the Judge's Johanna, and the "Now signorini" section in The Contest for Sweeney Todd, lots of small additions in Into the Woods, particularly some added sections in "A Very Nice Prince" and "Any Moment" that are not in the show score. And "There Won't Be Trumpets" was recorded for Anyone Can Whistle, even though it was cut from the Broadway show.

The Producers has a longer Overture on record than it has in the theatre. Hairspray has some additional material in "Baltimore Crabs," and "Cooties," I think.

Can anyone think of other examples?

Posted: 8/26/06 at 4:19pm

Wicked Witch of The East is not on Wicked's cast recording.

[TomMonster]

Posted: 8/26/06 at 4:22pm

In your above examples, it is most likely that the recording was done before the show opened and was set.

I know that the both the original Sweeney, Company and Anyone Can Whistle were recorded prior to the New York openings. "Johanna" was cut in previews as was "Trumpets".

Sometimes, though, they will make cuts/additions to a recording to make the narrative of the recording itself more clear, or particularly in the past, to be able to fit on one LP.

Like the Drowsey recording, and the use of the Man in the Chair.

Updated On: 8/26/06 at 04:22 PM

[Smaxie]

Posted: 8/26/06 at 4:33pm

That's actually not the case with some of these shows. Anyone Can Whistle was quite famously recorded the day after the show closed on Broadway. Company opened April 26, 1970, and was recorded on May 3. Sweeney Todd opened March 1, 1979, and was recorded on March 12 and 13. Into the Woods opened November 5, 1987, and was recorded on November 9 and 10. My One and Only opened May 1, 1983, and was recorded on September 20-23, 1983, months later, so the differing tunestack for the album is intentional.

Hairspray and Producers however, were both recorded prior to opening in New York.

Updated On: 8/26/06 at 04:33 PM

[ILoveMyDictionary]

Posted: 8/26/06 at 4:42pm

Spelling Bee has an entire song that's not in the show. There are a bunch of different words they use in Pandemonium. There's also a "FOOT!" added onto the very end of Magic Foot.

[americanboy99]

Posted: 8/26/06 at 4:44pm

The Overture on hte Light in the Piazza recording is not present in the show. Also, American Dancing has dialogue over it, so it really isn't a true number in the show.

[Smaxie]

Posted: 8/26/06 at 4:51pm

Thought of some other examples:

Bye Bye Birdie's recorded Overture is actually the show's Entr'acte.

There's a third chair effect in the third "Johanna" in Sweeney Todd that didn't exist in the show.

The Overture on Prettybelle was written for the album, and the show on stage opened directly with the title song.

"It's Nicer in Nice" has a prominent spot in the Overture for the original Broadway cast recording of The Boy Friend, but the actual song was evidently not recorded.

The original Broadway cast recording of Gypsy has some transitions that were written for the album, particularly the opening for "Some People".

[Smaxie]

Posted: 8/26/06 at 4:55pm

And in "Ooh, My Feet" in The Most Happy Fella, Susan Johnson has an intake of breath in place of singing, "but the big son of a BITCH hurts the most!"

[Gypsy9]

Posted: 8/26/06 at 6:00pm

The recorded overture from the OBC of BYE BYE BIRDIE is indeed the overture that is heard in the theatre--it is not the entr'acte. I was there back in 1961 and I remember. I was also in the cast of Birdie back in college.

As for the introduction of "Some People" in GYPSY, there are maybe two bars of music that take the place of dialogue on the OBC recording. I assume that you are speaking of the 1959 recording which is the only original broadway cast recording, and not the Tyne Daly recording or the Bernadette Peters recording. I checked this out in my complete piano-vocal score of GYPSY from 1959.

[Smaxie]

Posted: 8/26/06 at 6:23pm

Regarding Bye Bye Birdie, I have the orchestral score on my desk. What is listed as the Overture begins with the "We Love You Conrad" fanfare, and the teen vocals in the pit, but the rest of the music is a variation of "A Healthy Normal American Boy," with cues indicating an onstage film strip, depicting Conrad's rise to fame and fan hysteria. And it has a (c) 1960 on it. The music for the recorded Overture is indicated in my score as "Entr'acte B".

And yes, I'm talking about "Some People" on the Original Broadway Cast Recording which begins with the "I had a dream" figure and a harp gliss, before launching into the song. It's about four bars, and was added for the recording at Goddard Lieberson's request, I believe, rather than the "Anybody that stays home is dead" dialogue that has been used on the subsequent recordings. Lieberson didn't like including dialogue, unless it was absolutely unavoidable.

[vmlinnie]

Posted: 8/26/06 at 6:28pm

In Billy Elliot's OLCR they have shortened some of the dancing bits or less important dialogue bits, e.g. in Solidarity, when Mrs. Wilkinson says 'Elbow, wrist, chin' and all that, it's squashed in, in the show it's much slower because she's actually trying to move and balance him and etc.

[FoscasBohemianDream]

Posted: 8/26/06 at 6:34pm

The OBCR of A Chorus Line omits "And" and it also takes "Nothing" out of the "Montage."
The Follies OBCR has some major cuts, some I can remember are "Ah, Paris!," "Broadway Baby," "Who's That Woman?," and I believe "I'm Still Here" loses a verse.
The Dreamgirls score was massacred in its OBCR.
The Nine revival recording omits "Movie Themes."

[Gypsy9]

Posted: 8/26/06 at 9:12pm

I stand corrected re. the overture/entr'acte of BYE BYE BIRDIE.
I guess my memory isn't what it used to be. At any rate, BIRDIE
is a great and truly witty show. I DO remember that our college cast kept each other in stitches during our six weeks of rehearsals. I played the Paul Lynde role of Mr. McAfee which has wonderful lines, second only to those of Albert's mother.

Several years ago I saw the road company of BIRDIE at the Forrest Theatre in Philadelphia starring Tommy Tune and Ann Reinking and with the hilarious Marilyn Cooper as Albert 's mother. A new number was written for Tommy Tune called "Take a Giant Step" (of liberation from his mother) which showed off his dancing skills. The whole production was wonderful. What is
Tommy Tune doing now? Does anyone know? Broadway needs him.

[jonartdesigns]

Posted: 8/26/06 at 9:43pm

tick tick boom removes the dialogue from all of the songs (notably the character introductions in "30/90" and "sugar")

hairspray has major differences in "baltimore crabs" and "the big dollhouse"

the revival recording of damn yankees has dialogue to tie together the songs that differs from the show completely

rent takes out mark's monologues and other little bits of dialogue (i've always thought it was a waste that they were *this* close to a complete recording but fell short

[Caroline-Q-or-TBoo]

Posted: 8/26/06 at 9:49pm

in the record of LaChiusa's Wild Party: lyrics have been tamed, songs have been cut.

what an injustice

[CATSNYrevival]

Posted: 8/26/06 at 10:06pm

I can't think of any good ones right now. the OLC of Phantom of the Opera has the original version of "Wandering Child/Bravo Monsieur" that was later altered to be a reprise of "Angel of Music" and having Raoul enter much later with "Leave her!" etc. as reflected on the Canadian cast recording.

the OLC of Cats has the original jazz version of "Mungojerrie and Rumpleteazer" that premiered with the new musical version on Broadway, but performed by Quaxo before finally retaining the original concept of having Mungojerrie and Rumpleteazer sing the song, only with the new music from Broadway as later reflected on the Australian cast recording and the DVD. Only it's missing a verse on the DVD...

[gumbo2]

Posted: 8/26/06 at 10:48pm

The OBCR of Beauty and the Beast cuts some of the dance break in Be Our Guest, and A Change In Me isn't on the recording.

[WickedGeek28]

Posted: 8/26/06 at 11:03pm

Why we Like Spelling from the Bee.

[jasonf]

Posted: 8/26/06 at 11:21pm

On the recording of "The Life" the last two songs are reversed from the way they are in the show, mostly because "My Friend" is a FAR better ending to the album than "We Gotta Go" would be.

[Mr. Peanut Man]

Posted: 8/26/06 at 11:42pm

In reference to Why We Like Spelling, I was wondering if that song was ever in the show at all? I've seen it once and was confused when they completely skipped that song.

[My Fair Lady]

Posted: 8/27/06 at 12:16am

On the Thoroughly Modern Millie recording, they put a shortened version of Not for the Life of Me.

[elvisitis1302]

Posted: 8/27/06 at 12:31am

-Marie Christine is missing songs.
-Hello Again is missing music/lyrics that tie songs together.
-Sweeney Todd (revival)...ug...disgrace...(not the production, but that CD just BUTCHERED the score).
-Follies is missing LOTS of reprises/pre-reprises (OBCR)
-The Witches of Eastwick is missing a lot of music
-Pacific Overtures (OBCR) is missing "Lion Dance"
-Showboat (1946) only has 10 songs of the 29802852539 that are in the show.
-Jane Eyre has more music than on the CD
-The Fix (OCR) is missing a lot of songs
-Forum (OBCR) is missing "The House of Marcus Lycus"
-Elegies does not have "Dear Reader" (b/c Betty refused to say c**t on record) or "Fred"
-In Trousers (original) does not have a lot of music that is in the show
-Titanic is missing lots of music

That's what I thought of off-hand.
NOTE: About the Light in the Piazza Overture, during the first performances/previews, the full overture was used. But as performances went on, it's said, that they used a shortened version b/c it was dragging and boring audiences.
Just thought I'd put that out there.

[Melodramatist]

Posted: 8/27/06 at 1:54am

The OBC of THE WIZ is missing "Who Do You Think You Are?" and the Wiz's version of "Believe in Yourself." There is a LOT of sung material absent from the OBC of DREAMGIRLS. The Gertrude Lawrence THE KING & I omits "The Small House of Uncle Thomas" (presumably because it was not composed by Rodgers.)

A funny reversal of this musical misfortune occurred on the original vinyl Soundtrack of ANNIE. "You're Never Fully Dressed Without a Smile" was on the record but not listed on the jacket! They slapped stickers onto the shrinkwrap picturing Sandy saying Also Includes, then giving credit to Peter Marshall and the number, as though it were a sort of bonus track. I can't remember if Sandy also said Arf! I wish I'd thought to preserve my copy of this oddity.

[DRSisLove]

Posted: 8/27/06 at 1:58am

A few from DRS.

"Give them what they want" starts differently.
"What was a woman to do" has different music between the verses.
"Oklahoma" is missing the dance music, it skips it
"Here I Am" is missing the dance music (where the dog gets stepped on)
"Nothing is too wonderful to be true" ends differently in the show
"The Miracle" is completely different. It doesn't start like the CR and there is a different line said (it should be "Welcome back Madame, we thought you had left us for the season" etc)
"Finale" ends differently (a la "Where's my wallet?")

[CATSNYrevival]

Posted: 8/27/06 at 2:08am

For the record, the Wiz is actually missing the Overture as the show does not begin with "Ease on Down the Road", as well as the first and second reprise of "Ease on Down the Road", "Kalidah Battle", "Lion's Dream", "Emerald City Ballet", "Funky Monkeys", "Who Do You Think You Are?", the Wiz's "Believe in Yourself" and "A Rested Body Is a Rested Mind".