Door Number Three vs. What Baking Can Do

[funhamilton_rent]

Posted: 4/11/17 at 1:22pm

I just listened to the What's Inside (Sara Bareillles' concept album for Waitress) for the first time in a while. I remember how much I adored Door Number Three before the cast album came out and I only listened to that, which replaced it with What Baking Can Do. I still think Door Number Three is better, though I understand why they changed it. Which do you guys like better?

[perfectlymarvelous]

Posted: 4/11/17 at 1:23pm

I think both are great songs, but "What Baking Can Do" is much more specific and better for the musical theatre format. 

[haterobics]

Posted: 4/11/17 at 2:48pm

I prefer What Baking Can Do, but I saw the show first, so that's linked to my memories of seeing the show.

[LesWickedly]

Posted: 4/11/17 at 2:53pm

Door Number Three is the better pop song and What Baking Can Do is the better musical theater song. 

[Ado Annie D'Ysquith]

Posted: 4/11/17 at 3:00pm

I pretty much echo the other sentiments- "What Baking Can Do" is really important in context because it describes Jenna's "pie-making catharsis" better than anything else in the show. That comes across very clearly in the film, but it was a bit more difficult to demonstrate that without Jenna outright telling the audience. This song does a great job.

I also like "Door Number Three," although the lyrics are a tad murky. It fits very well on Sara's concept album and I think her voice is better for it than Jessie's would have been on the OBCR.

[Ortensiah]

Posted: 4/11/17 at 3:13pm

I only listened to "Door Number Three" once before today (right after the first time I watched the show, so really biased and in love with "What Baking Can Do" so I really wasn't a fan of "Door Number Three."

I just listened to both songs again, and while I still like "What Baking Can Do," I think it's a much closer call. Musically, "Door Number Three" is a much more obviously a Sara Bareilles song and, much as I love the "What Baking Can Do" bridge, I think I actually like the "Door Number Three" better. However, I think what bothers me most about "Door Number Three" is the door metaphor. I get the "she chose one door and regrets it, but can't" idea, but the "choose the door" concept just - to me - feels really carnival-y and jarring compared with how the song sounds and every other lyric in the song.  

By now I've listened to "Door Number Three" at least five times in a row, and it's really a beautiful song, but I still don't think the door number two/three theme works very well. 

[NJ_BroadwayGirl]

Posted: 4/11/17 at 5:19pm

Personally just as a song, I like "What Baking Can Do" better. Having seen Waitress at ART when "Door Number Three" was filling the spot that "What Baking Can Do" now does, the change was critical to the show. "Door Number Three" is a great song, so it says a lot about the creative process and first-timer Bareilles being willing to give it up.

As others have also said, "What Baking Can Do" is crucial to the storyline. It gives Jenna an "I want" song which the previous iteration was not. It explains her upbringing in an abusive home while also showing us how she copes with her life by baking. Personally it was my favorite song in the show for Jessie - I'll see Sara soon enough and maybe that will change.

[Pianolin717]

Posted: 4/11/17 at 5:32pm

"Personally it was my favorite song in the show for Jessie - I'll see Sara soon enough and maybe that will change."

I hope it doesn't! I LOVE What Baking Can Do and it was my favorite for Jessie as well. Sara sounds incredible and it's probably my favorite for her too. I would love to (even though it'll never happen) have a professional recording of Sara singing it/the show with the Broadway orchestrations.

[gypsy101]

Posted: 4/11/17 at 6:31pm

NJ_BroadwayGirl said: ""Door Number Three" is a great song, so it says a lot about the creative process and first-timer Bareilles being willing to give it up."

Sara actually wrote most of the songs on her four studio albums so i don't think she's really a "first-timer."

i think they're both good songs and that Baking has a very good chorus (whereas Door doesn't have one) but on the whole i prefer Door, the melody is stronger and i love the bridge/outro (the whole bit about "this might catch fire". all in all it was a clever reworking and what's there now is admittedly better for show, i just think it's not as good a song.

[NJ_BroadwayGirl]

Posted: 4/11/17 at 6:40pm

gypsy101 said: "Sara actually wrote most of the songs on her four studio albums so i don't think she's really a "first-timer."

I'm a big Sara Bareilles fan so I know that. I was referring to her being a first time musical theater writer and I believe there is a difference. Having to be aware of the plot line and how each song fits into the show intricately is certainly different than writing an album. 

Also to clarify from my other post I didn't mean to imply that I might like What Baking Can Do less with Sara singing, I thought perhaps I might like something else even better. 

[NJ_BroadwayGirl]

Posted: 4/11/17 at 6:41pm

gypsy101 said: "Sara actually wrote most of the songs on her four studio albums so i don't think she's really a "first-timer."

I'm a big Sara Bareilles fan so I know that. I was referring to her being a first time musical theater writer and I believe there is a difference. Having to be aware of the plot line and how each song fits into the show intricately is certainly different than writing an album. 

Also to clarify from my other post I didn't mean to imply that I might like What Baking Can Do less with Sara singing, I thought perhaps I might like something else even better.