Favorite Reprises From A Musical? — Page 3

In the wedding scene in Milk and Honey, Robert Weede and Mimi Benzell sing a reprise of two beautiful songs, "Let's Not Waste a Moment" and "There's No Reason in the World." It was truly a magical moment in the theatre. Listening to it today, I get the same wondrous sensation I did over 50 years ago.

Julien's reprise of "Each Tomorrow Morning" in Dear World was one of the highlights of this lovely musical. It was as if rays of sunshine had flooded one's soul with beneficent warmth -- a sublime and moving sensation that bought tears to my eyes.

Unending thanks must be given to Mssrs. Harnick and Bock, not only for their terrific score for Tenderloin, but also for my favorite song in it, the simple and simply enchanting "Tommy, Tommy." Why, oh why, do we no longer have songs like "Tommy, Tommy" --- tender, warm, and perfect in every way. Happily, the Encores recording provides us with the reprise as well, both welcomed and welcome.

Whilst reams of fawning bilge are consecrated daily to the deadly dirges of composers incapable of writing even a half-decent tune, Bob Merrill, a composer-lyricist whose work surpasses theirs by light years, receives practically no mention at all. A reflection of the warped times in which we live, no question. Anyhow, even in the springtime of my years in the long, long ago, I was struck by the haunting power of his song, "Staying Young," in Take Me Along. Its wisdom and compassion transcended age barriers, and its reprise in the show made it more effective still. Now that I am in the so-called "golden" years, I realize even more keenly just how golden this song is.

On a less rueful note, I'll mention the reprise of "I Ain't Down Yet" in The Unsinkable Molly Brown. It's rip-roaringly rousing, and the perfect song to lift one's spirits. Heaven knows, after sitting through the dismal opuses that call themselves musicals today, our spirits are definitely in need of some heavy lifting.

My favorite reprises have all been mentioned, some several times. But I'd also give a nod to the reprises of "The Other Generation" and "Kids" from Flower Drum Song and Birdie. And Father's brief reprise of "New Music" that leads into "Atlantic City" in Ragtime.

Did I miss a previous mention of "Sunday?" Hands down, my favorite. It makes me cry every time. And "One."

One of my favorite reprises comes from the revisal of "Promises, Promises," and does not appear on the cast recording.

In the original show, in Act 2, the horny office men pass by, have a brief comedic scene, and then shuffle off, singing a reflective bit of music more or less as background. In the revisal, their scene is capped with a reprise of "Where Can You Take A Girl," jumping immediately into the swinging, Carlton-like dance from the number before. It kept the comedic momentum moving, and provided a nice send-off to the characters who never really appear again.

Neil Simon is a comic genius, but he had some rather odd ideas about the structure of a musical. All of his musicals originally ended with a musical button, not a finale song. Revisals of these almost always end with a short, but more traditional finale with singing.

Haha, I barely remember some of those reprises I listed.