I am in full agreement with Besty. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE having the ending as an option, but I think it proves that the test audiences actually might have been right for once. I like the wink to the "happy" ending, and I think switching the movie suddenly into full on Monster Movie mode, which it wasn't before, just doesn't work. Don't get me wrong--the stage ending (which, as pointed out, is actually fairly different) is perfect for the stage, but...
I wonder why they never recorded the new song written for the end credits. I LOVE the song, Crystal Ronette and Chiffon as performed on Debbie Shapiro-Gravitte's Menken album (which is pretty great all around.)
Here's Menken and Ashman singing the original planned end credit music.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M_YD-xEIpDo