New song for Ellen in Miss Saigon — Page 2

I really appreciate you posting this Dave--I admit all the changes to Miss Saigon fascinate me. (I actually have never gotten them straight - didn't early editions of the London recording actually have some different music that was re-recorded later? I have only seen the show once--its closing week in 1999 in London and remember being surprised by some other changes to the cast album I had listened to growing up for nearly 10 minutes but can't remember them at all now or what edning they used by then--What's the aforementioned "Too Much for One Heart"?).

Anyway in this examplke--without having seen this new song in performance or English, I still have to side with those who find Now That I've Seen Her more appropriate. While I think the original "Her or Me" is ridiculously unsympathetic for Ellen--and while I have always loved the character and understood her, I think, I agree with those who say she's already a character many audiences might find hard to sympathize with and that song didn't help) I think Now That I've Seen Her is a good compromise.

Musically, I think it's more driving and better suited to that late in the show. But lyrically (and MS's lyrics have never been my favorite or particularly subtle I admit, though I prefer them to Kretzmer's awful Miz ones) I think it makes sense that Ellen WOULDN"T be as hopeful as this new song makes her seem. Some might complain that she repeats Now That I've Seen Her too much, but to me it makes sense that she has a sudden reaction like that when the reality of the situation suddenly hits. I hope the option will remain to use the song.

EricMontreal, yes "Now That I've seen her" originally started out with some diffrent lyrics and was called "Her or Me". Claire Moore sings that version on the original London cast recording and it was in the show for (I think) around a year before it was changed for "Now That I've Seen Her" which was included along with other changes including an amended ending. Interesting that they've changed the song again. I'd love to see this new production - there have been rumours of a new London production in 2013.

It's just that "Now that I've seen her" is basically the whole message of the song. I've seen her. She's here. I heard her voice. I saw here eyes. I've seen her. It hurts.

The new song "maybe" has much more depth and different angles.
"When I saw her I understood everything completely" is just one sentence in the new song. I just love the part "And maybe, he was never really mine...." and "does he compare her love to me", all the doubts Ellen has. "Does he feel maybe.......that he belongs to the woman that truly cherishes/loves him
The woman that shares his laughter and tears through thick and thin".

By the way, the song was written in English but translated to Dutch for this production.

Even with the Broadway changes I always missed Miss Moore's fascinating rendition of lines I actually sing in my bathroom:

"I know what PAAAIIIN her life today must be..
But if it all comes down to HER and ME"....

Always gets me....
SO GOOD!

TheatrePaul do you know when the cast album was changed from Me or Her to Now That I've Seen her? Wiki and the usual sources don't mention this--I got the casette tape originally I suppose around 90/91 and it had been changed by then--were other things changed on the recording?

I have to say I agree with others who say Now That I've Seen Her represents the shock perfectly. I really don't buy that Ellen in three minutes would move on to a hopeful more level headed take on the situation.

I admit, more often than not I tend to think creators shouldn't change their shows, and I tend to think more often than not they either fix something that doesn't need to be fixed or are worst--though like I said I like Now That I've Seen Her far more than Her or Me (and with other shows I've liked some changes--like Sondheim adding Our Little World to ITW, though I think Sondheim shows are often big examples of shows changed for the worse). Yet I get that one thing people in theatre love is they can continuously "improve" their works (which is much harder to do with film or even novels--unless you're George Lucas...), and I grant that it's their prerogative.

(I often wonder if these works are still performed in 50-100 years when the rights are free, if there will be debates about which versions to use, the way there are for some classic plays, operas, ballets, etc...)

"What's the aforementioned "Too Much for One Heart"?"

"Too Much For One Heart" was never used in the production. It was what became "Please". The creative team did not think the original version moved the story along, so the original song was replaced with "Please".

The original version was a great song though:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yHmsJLzNgDY&fmt=18

EricMontreal - Im not sure exactly when it changed. I got the cast recording soon after the show opened, certainly within the first year of performance. I think various changes were incorporated into the show including the change to this song when the first cast change happened which was probably about a year into the run. Not sure whether Claire Moore ever sung it as Now That Ive Seen Her or if Ruthie Henshall who replaced her was first to sing it with those lyrics.

So to make things a little clearer, there were 6 different versions/songs for Ellen.

1. What if he doesn't come back home tonight
2. Who says it hurts
3. Her or me
4. Now that I've seen her (still with the verses "there are days when your life clouds over, and the world gets so dark, etc)
5. Now that I've seen her (with other verses, like "It's all right when I just imagine, there's no face, she's not real, etc)
6. Maybe


I personally like the first "now that I've seen her" better than the second one.

But I like "Maybe" the best.

Updated On: 1/25/12 at 04:01 PM

I just read this on Twitter:

Stephanie J Block debuts "Maybe" a new song for Miss Saigon beautifully after rehearsing it for just a day. #amazing

This was at the Boublil and Schonberg concert in Dallas last night. Are there any clips available yet?

Why SIGH?

I just ask if there's anyone who has clips of this performance. Do you have an answer?

'New song for Ellen in Miss Saigon'

Why god why!

Why SIGH?


Because people copy and paste tweets without pasting in the URL! It's not that hard!

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I don't think it's a bad song, but "Now That I've Seen Her" is a much stronger song in my opinion. I don't think "Maybe" gets all that exciting until the end.

Good luck trying to find someone sing this consistently eight times a week.