Numbers That You Would Love to See Cut From Classic / Big Hit Shows — Page 2

Dinosaurs - War Paint (not big but still)

Break In A Glove - Dear Evan Hansen

Making Good (The Madame Morrible part before Wizard and I) - Wicked

Cooties - Hairspray

I'd make the same cuts to Phantom as the Vegas spectacular did, except for leaving the chandelier drop at the end of Act I and keeping the intermission. Less is more, and this is a show that would play much better as a fast-paced thrill ride than the yawn it has become.

AEA AGMA SM said: "magictodo123 said: "MattieIce2018 said: "Even though it's a pretty song, A Change in Me (added to Beauty and the Beast 4 years into its run) stops the pacing of Act 2 dead in its tracks"

Wow...that's so interesting that they added a song that late into the run! Do you know how much longer it ran after that song was added?"

It was added when Toni Braxton was cast to play Belle. She demanded a solo in Act 2, as Belle's only realsolo in the show before that was "Home" (the "Belle Reprise" isn't really long enough to be considered a solo number)."

I can’t believe Toni Braxton had the clout to “demand a song be written.” She’d be lucky to even be considered for a Broadway show today.

"Now I Have Everything" from Fiddler. The only clunker in an otherwise perfect score.

"Before It's Over" in Dogfight. It doesn't say anything that "Pretty Funny" didn't already say 45 minutes ago.

I'm not sure that I agree with this - it represents a pretty significant shift in Rose's thinking and development as a character since she sang "Pretty Funny."

Loopin’theloop said: "No More (Into the Woods)"

The movie is proof that doing so ultimately makes the story much worse. It’s an enormous part of bothThe Baker and Mysterious Man’s characters, and is arguably the emotional crux of the whole show.

Jarethan said: "

I am not againstgreat songwriting, Ifind those two Follies songs boring...it may be that I have seen Follies and listened to the various recordings too many times, but I not longer have patience with those songs.

I know the intention of By The Sea...that doesn't mean that I haveto listen to the song to appreciate how pathetic the relationship is...there areplenty of ways in which that is demonstrated. Hereto, it is probablyworth noting that I have also seen the show, movie, TV taping, and listened to the OCR so many times that I am bored with what I consider either lesser or unpleasant songs.

cut songs that drag **** by all means but don’t cut necessary story beats.

Same thing with Little Lamb. I have taken it off the playlist, along with All I Need is the Girl because they bore me at this point. Also, seen the show many times, the movie many times, listened to the Lansbury recording many times. I don't have interest in listing to Little Lamb any more. I am tired of it.

"

But Jarethan, my DEAR friend, surely you realize that getting tired of a song on an album one has played many times isn't the same as believing a song should be removed from a show!

I couldn't be more bored with "The Lees of Old Virginia" at this point, nearly 50 years after I saw 1776 and bought the vinyl OBCR. But that doesn't mean the song isn't a welcome moment of comic relief in the midst of all the life-and-death bickering over the Declaration.

As for "In Buddy's Eyes" and "Too Many Mornings", I found them difficult when I saw the original when I was 17. My ear didn't really understand Sondheim's minimalism, even while I was reveling in the pastiche numbers in the score. But MY appreciation for the book songs has only grown over time: I still love the pastiche numbers, but, if anything, I like the "book score" (using the creator's terms) even more. (Did you see the last FOLLIES at the Ahmanson? Ron Raines and Victoria Clark turned "Too Many Mornings" into something akin to the famous duet between Butterfly and Pinkerton. It was astonishing and fully justified the break for intermission which followed.) Anyway, I realize the FOLLIES score is something where you and I will have to agree to disagree.

I trust it is clear that however obstinate my argumentation, no disrespect is intended in this thread. I still very much value your opinion.

ETA "By the Sea" is the last bit of comic relief in the SWEENEY score. More importantly to me, it is the moment when I realize Mrs. Lovette isn't merely "eminently practical as always" but just as looney as Sweeney is, with nowhere near the excuse. I think it's an important moment of character development; without it, "Nothing's Gonna Harm You" wouldn't be nearly so menacing. Of course, none of this is to say you can't be tired of listening to recordings of it.

Updated On: 11/12/19 at 08:55 PM

GavestonPS said: "Jarethan said: "

I am not againstgreat songwriting, Ifind those two Follies songs boring...it may be that I have seen Follies and listened to the various recordings too many times, but I not longer have patience with those songs.

I know the intention of By The Sea...that doesn't mean that I haveto listen to the song to appreciate how pathetic the relationship is...there areplenty of ways in which that is demonstrated. Hereto, it is probablyworth noting that I have also seen the show, movie, TV taping, and listened to the OCR so many times that I am bored with what I consider either lesser or unpleasant songs.

cut songs that drag **** by all means but don’t cut necessary story beats.

Same thing with Little Lamb. I have taken it off the playlist, along with All I Need is the Girl because they bore me at this point. Also, seen the show many times, the movie many times, listened to the Lansbury recording many times. I don't have interest in listing to Little Lamb any more. I am tired of it.

"

But Jarethan, my DEAR friend, surely you realize that getting tired of a song on an album one has played many times isn't the same as believing a song should be removed from a show!

I couldn't be more bored with "The Lees of Old Virginia" at this point, nearly50 years after I saw 1776 and bought the vinyl OBCR. But that doesn't mean the song isn't a welcome moment of comic relief in the midst of all the life-and-death bickering over the Declaration.

As for "In Buddy's Eyes" and "Too Many Mornings", I found them difficult when I saw the original when I was 17. My ear didn't really understand Sondheim's minimalism, even while I was reveling in the pastiche numbers in the score. But MY appreciation for the book songs has only grown over time: I still love the pastiche numbers, but, if anything, I like the "book score" (using the creator's terms) even more. (Did you see the last FOLLIES at the Ahmanson? Ron Raines and Victoria Clark turned "Too Many Mornings" into something akin to the famous duet between Butterfly and Pinkerton. It was astonishing and fully justified the break for intermission which followed.) Anyway, I realize the FOLLIES score is something where you and I will have to agree to disagree.

I trust it is clear that however obstinate my argumentation, no disrespect is intended in this thread. I still very much value your opinion.

ETA "By the Sea" is the last bit of comic relief in the SWEENEY score. More importantly to me, it is the moment when I realize Mrs. Lovette isn't merely "eminently practical as always" but just as looney as Sweeney is, with nowhere near the excuse. I think it's an important moment of character development; without it, "Nothing's Gonna Harm You" wouldn't be nearly so menacing. Of course, none of this is to say you can't be tired of listening to recordings of it."

I think you raise very valid points. As I previously indicated, overexposure does play a big role in some of my personal observations. I saw Follies 5 times in its original Broadway run, once in Boston with Uptown Downtown instead of Lucy and Jessie l, and Can That Boy Foxtrot instead of I’m Still Here and I too loved the pastiche songs in particular. I did see the recent Follies twice, but both times with BP. I have opined many times that that was the only production of Follies in which I felt the male leads were the standouts (and I have always been a huge BP fan, not so much Jan Maxwell). I have to admit that I never developed an appreciation of the two Follies songs that I singled out.

Re By The Sea, I know that your observation is right-on...I just wish it was a better song. Again, however, over familiarity doesn’t help.