Posted: 2/12/19 at 6:26pm
In preparation for Fiasco's Merrily, I decided to listen to the three Merrily recordings available on Spotify that I'd never heard. I was only familiar with the Original Cast Recording before. Some strong performances come through on both the Menier and York and recordings, but the Encores one is my favorite among them. Very solid sound, full orchestra, and everyone seems well cast to me, including Lin.
But to get to my question: has anyone noticed the similarities between Frank and Charley's song that's included in the Opening Doors sequence — "Who Wants to Live in New York? / Suddenly I Do!" — and Sondheim's own youthful composition "What More Do I Need?" from Saturday Night? Both are upbeat, comic numbers that first catalogue the faults of New York City, before resolving that the city is, in fact, liveable (in the case of What More Do I Need, it's liveable due to a love; the same idea may be at play in Who Wants to Live in New York, but it's hard to tell for certain).
Anyway, it's like Sondheim wrote a pastiche of his own, old song for that spot — maybe as a nod to his own young strivings, or just as an inside joke to himself (back in 1981, no one else really knew Saturday Night).
I'm sure someone has probably commented on this in the past. Shoot, for all I know dissertations have been written about it! But I'm curious. What are your thoughts?
