cut songs from musicals

some of the greatest songs ever written get cut for one reason or another. Anyone have any favorites?

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I know these werent cut completely since they showed up in one version, but does anyone know about the songs from RENT that were in the NYTW version but not the off broadway version and so on? I read that there were quite a few and if anyone knows where I could find out more about them or hear them that would be great.

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"Anytime" cut from A New Brain

yeah, i've heard some songs from that version of rent, a friend of mine had them...i'm not sure how she got it though. i wish i could be of more help. but if you want to hear something funny, roger (who wasn't adam at the time) sang a song called "the right brain" and it's actually to the tune of "one song glory."

"the right brain, can't seem to find, the right brain" to the tune of: glory, one last refrain, glory

it was kind of weird.

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Updated On: 2/10/05 at 12:25 AM

The "Rent" cut songs:

I saw "Rent" downtown before it transferred - the only song that wasn't in the Broadway version was a short song called "Door/Wall" that went where "Will I?" goes now - "Will I" came later in the act, after "I'll Cover You" and before "Christmas Bells." It wasn't really a song, it was about a minute long and went something like:

"The dooooooooooor
The wallllllllll
Mimiiiiiiiiiiii"

etc. I didn't quite get the point.

Someone gave me a copy of the original demo a long while back (and long since gone missing), and there was indeed quite a bit of stuff that was cut, but only one song, "Open Road", sung by Roger when he's on his road trip late in the second act, that was really any good. Gilles Chiasson recorded that one on his solo album, I believe.

"Right Brain" was indeed "Glory" with terrible lyrics about accessing the creative side of the brain. There was a recurring song that kept repeating the line "For someone cool, you're a fool", and another recurring duet for Joanne and Maureen called "Female to Female" that used an RCA-adapter as a metaphor. There was even a hoedown number for Benny, Mark, and Benny's wife Alison (who only sang in that number) about Mark becoming a real estate agent (I'm not kidding, really.)

A lot of the lyrics were different - "Rent" began with something like:
"If I threw my body out the window
Guts all steaming, bleeding, [something] in the snow
I wouldn't have to keep on making films that no one wants to show
Rent!"
[paraphrased, obviously]

"Light My Candle" was there as is, as was "Seasons of Love" and "Without You" (with Mimi singing it as a solo, I think) but a LOT of work went into the show between the workshop and the final version.

Where to begin with Dracula....

Bang! - A Little Night Music (its in Putting it Together)
Yuck - Grease
Natalie - Brooklyn
Tell A Little Lie - Smile
Mamma's Talking Soft - Gypsy
Plain Jane Fat Ass - Bare
Boom, Crunch - Into The Woods
Belle, The Sleeping Car - Starlight Express
No Girls Toy - Raggedy Ann (random, I know)

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"Boho Days" ~ tick...tick...boom

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The Lost in Boston CD series is great for some cut songs. I believe there are 3 or 4 of them! Another good one is Unsung Musicals, All feature various Broadway performers.

I once heard a pirate tape of Lansbury singing LOVE IS ONLY LOVE in a "Mame" rehearsal. She sang it to Patrick and she sang it beautifully.

Marguerite - The Scarlet Pimpernel
The World Has Gone Insane - Jekyll and Hyde
Where Do I Go From Here - Fiorello

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Letting You Go

It's got the L5Y piano riffs in it though...