Newsies "Watch What Happens" Sondheim-esque?
Newsies "Watch What Happens" Sondheim-esque?
winston89
Broadway Legend Joined: 6/18/06
#1Newsies "Watch What Happens" Sondheim-esque?
Posted: 4/2/12 at 8:52pm
I had the fun pleasure of seeing Newsies on Saturday night. And, I can't stop going on and on about how much I loved the show, the choreography (if this doesn't win a Tony than I will eat my own hat.) The score (new and old) as well as the audience going crazy for the whole thing. It was really interesting to see how far people traveled just to New York to see this show because of their love for the movie.
In any case, when Kara Lindsay was singing Watch What Happens, the one thought that popped through my head was how this song sounds similar to things Sondheim writes. Now, I am not saying that Menkin is as good a composer as Sondheim is, he isn't. But, I think that maybe I felt that way because Watch What Happens has a somewhat similar cadence as Sondheim's songs? I don't know. But, I wanted to see of others thought the same thing.
"If you try to shag my husband while I am still alive, I will shove the art of motorcycle maintenance up your rancid little Cu**. That's a good dear"
Tom Stoppard's Rock N Roll
henryt
Broadway Star Joined: 7/26/07
#3Newsies
Posted: 4/2/12 at 10:54pm
I actually thought it sounded like Sondheim upon my first listening. The quick rhymes and lyric repetition (specifically the "all I know is I don't know what to write, or the right way to write it" and "the fact is he's also the face of the strike [what a face] face the fact, that's a face' etc.) and the general stream-of-consciousness feeling of the piece definitely sound like something Mr. Sondheim would write.
As for the 'Fabulous, Baby' similarities, I hear it in the orchestra but not so much in the actual melody. I would need to listen to both again. Regardless - it's much better this time around.
#4Newsies
Posted: 4/2/12 at 11:10pm
It's a bit like Finishing the Hat, actually, in my opinion. Yes, the melodies are completely different, it's obviously written in a different style, etc. but the idea of conveying the creative process through song with quick turns of phrase and an almost stream of consciousness perspective is certainly Sondheim-esque.
It's actually my favorite new song in the score!
Scratch and claw for every day you're worth!
Make them drag you screaming from life, keep dreaming
You'll live forever here on earth.
Updated On: 4/2/12 at 11:10 PM
#5Newsies
Posted: 4/2/12 at 11:21pmI'm partway through my first listen to the score, but I'm surprised at how much of it sounds familiar. "Santa Fe" sounds a lot like "Home" from Beauty and the Beast, and "The World Will Know" kind of sounds Billy Elliot-esque to me like "The Stars Look Down," although I'm not certain which came first in either case.
#6Newsies
Posted: 4/2/12 at 11:29pm
Elton John wrote the Billy Elliot score. It was written in 2005. Even if there are similarities between "The Stars Look Down" and "The World Will Know," Newsies predates Billy Elliot by a lot. "The World Will Know" was featured in the film, which was released in 1992. I don't really hear the similarities but maybe you could be more specific.
I do see some similarities between "Home" and "Santa Fe," both of which were composed by Menken. Beauty and the Beast (the musical) came out a few years after the Newsies movie. If Menken used similar melodies, which he may have, but quite frankly they aren't that similar (maybe someone with a more tuned ear can take a listen) he's far from the first composer to do so. I'm looking at you, Sir Lloyd Webber.
Scratch and claw for every day you're worth!
Make them drag you screaming from life, keep dreaming
You'll live forever here on earth.
sorano916
Broadway Legend Joined: 8/6/08
#7Newsies
Posted: 4/2/12 at 11:35pm
I'm partway through my first listen to the score, but I'm surprised at how much of it sounds familiar. "Santa Fe" sounds a lot like "Home" from Beauty and the Beast, and "The World Will Know" kind of sounds Billy Elliot-esque to me like "The Stars Look Down," although I'm not certain which came first in either case.
Newsies the movie was released in 1992. The musical of Beauty & the Beast opened in 1994. Billy Elliot opened in the West End in 2005. Both songs from Newsies were before the others. The arrangements, however, have been updated so while "The World Will Know" is essentially the same, "Santa Fe" has been altered significantly.
Updated On: 4/3/12 at 11:35 PM
#8Newsies
Posted: 4/2/12 at 11:42pm
And I'm not trying to imply that I think Menken was plagiarizing or anything, I certainly have neither the proof nor the expertise to claim that, but I thought it was interesting what associations my mind made. Which are essentially only based on trying to remember the tunes after a single listen and then I think "wait, that's not right, what am I actually humming?"
Updated On: 4/2/12 at 11:42 PM
