Changes in shows?

[Joshua Rosenthal]

Posted: 12/30/20 at 12:23pm

What are some changes in shows that you like/dislike or generally can speak about? One that comes to mind is the switch in Wicked from opening with a 12 ft hat melting to the citizens. What are some you know of?

[windowwaving]

Posted: 12/30/20 at 7:23pm

I loved all of the Frozen changes. I saw it twice on Broadway before the changes, and then saw it on tour and found the pace to be much sharper. The changes I noticed include the choreographed death of the parents, shortened "Hygge" and the addition of "I Can't Lose You." "True Love" however was my favorite new song, so I was sad to see that go, but I understand why. 

I was kind of confused with the Mean Girls edits. I saw the show when Erika was still in it, but it was towards the end of her run so they started to incorporate new lyrics into some of the songs. It might be because I listened to the soundtrack so much before, but the new lyrics always made me go "...wait..." Even after watching full bootlegs of the tour, I think I still prefer the original versions of the songs.

[Sutton Ross]

Posted: 12/30/20 at 7:38pm

When I saw the second preview of Hamilton at the Public, Eliza and Alexander stand at a reflecting pool and sing. I thought it was very powerful but it was scrapped after just a couple performances. 

[NameGreg]

Posted: 12/30/20 at 7:38pm

Drood’s had some interesting changes over the years, such as adding Durdles to the list of possible murders, changing Crisparkle’s confession to make it more original, altering the order of the songs a bit, and many other changes.

[darquegk]

Posted: 12/30/20 at 9:23pm

Stony Durdles and Deputy Durdles are both suspects now, I think.

[MattieIce2018]

Posted: 12/30/20 at 9:35pm

I actually don’t know when in the original run it was changed but I very much prefer the rewritten lyrics and structure of Maison des Lunes in Beauty and the Beast compared to what’s on the original cast album. Anyone know when they rewrote it?

[AEA AGMA SM]

Posted: 12/30/20 at 9:40pm

I actually really disliked just about all of the changes to the Side Show for the revival. None of the new material was any better than the material it replaced so it just ended up feeling like changes for the sake of making changes.

[CATSNYrevival]

Posted: 12/30/20 at 10:02pm

MattieIce2018 said: "I actually don’t know when in the original run it was changed but I very much prefer the rewritten lyrics and structure of Maison des Lunes in Beauty and the Beast compared to what’s on the original cast album. Anyone know when they rewrote it?"

That’s a good example of a song that changed for the better. Someone can correct me if I’m wrong but I think I remember reading here those changes were implemented either in previews or between the out of town run and Broadway. The reason the earlier version is preserved on the original Broadway cast recording is because the album was recorded before opening night.

[MattieIce2018]

Posted: 12/30/20 at 10:09pm

CATSNYrevival said: “That’s a good example of a song that changed for the better. Someone can correct me if I’m wrong but I think I remember reading here those changes were implemented either in previews or between the out of town run and Broadway. The reason the earlier version is preserved on the original Broadway cast recording is because the album was recorded before opening night."

I assume the album being recorded early is why Home is so much longer on the album, too? There’s an entire verse that’s no longer in the show, if I remember right.

[NameGreg]

Posted: 12/30/20 at 11:21pm

darquegk said: "Stony Durdles and Deputy Durdles are both suspects now, I think."

Interesting, I never heard about that at all. You gotta wonder what the odds of the deputy getting picked are, cause I imagine the already fairly minor role of Durdles doesn’t get voted the killer too often. Granted, Durdles is at least a very funny part that a good actor can still make into a standout, but the deputy is little more than an ensemble member.

I always did find it a bit odd how the part is eligible for the lovers voting because of this, but I also recently discovered that the deputy was originally planned to have a solo number, same goes for Durdles and Crisparkle (his was to be a duet with Rosa), so maybe he was originally intended the deputy and the original non option Durdles were meant to be suspects from the start.

[NOWaWarning]

Posted: 12/30/20 at 11:36pm

I actually really disliked just about all of the changes to the Side Show for the revival. None of the new material was any better than the material it replaced so it just ended up feeling like changes for the sake of making changes.

Agreed! I wonder which version is licensed now. I hope the original version is still available to do.

 

[morosco]

Posted: 12/31/20 at 12:03am

AEA AGMA SM said: "I actually really disliked just about all of the changes to the Side Show for the revival. None of the new material was any better than the material it replaced so it just ended up feeling like changes for the sake of making changes."

I highly agree.

[AEA AGMA SM]

Posted: 12/31/20 at 12:20am

NOWaWarning said: "I actually really disliked just about all of the changes to the Side Show for the revival. None of the new material was any better than the material it replaced so it just ended up feeling like changes for the sake of making changes.

Agreed! I wonder which version is licensed now. I hope the original version is still available to do.

"

Just checked and the Concord Theatricals site just has the revival version listed as available for licensing.

A friend of mine used to say that he hated the show and he always wanted to scream "No sh*t, Sherlock" during "I Will Never Leave You." He nearly wet himself when we saw the revival and they now teased the song earlier by having the twins sing part of it during that Houdini/doctors examination flashback. He hated the sentiment when it was metaphorical, and thought it was downright stupid when they were singing it literally.

[AEA AGMA SM]

Posted: 12/31/20 at 12:58am

As someone who first became familiar with Damn Yankees through the 1994 revival I actually had a hard time reconciling just how different it was and how much I loved all the revisions when we later did the show in my high school and it was the original script. I missed all the new arrangements, especially the reworked version of "Six Months Out of Ever Year," the new dance break in "Whatever Lola Wants," and the totally reworked hearing/trial scene.

[chrishuyen]

Posted: 12/31/20 at 2:37am

As a super minor change, the addition of the last line with the octave jump in Wishing You Were Somehow Here Again definitely makes it a better moment for Christine.

Possibly a controversial take, but I think Merrily We Roll Along works better with the graduation scene to start the show.  It gives us a bit of impetus to the plot unfolding in a backwards fashion, and also I always thought it was weird to just start the show with the title song (which essentially has no bearing on the characters or plot), and this scene at least eases us into it a bit better.  I could do without Hills of Tomorrow, though.

[MichelleCraig]

Posted: 12/31/20 at 3:27pm

I really disliked Ellen's new song in MISS SAIGON. To me, the original,"Now That I've Seen Her," is far superior to "Maybe"...

[RemlapLBC]

Posted: 12/31/20 at 6:09pm

Positive,

Crutchy's song added to the second act of Newsies.

Mary Poppins.  Broadway was better than the West End and the First National Tour was better than Broadway.

Negative.  Cameron Macintosh's All New Production of Phantom of the Opera.  Just no.  

Neutral: Cameron Macintos's All New Production of Les Miz.  Not as good as the iconic original, but everything holds up so much better, it's still a great shows.

[Fosse76]

Posted: 1/1/21 at 8:24am

MichelleCraig said: "I really disliked Ellen's new song in MISS SAIGON. To me, the original,"Now That I've Seen Her,"is far superior to "Maybe"..."

I found many of the changes to Miss Saigon uneccessary. There are maybe one or two that are for the better (the "Big Mac" line for one), a few that aren't any better or worse,  but most of the changes either don't match the rhythm of the music, are clunky, or just have no "poetry" to them. The new song doesn't make any sense,  and the money tornado in American Dream ruins the flow of the song. Even changing Please leaves a lot of clunkiness to the song.  

[ColorTheHours048]

Posted: 1/1/21 at 9:55am

The changes made in The Great Comet from Kazino to Broadway are perfect, in my opinion.

The version we got on Broadway and in the licensed version is so much more focused. The lyrical changes in the recitative are less self-consciously verbose, but still prosaic; the orchestral and choral arrangements are more lush; and overall it feels like a tighter narrative. I found the show off-Broadway and on the original recording a little too shaggy and gimmicky.

[Charley Kringas Inc]

Posted: 1/1/21 at 3:12pm

Merrily has only gotten worse as it's been altered, particularly by the removal of the bookends, but also by the general neutering.

"Something Just Broke" is also a poor addition to Assassins, because it's essentially presenting us with our own perspective, when the point of the show is that we have that perspective challenged. It's like if Sweeney Todd had a song just before the final sequence about how Sweeney's murders have impacted the lives of those who knew the people he killed. Making the 11 o'clock number a song about how frowny-face sad people are after the president is shot only makes the show more wishy-washy.

"Marry Me A Little" is a nice number to put in your cabaret act, but it has no business clogging up the end of Company's first act.

[NOWaWarning]

Posted: 1/1/21 at 3:34pm

Dreamgirls put in a new Act 2 opening for their first national tour. I pretty much like both versions the same.

Then the 2009 tour replaced the opening of Act 2 again with a number that I despise. They also shoved Listen from the movie version into the show, but with new, worse lyrics.

[chrishuyen]

Posted: 1/1/21 at 7:19pm

Charley Kringas Inc said: "Marry Me A Little" is a nice number to put in your cabaret act, but it has no business clogging up the end of Company's first act."

I actually think Marry Me A Little is a crucial moment in Company to show how much Bobby misunderstands the concept of marriage and unpacking more of his securities around tying the knot.  It's also a nice counterpoint to Being Alive where he learns to accept the good AND the bad that comes with marriage.

I do also miss I Saw Him Once from the original London version of Les Mis, and I think it's good for Cosette to acknowledge how brief her initial interaction with Marius was, though I like the expanded In My Life as well.

[darquegk]

Posted: 1/1/21 at 11:25pm

I agree- Marry Me a Little is a turning point in the wrong direction, and crucial to the storyline. After a spur of the moment proposal, Bobby tries to accept the idea of marriage on his terms and under his control. He thinks he’s solved the puzzle, but suddenly we see the first snap back to the time loop.

I think people underestimate the importance of the nonlinear time loop in Company. It’s never been a particularly popular element- I’ve definitely seen multiple productions ignore it entirely. But it plays so deeply into the marriage symbolism, year after year- his life is literally running in circles until he realizes he doesn’t need to hold the wheel so tightly in “Being Alive.”

[lambchop2]

Posted: 1/2/21 at 2:18am

I found a lot of the little changes to Miss Saigon for the West End revival frustrating because they were, in my opinion, done in order to make Ellen and Chris more likeable. "The Confrontation" really stuck out for this.

Pre-Revival lyrics:

Ellen: You said you lived with her, and that's all you were! Only one thing you left out is that you loved her!
Chris: It was just two weeks, that was years ago!

Altered lyrics:

Ellen: You said you slept and that's all you were, only thing you left out is that you loved her!
Chris: Yes, we were in love, it was years ago, we were torn apart!

So Chris gent from dismissing any feelings for Kim as being "just two weeks years ago" to instead framing it as them being "torn apart!"

And having them say "Kim is smart, she'll understand" instead of "The girl is smart, she'll understand." The way they talk about her in the pre-revival version is IMO meant to be dehumanizing, they're separating themselves from her mentally in order to leave her and Tam behind. John interrupting them and being miffed is almost less understandable in the revival version, because they're not being as dismissive.

Though, thank goodness the "big Mac" line was out.

[darquegk]

Posted: 1/2/21 at 1:18pm

Reefer Madness has been almost three substantially different shows: the early LA version, the substantially different Off-Broadway run, then a third definitive version incorporating elements of both stage versions and the movie.

Cabaret exists in four substantially different versions with major book and song-stack differences. Little Me has at least three major versions and a fourth version cobbled together from the three for an Australian production.

Every major production of Hair is also very different. Updated On: 1/2/21 at 01:18 PM