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What Cast Albums Give That Soundtracks Don't
MARCH 2, 2010, 5:05 am
So the film version of Nine didn’t do so well, did it? For many of us, the biggest problem was that so much of the score was cut. “Only with You, “The Grand Canal,” “Simple,” “Not since Chaplin,” “The Bells of St. Sebastian,” “Be on Your Own,” “The Germans at the Spa,” “Getting Tall” and – Good Lord! -- even the title song. It wasn’t much of a musical once all that music was dropped – and it wasn’t much of a soundtrack album, either.
That brings up one of the best aspects of choosing cast albums from stage shows over soundtracks from movies: You get far more music on a cast album. Aside from My Fair Lady and a few other musical films, Hollywood has amputated or replaced songs from many a Broadway score.
So what are the best songs that cast albums offer that soundtracks do not? There are easily more than a hundred, but I’ve whittled my personal favorites list down to 50. I’ve ranked them, too, according to my own subjective preference which, of course, will be different from yours.
I’m giving my bottom 25 this week, and my top 25 next week, working my way up from Number 50 to Number 1. This will give YOU a chance to guess what I’m going to put up next week – or cite the ones that you feel MUST be on the Top 25.
Notice that I’m NOT including “Together” (Gypsy), “The King of Old Broadway” (The Producers), “Mama, I’m a Big Girl Now” (Hairspray), and “Shall I Tell You What I Think of You?” (The King and I) among others, because these songs ARE on the soundtrack albums; they just didn’t appear in the film. What’s more, I’m not including anything from Fanny and Irma La Douce, for those films were conceived as non-musicals from Day One (more’s the pity) -- and because they’d take up more than half the list.
My bottom 25:
50. “Something Was Missing” (Annie) – A nice opportunity for Annie and Daddy to bond (even if Charles Strouse originally wrote it as an up-tempo song that Lee Adams called “You Rat, You” in The Night They Raided Minsky’s).
49. “Salzburg” (Bells Are Ringing) – Fun to hear the voice that in 15 years everyone would know as Edith Bunker’s.
48. “To Each His Dulcinea” (Man of La Mancha) – Aren’t too many songs sung by priests in musicals (nuns, yes, but priests no), but this is a particularly lovely one.
47. “Dead End” (Hair) – Nice bass line, as they say in the rock world.
46. “Is It a Crime?” (Bells Are Ringing) – Filmed, but cut just before the movie’s release.
45. “The Game” (Damn Yankees) – In which the ballplayers showed they had more than heart.
44. “The Love of My Life” (Brigadoon) – People who think this show is square probably don’t know this semi-ribald song.
43. “How Can I Wait?” (Paint Your Wagon) – A lifelong tomboy discovers there’s something to be said for a man, too.
42. “Spanish Rose” (Bye Bye Birdie) – What a neat Chita achievement.
41. “Meeskite” – (Cabaret) -- A pretty song about ugly ducklings.
40. “Sam and Delilah” (Girl Crazy) – Okay, not quite a cast album, but when Mary Martin decides to make a recording, attention must be paid.
39. “Boy, What Love Has Done to Me” (Girl Crazy) – Ditto.
38. “The Highest Judge of All” (Carousel) -- Billy Bigelow demands to see the Man at the Top.
37. “Gentlemen Prefer Blondes” (Gentlemen Prefer Blondes) – Another rare instance of a title song dropped.
36. “On the S.S. Bernard Cohn” (On a Clear Day You Can See Forever) -- Hear one Barbara do what another Barbra didn’t.
35. “What's Goin' on Here?” (Paint Your Wagon) – Feminine innocence has never sounded so jaunty.
34. “Tosy and Cosh” (On a Clear Day You Can See Forever) – Composer Burton Lane was really able to create a medieval feeling.
33. “Now I Have Everything” (Fiddler on the Roof) – Maybe a little pop-py for Anatevka, but a good song.
32. “It’s High Time” (Gentlemen Prefer Blondes) – Nice pun on “high” during this Prohibition Era – meaning both “at last” and “drinking.”
31. “So What?” – (Cabaret) – Miss Lotte Lenya and a rueful waltz.
30. “Keeping Cool with Coolidge” (Gentlemen Prefer Blondes) – A Charleston that was right for the stage show’s era.
29. “Remember?” (A Little Night Music) – Who but Sondheim would – or could -- rhyme “boa” with “so a-dept?”
28. “Lonely Room” (Oklahoma!) – When we see what’s really on Jud Fry’s mind.
27. “Carried Away” (On the Town) – Too bad the song was, too.
26. “No Way to Stop It” (The Sound of Music) – And next week, we’ll see how 25 superior songs could find no way to stop being cut from the film versions of Broadway musicals.
Meanwhile, last week I gave a Broadway Sports Quiz. Did you get all of the 25 answers to the questions?
1. “Just when the fun’s beginning, comes the final inning.” (“Some Other Time” – On the Town)
2. “Her skin is tender as DiMaggio’s glove.” (“Bloody Mary” – South Pacific)
3. “Here’s to Tin Pan Alley, a Yankee rally, a show like Sally.” (“Homesick Blues” – Gentlemen Prefer Blondes)
4. “Now this is no bum steer: It’s from a handicapper who’s real sincere.” (“Fugue for Tinhorns” – Guys and Dolls)
5. “Land of the free, home of the brave, home of the Red Sox.” (“Boston Beguine” – New Faces of 1952)
6. Just say, ‘Bunt?! Are you nuts? With one out, two men on base, and a left-handed batter coming up, he’ll walk right into a triple play, just like it happened in the fifth game of the World Series in 1923.” (“One Hundred Easy Ways” – Wonderful Town)
7. “Instead of praising our goulash, they’re out praising the plays of Willie Mays.” (“Six Months out of Ev’ry Year” – Damn Yankees)
8. “At the gate are all the horses waiting for the cue to fly away.” (“Ascot Gavotte” – My Fair Lady)
9. “This act could play the Palladium, or even the Yankee Stadium.” (“Just in Time” – Bells Are Ringing)
10. “You’re the gold-medal kid with the heavyweight crown.” (“Jet Song” – West Side Story)
11. “They take bows, and you’re battin’ zero.” (“Rose’s Turn” – Gypsy)
12. “From the pitchers to the hitters, from the babies to their sitters.” (“Here’s Love” – Here’s Love)
13. “Bank on Friday? Golf on Saturday? Church on Sunday?” (“Simple” – Anyone Can Whistle)
14. “Don’t get lost at Korvette’s, or get signed by the Mets.” (“Come Back to Me” – On a Clear Day You Can See Forever)
15. “That’s right! Not bad! Karate can be lots of fun!” (“Pow! Bam! Zonk!” – It’s a Bird … It’s a Plane … It’s Superman!”)
16. “We will show you we’re the best team in the very Little League this year.” (“T-E-A-M” – You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown)
17. “The Mets are winning, 3-to-1. The infield shows a lot of strength.” (“You and I, Love” – 70, Girls, 70)
18. “Took her bowling, in the arcade.” (“Summer Nights” – Grease)
19. “I was always running around shouting, ‘Gimme the ball, ‘Gimme the ball, ‘Gimme the ball, yeah!’” (“Hello, Twelve, Hello, Thirteen, Hello, Love” – A Chorus Line)
20. “Have an instructor here at noon -- oh, and get that Don Budge fellow if he’s available.” (“I Think I’m Gonna Like It Here” – Annie)
21. “My backhand is clearly my forte. Shall we say the ball is in your court?” (“The Tennis Song” -- City of Angels)
22. “Who would believe I’m enough of a fool to be taking the plunge after draining the pool?” (“Who Would Have Thought?” – The Goodbye Girl)
23. “It’s Braves and Giants, two to two; the pitcher’s name is Hub Purdue.” (“What a Game!” – Ragtime)
24. “We’re two of a kind, a perfect pair, a knockout in the ring.” (“Two of a Kind” – The Wild Party)
25. “The fake, the spin, the drive and then he’s in the paint. The pump, the jump, and he’s up in the air.” (“Michael Jordan’s Ball” – The Full Monty)
Also check out Peter’s column each Monday, Wednesday, and Friday at www.theatermania.comPOSTED BYPFILICHIA
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Couldn't agree more about Nine. What a shame. I wrote about it at BlueCoupe.com. Here's an excerpt:
I'm reminded of a recipe for oatmeal chocolate chip cookies. I gave it to a friend who used white chocolate chips instead—and they weren't as good.
Somewhere along the way, between its briliant original Broadway staging and the recent film, the recipe for the musical Nine was similarly screwed up.
The 1982 musical, which starred Raul Julia as Guido Contini, was a marvelous look at filmmaking. Now, all these years later, director Rob Marshall has made a film of Nine that unfortunately recrafts the musical so that it harkens back to the original Fellini instead of doing justice to his source material. To me, if Marshall had wanted to remake 8-1/2, that might have been a interesting film. But he chose to make Nine—and ruined it.
Many of the songs from the musical have been cut, and while one might argue that they didn't propel the plot, someone else could argue that they gave the material depth.
What's happened is that Marshall has made a movie of Cats, with all the trappings of Nine. Instead of creating a deep, meaningful musical about how one blocked filmmaker works, he's created a parade of the women in that filmmaker's life, and the result is like Cats, with so many felines telling individual stories as they compete for the prize (whatever that might be). I might also say that this Nine is like A Chorus Line, but not in a good way. A Chorus Line is meant to be about each character telling his or her story, and the irony is that they end up anything but individuals, in a chorus line at the end where they're virtually photocopies of one another.
Nine should never have been like either of these. Marshall has stripped the story of its real resonance. He's re-created Guido Contini as a self-centered, unfeeling cad, a conflicted, self-indulgent artist. On stage, however, he was a conflicted artist who, fearful of losing his wife/anchor, realized how to use his past to create the film he longed to make, one informed by his past but that doesn't simply pilfer it.
On film, Nine's conceit doesn't make much sense. It doesn't allow the characters to genuinely interact, and this robs them of the chance to act, as well. The climax, which has seen a fundamental change from the original, is trite and boring. On stage, young Guido sings a simple song, "Getting Tall," and equates some of a boy's life lessons with a man's: tying shoes and scraping knees are the same, in a way, as what Guido must learn, that in trying to have all the women he loves, he may end up with no one. The film ditches this essential song is favor of a two-year flashforward that has Guido realizing he can win her back by filming their past. Interesting? No. (a) We've seen it so many times before, and (b) we know that Luisa already despises Guido for doing just that in an earlier scene. Was anyone paying attention?
What's so frustrating about Nine is that the potential was already there. The material was already rich, and the filmmakers— the late great Anthony Mingella and Marshall—either ignored it or decided it was beneath their vision of the film. I wonder how much blame can also be laid at the feet of Maury Yeston and Arthur Kopit, who were involved in the film. Didn't they sense their legs being pulled out from under them?
Nine was a film I looked forward to for years. When I heard that Marshall was making it, I thought it was in perfect hands. I couldn't have been more wrong. Instead of rethinking what Nine might be, I wish he had considered what Nine already was.
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As far as I know, only four Broadway musicals have survived the Hollywood treatment with intact scores: CAROUSEL, SOUTH PACIFIC, MY FAIR LADY and WEST SIDE STORY, although the latter with altered song sequence and some new lyrics. OKLAHOMA! is missing 'It's a Scandal; It's a Outrage' and THE KING AND I loses 'Western People Funny,' although it does include 'The Small House of Uncle Tom' ballet. It was/is not uncommon for film makers to purchase a property and then use very little except for the title tune (the Gershwin's STRIKE UP THE BAND) or to rearrange songs to accompany dancers (BRIGADOON) or to excise whole chunks of the original score in favor of inferior new songs (PAINT YOUR WAGON, anyone?). Sometimes – FANNY and IRMA LA DOUCE – they become 'no-singing' and 'no-dancing movies.'
On the flip side, there's never been a movie musical that's successfully made the transition to Broadway: GIGI, HIGH SOCIETY, STATE FAIR, etc.
Peter, why not a column on Broadway to Hollywood fiascos? Which would be number one? MAME, MAN OF LAMANCHA, PAINT YOUR WAGON, or NINE?
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Thank you all for interesting listings
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You'r right . Somehow hollywood has a way of ruining a great stage show. Example: "Sweeney Todd".
As maganificient as the orchestra was played, way too much music was left out. And where was the humour. Go figure.
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I second the votes for "The Ballad of Sweeney Todd." and "God, That's Good," but the only things I wanted to see getting cut in a film version of ST were throats! Also second "After You, Who?" from THE GAY DIVORCE/EE. (Of course, all of Porter's score save "Night and Day" got cut, but that's the one I really miss. Though I do like "The Continental.)
I'd also add "All Through the Night" from ANYTHING GOES--missing in the 1936 film, but restored in the later one. And "My Name" from OLIVER! Oliver Reed's Bill Sykes was terrifying, but wouldn't you have liked to see him snarl out this number?
But the all-time winner for songs left behind has got to be BABES IN ARMS, which kept the title song and "Where or When?" but left out: "I Wish I Were In Love Again" (though Judy and Mickey would do it for the hilariously fictional bio-musical, WORDS AND MUSIC); "My Funny Valentine," "Johnny One-Note," and "The Lady is a Tramp." I saw a stage version of BABES IN ARMS, and believe me, the idiotic plot doesn't matter when you get song after song with that kind of caliber!
--Laura
"M
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Three cardinal sins of omission:
1. "The Music and the Mirror" replaced in "A Chorus Line"
2. "The Music That Makes Me Dance" replaced in "Funny Girl."
3. And how do take "A Bushel and a Peck" out of "Guys & Dolls"?
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I think "Some Other Time" really ought to top the list-- it's simply one of the finest songs from any musical and dramatically crucial to ON THE TOWN. "I Can Cook, Too" and "Ya Got Me" should surely also make the list. FORUM, of course, features many sad cuts. The worst of them, I think, are "Free" and "I'm Calm." I was very sad that "Happy New Year" was cut from RENT, and "Mushnik and Son" is a great song that it would have been fascinating to hear Vincent Gardenia sing. I would count "The Ballad of Sweeney Todd," too.
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I must add this clarification to what was said earlier: “Tosy and Cosh” *(On a Clear Day You Can See Forever)* – Composer Burton
"Lane was really able to create a medieval feeling"
Lane created a *baroque* feeling. I also suspect that Robert Russell Bennett helped create the baroque style since he studied Bach extensively in his youth.
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Here are a few of mine (in no particular order):
"How Can Love Survive?"(The Sound of Music)-This should have been in the film. Robert Wise in his commentary tells you where the song would have been placed.
"Never Give Anything Away"(Can Can)-This song would have been to see.
"Like A God"(Flower Drum Song)-I don't remember hearing this one in the film.
"Alone at a Drive-In"(Grease)-I heard that John Travolta refused to sing the song and a new one had to be written in its place.
"My White Knight"(The Music Man)-A beautiful song.
"You don't know Paree"(Fifty Million Frenchmen)-As I understand, the film version deleted all of the songs, but there was a short film with Bob Hope which had some of the songs. The one I list was still cut.
I must add this clarification to what was said earlier: “Tosy and Cosh” *(On a Clear Day You Can See Forever)* – Composer Burton
Lane was really able to create a medieval feeling
Lane created a *baroque* feeling. I also suspect that Robert Russell Bennett helped create the baroque style since he studied Bach extensively in his youth.
D.H. Rottering
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Re: 48, "To Each His Dulcinea" Didn't I read somewhere, Peter, that you disliked MAN OF LA MANCHA? Or, am I mistaken?
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You mentioned two of the films with the worst cuts, "A Little Night Music" and "On a Clear Day ..." You could add the choral music from "Sweeney Todd" to the list, especially in "God, That's Good." And I really miss "Ain't No Party" in "Dreamgirls." I could go on and go back to "After You, Who?" from "The Gay Divorce(e)."