CMU School of Drama


Wednesday, April 21, 2010

When Broadway Revivals Are 'Revisals'

WSJ.com: Something wasn't clicking at rehearsals for the Broadway revival of "Promises, Promises."
"We felt Fran was missing a beat at the start of the first act," said the musical's director-choreographer, Rob Ashford, referring to the character played by Kristin Chenoweth, a woman in love with a married cad. "We wanted to give her an optimistic song to show the beginning of her emotional journey."
The solution was to insert "I Say a Little Prayer," the durable hit pop tune by the "Promises, Promises" songwriting team, Burt Bacharach and Hal David. Via ArtsJournal

2 comments:

Tom Strong said...

I was about to reply and say that plays are unlike movies in that they're not in a final, fixed form, but then I remembered the first three Star Wars movies that have changed at least twice already and realized that comparison isn't really valid. Now given that even movies are changeable (think of how many "Director's Cut" releases come out) having a play change from one production to another (or even mid-production in some cases) doesn't seem to be much of a stretch. Plays already depend on a lot of variables, having another of them be ways that the production team finds to improve the show doesn't seem so bad to me.

HJNDesign said...

It is understandable that songs are added or cut depending on how, when and to whom (marketing target) they are reproduced. A recorded media and a live theatre are different. Some songs which do not grasp the audience's heart at the moment will be considered to be no meaning. Others need to be added for more entertainment to dynamically quiet story.

I have never seen the same show twice. I have never seen an original version of musical and the revival of it. So I can not compare how the changes in the music numbers practically affect the play. But it might be comparable between a film and a theater version. In this regards, although I can not clearly say which is good or bad, it is interesting to see how new music was written for the stage productions of Disney films.