I tend to agree. The scene itself could work just fine without it, though it certainly does add to the comic atmosphere.
Herman seemed utterly determined to write these "quodlibet" type numbers, for better or for worse, and this one is musically speaking, probably the best, because it actually doesn't try to be unduly complex. In that regard, I'd have to say that Mame's "Fox Hunt" number and La Cage's "Cocktail Counterpoint" are, honestly, truly awful musical numbers, and certainly the latter one is entirely unneccesary. (As far as Mame goes, the enactment of Mame winning the fox hunt does has to be dramatized somehow, but he could have come up with something considerably better. And probably not a static number where lines just get repeated over and over to no dramatic effect.)
Though, if I had to pick one number from the current Dolly that was the most unnecessary, I'd actually have to give it to "Penny In My Pocket," which was truly best left in the trunk. |
