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| re: What's the case for Penny in My Pocket? | |
| Posted by: ChipL955 10:39 pm EST 02/08/18 | |
| In reply to: What's the case for Penny in My Pocket? - Chazwaza 03:53 pm EST 02/08/18 | |
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| I think there's a strong case for "Penny in My Pocket," all found in the second verse of the song. We learn a lot about Horace's character from Jerry Herman's excellent lyric: - When impoverished, he's inventive ("With my only shirttail, I shined a rich man's shoe") - He's charitable ("I gave the nickel to a blind man") - He's hard-working ("I bought myself a wagon and started hauling ice") - He's business-savvy ("I cut the ice to ice cubes and got a higher price; I crushed the cubes to ices for still a higher fee") - He's polite ("En route to work next morning, I helped a lady cross") - He's sentimental ("But proudly I confess that in my pocket is that penny") Yes, he's also benefitted from luck and coincidence, but he's earned his half-million mostly from his own strength of character. This song softens Horace--he's not just a curmudgeon--and reveals that his apparent disdain for Ambrose, Cornelius and Barnaby is actually high expectations. And I think it helps us root for Dolly to find happiness with him. Does the audience grasp all of this? I don't know, but a friend of mine with whom I watched the Tonys, who had never heard the song before, completely got it, and could recite Horace's good qualities as soon as the number was over. Does the song belong in the show when not in the capable hands and lungs of a David Hyde Pierce or a Victor Garber? I think there's an even stronger case there. I've seen plenty of community theater productions of Dolly, and most of the Horaces are one-dimensional gruff, bumbling old grouches. (The last one I saw we nicknamed Horrid Vandergelder.) The poorer actor needs "Penny in My Pocket" even more than the better actor. Dolly works best when we all want to see her end up with him. In my opinion. |
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| re: What's the case for Penny in My Pocket? | |
| Posted by: Ned3301 07:39 am EST 02/10/18 | |
| In reply to: re: What's the case for Penny in My Pocket? - ChipL955 10:39 pm EST 02/08/18 | |
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| There's also the odd moment when he says his wife died and the song abruptly stops for a moment. He seems utterly expressionless--as if he has soothed the pain by burying it in an emotionless existence. Then the music picks up again (almost immediately), and we realize that his cantankerous front protects him from having to care about anyone, or at least it is supposed to. But he does care. He can't help it--and he is especially graceless with Dolly (at first) because he likes her, and that threatens to explode his protection. When he finally proposes at the end, he is simply giving in to feelings he has suppressed earlier in the action. The penny that he gives her--his original penny, apparently--is symbolic of that. That's my guess, anyway. |
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| re: What's the case for Penny in My Pocket? | |
| Posted by: CCentero 11:16 pm EST 02/08/18 | |
| In reply to: re: What's the case for Penny in My Pocket? - ChipL955 10:39 pm EST 02/08/18 | |
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| Very good analysis of the song. I agree that Herman's lyric is excellent. | |
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| re: What's the case for Penny in My Pocket? | |
| Posted by: Chromolume 10:46 pm EST 02/08/18 | |
| In reply to: re: What's the case for Penny in My Pocket? - ChipL955 10:39 pm EST 02/08/18 | |
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| Does the song belong in the show when not in the capable hands and lungs of a David Hyde Pierce or a Victor Garber? I think there's an even stronger case there. I've seen plenty of community theater productions of Dolly, and most of the Horaces are one-dimensional gruff, bumbling old grouches. (The last one I saw we nicknamed Horrid Vandergelder.) The poorer actor needs "Penny in My Pocket" even more than the better actor. Dolly works best when we all want to see her end up with him. But - does the song really rescue a one-dimensional grouch? (That's assuming that the song will be made available for future productions, which it may not be.) I think if the actor (or director) has already made Vandergelder nothing but a cardboard villain, I doubt that the song would do much to change that. |
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| re: What's the case for Penny in My Pocket? | |
| Posted by: ChipL955 11:11 pm EST 02/08/18 | |
| In reply to: re: What's the case for Penny in My Pocket? - Chromolume 10:46 pm EST 02/08/18 | |
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| Does it really "rescue" him? Really, really rescue him? As in: this song will consistently, inevitably work to add dimension and likeability to Horace's character, even if in Act One he's been "nothing but a cardboard villain"? I don't know that there's any song in any musical that has a consistent surefire effect. But it can't hurt--except that it "just makes the night longer," as Chazwaza said, yes, sadly, two minutes and 51 seconds more stuck in the Shubert Theatre watching that production. |
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| re: What's the case for Penny in My Pocket? | |
| Posted by: Chromolume 12:19 am EST 02/09/18 | |
| In reply to: re: What's the case for Penny in My Pocket? - ChipL955 11:11 pm EST 02/08/18 | |
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| Does it really "rescue" him? Really, really rescue him? As in: this song will consistently, inevitably work to add dimension and likeability to Horace's character, even if in Act One he's been "nothing but a cardboard villain"? I don't know that there's any song in any musical that has a consistent surefire effect. Where did all that insane hyperbole come from? That has nothing to do with the question I posed in my post. |
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| re: What's the case for Penny in My Pocket? | |
| Posted by: ChipL955 04:39 am EST 02/09/18 | |
| In reply to: re: What's the case for Penny in My Pocket? - Chromolume 12:19 am EST 02/09/18 | |
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| I think it all depends on the performance. I always thought "A Little Priest" did wonders for the character of Sweeney Todd--it lightened him up, it showed us his intelligence and humor, it showed us why Mrs. Lovett might love him and it developed chemistry between them that made the end of the show more emotionally impactful. Then I saw the movie, and Johnny Depp's joyless performance of "A Little Priest" did none of those things. It made no sense to me whatsoever. They're playing a game, which implies fun, but Sweeney's not even smiling. So, to (try to) answer your question, I think the song "Penny in My Pocket" can give an actor a chance to give Horace some additional dimension, but the song won't do it for him automatically. Without the song, there are few other chances to accomplish that in the show. So it serves a useful purpose (on paper, at least) and makes a case for itself as part of the score. "Does the song really rescue him?" Whether talking about "Penny in My Pocket" or "A Little Priest," my answer is no--the performance does (or doesn't). |
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