Sorry that it's taken me so long to reply. Sometimes I just fall behind.
I like the addition of "Growing Up" to Merrily. In fact, they had at one time planned to have Gussie sing a slowed-down version of "The Blob" with different lyrics in the original production, but either they changed their minds or Sondheim never wrote it. So something like the second "Growing Up" had been planned for the original production.
I like the addition of "Something Just Broke." In at least one conversation, Sondheim has said that he always intended to have a song like that there, he just didn't get around to writing it in time. Elsewhere, he said at least once that it was Sam Mendes's suggestion when he was preparing the Donmar production. Anyway, I like it a lot, I think it should be there. I know that a lot of people don't like it or think it hurts the show. I think it helps the show.
I don't mind "Our Little World," although I don't love it. I think it's good for the Witch and Rapunzel to have a duet. I just wish it were as good as most of the rest of the score.
There may be small adjustments elsewhere that I like. Sometimes his small adjustments are earlier versions that he has gone back to, such as "Anything that's lean" in "A Little Priest." He changed it, but then he later changed it back. I prefer "Have you any dean?" but maybe that's because that's what I heard first. In general, though, the lyric changes he makes for later productions strike me as less good than what he wrote originally. |
