We ask when you enter the theater that you please tur off your cell phones as we wish not to distract the performers and there will be a 15 minute intermission. You will find a playbill lisitng tonight's performance at the entrace. Oh, we're not the theater but today's Music Fridays deals with songs that come from the theater.
Ah, the theater. One of my many loves. Yes, I love seeing a play. That is such a grand experience. I have seen many plays in my day including The Lion King and Mary Poppins. Both of which are adaptions of Disney films that work wonderfully onstage. There is just something about seeing your favorite Disney movies adapted and retold in a different way. For those of you are interested according to some reading I have done, the next Disney movies to get the Broadway treatment include, Aladdin, Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland, Newsies, The Hunchback of Notre Dame and supposedly Dumbo. I felt like sharing that news with you because I found it unique. Anyways back on topic, for today's Music Fridays, I'll be covering songs from some of the stage adaptions of Disney films but the songs I'll be looking at are ones that were written exclusively for the play. Let's begin.
Good for Nothing/ Being Mrs. Banks (Reprise) - Mary Poppins
Our first song comes from the Broadway adaption of Mary Poppins. This song as you can see is a reprise song. As I said in the reprise songs article, reprises can take a song and use it in a different way. That is the case here because the first version of this song was about Mr. Banks singing of his status and his pride. And he came off rather pompus but here he has broken down and we see the human side. Honestly, I chose this song for Mrs. Bank's part as it is so beautiful. Even though, I have never been in a serious relationship this is how I think love should be. Mrs. Banks is truly accepting of her husband even for all his faults. In case any of you are confused as to Mrs. Andrews is, that is Mr. Banks' childhood nanny. And no, she was not created for the play, she is a character from the books that was not used in the movie and she was pretty much the villain in the play.
I Need To Know - Tarzan
Now I'll be honest and say that I never got the chance to see Tarzan while it was onstage. ThereforeI do not know where this song is placed within the context of the play. However with my knowledge of the film I think I can take a stab at describing at this song. This song is sung by Young Tarzan and wow is it sad. In this song, Tarzan is trying to understand why Kerchack hates him and he doesn't understand what he did to deserve this hatred. Also in this song, we can see even though Tarzan has freinds, he still feels alone because he is different from the rest of his tribe. He just wants someone to give him answers that he doesn't have. Again, I find this song to be very sad.
If Only - The Little Mermaid
Here again, I never saw The Little Mermaid on stage but that didn't stop me from loving this song. It is so emotional. I had a hard time trying to figure out the tone of this song until I listened to a podcast interview with one of the actors to play Triton. According to him, this song works on a multiude of different layers. Ariel wishes to let Eric know that she is the girl that he has been looking for. Eric wishes he knew where the girl with that voice was. Sebastian wants to find a way to help Ariel. Triton is taking a step back and revelauting his life because he feels that he caused Ariel to run away from home. I'd have to agree with this and it is such a beautiful song and I beleive that this song gives more character development to Triton and Sebastian. Now some of you may be thinking how is Ariel singing when her scenes were on land. Fair enough thought because he gave up her voice. Well in the play she wasn't really speaking but rather voicing her thoughts. This is a beuatiful song and this isn't much more I can say about it. Except part of me wishes that they would make an antimated sequence for this song like they did with The Morning Report for The Lion King.
Endless Night - The Lion King
We end this Music Fridays with a song from one of the most acclaimed Disney stage adaptions, The Lion King. Next to He Lives in You, which I have featured on Music Fridays already. This has to be my favorite song from the play. I love the start of this song but there just so many aspects about this song to love. For instance in this song, we see Simba fianlly break down after all those years from his father's death. That memory still haunts him and he wishes his father could be with him. It is shown with this song that even though Simba may have grown up he has nost moved from that painful day in his life anf how he wants is just one last moment with Mufasa. Simba knows he won't get that but he is jsut so scared. That is how the song starts but then Simba gains his courage back and he remembers that Mufasa will always be with him. Even if he is dead, his memory is still alive. With this song, I think they chose to use Night to repersent Simba's fear and then the whole thing about The sun will rise reprsents Simba overcoming his fears and realizing what he must do.
There you go, I hope you enjoyed this Music Fridays. Persoanlly this has been one of my favorites. Come back next week when we take a look at songs from all three versions of The Mickey Mouse Club as part of my Mickey Mouse Club retrospective, Mickey Mouse Club Mouseka-Notes.
Ah, the theater. One of my many loves. Yes, I love seeing a play. That is such a grand experience. I have seen many plays in my day including The Lion King and Mary Poppins. Both of which are adaptions of Disney films that work wonderfully onstage. There is just something about seeing your favorite Disney movies adapted and retold in a different way. For those of you are interested according to some reading I have done, the next Disney movies to get the Broadway treatment include, Aladdin, Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland, Newsies, The Hunchback of Notre Dame and supposedly Dumbo. I felt like sharing that news with you because I found it unique. Anyways back on topic, for today's Music Fridays, I'll be covering songs from some of the stage adaptions of Disney films but the songs I'll be looking at are ones that were written exclusively for the play. Let's begin.
Good for Nothing/ Being Mrs. Banks (Reprise) - Mary Poppins
Our first song comes from the Broadway adaption of Mary Poppins. This song as you can see is a reprise song. As I said in the reprise songs article, reprises can take a song and use it in a different way. That is the case here because the first version of this song was about Mr. Banks singing of his status and his pride. And he came off rather pompus but here he has broken down and we see the human side. Honestly, I chose this song for Mrs. Bank's part as it is so beautiful. Even though, I have never been in a serious relationship this is how I think love should be. Mrs. Banks is truly accepting of her husband even for all his faults. In case any of you are confused as to Mrs. Andrews is, that is Mr. Banks' childhood nanny. And no, she was not created for the play, she is a character from the books that was not used in the movie and she was pretty much the villain in the play.
I Need To Know - Tarzan
Now I'll be honest and say that I never got the chance to see Tarzan while it was onstage. ThereforeI do not know where this song is placed within the context of the play. However with my knowledge of the film I think I can take a stab at describing at this song. This song is sung by Young Tarzan and wow is it sad. In this song, Tarzan is trying to understand why Kerchack hates him and he doesn't understand what he did to deserve this hatred. Also in this song, we can see even though Tarzan has freinds, he still feels alone because he is different from the rest of his tribe. He just wants someone to give him answers that he doesn't have. Again, I find this song to be very sad.
If Only - The Little Mermaid
Here again, I never saw The Little Mermaid on stage but that didn't stop me from loving this song. It is so emotional. I had a hard time trying to figure out the tone of this song until I listened to a podcast interview with one of the actors to play Triton. According to him, this song works on a multiude of different layers. Ariel wishes to let Eric know that she is the girl that he has been looking for. Eric wishes he knew where the girl with that voice was. Sebastian wants to find a way to help Ariel. Triton is taking a step back and revelauting his life because he feels that he caused Ariel to run away from home. I'd have to agree with this and it is such a beautiful song and I beleive that this song gives more character development to Triton and Sebastian. Now some of you may be thinking how is Ariel singing when her scenes were on land. Fair enough thought because he gave up her voice. Well in the play she wasn't really speaking but rather voicing her thoughts. This is a beuatiful song and this isn't much more I can say about it. Except part of me wishes that they would make an antimated sequence for this song like they did with The Morning Report for The Lion King.
Endless Night - The Lion King
We end this Music Fridays with a song from one of the most acclaimed Disney stage adaptions, The Lion King. Next to He Lives in You, which I have featured on Music Fridays already. This has to be my favorite song from the play. I love the start of this song but there just so many aspects about this song to love. For instance in this song, we see Simba fianlly break down after all those years from his father's death. That memory still haunts him and he wishes his father could be with him. It is shown with this song that even though Simba may have grown up he has nost moved from that painful day in his life anf how he wants is just one last moment with Mufasa. Simba knows he won't get that but he is jsut so scared. That is how the song starts but then Simba gains his courage back and he remembers that Mufasa will always be with him. Even if he is dead, his memory is still alive. With this song, I think they chose to use Night to repersent Simba's fear and then the whole thing about The sun will rise reprsents Simba overcoming his fears and realizing what he must do.
There you go, I hope you enjoyed this Music Fridays. Persoanlly this has been one of my favorites. Come back next week when we take a look at songs from all three versions of The Mickey Mouse Club as part of my Mickey Mouse Club retrospective, Mickey Mouse Club Mouseka-Notes.
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