| re: thank you | |
| Posted by: Erik_Haagensen 05:03 pm EST 02/09/25 | |
| In reply to: re: thank you - WaymanWong 11:43 am EST 02/09/25 | |
|
|
|
| Hi, Wayman! You have jogged my memory that Heidi Thomas was indeed credited for the words to a second chorus of "Say a Prayer," but that was her only official lyric credit of which I am aware. When I saw the production as a Drama Desk voter, I was writing a weekly column for BwayTunes.com about theatre music and thought I might end up discussing the show's forthcoming original cast recording. I reached out to the production's press agent to ask who wrote the additional/rewritten lyrics, and I got this reply: "The lyrics are by Alan Jay Lerner culled from several sources, including his materials for the movie, and his 1973 and 1985 stage revisions. Some pronoun adjustments have been made for the current production and in the case of ‘Say a Prayer,’ an added verse has been written by Heidi Thomas." I have copies of many, if not all, of those materials, and they don't support this statement. Additionally, some rewrites necessitated by character changes (making Gigi older and Gaston younger, for example) could not have been by Lerner, as he never wrote for those characters. Reading the quotation from Sanborn, it only specifically attributes "additional lyrics" to "Say a Prayer." It does say that other songs have had their purposes and/or singers changed, but it does not say that their lyrics have been altered in any way. As for AI, consider the source. I just reread the CD booklet for the 2015 cast recording, and I can't find even a small-print credit for Thomas' additional chorus. Thus, it tells the listener that every word of every song they hear on the CD is by Lerner. (Thomas' credit on the CD is "a new book adaptation by.") I find this disheartening, as, by my count, out of 16 songs and two reprises, only three—“She Is Not Thinking of Me,” “A Toujours,” and “I Remember It Well”—have words solely by Alan Jay Lerner. My guess is that the Lerner estate did not want to credit a second lyricist, as there were also uncredited lyric rewrites on some of the songs for the 2011 Broadway revisal of ON A CLEAR DAY YOU CAN SEE FOREVER, though not nearly as many. However, it's just a guess. I think probably Thomas got the one credit because Lerner never wrote a version of "Say a Prayer for Me Tonight" to be sung by Mamita, and so a completely new second chorus needed some kind of an explanation, especially with the newly shortened title. |
|
| reply | |
|
|
|
| Previous: | re: thank you - WaymanWong 11:43 am EST 02/09/25 |
| Next: | re: thank you - WaymanWong 08:18 pm EST 02/09/25 |
| Thread: |
|
Time to render: 0.013300 seconds.