I have mixed feelings about demos and long lost lyrics. Of course, I think everything Howard ever wrote is brilliant (except perhaps for some juvenilia best left to our grandfather’s scrapbooks). I am a tad conflicted, though, when that material – including demos, work tapes and early lyrics –goes out into the world.
The demos Howard and Alan did – even the ones they did before they had the money of Disney to produce high-end demos, are really terrific. Both men loved an open mike and they gave their all to those demos. Howard made a choice early on that he wasn’t interested in being on stage, but doing the demos clearly fed the performer in him. He and Alan were also trying to sell their songs, which didn’t hurt, either.
And let’s be clear, Howard knew how he wanted those songs sung and he wasn’t afraid to show rather than tell. Though watching him direct Jody Benson’s performance of Part Of His World it’s also clear that he wasn’t afraid to pull those songs out of others as well.
I have some recordings (probably they’re out there in the ether by now, too) of Howard, Jonathan Sheffer and Albert Innaurato working on a musical based on Innaurato’s Fatty At The Opera. Besides being very funny and a great insight into artists at work, what I really love is listening in as the three men crack each other up and compete for the best line.
But the thing is, those tapes were never meant for public consumption. They were a way for the creators to document their work for each other. Listening in now is really just eavesdropping.
I was thrilled with the end result of Howard Sings Ashman, a compilation of Howard singing his own songs. But the producer, Steve Nelson, was cognizant of the CDs need to also serve as entertainment and it shows.
There was a beautiful song in Little Shop calledWe’ll Have Tomorrow that was cut late in rehearsals. As Martin Robinson points out in Feed Me, Howard didn’t think they needed – or could support – two love ballads. I mean, at some point, you have to let the audience go home, even if it means cutting a song you love (both Howard and Alan loved that particular song).
Still it’s a wonderful song and well deserves being heard (if even in the little coda at the very end of Little Shop).
Small snippets of some lyrics should sometimes stay lost but are still fascinating. My favorite example is from the papers of the brilliant Oscar Hammerstein. When the people at the Library of Congress expressed interest in Howard’s papers, they invited Bill (Howard’s life partner) and me to Washington for a tour. We saw some unbelievable material, including original manuscripts of a Mozart symphony and Barber’s Adagio for Strings, but my favorite was a sheet of yellow legal paper with twelve typed lines of lyrics and some handwriting on it. Four lines down, I read:
“Riding down hill on my big brother’s bike –
These are a few of the things that I like.”
Scrawled in pen beside that line is, “my favorite things.”
How wonderful that Mr. Hammerstein saw the error of his ways.
How wonderful that he saved his papers and that the Library of Congress has preserved them.
How wonderful if Oscar Hammerstein’s grandfather had also kept a scrapbook of his juvenilia. That would indeed be something to like.
Tags: Alan Menken, Albert Innaurato, Fatty At The Opera, howard ashman, Howard Sings Ashman, Jonathan Sheffer, Library of Congress, Little Shop of Horrors, musical comedy, Oscar Hammerstein, Sound of Music
Demos are indeed like “eavesdropping” on the creative process. And sometimes the performances are as good as seeing a Chita Rivera or Joel Grey on stage. (as they are in the case of Fred Ebb) Sometimes though, you long for Dorothy Collins. (I’m talking about you Stephen Sondheim.) But they are a rare, special treat. I love that PS Classics has released CDs of demos. They’re great!
Aw, I like Sondheim’s demos. His voice isn’t professional by any means, but it has a nice quality to it, and he doesn’t hold back on performing the songs. And his “Anyone Can Whistle” is touchingly beautiful, in my opinion.
Me too. I don’t have a problem with demos. I just think they have to be seen for what they are – part of the process, not necessarily the finished piece.
Great blog, Sarah! I loved that some of Howard’s actors, particularly Pat Carroll (as Ursula in Mermaid), insisted on using some of Howard’s line readings and vocal interpretations in her performance (with his permission, of course). And Howard pulling that vocal performance out of Jodi in the recording studio is something I will never forget!
Incidentally, I wish that the clip of Jody Benson was complete in the bonus features for Waking Sleeping Beauty. I’ve rarely seen anything I love as much as that clip, and I REALLY wanted to see the rest of it! That and the discussion of musical theatre that’s also in the bonus features. I’d buy those if they were ever released on DVD!
I wanted to comment on this, as a HUGE fan of demos. I can appreciate what you mean by “Listening in now is really just eavesdropping” – however, as someone who never had the privilege of meeting Howard Ashman (I was…I think 12 when he died), I LIVED for the Music Behind the Magic box set. I couldn’t have been more thrilled when Howard Sings Ashman came out. This is precisely BECAUSE these demos are kind of like eavesdropping. They’re the only opportunity that those of us not lucky enough to have met the man in person will ever get to “meet” him, so to speak. The personal moments preserved in the demos are my absolute favorite thing about them. Hearing songs I’ll probably never hear otherwise is amazing, and always welcome, but the best part of listening to demos is the sense that it’s an opportunity of sorts to meet someone I’m sure I would have loved in person.
Some more early lyrics for “My Favorite Things” (courtesy of Ted Chapin) are–
The things that I like are not like one another
I like tobaganning down a white hill
Riding a pony
Or standing and wading
Raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens
Curling my fingers in warm woolen mittens
Riding down hills on my big brother’s bike –
These are a few of the things that I like.
Lyric writing is tough work! I know that, and I’m sure Howard did too.