So I've been thinking about the new DEH movie and the more I think about the more I hate that they took out "Does Anybody Have A Map?"
Not to talk on if it's a good song or not but it is literally the beginning song. This song sets up not only the characters, their dynamics, and significance, but also the tone of the music, the style of the music.
Take Hamilton. The first thing you hear is this grandiose "BUM BA DA DUH DUM DUM DUM" followed sharp violins and a piano. Just from this instrumental alone we learn how the music is going to sound for the rest play. The vocals teach us that there is gonna be rapping, singing, its gonna go fast, its gonna go slow. Finally ending with a burst of instruments that most songs use to show a ending.
We learn so much from just that one song alone, most in just the first few seconds.
"In The Heights" shows a more hispanic touch with phrases of spanish being thrown in, "The Whole Being Dead Thing" sets up that this is a musical that is unapologetic about death and how you feel for it, that it is a dark comedy with constant 4th wall breaking moments, "Welcome To The Renaissance" explains how the Renaissance was a time where new things were occurring with a slight touch of comedic olden time music.
All of these openings show so much about a musical in just the first couple of minutes of the play.
Even the opening songs are set up differently. They feature the characters that are important and gives a little of insight on the possible goals and personalities that these characters may bring. The rest of the songs require that you already know who these people are and why they are saying the things they say, and if not, then its a mini introduction for them.
This brings me back to the lack of opening in thr DEH movie. "Waving Through A Window" requires that you already know the struggles that Even and, in a way, his mother, face. If you was to listen to the soundtrack sans "DAHAM?", you wouldn't know Even. You wouldn't know why he feels the way he feels. Its just him telling you "oh im lonely." It doesn't even sound like an opening number.
Without this opening number, so many aspects of what music is supposed to do in a musical is lost.
This post is long and I'm pretty sure that some of what i want to say got lost from brain to text but this is the essence of my thoughts. Props for reading if you did
