Robinflamingo
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Song Discussion: Beautiful CityGo ahead, try and convince me this should be in the stage play and that it fits with the rest of the songs.
I HATE HATE HATE this song, and I've been Ms. Godspell since 1977...except for that @#%#$^ song!! See, it even makes me cartoon swear!!!!!
Go ahead. Discuss.
 
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jackissensational
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I think it's very "pretty", but you're right. It does kinda' seem out of place. Especially when directors put it in the WRONG place in the book.
However, in my production, our Jeffery's house burned totally to the ground the night before our last tech rehearsal, so this sort of cheesy metaphor became really profound (and quite ironic) for our cast. I always teared up at that point during the run.
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Robinflamingo
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| jackissensational wrote: | I think it's very "pretty", but you're right. It does kinda' seem out of place. Especially when directors put it in the WRONG place in the book.
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See, that's my point. It's not IN the original book. And it doesn't match the rest of the songs because the lyrics are not hymns.
So, I still hold my opinion that it's a dumb song and doesn't belong.
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Tom
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| Robinflamingo wrote: | | See, that's my point. It's not IN the original book. And it doesn't match the rest of the songs because the lyrics are not hymns. |
Prepare Ye (from Matthew 3:3), Learn Your Lessons Well (Schwartz original lyric), All For The Best (Schwartz original lyric), Light of the World (adapted from Matthew 5:13-16), Alas For You (adapted from Matthew 23:13-16), By My Side (Original lyric by Jay Hambuger, written for another musical with no bearing on the Gospel stories), On The Willows (adapted from Psalm 137) and The Finale were not hymns as well, but they still work.
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Baker
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But Tom, all of those songs that you mentioned borrow lyrics from the Bible, leaving "Beautiful City" still out of place, because (I think) it's the only song with completely original lyrics.
I like the song, but I agree that it feels out of place. I just don't think it serves a purpose that isn't already established.
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Alabesque
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I like the song just fine, but I agree that it doesn't really seem to fit in. I would much rather have seen 'We Beseech Thee,' 'Learn Your Lessons Well,' or the prologue / 'Tower of Babble' in the movie than 'Beautiful City.'
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Tom
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I am not defending Beautiful City, I am just trying to point out that there are at least 3 songs (4 if you count the Prologue) that are not hymns or Gospel paraphrases that have original lyrics.
Most of the lyrics were taken from the 1940 Episcopal Hymnal. I just have fun imagining a congregation singing "All For The Best" in 4 part harmony with an organ "Some men are born to leave at ease, doing what they please...
The song can fit if you consider that the metaphor for the City is established in Light of the World, and Jesus is referred to as the Son of Man, it isn't to far of a stretch to conceive of a "City of Man" metaphor being used to describe a community of Jesus followers.
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Robinflamingo
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I just feel like the folks involved with the movie were sitting around a table and said "Hey, we have permission to shoot in all these Beautiful places in the City. Why don't we do a montage number like the one that was so popular in Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid to Raindrops Keep Fallin' on My Head? But then we'd need a song to show off the Beautiful City..."
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Vichysois
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I'm not a huge fan of the song, especially considering the context of the movie and its various contrivances....all of which seem on the fly much in the manner Robin's joking
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Jman383
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Oh I LOVE the song. I think that it fits just fine into the show, if put in the correct place. If you place it before The Last Supper and soon after "We Beseech Thee" (after Judas has just been called out), and you have a follower sing it, NOT Jesus, it makes perfect sense that the Followers are going to "build a beautiful city" even after Jesus has left them. When I directed the show I also used it as a point for the set that was "created" or rather, "revamped" during "Day by Day" to be taken down and left as it was when the show started. Just my thoughts though.
IMO, the show is fine with or without it. Personally, the main reason I added it was because I had an amazing singer for it.
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lovesinging
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| Robinflamingo wrote: | I just feel like the folks involved with the movie were sitting around a table and said "Hey, we have permission to shoot in all these Beautiful places in the City. Why don't we do a montage number like the one that was so popular in Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid to Raindrops Keep Fallin' on My Head? But then we'd need a song to show off the Beautiful City..."
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That was my impression as well. I actually really love this song if the right person is singing it, but not in the context of the musical at all.
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jackissensational
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I think the song has a major point and major heart, which I think the show needs. However, "By My Side" kind of has that feel, so I prefer if it is not near "By My Side" in the story. We had it right before the Last Supper. They removed their equivalent of clown make-up in our production during "Beautiful City", and then I said the blessing. I wish the same point could have been conveyed with Biblical or hymn-inspired lyrics, though.
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Jman383
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| jackissensational wrote: | | I think the song has a major point and major heart, which I think the show needs. However, "By My Side" kind of has that feel, so I prefer if it is not near "By My Side" in the story. We had it right before the Last Supper. They removed their equivalent of clown make-up in our production during "Beautiful City", and then I said the blessing. I wish the same point could have been conveyed with Biblical or hymn-inspired lyrics, though. |
Yes, like I said above, that's exactly where I put it as well. I think that's really the only place you CAN put it, as it's in there in Godspell Jr. as well (where it was first actually written INTO the show officially).
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Brother Marvin Hinten, S.
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And now we turn to Stephen Schwartz for his opinion of the song:
| Stephen Schwartz wrote: | No special permission is needed to incorporate Beautiful City into the show as long as the lyrics used are the ones featured on the recent recordings, not the ones from the 1972 movie. I feel that the new lyrics are vastly superior to the ones used in the movie, which I find "drippy" and somewhat cloying. So I would prefer wherever it is used within the show, directors use the new lyrics. I don’t feel they are too specifically about Los Angeles if one doesn’t know they were originally written for that purpose; I feel their reference to urban blight and violence is universal enough.
I have seen "Beautiful City" used in several of the more recent productions of GODSPELL. It is always in the second act, which makes sense, because it would be strange to sing about what the community can accomplish together before the community is built, which occurs during the first act. Most of the productions I have seen, which included "Beautiful City," used it in place of the "Day by Day" reprise during the make-up removal sequence. In that instance, it began as a solo for Jesus while he watched the others, and then the rest of the group joined in during the bridge or towards the end of the song. Often, a shorter version of the song was used here. This was a very effective placement for the song.
In the recent British tour, the song was used at the very end in place of the "Long Live God" and "Prepare Ye" reprise--in other words, as the Finale. This was also extremely effective, though more daring. In this instance, one person began the song, then others gradually joined, until finally the whole group was singing. It was used as part of the healing after the Crucifixion and also as a declaration that the group would carry the message on into the world. As I say, it worked exceedingly well, but it does subtly alter the message at the end of the show, putting more emphasis on human responsibility.
The other place I have seen it used (in the 2000 national tour) was in an up tempo version to open the second act in place of the "Learn Your Lessons Well" reprise. This worked also, but had less dramatic impact than the other possibilities. I leave it to the director and company of each individual production to decide if they want to include "Beautiful City" and, if so, where to use it. |
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