Instead of learning pieces, Alan would get the basic idea of a Beethoven Sonata or a Bartok Mikrokosmos and spend the rest of his practice time “faking it”. Studying was like pulling teeth (no pun intended) and even practicing piano was a trial. Much as he would have expected to become a dentist, like most of the other men in three generations of his family, he was a very ADHD child. Alan’s ambition, from his earliest memories, was to become a composer. He grew up in a home, filled with music and theater (and comedy and drama) in New Rochelle, New York, along with his sisters, Faye and Leah. In the last analysis, despite “I Want the Good Times” being custom-made for Sherie, it’s actually the MOST specific and in keeping with Ursula the Sea Witch’s character!!!! Just because it’s a Cabaret style number MUSICALLY doesn’t take away from the characterization.Early years Alan Menken was born July 22nd, 1949 at French Hospital in New York City, to young aspiring actress/playwright, Judy Menken and boogie-woogie piano-playing dentist, Norman Menken, DDS. When Ursula referred to Wasting away in the animated film, it was clearly a rather ironic one time comment and not the thrust of her whole character. You say “Wasting Away” is your favourite but that’s not true to the character either. If all her potions, spells, baubles, shells, ointments and gels mean squat as the song says, then how on earth has she been performing Witchcraft for merfolk as described later in ‘Poor Unfortunate Souls’? “Wasting Away” is not the best fit for the character either because it portrays her as the very thing she resents in others – being “miserable, lonely and depressed: PATHETIC!” Emily Skinner makes it work because she’s brilliant but even then some of the lyrics don’t match what we know about Ursula. It’s generic in the sense that it can be performed out of context, but it doesn’t invent a whole new backstory for Ursula unlike “Daddy’s Little Angel” which actually TOTALLY *RECREATES* the character in a way that none of the other songs quite do. You also called “All Good Things Must End” more generic but Ursula always knew a lot about the human world even in the 1989 animated version so it’s still in keeping with the character the world has known since ’89. This new/latest song invents a COMPLETELY new backstory for Ursula, replete with 6 siblings that were not a part of her story before, so how can THIS be more “character specific”? I positively cherish the song, but there’s nothing about it that screams Ursula the Sea Witch character specifically, especially relative to “I Want the Good Times Back”. “Daddy’s Little Angel” sounds like any more generic cartoon villainess song found in a show like the 80s MY LITTLE PONY or MOON DREAMERS. How in the world can you say that “Daddy’s Little Angel” – as brilliant a song as it is – strikes you as more “character specific” to “Ursula the Sea Witch” than ‘I Want the Good Times Back’? The Broadway song introduced by Sherie Renee Scott was not just a showcase for the actress – it ties right in with Ursula’s opening monologue from the 1989 animated film where she talked about all the grand feasts they had when she lived in the palace….and Sherie’s song also goes into graphic detail about the way Ursula terrorized merfolk and fish folk alike!!!! If that doesn’t scream Ursula to you as she was depicted in the animated film as well as the 90s TV series, what does? A few years back, Geekiarchy did a really neat cover of this ‘lost’ song as well: The former song was never fully orchestrated or recorded properly, but a demo performed by the songwriters themselves did pop up on an album titled The Music Behind the Magic. It was ultimately replaced by the now famous “Poor Unfortunate Souls”. “Silence is Golden”ĭisney Dream Team Alan Menken and the late Howard Ashman originally wrote this character song for Ursula to sing in the 1989 film. Need help finding musical theatre songs to sing? Check out my professional repertoire guides here. Here is a list of her sinister songs that didn’t quite stand the test of time. One Disney character who has had a particularly large number of cut/deleted songs written for her is the villainous sea witch, Ursula, from Disney’s The Little Mermaid (both the film and stage adaptation). Many factors have caused this occur (story pacing issues, catering to specific performer strengths, etc.). Over the years, countless songs have been scrapped from Disney films, television shows, stage musicals, etc.
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