This week Tony and I hit the West End! Songs written for the stage often outgrow their original productions, circulating in recordings, revivals, and popular culture; many have taken on new meanings in concert halls, films, sporting events and social movements. Tonight we songs that span nearly 100 years of musical theatre, traced both their theatrical origins, and explored the sometimes unexpected paths they travelled after leaving the proscenium arch.
Carousel & A Little Night Music
You’ll Never Walk Alone was written by Rodgers and Hammerstein for their 1945 musical Carousel. In the show, Nettie Fowler sings it to comfort Julie Jordan after the death of her husband Billy Bigelow, and it returns in the epilogue during their daughter Louise’s graduation. Written as a straightforward ballad of perseverance, the song was later covered by Gerry and the Pacemakers in 1963, which reached No. 1 in the UK for four weeks. That version established its enduring association with football culture, particularly Liverpool FC supporters at Anfield (where it is still played and sung before every match), and later with clubs across Europe and Japan. The song has since been recorded by artists including Nina Simone and Elvis Presley, and was revived globally during the COVID-19 pandemic as an anthem of solidarity.
Send in the Clowns appears late in Act II of Stephen Sondheim‘s A Little Night Music, as the character Desirée reflects on missed opportunities and the ironies of her romantic life. Sondheim wrote the piece specifically for Glynis Johns, and tailored its short, questioning phrases to her voice that was rich in tone but limited in sustain. After the original production, it became Sondheim’s most commercially successful song, with recordings by Frank Sinatra, Judy Collins, and later Barbra Streisand, for whom Sondheim added an additional verse in 1985. It has since entered the jazz standard repertoire, recorded by artists such as Sarah Vaughan and Count Basie.
Les Misérables & Wicked
One Day More serves as the Act I finale of Claude-Michel Schönberg, Alain Boublil, and Jean-Marc Natel‘s 1980 musical Les Misérables, and draws together the intersecting storylines leading into the 1832 Paris uprising. Each major character expresses a different anticipation of “tomorrow”: Valjean’s escape, Marius and Cosette’s uncertainty, the students’ mobilisation, Éponine’s unrequited loyalty, Javert’s pursuit, and the Thénardiers’ opportunism. The overlapping vocal lines reflect their converging destinies at the barricade. First released on a 1980 French concept album, the musical went on to become one of the longest-running productions in West End and Broadway history, and a highly-successful 2012 film adaptation.
In Stephen Schwartz and Winnie Holzman‘s Wicked, The Wizard and I appears early in Act I as Elphaba’s “I Want” song, following Madame Morrible’s revelation that she may have the talent to meet the Wizard. The number introduces the recurring “Unlimited” theme, which quotes the first seven notes of “Over the Rainbow” and anticipates the show’s later ironies – Elphaba imagines a celebrated future without realising it will be a celebration of her death. The 2024 film adaptation, featuring Cynthia Erivo as Elphaba and Ariana Grande as Glinda, marked one of the most commercially successful musical-to-film releases since Les Misérables.
SIX & Dear Evan Hansen
SIX by Toby Marlow and Lucy Moss (2017) reimagines the wives of Henry VIII as pop stars who recount their histories in competition format before collectively rejecting the premise. Don’t Lose Ur Head is Anne Boleyn’s song, and traces her courtly upbringing in France, her arrival in England, and her involvement with Henry VIII, culminating in the accusations that led to her execution. The musical employs contemporary idioms and performance styles inspired by real-life artists; Anne’s character is reportedly loosely based on Avril Lavigne and Lily Allen. First staged at the Edinburgh Fringe in 2017, SIX later transferred to the West End and Broadway.
Waving Through a Window, from Act I of Dear Evan Hansen by Benj Pasek and Justin Paul, functions as the protagonist’s “I Want” song, outlining Evan’s isolation, anxiety and desire for connection. The musical follows Evan as he becomes entangled in a misunderstanding surrounding a classmate’s death and struggles with the consequences of sustaining that deception. The show premiered on Broadway in 2016 and won six Tony Awards, including Best Musical and Best Actor for Ben Platt. The 2021 film adaptation, despite retaining its central cast member, received a mixed critical response and closed soon after amid reduced ticket sales.
Gordon Lightfoot vs Whitney Houston
Our soundslike this week connected Gordon Lightfoot‘s 1970 song If You Could Read My Mind and Whitney Houston‘s 1985 song Greatest Love of All. Lightfoot’s song also inspired Save a Prayer by Duran Duran (1982), and similarities are also found in Hungry Like The Wolf (1981). As ever, however, none of these similarities amount to copying! See our mashup for more…
Musical Theatre Quiz
For our quiz this week, we played clips from famous songs from the world of musical theatre – guess the show and song!
As always, find the show and blog at joebennett.net/5live, with occasional Instagram extras at @joebennettmusicology. With a new show comes a new Spotify mega-playlist, which contains all songs featured on the show:
And you can still listen to our old mega-playlist here.
- Words: Joe Bennett, John Pierce O’Reilly
- Audio production: Joe Bennett, Rafi Waters
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