I’m a fan of playing around with songs, particularly if one song’s lyrics can be put to another song’s melody…even better if it uses a musical theatre or television reference. The spirituals/hymns “Amazing Grace” and The Doxology (“Praise Good from Whom All Blessings Flow”) can be interchanged with several other tunes, for example. For fun, try either The Doxology or Robert Frost’s poem “Stopping By Woods on a Snowy Evening” sung to “Hernando’s Hideaway” from The Pajama Game. “Amazing Grace” can be sung upbeat to the Gilligan’s Island theme or alternately soulfully to “The House of the Rising Sun” – you can really blues it up on the line “That saved a wretch like me!” For a truly beautiful one, try The Doxology to Mary Poppins’ “Chim Chim Cheree.” (Repeat the last line to make it work out.)
When I’m working on a show, inevitably someone on the production (including myself), will start changing up the lyrics. This video came across my Facebook feed today, which I enjoyed for the dedication. Who knew Oklahoma and Fiddler on the Roof could be somewhat interchangeable?
Posted by Adam B. Shapiro on Saturday, August 25, 2018
Have more great musical theatre mashups? Send them my way!