Songs That Got Cut
In musical theatre, not all demos end up in the final product—but the Internet has allowed these unproduced numbers to find an audience. Consider the following demos that never quite got there. For each, discuss with your team: why do you think it was left out of the finished product?
- Aladdin | “Count on Me” (1994)
- Pocahontas | “First to Dance” (1995)
- Book of Mormon | “Family Home Evening” (2009)
- Dear Evan Hansen | “In the Bedroom Down the Hall” (2017)
Alan Menken wrote a whole friendship anthem for Aladdin — music and lyrics, the works. It's genuinely good. It never made the film.
Key concepts
- Killing Your Darlings
- The editing rule of cutting material you love when it doesn't serve the whole — a number can be genuinely good and still be the right thing to remove.
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Every work — at a glance
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Count on Me — Alan Menken (song)
An upbeat friendship-and-destiny number Menken wrote for Aladdin — music and lyrics both his, composed after Howard Ashman's death — that was cut from the final score.
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What to know
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01
Why was it left out? Almost never because it's bad. “Count on Me” is a fine song; it simply wasn't what Aladdin needed — a cut number usually slows the story, repeats another song's job, or breaks the tone, so it goes for fit, not merit. That is the hard heart of editing: serving the whole over the part.
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Across subjects
Theme connection
"Are We There Yet?"
Practice — a sample
ARTA cut musical number that later finds fans online is MOST like —
- A A live encore
- B A deleted film scene
- C A published sequel
- D A greatest-hits album
- E A stage understudy
Sign in to answer and see why each option is right or wrong.
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