BWW EXCLUSIVE: 5 SONGS BY... Amanda Green On ON THE TWENTIETH CENTURY

BroadwayWorld recently kicked off a brand new feature series spotlighting the best and brightest songwriters on Broadway and beyond with their own personally chosen quintet of songs that hold special meaning to them, titled 5 SONGS BY....

Today we continue the 5 SONGS BY... series with an intriguing and informative new entry with a bit of a twist, legendary Golden Age songwriters Betty Comden and Adolph Green penned a sparkling score for their multi-award-winning 1978 musical ON THE TWENTIETH CENTURY and Green's own accomplished daughter, Amanda Green, supplied new lyrics and approved some useful tweaks to the score that have been implemented for the brand new Roundabout Theatre Company revival of the zippy Jazz Age/operetta mash-up pastiche tuner and she opens up about the process in an exclusive chat, highlighting some of her contributions as well as shedding light on some of her own favorite moments in the acclaimed and adventurous operetta-based show.

More information on ON THE TWENTIETH CENTURY is available at the official site here.

"Because Of Her"

"Scott Ellis came to me and had an assignment for me - since my mom, Phyllis Newman, and I oversee the estate of my father, he asked if I would put on my songwriter hat on and take a look at a song in the second act that he wanted to be about something different than it was and achieve something different than it was. I was thrilled to be asked and be a part of it - I saw right away that he and Warren Carlyle, the choreographer, had a great vision for the show. I mean, Kristin Chenoweth is the dream Lily Garland and Peter Gallagher is such a fantastic Oscar Jaffe - I was just so thrilled to be asked to be a part of it and I am so happy they got it so right. I worked on a song that is now called 'Because Of Her', which used to be called 'The Legacy'. I reconceived and re-imagined that song and in re-evaluating the score itself I realized just what a sparkling score it really is. Scott wanted it to be more of an 11 o'clock moment and also to adjust the lyrics - as brilliant as they are - because a lot of the punch-lines are references that audiences today probably wouldn't get - things like Floradora and 'my worn-out records of RAMONA' and 'ticket stubs from ABIE'S IRISH ROSE'; stuff like that. Secondly, he didn't think the moment was dramatic enough so he wanted something that would move the story and the character forward more. So, I looked at 'The Legacy' and he gave me carte blanche to use any music of Cy Coleman's and so I played around at first thinking I might use reprises of this and reprises of that and then I thought I would look at Cy's trunk songs. In the end, though, I realized that Cy, Betty and my dad conceived this as an 11 o'clock moment and it is already an 11 o'clock number that works perfectly for that moment in the show, so I went through the script and tried to figure out what I could add to it to flesh it out a little bit more - obviously, the characters in this show are not very self-reflective; they are very narcissistic and grand with outsized egos. So, I thought Oscar could have a moment where he would realize he was at fault and he blew it with Lily - and him realizing that she means more to him than a ticket back to his career; she's really a ticket back to his life. I thought that could be a good moment of reckoning for him to realize that and to have him voicing that. So, I wrote new lyrics to fit the music and then I looked at the introduction that they had for the song and I couldn't really think of anything better and so I didn't want to get rid of it - so, it's still there as it originally was and it's still so great. I tried to give Oscar a little bit more heart and keep the humor at the same time, too. Also, in the old version he takes out a gun and says he is going to kill himself and I thought we should save that for the last moment later on - I mean, once you pull out a gun, where do you go from there?! So, I moved that to the end of the scene instead of the beginning of the scene."

"Finale Ultimo"

"Scott had talked to me about a little bit of a new ending by having Oscar and Lily's wedding and I thought that was a great idea, too - I love that it is a wedding but there is no 'I love you,' and 'I love you, too' but instead they keep their personalities with the bad kissing and quirks and everything. I thought that was a perfect ending. We actually first discussed the idea for a new ending last summer, I believe, and I love the way that it turned out in this production - especially with the way Kristin and Peter play it; there is something so Tom & Jerry about the characters and they really get that and they play off of each other so well. They have such great chemistry together."

"I Rise Again"

"I love the way Peter does 'I Rise Again' so much. It's a song I identify with my father very much because it was one of his favorite songs that he had written and he performed it himself often. Actually, at his unofficial funeral we played a recording of him singing 'I Rise Again' because that was kind of his theme song. The language is so rich and it reminds me so much of him - you know, 'With the water rising to my chin,' and everything; I can hear him saying those words and it just sounds so much like him to me. Of course, I love the way Peter does it, as well. I mean, the whole exuberant philosophy - and indomitable brio and zest - reminds me so much of my dad."

"Veronique"

"I love 'Veronique', especially the way that Kristin and Scott have done it - it's really a showstopper now. It's always been a fantastic song - from a writing point of view, it's a perfect example of my dad and Betty's sublime silliness. The whole premise of the song is just ridiculous, but the rhymes in it are so great and so sublimely silly, but it is also sophisticated - a real mix of the high and low. It's so much fun. I mean, lyrics like, 'But her spirit dances on above the fray / Liberte, egalite, fraternite, / France is saved and freedom once again can speak.' And, then, Kristin's runs at the end of it - just effortlessly flowing out of her mouth - every time I see it, the audience just comes alive with delight because they can't really believe what they are seeing. She is such a great comedienne and then these operatic trills just come flowing out of her so effortlessly - I don't know who else could even do it! Madeline Kahn was spectacular and Kristin is spectacular in her own way. Kristin brings such athleticism to the role - I feel like she could even bake and pie and knit a dress at the same time she does it, too!"

"5 Zeros"

"This song is so hilarious - just flat-out hilarious. It also shows my dad and Betty's unpretentious humor - 'Five zeros, preceded by a two, / Preceded by a dollar sign / Is too, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh / Wonderful for words.' And, then, 'Pull up a chair, put up your feet. / Hello old friend, / We've missed you Mister Money, / So stick around, / Don't leave us, / Cause when you are here we eat!' I mean, who can't identify with that?! That kind of thing is what makes them so accessible, I think."

Photo Credits: Walter McBride, Roundabout Theatre Company