Superfluous Solo: Difference between revisions

 

{{examples}}

* "Bianca" was written into ''[[Kiss Me Kate]]'' at a late stage largely because Harold Lang needed to show off his tap dancing; in the score, Bill otherwise has one line to sing in the tag of "Why Can't You Behave?" and is part of the "Tom, Dick Or Harry" trio.

* Parodied in ''The Abduction of Figaro'', where Schleporello, who is supposed to play [[Silent Partner]] to Donald Giovanni, executes a [[Hostile Show Takeover]] so his whiny voice can get an aria to sing.

* When [[Frank Sinatra]] played Nathan Detroit in the movie version of ''[[Guys and Dolls]]'', it was not enough for him to be half of the "Sue Me" duet and add his voice to the title number (which might have happened in the original production if Sam Levene hadn't been a non-singer). Therefore, the rather bland [[Movie Bonus Song]] "Adelaide" was written for him.

* The song "The Morning Report" in ''[[The Lion King]]''; it's blatantly there just to give Zazu more singing time, and is little more than a [[Hurricane of Puns]]. To add insult to injury, Zazu doesn't even get to finish the song - ''Simba'' butts in and finishes it, for him, completely invalidating the reason for giving him the song to sing, in the first place.

* "Another Suitcase in Another Hall" from the stage production of ''Evita'', sung by Juan Peron's lover prior to Evita, who has no real role in the play other than to be unceremoniously kicked out by Evita. (In the movie, the song is sung by Evita herself.)

* In the fourth act of Mozart's opera ''The Marriage of Figaro'', Marcellina and Basilio each have an aria. These arias are often omitted.

* "Close Every Door To Me" in ''[[Joseph and The Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat]]''. Joseph's the star, so they have to give him a big solo number, but it noticeably slows the pace of the show down.

* In ''The Rocky Horror Show'', Brad's song "Once In A While" originally existed solely because Brad was the only major character without his own song. Not all productions included it, as it was often considered the weakest in the show; it was also cut from [[The Rocky Horror Picture Show|the film]].

 

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