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Something's Coming

My current favorite YouTube clip is Gavin Creel, singing "Something's Coming," from "West Side Story."

"Something's Coming" is like THE canonical version of the "I Want" song, the moment when the hero steps downstage, early in the show, and tells us about his ambition.

Sondheim was actually more or less finished with "West Side Story" when someone noticed that Tony lacked a major "I Want" moment--and this is when "Something's Coming," maybe the strongest song in the show, came about.

I could blather on and on about Sondheim, but here's just one thing I particularly like in this song. For a while, Tony is singing in a passive way about "something coming." "Something's coming....don't know when....but it's soon....Catch the moon! One-handed catch!" BUT, late in the song, there's a shift; Tony becomes more active. Instead of waiting, he is now issuing a command: "COME ON, something. Come on in. Don't be shy. Meet a guy. Pull up a chair." Brilliant.

Also, Tony speaks in clipped phrases, with some goopy celestial cliches. And THIS IS how a teen boy would sing about a vision of love. "Could it be? Yes, it could...." "Around the corner...." "Whistling down the river...." "The air is humming...." (Special points for: "catch the moon....one-handed catch!")

Often, an actor playing Tony is a bit wooden and humorless--but you couldn't use those words to describe Gavin Creel. And I particularly like how he wails out the last note, a note other actors tend to "downplay."

You don't need an orchestra if you're Gavin Creel. Enjoy this clip:

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