Customer Reviews

Guys and Dolls: Vocal Selections (A Musical Fable of Broadway Based on Characters by Damon Runyon)

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I found this songbook to be most unimpressive as far as faithful recreations of the songs and only worthwhile to get if there's no alternative. Not only are the arrangements not true to the original harmonies, but whole verses and introductions are left out, and the keys are drastically changed (sosmetimes as much as a fourth lower), which gives the wrong impressions as to the how the song should sound, and the type of voice suited to the song. According to the keys in this songbook, the role of Sarah Brown was sung by an alto when in reality it's a soprano role. Also, I question the leaving out of "Marry the Man Today", one of the best songs in the show. The photos of the different productions at the beginning of the book are nice, but they don't make up for its musical shortcomings.

One would expect to find fantastic arrangements of the highlights found in this fantastic work of musical theatre, but instead, with this sheetmusic release from Hal Leonard, fans of Guys and Dolls are left with poor incomplete and at times obsolete versions of the songs. One key example of this is the Nathan and Adelaide duet 'Sue Me'.

The lyrics and majority of the music is <completely different> than that found in the original and revival versions of Guys and Dolls. Seeing as though this is one of my favorite songs in the musical, I was completely shocked and agrivated by this. Another key song that is incomplete and vastly different from the stage and movie versions is 'Guys and Dolls'; the familiar introduction "Whats playing at the Roxy?.." is not to be found, and whole versus are cut. Yes, this is a vocal selections book, and not the complete score, but one would hope and assume that the selections that are in the book are complete and final (by way of lyrics, etc). The photographs (some of which never before seen) that accompany the first section of the book however, are fantastic in giving insites into the variations in each production (1950, 1955 and 1992) and prove to salvage some of the disapointments that are found throughout. All in all however, this is a good buy for the general fan of the show, who enjoy the memorable tunes, but is not a purist in regards to the traditional lyrics or music sequences-

One would expect to find fantastic arrangements of the highlights found in this fantastic work of musical theatre, but instead, with this sheetmusic release from Hal Leonard, fans of Guys and Dolls are left with poor incomplete and at times obsolete versions of the songs. One key example of this is the Nathan and Adelaide duet 'Sue Me'. The lyrics and majority of the music is <completely different> than that found in the original and revival versions of Guys and Dolls. Seeing as though this is one of my favorite songs in the musical, I was completely shocked and agrivated by this.

Another key song that is incomplete and vastly different from the stage and movie versions is 'Guys and Dolls'; the familiar introduction "Whats playing at the Roxy?.." is not to be found, and whole versus are cut. Yes, this is a vocal selections book, and not the complete score, but one would hope and assume that the selections that are in the book are complete and final (by way of lyrics, etc). The photographs (some never before seen) that accompany the first section of the book however, are fantastic in giving insites into the variations in each production (1950, 1955 and 1992) and prove to salvage some of the disapointments that are found throughout. All in all however, this is a good buy for the general fan of the show, who enjoy the memorable tunes, but is not a purist in regards to the traditional lyrics or music sequences- Sadly, this publication just does not do the right amount of justice to the wonderful memorable Guys and Dolls music written by Frank Loesser.

This is, by far, the worst vocal selections I've ever bought! And I've bought a lot of bad ones! I was in this show two years ago and had a fantastic time(I played Nicely-Nicely)! So I didn't hesitate to order the music, but when it arrived I found the selections chopped beyond recognition! And not only are they chopped, but they're also simplified! This book should be marked "Easy Piano!" If you're looking for a good rendition of this music, spend the extra $20 and buy the score!

I'm very impressed with this book. I enjoyed playing and singing these songs a lot. I also thought the book was well laid out so songs were easy to find in it.