Time Stops
Time Stops is sung when Edward and Sandra see each other for the first time. It's a duet about how, for Edward, instead of seeing a new story to be told as he normally does, all he can see is Sandra and the world he always thought of as small and built around him all of a sudden seems so much bigger. For Sandra, the song is about how, after seeing Edward and seeing him staring at her, she feels that her life won't be as boring or dull as she had originally thought.
I like this song best partially because it's a duet and I love duets, but also because it tells of a very significant moment in Edward Bloom's life; the moment when he first sees his future wife and the moment when he stops thinking about all of the adventures waiting for him just around the corner and thinks only of the girl standing in front of him. It's one of the first times when Edward isn't thinking about what comes next or how to make this moment more exciting, because he sees Sandra and for once, what's directly in front of him is enough.
I picture this song starting with Sandra on one side of the stage talking to her friends and Edward o the other side looking around, with many people in various costumes in between them. Then, as the intro starts, he turns and sees her and the people around them freeze. As he starts singing, he slowly starts making his way towards her, trying to clear his way through the people but not getting very far. She notices him and looks away but keeps looking over her shoulder to see him still staring. She starts singing, facing the front and occasionally looking back at him, and he stops trying to make his way towards her and just stands there watching. When Edward starts singing again, she turns and they both face each other for the rest of the song. As they sing the last notes, Sandra returns to her friends and as the song ends, everyone unfreezes.
Be the Hero
Be the Hero takes place at the beginning of the musical when Will wanted Edward to read to him about the Trojan War and Edward says that he doesn't need to read about Greeks from thousands of years ago because there are adventures to be had and stories to be told all around them. He's telling Will to be the hero of his story, but ends up telling him about all of the things that he's done and seen in his own life. Be the Hero is a sort of prologue to the musical because it shows the relationship between the father and his son and in the song, Edward lists off all of the characters he's met that will be introduced later in the musical.
The reason why this is my least favourite song is because of the 50 bar dance break in the middle where everyone is supposed to do the "Alabama Stomp". I don't like this part because on small stages like ours, it's often difficult to make big group dances like this look good without being too crowded.
I think to make this song work, there would have to be just a small portion of the cast on stage for the Alabama Stomp and Edward will have to be very animated throughout the entire song. Also the Stomp will have to be choreographed very carefully so that the dancers will actually be able to stomp and dance without risk of drowning out the music with their feet.
