Mr. Fairouz took a similarly intuitive approach to adapting the book into a musical work, using both a formal musicalstructure and his own perspective to craft the sounds.
This structure allows Midler to perform musical numbers from different eras and to attempt the acting tour de force of playing a character at several distinct stages of life.
While he could have made a spiffy set of charts, Larsen claims that there are certain parameters, like sunlight and temperature, that give the data a structure that lends itself to musical representation.
From a recording point of view, the simple four-track, sometimes mono, sound and structure of the early songs seem dated, but the musical quality is undeniable.