The Problem with Rewriting

It seems to me that tiny problems in a script often end up being larger problems in terms of focus. Right now, "Holy Schmidt!" is in the middle of a major rewrite. I finished revising Act 1 earlier this morning and realized just how much I've been cutting and changing and moving, but also thinking to myself that the play is stronger. Yes, I've cut out a lot of my favorite moments that I had in the script, but I really had to consider each one: Does this futher the plot or add anything to the story as it is? And if the answer was No, if the moment actually detracted or got in the way of the story, well, then it was shelved. The writing lately has been coming out of the characters rather than writing and writing ways to get to specific jokes. In fact, I came up with at least 10 NEW jokes and moments that I wanted in the play, including the Evangelist character and his wife driving in a convertible with the song "Spirit in the Sky" playing loudly while they had a Tarantino-esque conversation about spam or something, I hadn't decided the conversation, only the visual idea. This idea had to be scrapped when I found myself at the climax of act one with no more room for other jokes. So, now, tons of old ideas are on the cutting room floor and tons of new ideas never even made it to the script to be cut out. And this is the problem with rewriting: I started out this whole process trying to create a complete script. It wasn't perfect, but I liked it, you know? Then, after thinking about it, I decided that the story had to shift slightly in order to serve the characters better and create more plausible events (plausible in the world of the play of course). So, now, with the story change, I wonder how the ending will be affected. I worked so hard to find an ending for the first draft and now I'm in the same predicament! I had a complete script and now I'm reduced back to bits and pieces! Am I happier with this draft? So far, but I still feel very sad to lose many things from the script as it was before...