I'm looking for some help from the musical gurus on this forum.
Generally musicals will have some INTRO to the story being told -- often a song that provides the setting (e.g., Downtown, Dear Ole Shiz, Heat is on in Saigon, Good Morning Baltimore, etc., etc.).
But very often, BEFORE the intro, there is some PRE-intro; sometimes it is someone in the future who is letting us know they are going to tell us the story of what happened. E.g., Narrator starts off Little Shop ("On the 23rd of September, in a year..."), Galinda starts in the future and tells the story of the wicked witch, Phantom starts in the future with the auction, Adam in the future starts American in Paris and tells us the story.
Can you think of any other really good PRE-intros to musicals?
Great responses so far. And no, as my introductory post explains, opening number would not be accurate. It is usually what happens before the opening number. Kad and Lyls, you got it!
I never saw Sunset Blvd (I only know the music). Is that how the staged version opened with Joe Gillis floating dead in the pool? That is cool. These are exactly the types of examples I'm looking for.
My favorite is the prologue to the film version and revised/licensed stage version of Reefer Madness, with the Lecturer not just beginning cold, but establishing the world of the play as a PTA assembly gone mad.
How about the narrator of Damn Yankees….who narrates a bit before "Six Months Out of Every Year" goes into full swing. He starts out with "Good evening…." It's kind of part of the song, as the guys and their wives on stage are reacting to what he's saying. But it's not sung.
Would the opening of GREY GARDENS count? They show the tabloids with the voice over and you get a glimpse of little Edie's eyes in the window before the reveal of the act one version of the home. Very effective.
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