Which musicals do you think have the best finales or which finales are your favorite?

[Curtain lady]

I personally enjoy “This is Our Story” Shrek the Musical, “As We Stumble Along (Reprise)” The Drowsy Chaperone, “Home” The Wiz, “The View from Here” Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, “Finale” Something Rotten!, “Don’t Feed the Plants” Little Shop of Horrors, and last but not least “Find My Way” Legally Blonde. They’re such great endings to the shows and are written so inspirationally! What musicals do you think have the best finales?:)

[BwayLB]

Steal Your Rock N Roll from Memphis the reprise of Ain't No Mountain High Enough from Motown the curtain call reprise of One from A Chorus Line featuring the famous gold costumes and the final medley of Sante Fe. Carrying the Banner and King of New York from Newsies

[curel1]

The finale from Pippin

[ggersten]

Cervantes climbing the stairs to find his fate as the prisoners sing in Man of La Mancha

Home from The Wiz.

Finale from In the Heights

It's not the actual finale - but the end of Once We Were Kings in Billy Elliot as the miners descend. 

The original ending of Pippin.

Hairspray

 

.

 

[Jarethan]

The original production on Nine had the most beautiful, evocative finale for me; it was actually more cinematic than traditional musical theatre, and it was incredible.  It is peerless to me.

I am a sucker for Jerry Herman curtain call finales, so I will also include the finales from the original productions of Mame and Hello Dolly.

For sheer emotional power, I would add the gut-wrenching ending of the Sam Mendes Cabaret; and, although less real, the super-lush emotional ending of Les Mis; and Is Anybody There from 1776.

 

 

 

[Call_me_jorge]

The Great Comet of 1812 From The Great Comet is stunning

[carolinaguy]

The finale of Carousel is both crushing and uplifting at the same time.

[Ado Annie D'Ysquith]

Three of my favorites...

CAROUSEL (What carolinaguy said.)

FUN HOME (The three Alisons singing together, Big Alison emotionally making peace with her father.)

SUNDAY IN THE PARK WITH GEORGE (Dot taking George to meet all the people in his painting to a reprise of "Sunday."

 

[smallworld]

Midnight Radio from Hedwig and the Angry Inch.

[Lot666]

Ado Annie D'Ysquith said: "SUNDAY IN THE PARK WITH GEORGE (Dot taking George to meet all the people in his painting to a reprise of "Sunday."
 

^This.

And Phantom of the Opera.

[Bwayfan292]

I have two. I personally love the finale of Tuck Everlasting. Recently ive been loving the finale from She Loves Me.

[Itonlytakesajourney]

Anastasia. I'll admit, the ending left me confused, but when you actually understand what's happening in the song it's a lovely ending. It's not my favorite of all time though, same goes for Hello Dolly (good ending, but not the best).
Hamilton of course. When Eliza gasps, I always start to cry.
DEH is another one that makes you feel, although it does need more to make it a concrete ending (not a fan on how the rest of the characters never get their endings or at least a mention).

[raddersons]

Our Time from Merrily really crushes me. So idealistic. 

God Draws Straight from Here Lies Love. So touching. 

As much as You Can't Stop The Beat is the most overdone musical theater song ever... it's a great finale. "COME ON YOU VAN TUSSLES COME AND SHAKE YOUR FANNY MUSCLES!!"

[curtain_call2]

'Light' from Next to Normal.

[245601]

Kinky Boots. No competition in my opinion.

[BroadwayConcierge]

Few things hit me harder than "Who Lives, Who Dies, Who Tells Your Story." Eliza's story is simply awe-inspiring, and that gasp at the end... It's haunting and beautiful to me that every epic, explosive performance of Hamilton ends in such an understated way. You know, not with a bang but a whimper. So beautiful.

Hedwig's finale is also deeply cathartic, but I say that specifically including "Wicked Little Town (Reprise)." I find "Midnight Radio" to be effective because it follows Hedwig's transformed moments as Tommy.

[darquegk]

It's always shocking to me how well the finale to Hedwig works, and how effective it almost always is, given that after a certain point onstage the narrative goes off the rails and audiences, to this day, essentially have no idea exactly what happens in the final minutes of the show. (The mystical and surreal ending to the film version complicates things further.)

[Mister Matt]

You Can't Stop the Beat is probably the single most joyous finale I've seen in a musical and I love it every time.

Midnight Radio absolutely floored me on Broadway.  Unfortunately, it didn't hold up as well on tour.

My favorite will always be the finale from Les Miserables (original recipe).  From the moment Fantine and Eponine appear to join Valjean, I'm a mess until the end.  And I'll continue seeing the London production now and again to get my fix.  The new revival and film were far less effective.

[220Basswood]

Kinky Boots followed by Hairspray.  

[After Eight]

Hello, Dolly!, Mame, Dear World.

[poisonivy2]

Some of my favorite endings are "quiet" endings. For example:

The Great Comet of 1812 with the "comet" chandelier dimming down to one light and finally the total darkness is an amazing effect and along with that beautiful final anthem, it's one of the most moving endings to a musical I can remember.

Fun Home's ending had me ugly crying, especially when young Alison sings "I Wanna Play Airplane."

And hard to beat Fiddler on the Roof, with the fiddler playing that tune once again.

 

[non-stop26]

SUNDAY

(and of course Carousel)

[willrolandsframes]

I’m amazed nobody has mentioned “For Now” from Avenue Q. Everything about that song just ties such a nice little bow around that fantastic show. It also brings home all of the thematic elements and wraps them together into one beautiful melody.

I love it.

[Wilmingtom]

Finale: Exodus from Fiddler, proving that a finale doesn't need to be noisy.  Rose's Turn and the brief denouement that follows is a great finale.   

[youwillbefound2]

Dear Evan Hansen's finale had me crying when I saw it. It's just so beautiful with the orchard and Evan's letter to himself.