best/most powerful finales of a show- Page 3
best/most powerful finales of a show
TheaterAddict7652
Broadway Star Joined: 2/7/06
#50re: best/most powerful finales of a show
Posted: 2/19/06 at 8:54pmI can't believe I forgot West Side Story- what a moving finale.
There's a lot I am not certain of...
#51re: best/most powerful finales of a show
Posted: 2/19/06 at 8:54pmI will second DOTV and Parade!
#52re: best/most powerful finales of a show
Posted: 2/19/06 at 8:58pmCan't believe no one's mentioned City of Angels.... My vote goes with several others - and CoA
"A little nonsense now and then is relished by the wisest men" - Willy Wonka
Josh Freilich
Broadway Legend Joined: 2/17/06
#53re: best/most powerful finales of a show
Posted: 2/19/06 at 9:44pmL5Y?
"How could she just suddenly, completely disappear into thin water?" - The Little Mermaid
cate_w
Stand-by Joined: 10/6/04
#54re: best/most powerful finales of a show
Posted: 2/19/06 at 9:53pmFor me: Miss Saigon, The Secret Garden, Fiddler on the Roof, Titanic, and Man of La Mancha. They're all moving tear-jerkers.
#55re: best/most powerful finales of a show
Posted: 2/19/06 at 9:57pmLes Miserables and The King and I
#56re: best/most powerful finales of a show
Posted: 2/19/06 at 10:10pm
"Kiss of the Spider Woman"! HANDS DOWN!
"It is bad enough that people are dying of AIDS, but no one should die of ignorance." -
Elizabeth Taylor
#57re: best/most powerful finales of a show
Posted: 2/19/06 at 10:14pmLes Mis definately takes it. A close second is RENT. Then I'd have to say Miss Saigon and Phantom.
LET OTHERS RISE TO TAKE OUR PLACE UNTIL THE EARTH IS FREE!
musicaltheater1
Broadway Legend Joined: 10/19/05
#58re: best/most powerful finales of a show
Posted: 2/19/06 at 10:15pmjimmirae or any Broadway afficionados here....on "Kiss of the Spiderwoman," did the play go on tour (US)? How was it received on Broadway? Are there any plans of a revival? I didn't see the production but bought the cd.
"I love acting. It is so much more real than life." Oscar Wilde
"After silence, that which comes nearest to expressing the inexpressible is music." Aldous Huxley
"After silence, that which comes nearest to expressing the inexpressible is music." Aldous Huxley
#59re: best/most powerful finales of a show
Posted: 2/19/06 at 10:48pm
Cabaret
Les Miserables
West Side Story
Light in the Piazza
Floyd Collins
#60re: best/most powerful finales of a show
Posted: 2/19/06 at 10:51pm
Hairspray/ASU (i love it..soo much fun)
West Side Story
--Alex--
"They're singing, "Happy Birthday"
You just wanna lay down and cry
Not just another birthday, it's 30/90
Why can't you stay 29
Hell, you still feel like you're 22
Turn 30 in 1990
Bang! You're dead, what can you do?"
--TTB
Matters
Stand-by Joined: 10/7/05
#61re: best/most powerful finales of a show
Posted: 2/19/06 at 11:15pmPeter Pan and Blood Brothers, no question.
Canadians are not afraid of the dark! Ok...we don't love it, but who does?
#62re: best/most powerful finales of a show
Posted: 2/20/06 at 12:13am
SUNSET BOULEVARD!!!
And Maybe L5Y
stage_door76
Broadway Star Joined: 1/18/05
#63re: best/most powerful finales of a show
Posted: 2/20/06 at 12:21am
Blood Brothers is the ultimate in powerful endings to a show.
Without doubt.
"Tell Me It's Not True", when sung correctly at the conclusion of the shocking series of events, is absolutely emotionally gutting and heart wrenching.
Blood Brothers is truly the ultimate in intense show conclusions.
"...But Kungurtseva reels off multiple fouettes and the tape is stopped so she can take a bow. The Jester, an abomination introduced to Swan Lake in Soviet times, extorts applause from the audience. The cuts don't help the storytelling, the production is bare bones and they go for the '50s-style happy ending.
The audience cheers like mad at the end. It's the Russian ballet, after all..."
#64re: best/most powerful finales of a show
Posted: 2/20/06 at 12:27am
Les Mis
The Sound of Music
The King and I
Into The Woods
RENT
Sweeney Todd
#65re: best/most powerful finales of a show
Posted: 2/20/06 at 1:05amHave to say, DOTV and Phantom. Wonderful.
#66re: best/most powerful finales of a show
Posted: 2/20/06 at 1:07amWicked and I also really liked Caroline, or Change's finale and Spelling Bee's finale.
♥♥♥
BroadwayConcierge
Broadway Legend Joined: 7/24/15
#67re: best/most powerful finales of a show
Posted: 3/29/17 at 1:02pm
I know this is a very random thread to bring back, but I've been listening to "Who Lives, Who Dies, Who Tells Your Story" from Hamilton a lot lately and still can't wrap my head around how powerful the very final moment of that show is. To have Eliza break the fourth wall into the audience and release that chilling, aware gasp while the company concludes in blissful unison is maybe the most effective and powerful moment I've ever experienced in the theatre.
Plus, it's been over ten years since this thread was last updated, so why not?! 
Alex Kulak2
Broadway Legend Joined: 9/11/16
#68re: best/most powerful finales of a show
Posted: 3/29/17 at 1:12pm
I really like "Voices in My Head" from Be More Chill, and the finale from Heathers: The Musical for similar reasons. I like how they both say that high school is still a fight, it's a team sport.
#69re: best/most powerful finales of a show
Posted: 3/29/17 at 1:15pm
BroadwayConcierge said: "I know this is a very random thread to bring back, but I've been listening to "Who Lives, Who Dies, Who Tells Your Story" from Hamilton a lot lately and still can't wrap my head around how powerful the very final moment of that show is. To have Eliza break the fourth wall into the audience and release that chilling, aware gasp while the company concludes in blissful unison is maybe the most effective and powerful moment I've ever experienced in the theatre.
Plus, it's been over ten years since this thread was last updated, so why not?!
"
Ha! I didn't notice the date and couldn't figure out why noone had mentioned Hamilton yet. Lol
#70re: best/most powerful finales of a show
Posted: 3/29/17 at 1:46pm
"Flying Away" from Fun Home. I was sobbing during Telephone Wire and I was a complete mess during this gorgeous ending.
"Raise You Up/Just Be" from Kinky Boots. I've never been so happy and envigorated and teary eyed walking out of a show since Hairspray. Such an uplifting anthem for a finale.
"For Now" from Avenue Q. I was having personal problems when I saw this show and this finale gave me hope that I really needed . my gratitude to the power of theatre.
"Sunday" from Sunday in the Park with George. Glorious. Absolutely gorgeous. Sobbing all throughout the show. when the people from the painting bowed down and aknowledged George - I just lost it.
And ofcourse to the already mentioned: Hamilton, Les Miz, and Wicked.
#71re: best/most powerful finales of a show
Posted: 3/29/17 at 2:05pm
One finale that has always stayed with me was the original production of Sunset Boulevard. When Norma sings "With One Look, I'll be Meeeeeee!!!!" and the image of a young Norma is projected on to her face and expands into the size of a movie screen. Saw that about 23 years ago and it has never left me.
#72re: best/most powerful finales of a show
Posted: 3/29/17 at 2:31pm
I would also add that the recent revival of The Color Purple with Erivo's "I'm Here" was gobsmackingly amazing. But the first thing that came to mind was the ending the Cabaret revival. Visually that has stayed with me and still causes a visceral reaction when I think about it.
froote
Broadway Star Joined: 2/14/17
#73re: best/most powerful finales of a show
Posted: 3/29/17 at 2:44pm
Totally agree re: Hamilton. Unexpected, emotional, and, as you say, chilling. Really brings the audience back to reality that these were real people. And how apt it is that the show became a huge hit because it makes those final moments all the more effective for it. If Eliza was gasping at a half full house hearing her story it wouldn't quite be the same, but when it's the acknowledgment of the hundreds of thousands of people that now care about these people it makes all the difference.
#74re: best/most powerful finales of a show
Posted: 3/29/17 at 2:51pm
I also agree with the ending in Hamilton - and knowing that the orphanage exists today and has benefited from its mention in the final number makes you realize how powerful the experience is, and how connected our past, present and future really are.
