Best Act I Finales
Best Act I Finales
#1Best Act I Finales
Posted: 5/2/09 at 7:24pm
We've all heard them. They are the dramatic ballods/soliloquies that get us to come back to our seats after we go to the bathroom during intermission. From songs that bring the entire cast on stage (Such as Rent's La Vie Boheme), to the small scale-but equally dramatic-Reprise of Some Enchanted Evening from South Pacific...all are trul memorable. So let's hear your favorites! For simplicity sake please start each of your posts like this
Show : Act I Finale Song/Quote
Than your explanation
Please feel free to repeat/agree with other posts
I'll Start if off
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Les Miserables : One Day More
First of all this happens to be a tremendous song. I mean who doesn't tear up a little when you see the iconic image of the entire cast in a wedge with a red flag flying above them. Each of them is ready to die, fighting for the cause they believe in. The trumpets are sounding, the drums are beating, the people are singing (pun intended), and the stage is rotating. This image-not only makes up the majority of promotional material- is the image that comes to mind when most people think Les Miz. The tremendous harmony of the song is unbelievable!!
Updated On: 11/3/10 at 07:24 PM
#2re: Best Act I Finale's
Posted: 5/2/09 at 7:36pm
FUNNY GIRL : "Don't Rain On My Parade"
HELLO DOLLY : "Before the Parade Passes By"
EVITA : A New Argentina
GYPSY : Everything's Coming Up Roses"
SIDE SHOW : Who Will Love Me As I Am?
Updated On: 5/2/09 at 07:36 PM
#2re: Best Act I Finale's
Posted: 5/2/09 at 7:39pm
Gypsy - Everything's Coming Up Roses
Sunday in the Park With George - Sunday
When I see the phrase "the ____ estate", I imagine a vast mansion in the country full of monocled men and high-collared women receiving letters about productions across the country and doing spit-takes at whatever they contain.
-Kad
#3re: Best Act I Finale's
Posted: 5/2/09 at 7:40pmBest Act I Finale's what?
"Why, I make more money than... than... than Calvin Coolidge! PUT TOGETHER!"
~Lina Lamont
My name wasn't, isn't, and will never be Scott.
~Lina Lamont
My name wasn't, isn't, and will never be Scott.
Jon
Broadway Legend Joined: 2/20/04
CurtainPullDowner
Broadway Legend Joined: 11/4/04
blaxx
Broadway Legend Joined: 6/28/05
#6re: Best Act I Finale's
Posted: 5/2/09 at 8:03pm
Best Act I Finale's what?
Thi's new poster think's that all word's use apostrophe's.
Listen, I don't take my clothes off for anyone, even if it is "artistic". - JANICE
#8re: Best Act I Finale's
Posted: 5/2/09 at 8:06pmI thought the be-in towards the end of Hair's first act was brilliant. When the men burned their draft cards while the women pounded on the floor and screamed, it was definitely the most intense moment I've ever experienced in the theatre.
I know you.
I know you.
I know you.
#9re: Best Act I Finale's
Posted: 5/2/09 at 8:12pm
The Phantom of the Opera: the "All I Ask of You" reprise
"You will curse the day you did not do all that the Phantom asked of you!" ... the chords ... the cackling ... the chandelier! Truly iconic.
Sweeney Todd: "A Little Priest."
The nefarious plan takes shape. One of the wittiest, most clever songs ever.
Edited to add: excellent choice, CyCoSpAz2! "Let the world be done with me" - heavy stuff for any musical.
Updated On: 5/2/09 at 08:12 PM
#10re: Best Act I Finale's
Posted: 5/2/09 at 8:14pm
"
"You will curse the day you did not do all that the Phantom asked of you!" ... the chords ... the cackling ... the chandelier! Truly iconic. "
It's one of my favourite moments in the show but I think 'iconic' might be stretching it a bit far :P.
"You can't overrate Bernadette Peters. She is such a genius. There's a moment in "Too Many Mornings" and Bernadette doing 'I wore green the last time' - It's a voice that is just already given up - it is so sorrowful. Tragic. You can see from that moment the show is going to be headed into such dark territory and it hinges on this tiny throwaway moment of the voice." - Ben Brantley (2022)
"Bernadette's whole, stunning performance [as Rose in Gypsy] galvanized the actors capable of letting loose with her. Bernadette's Rose did take its rightful place, but too late, and unseen by too many who should have seen it" Arthur Laurents (2009)
"Sondheim's own favorite star performances? [Bernadette] Peters in ''Sunday in the Park,'' Lansbury in ''Sweeney Todd'' and ''obviously, Ethel was thrilling in 'Gypsy.'' Nytimes, 2000
#12re: Best Act I Finale's
Posted: 5/2/09 at 8:24pm
Transylvania Mania from Young Frankenstein
Along Came Bialy from The Producers is also a really good one.
Updated On: 5/4/09 at 08:24 PM
#13re: Best Act I Finale's
Posted: 5/2/09 at 8:29pm
A new candidate:
"Who I'd Be" from Shrek - Great melody and lyrics, and it gives us insight into Shrek's character that the movie did not have. Plus, Brian d'Arcy James' rendition is ravishing.
My avatar = A screencap from Avatar, arguably the greatest animated show of all
Chrysanthemum62001
Broadway Legend Joined: 2/14/04
#14re: Best Act I Finale's
Posted: 5/2/09 at 8:35pmSunday in the Park with George. My God. It's magical.
"What a mystery this world. One day you love them and the next day you want to kill them a thousand times over." The Masked Bandit in THE FALL
PiraguaGuy2
Broadway Legend Joined: 10/10/08
#15re: Best Act I Finale's
Posted: 5/2/09 at 8:36pmAnyone ever notice that people with Allison Case in their avatars post about nothing but Hair?
Formerly SirNotAppearing - Joined 3/08
#16re: Best Act I Finales
Posted: 5/2/09 at 8:37pm"A Weekend in the Country" from A Little Night Music is another favorite of mine.
When I see the phrase "the ____ estate", I imagine a vast mansion in the country full of monocled men and high-collared women receiving letters about productions across the country and doing spit-takes at whatever they contain.
-Kad
#17re: Best Act I Finale's
Posted: 5/2/09 at 8:39pmDoes any Act I finale send audiences to intermission more "wowed" that WICKED's DEFYING GRAVITY?
2016 These Paper Bullets (1/02) Our Mother's Brief Affair (1/06), Dragon Boat Racing (1/08), Howard - reading (1/28), Shear Madness (2/10), Fun Home (2/17), Women Without Men (2/18), Trip Of Love (2/21), The First Gentleman -reading (2/22), Southern Comfort (2/23), The Robber Bridegroom (2/24), She Loves Me (3/11), Shuffle Along (4/12), Shear Madness (4/14), Dear Evan Hansen (4/16), American Psycho (4/23), Tuck Everlasting (5/10), Indian Summer (5/15), Peer Gynt (5/18), Broadway's Rising Stars (7/11), Trip of Love (7/27), CATS (7/31), The Layover (8/17), An Act Of God (8/31), The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time (8/24), Heisenberg (10/12), Fiddler On The Roof (11/02), Othello (11/23), Dear Evan Hansen (11/26), Les Liaisons Dangereuses (12/21) 2017 In Transit (2/01), Groundhog Day (4/04), Ring Twice For Miranda (4/07), Church And State (4/10), The Lucky One (4/19), Ernest Shackleton Loves Me (5/16), Building The Wall (5/19), Indecent (6/01), Six Degrees of Separation (6/09), Marvin's Room (6/28), A Doll's House Pt 2 (7/25) Curvy Widow (8/01)
SporkGoddess
Broadway Legend Joined: 7/27/05
#18re: Best Act I Finales
Posted: 5/2/09 at 8:42pm
Miss Saigon: "I'd Give My Life for You" - Kim sings this heartwrenching song about her love for her son, and then she, Tam, and the Engineer join the boat people, who are singing "No place, no home, no life, no hope, no chance, no change, no regret, no return, no goodbye, one day, one night, one day" In the productions I saw, there was fog onstage, and then the curtain fell.
Aida: Say what you will about this musical, but "The God Loves Nubia" is a very powerful scene, IMO.
The Light in the Piazza - Not only is "Say it Somehow" a gorgeous song, there's that sudden shock when Margaret opens the door. Very dramatic.
Ragtime - "'Til We Reach That Day" is just an awesome song.
Jimmy, what are you doing here in the middle of the night? It's almost 9 PM!
#19re: Best Act I Finale's
Posted: 5/2/09 at 8:45pm
La Cage Aux Folles - I Am What I Am
Wicked - Defying Gravity (It may not be the best musical out there, but it is one moment in live theater that I will never ever forget)
Miss Saigon - I'd Give My Life For You
Les Miserables - One Day More
Ragtime - Till We Reach That Day
Sweeney Todd - A Little Priest
...everyone was doing the mambo and drinking golden cadillacs...
blaxx
Broadway Legend Joined: 6/28/05
#20re: Best Act I Finale's
Posted: 5/2/09 at 8:49pm
Does any Act I finale send audiences to intermission more "wowed" that WICKED's DEFYING GRAVITY?
The list is so long it wouldn't fit here.
Listen, I don't take my clothes off for anyone, even if it is "artistic". - JANICE
#21re: Best Act I Finale's
Posted: 5/2/09 at 9:06pm
"Anyone ever notice that people with Allison Case in their avatars post about nothing but Hair?"
Not true at all.
Anyway:
WSS - The Rumble
tourboi
Broadway Legend Joined: 12/15/05
#22re: Best Act I Finale's
Posted: 5/2/09 at 9:33pm
I was less than impressed with Defying Gravity. Here's this (over written, frequently over "sung" (screamed)) song about flying and showing of power. Then the climax comes and she lifts.... and then sits there waving a broom while pretty lights come up. In WITCHES OF EASTWICK THREE women flew AROUND the auditorium! THAT's impressive. Don't tell me that it wouldn't have been possible for Elphie to buzz the audience with her broom. Lame.
The end of the first act of CARRIE is kind of fun, with the fire bursting from the stage and her hands on fire.
I'm also a BIG fan of the staging for the end of the first act of Lord of the Rings, with the wind blowing into the audience's faces. Intense.
#23re: Best Act I Finale's
Posted: 5/2/09 at 9:48pm
"I'm also a BIG fan of the staging for the end of the first act of Lord of the Rings, with the wind blowing into the audience's faces. Intense."
Agree with that. SO intense.
#24re: Best Act I Finale's
Posted: 5/2/09 at 9:50pm
"Does any Act I finale send audiences to intermission more "wowed" that WICKED's DEFYING GRAVITY?"
Yes, most in fact do.
My favorite - "A Little Priest" from Sweeney Todd
Updated On: 5/3/09 at 09:50 PM
