Sweet Overtures
Sweet Overtures
#0Sweet Overtures
Posted: 10/10/04 at 4:44am
with all this talk about finalle's and openings, i was wondering what your favourite overtures were?
mine:
-carousel (in a catagory all it's own)
-merrily we roll along
-full monty
Mr Roxy
Broadway Legend Joined: 5/17/03
#1re: Sweet Overtures
Posted: 10/10/04 at 7:20am
Mack & Mabel
Gypsy
Any Jule Styne Overture
Any Jerry Herman Overture
Poster Emeritus
#2re: Sweet Overtures
Posted: 10/10/04 at 8:17am
Candide
Bells Are Ringing
Camelot
My Fair Lady
NINE
Adding
A LITTLE NIGHT MUSIC
" ...the happiness in the tune convinces me that I'm not afraid."
Updated On: 10/10/04 at 08:17 AM
#3re: Sweet Overtures
Posted: 10/10/04 at 8:24amCamelot here. Just love it!
"All I ask of you is one thing: please don't be cynical. I hate cynicism -- it's my least favorite quality and it doesn't lead anywhere. Nobody in life gets exactly what they thought they were going to get. But if you work really hard and you're kind, amazing things will happen."
Conan O'Brien
Yankeefan007
Broadway Legend Joined: 3/20/04
jo
Broadway Legend Joined: 5/15/03
#5re: Sweet Overtures
Posted: 10/10/04 at 8:50am
Many from the older musicals --
Camelot
My Fair Lady
South Pacific
King and I
Carousel
King and I
Man of La Mancha
Hello, Dolly
and a few others.
Mary_Ethel
Broadway Legend Joined: 10/6/04
#6re: Sweet Overtures
Posted: 10/10/04 at 9:05am
Hi feinstenin9 :),
Yes, THE CAROUSEL WALTZ is MORE than just an overture. It is a prologue to CAROUSEL that sets up story, characters, mood and tone WITHOUT A SINGLE WORD OF DIALOGUE!
"I say YOU'RE the CUTEST one. No, I say YOU'RE the CUTEST One. And we go on like that from dawn to three."
Mary_Ethel
Broadway Legend Joined: 10/6/04
#7re: Sweet Overtures
Posted: 10/10/04 at 9:10am
Hey Mr. Roxy, :)
Jule Styne Overtures--Yes!
His overtures ALWAYS set the tone as to what to expect in the show that followed:
FUNNY GIRL - "Snippets of "People" heard throughout
GENTLEMEN PREFER BLONDES - Bouncy, rythmetic pseudo-1920s music
BELLS ARE RINGING - how many Overtures do you that know that starts of with a PHONE RINGING?
"I say YOU'RE the CUTEST one. No, I say YOU'RE the CUTEST One. And we go on like that from dawn to three."
#8re: Sweet Overtures
Posted: 10/10/04 at 9:10amThe Carousel Waltz/Overture in the Hytner version is so amazing the audience cannot help but be spellbound for the rest of the musical. It is genius.
" ...the happiness in the tune convinces me that I'm not afraid."
Broadway Legend Joined: 12/31/69
#9re: Sweet Overtures
Posted: 10/10/04 at 9:12amAs a fairly strong romantic classicist, I tend toward anything the Frederick Loewe wrote - especially My Fair Lady. But I also have a very soft spot in my heart for The King and I - which is still the most beautiful score for my taste.
Mary_Ethel
Broadway Legend Joined: 10/6/04
#10re: Sweet Overtures
Posted: 10/10/04 at 9:12am
Hi Glebb, :)
You may be aware of this, but the overture to CANDIDE is performed quite often as a separate piece by many classical orchestras.
"I say YOU'RE the CUTEST one. No, I say YOU'RE the CUTEST One. And we go on like that from dawn to three."
Mary_Ethel
Broadway Legend Joined: 10/6/04
#11re: Sweet Overtures
Posted: 10/10/04 at 9:15am
Hello Mom... :)
Yes. The Overture to CAMELOT is so majestic, builds to a wonderful climax and includes bits of outstanding "If Ever I Would Leave You."
Sets up tone PERFECTLY for first scene.
"I say YOU'RE the CUTEST one. No, I say YOU'RE the CUTEST One. And we go on like that from dawn to three."
#12re: Sweet Overtures
Posted: 10/10/04 at 9:16am
Yeppers, I know that. That overture along with "Oh Happy We" and "Make Our Garden Grow" are things that I sometimes play over and over on my iPod.
Did you know that I do all my shopping there (Kleins) with Mary and Ethel?
" ...the happiness in the tune convinces me that I'm not afraid."
Mary_Ethel
Broadway Legend Joined: 10/6/04
#13re: Sweet Overtures
Posted: 10/10/04 at 9:21am
Hi Jo... :)
I agree. The MAN OF LA MANCHA Overture announces that you are about to see a VERY intense musical with a foreign setting (snippets of foreign-sounding music heard throughout.) It rises and falls many times to indicate the numerous "up and down" plot changes to come. And its rousing climax? MAGNICENT!!!
"I say YOU'RE the CUTEST one. No, I say YOU'RE the CUTEST One. And we go on like that from dawn to three."
Mary_Ethel
Broadway Legend Joined: 10/6/04
#14re: Sweet Overtures
Posted: 10/10/04 at 9:23am
Hi Glebb, :)
I agree. THE CAROUSEL WALTZ is genius.
I often wonder how the idea for opening CAROUSEL in that manner was determined.
"I say YOU'RE the CUTEST one. No, I say YOU'RE the CUTEST One. And we go on like that from dawn to three."
Mary_Ethel
Broadway Legend Joined: 10/6/04
#15re: Sweet Overtures
Posted: 10/10/04 at 9:29am
Hello DGrant, :)
We've already discussed MY FAIR LADY overture, so let's chat about THE KING AND I.
VERY majestic--sets tone perfectly and finds room to include snippets of all of the many score's popular tunes.
The conflict to follow (by Anna & The King) can be heard. Uses "Asian" music to identify locale. Ultimately, it announces that the show to follow will be WORTHY of your attention.
"I say YOU'RE the CUTEST one. No, I say YOU'RE the CUTEST One. And we go on like that from dawn to three."
Mary_Ethel
Broadway Legend Joined: 10/6/04
#16re: Sweet Overtures
Posted: 10/10/04 at 9:34am
OK Glebb... :)
Chorus Member: "Things With Good Lines!"
Judy: "Like Things from Kleins?"
etc.
Glebb, I think we need to start a BELLS ARE RINGING thread! 
"I say YOU'RE the CUTEST one. No, I say YOU'RE the CUTEST One. And we go on like that from dawn to three."
#17re: Sweet Overtures
Posted: 10/10/04 at 9:36amI think I need to listen to my OBC recording of BELLS ARE RINGING right now!
" ...the happiness in the tune convinces me that I'm not afraid."
Mary_Ethel
Broadway Legend Joined: 10/6/04
#18re: Sweet Overtures
Posted: 10/10/04 at 9:37am
My favorite Overture is THE MOST HAPPY FELLA (1956).
In just a few brief moments, it tells us we're about to see a story about a man who loves his wife and his willingness to accept her however she is.
"I say YOU'RE the CUTEST one. No, I say YOU'RE the CUTEST One. And we go on like that from dawn to three."
millie_dillmount
Broadway Legend Joined: 4/22/04
#19re: Sweet Overtures
Posted: 10/10/04 at 9:44am
Thoroughly Modern Millie
Urinetown
42nd Street
The Producers
Gypsy
Phantom of the Opera
Chicago
Wonderful Town
"We like to snark around here. Sometimes we actually talk about theater...but we try not to let that get in our way." - dramamama611
Mary_Ethel
Broadway Legend Joined: 10/6/04
#20re: Sweet Overtures
Posted: 10/10/04 at 9:51am
Great Idea Glebb! :)
Just don't get confused and play that lousy Faith Prince revival.
"I say YOU'RE the CUTEST one. No, I say YOU'RE the CUTEST One. And we go on like that from dawn to three."
Mary_Ethel
Broadway Legend Joined: 10/6/04
#21re: Sweet Overtures
Posted: 10/10/04 at 9:55am
Hi Millie... :)
As I have posted earlier, I love WONDERFUL TOWN and the overture is DYNAMITE!
It is so rhytmic and pulsating--it takes energy just to listen to it! You can almost HEAR the sounds of 1930s New York as you listen to the "big band" selections! The climatic finish leads perfectly into opening number, "Christopher Street."
"I say YOU'RE the CUTEST one. No, I say YOU'RE the CUTEST One. And we go on like that from dawn to three."
#22re: Sweet Overtures
Posted: 10/10/04 at 10:04amNEVAH!
" ...the happiness in the tune convinces me that I'm not afraid."
millie_dillmount
Broadway Legend Joined: 4/22/04
#23re: Sweet Overtures
Posted: 10/10/04 at 10:06amMary_Ethel: I don't particularly care for Wonderful Town's music as a whole with the exception of a few songs, but the overture is excellent! I love that old-fashioned sound, as in Millie and 42nd Street.
"We like to snark around here. Sometimes we actually talk about theater...but we try not to let that get in our way." - dramamama611
magruder
Broadway Legend Joined: 5/15/03
#24re: Sweet Overtures
Posted: 10/10/04 at 10:19am
Two choices for me, both because they have layers and layers of detail in the orchestrations:
Take Me Along - it's a Phil Lang masterpiece. The writing is so full and rhapsodic. The title song weaves through the entire Overture and then finally explodes at the end.
No No Nanette - The whole thing is perfection, with some of the finest orchestrations (Ralph Burns) and dance arrangements (Luther Henderson) of any show. But the Overture contains one of my favorite pieces of writing...a fantasia on "Tea for Two" where the two pianos are doing these exilirating runs up and down the keyboard. Wild stuff.
"Gif me the cobra jool!"
