"Rose's Turn" ~ Gypsy "And I Am Telling You I Am Not Going" ~ Dreamgirls "Betrayed" ~ The Producers "I Am What I Am" ~ La Cage Aux Folles "Maybe I Like It This Way" and "The Life of the Party" ~ The Wild Party "Fable" ~ The Light in the Piazza "Defying Gravity" ~ Wicked "Great Big Stuff" and "All About Ruprecht" ~ Dirty Rotten Scoundrels "America" ~ West Side Story
She's A Nut- On The Twentieth Century Epiphany- Altar Boyz The I Love You Song- 25APCSB Another National Anthem- Assassins Another Hundred People- Company Unlikely Lovers- Falsettoland Wickeder- Forbidden Bway SVU Hair- Hair If We Only Have Love- Jaques Brel is Alive and Well and Living in Paris Gethsemane- JCS Whenever Its You- La Cage Moonfall- Mystery of Edwin Drood Tell Me- Marie Christine Back to Before- Ragtime Finishing the Hat- SITPWG
Good stuff!
"Wickedness is a term invented by society to account for the curious attractivness of others." -Oscar Wilde
Sit Down You're Rockin the Boat - Guys & Dolls (and the only good thing about the current London production) Gods Love Nubia - Aida One Day More - Les Mis One - Bare And I Am Telling You
"It's very difficult to keep the line between the past and the present." - Ms. Beale
"...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..."
I'd have WAY too many if I listed all that I could think of, so I will just list a few of my personal favorites that I have watched live in the theater: Masquerade(POTO) Defying Gravity(wicked) Everybodys got the right(assassins) the Gods love Numbia(aida) all of Sweeney Todd I could never pick probably even if you put a gun to my head I'm Here(Color purple) All for laura + scattered moments of the Woman in White, Maria Friedman is just beyond words for me, particularly her final "I close my eyes" part
All for Laura (Women in White) I Believe in My Heart (Women in White) Stars Look Down (Billy Elliot) Electricity (Billy Elliot) Circle of Life (Lion King) I Dreamed a Dream (Les Miserables) On My Own (Les Miserables) Empty Chairs at Empty Tables (Les Miserables) Where is Love? (Oliver!) Memory (CATS) Dancing Queen (Mamma Mia!) Don't Cry For Me Argentina (Evita) Buenos Aires (Evita) Sunday (Sunday in the Park with George) Little Priest (Sweeney Todd) Anything Goes (Anything Goes) Ragtime (Ragtime) Dance: Ten; Looks: Three (Chorus Line)
"Hey, you! You're the worst thing to happen to musical theatre since Andrew Lloyd Webber!"
-Family Guy
"Back to Before" from Ragtime "Easy as Life" from Aida "I'll Cover You" (reprise) from RENT "Circle of Life" from Lion King "And I'm Telling You..." from Dreamgirls "Rose's Turn" from Gypsy "Song of the King" from Joseph "Great Big Stuff" from DRS "No Good Deed" (especially when performed by Ana Gastyer) from Wicked "Buenos Aires" and "Don't Cry For Me Argentina" from Evita...too many to name.
"And I Am Telling You I'm Not Going" from Dreamgirls "Nobody's Side" from Chess "Back to Before" from Ragtime "Wheels of a Dream" from Ragtime "Rose's Turn" from Gypsy
"Gimme Gimme" from Thoroughly Modern Millie isn't one of my favorites, but it definitely did stop the show when I saw it live.
Updated On: 2/8/06 at 08:36 AM
Some of you have to learn what a show stopper is. Definition. show-stopper -an act so striking or impressive that the show must be delayed until the audience quiets down.
Automatically that knocks Defying Gravity out (as well as A Little Priest , I Am What I Am, One Day More, Sunday .... among others) - The show in each case stops because of intermission.
A lot of the songs listed get a good amount of applause but in no way could be seen as a showstopper . The applause has to be so loud and so deafening that the show comes to a complete halt. As an example someone listed I Dreamed a Dream (Les Miserables) On My Own (Les Miserables) Empty Chairs at Empty Tables (Les Miserables) All three get nice applause but never come close to stopping the show.
The best example of what a show stopper is would "I Am Telling You" from Dreamgirls - there is only a couple minutes of the act left after the number and I don't think I heard it once - the applause from the number drowned out The Dreams return to the stage for the Act 1 ending.
defying gravity-wicked roses turn-gypsy broadway-gypsy (idk why i always loved it) lets hear it for the boy-footloose (if choreography is good enoguh) easy as life- aida the wizard and i-wicked
Where You Are and The Day After That from Kiss of the Spider Woman Lots Wife - Caroline or Change A Little Priest - Sweeney Todd Rose's Turn - Gypsy Im Telling You Im not Going - Dream Girls
<------ Me and my friends with patti Lupone at my friends afterparty for her concert with audra mcdonald during the summer of 2007.
"I am sorry but it is an unjust world and virtue is only triumphant in theatricle performances" The Mikado
"A lot of the songs listed get a good amount of applause but in no way could be seen as a showstopper . The applause has to be so loud and so deafening that the show comes to a complete halt. As an example someone listed I Dreamed a Dream (Les Miserables) On My Own (Les Miserables) Empty Chairs at Empty Tables (Les Miserables) All three get nice applause but never come close to stopping the show. "
If what you said is true, the term show-stopper different to everyone every time. For example, On My Own DID stop the show for several minutes when I watched it last time. If there is a certain time limit for the songs to become a "show-stopper", then I won't say anything, however, every audience is different. Also, since the definition of a show-stopper is an act so striking or impressive that the show must be delayed until the audience quiets down, so even if there is an intermission inbetween, wouldn't it be considered as a show-stopper, since it DOES stop the show, and if it were to be performed in a middle of the act, it would surely stop the show for few seconds.
"Hey, you! You're the worst thing to happen to musical theatre since Andrew Lloyd Webber!"
-Family Guy
sidwich wrote: "One" from A CHORUS LINE... it's such an emotional climax.
Agreed. "One" is really intended to be a kind of ultimate showstopper and it achieves this in no uncertain terms, not only musically but also because of Michael Bennett's brilliant staging.
One that I am surprised to see unmentioned on this thread is "Be Our Guest", which is probably the most thrilling moment in BEAUTY AND THE BEAST, despite some of the sillier lyrics restored from the demo versions of the song. It is set-up to be a truly spectacular piece of staging and all the stops were pulled out in the original production.
And, for a giggle, how about mentioning "Music of the Night" from THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA? Is there another song in musical theatre that brings the dramatic action of a musical to a grinding halt? It certainly is a show stopper - just not at all the kind that is a showstopper.