Best Opening (Not Overture) Number in a Musical- Page 6

[Producer2]

Posted: 11/26/06 at 1:20pm

"Can't Wait" from "BIG"

[Broadway Baby4]

Posted: 11/26/06 at 2:57pm

A Chorus Line
Sweeney Todd
Wicked
Seussical
Spelling Bee
Lion King

Posted: 11/26/06 at 3:00pm

No mention yet for "Maybe" from Annie! I'm sorry but I am partial to Annie's Overture and then this opening song...sets such a heartbreakingly optimistic tone for the piece, ending with all the orphans joining in on the last note...

[SporkGoddess]

Posted: 11/26/06 at 3:21pm

Ragtime - "Prologue" - Others have explained why it's so wonderful, but I absolutely love the part near the end when it picks up: "It was the music of something beginning: an era exploding, a century spinning..."

Parade - "The Old Red Hills of Home" - So many composers would have started off the show a different way, but JRB creatively chooses to go all the way back to the Civil War. Awesome. Also, I think it sets up the whole conflict: North vs. South, innocence lost, the Southern way of life seen as ideal, which the North of course changes.

Sweeney Todd - "The Ballad of Sweeney Todd" - Probably the coolest beginning to a show, ever.

Les Mis - "Work Song" - I remember when I saw Les Mis, sitting there in the dark, waiting for the show to begin, and all of a sudden I get jarred by the opening notes. The effect was incredible.

Evita - "Requiem for Evita" - It's a bit weird when you're seeing the show, but it's become one of my favorite parts of the score. I love the contrast between the very heavy, sad "Requiem" and then later on the lighter "Oh, What a Circus."

Side Show - "Come Look at the Freaks" - I haven't seen Side Show, but I wasn't really looking forward to listening to it until I heard this opening, and then I knew I was in for something good.

Songs for a New World - "The New World" - Again, haven't seen this show, but I can only imagine what it's like performed live.

The Light in the Piazza - "Statues and Stories" - Absolutely beautiful

Miss Saigon - "The Heat is on in Saigon" - Definitely gets the audience's attention, though I like the overture more.

I don't think these are the best, but "Jailhouse Rock" from All Shook Up and RENT's beginning (especially the title song) are absolutely electrifying when you see them live.

[WickedToronto]

Posted: 11/26/06 at 3:29pm

West Side Story

[Hank]

Posted: 11/26/06 at 6:10pm

GIVE ME A FREAK/ ODE TO ATTENTION SEEKERS
Taboo

"And while he has your attention, he'd kill for a mention, in the popular press".

Well, I just thought I'd mention it.

[bwayondabrain]

Posted: 11/26/06 at 6:12pm

well, just to say, i didnt care for THE LION KING opening that much...

but TARZAN, THE WEDDING SINGER, FIDDLER ON THE ROOF, and WONDERFUL TOWN all have great openings

and THOROUGHLY MODERN MILLIE.

theres a lot.

[Hank]

Posted: 11/26/06 at 6:27pm

Wonderful Town, anyone who's familiar with Greenwich Village of today should get a kick out of it!

Thoroughly Modern Millie! My favorite scene, of course. It's actually two numbers: Not For The Life Of Me, and the title tune, but you really have to see it, or visualize it in your mind. Great dance scene!

[BtMartin25]

Posted: 11/26/06 at 7:09pm

Ragtime Prologue and Bat Boy

[AudreyTwoTwo]

Posted: 11/26/06 at 7:18pm

"I like I hope I Get it", and I also like "It's Your Wedding Day". :)

Sweeney's pretty good too.

[AndAllThatJazz22]

Posted: 4/2/09 at 6:27pm

ALL THAT JAZZ!!!!!! Hands down baby!!! Never have I seen another opening number quite at the level of that one. Chicago is Sexy, Razzle-Dazzle, Haunting, and so good that it is criminal. Those are the emotions that ARE Chicago, and Kander/Ebb BRILLIANTLY managed to fit all of those emotions into one phenomenal song. So powerful, so beautiful, it really blows the roof off of the theatre when performed well.










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Updated On: 4/2/09 at 06:27 PM

[kazacalo]

Posted: 4/2/09 at 7:04pm

Aquarius-Hair

[wickedfan]

Posted: 4/2/09 at 7:19pm

What the hell?!?! 6 pages over the course of 4 years and no one has mentioned Carousel? The opening prologue! The Carousel Waltz! Probably the best musical moment of one of the top 5 scores ever written! When seen in the '94 Lincoln Center revival, that opening totally trumps everything else. Sorry, but there's no comparison. Listen to the recording of it from that '94 revival (arguably the best version of the prologue), you get chills every 10 seconds.

[TalkinLoud]

Posted: 4/2/09 at 7:21pm

"Tradition" without question.

[kazacalo]

Posted: 4/2/09 at 7:36pm

Yes. Definitely the Carousel waltz.

[Byron Abens]

Posted: 4/2/09 at 11:36pm

Along with the Carousel Waltz I would add the Night Waltz from A Little Night Music.

I would also add "Six Months Out of Every Year" from Damn Yankees, especially the updated arrangement from the '94 revival (which was the second show I ever saw on Broadway).

In addition, I'm also going to nominate "In" from Carrie only because once those dancers hit the stage in those costumes I think everyone knew they were in for quite a ride, for better or worse.

[allofmylife]

Posted: 4/3/09 at 12:30am

While I have recently fallen for the great, evocative opening of The Wedding SInger, I think the best is --

PLINK

One note, the opening of "On The Town" which segues into "I Feel Like I'm Not Out of Bed Yet." Trust Bernstein to say it all: the remorse of war, the hope of tomorrow and the intransigence of today in one damn note.

It's a masterpiece.

[BroadwayBound062]

Posted: 4/3/09 at 12:53am

The Heat is on in Saigon
Into the Woods

[[tos]fan999]

Posted: 4/3/09 at 2:25pm

"In" from Carrie.
All that banging on the floor and the awesome pyramid at the end...wow.

[uncageg]

Posted: 4/3/09 at 4:19pm

Love "The Ballad of Sweeney Todd" but I would have to say my all time favorite opening number is "Walk Him Up the Stairs" from "Purlie". I have seen the show twice and both times I just wanted to jump out of my seat and dance in the aisle!

[NYnativeinLA]

Posted: 4/3/09 at 5:09pm

Tommy- The entire backstory is told without a single word being spoken or sung! Mesmerizing

[Kieran525600]

Posted: 4/4/09 at 12:12pm

There are so many
my favourites would probably be:

Avenue Q - It sucks to be me
tick, tick...Boom - 30/90
Hairspray - Good Morning Baltimore
Legally Blonde - Omigod you guys
You're a good man Charlie Brown (from the revival)
the whole opening of Rent

and i also really like Mamma who bore me in SA, Epiphany in Bare and Little Shop of Horrors!!

[sgv123]

Posted: 4/4/09 at 12:33pm

Lion King
Ragtime prologue
Hair- Aquarius
Legally Blonde- Omigod you Guys
Wedding Singer
Tarzan

[TheatreFreak05]

Posted: 4/4/09 at 2:12pm

Sunday in the Park With George
No comparison!

[zoraksferal]

Posted: 4/4/09 at 2:34pm

No One Mourns the Wicked