Male Showstoppers
Male Showstoppers
#1Male Showstoppers
Posted: 7/19/13 at 6:21pm
It's always hard for me to find amazing male songs since I'm always drawn to the divas. But anyway, here are some of my favorites:
Gethsemane
Juda's Death
Being Alive
I Am What I Am
Swanee
Rock-a-Bye- Your Baby with a Dixie Melody
I Don't Care Much
This is The Moment
Ol Man River
Everybody Says Don't
Which male songs do you consider showstoppers?
Gothampc
Broadway Legend Joined: 5/20/03
#2Male Showstoppers
Posted: 7/19/13 at 6:26pm
The Only Games I Play from Falsettos
Anthem from Chess
Stars and Bring Him Home from Les Miserables
If anyone ever tells you that you put too much Parmesan cheese on your pasta, stop talking to them. You don't need that kind of negativity in your life.
#2Male Showstoppers
Posted: 7/19/13 at 7:11pm
all that jazz, just a note of caution: when I was working at the Fabulous Palm Springs Follies, the Four Coins, a boy-band from the 1950s, sang "Swanee", which had been one of their hits.
We had African-Americans walk out at every performance (which was surprising because the audience wasn't that diverse and we rarely had more than 8 or 10 black people to begin with).
They were very sensitive to songs that refer to "Mammy" (which would also apply to "Rock-a-bye my Baby", "My Mammy" and a lot of great songs). I love Al Jolson songs, but I can understand why the black community may hear them differently than I.
It's probably not worth the risk, unless you are black yourself and auditioning for THE SCOTTSBORO BOYS.
(I hope it's clear this is a caution based on what I've witnessed; I'm not criticizing you or accusing you of anything.)
Updated On: 7/19/13 at 07:11 PM
#3Male Showstoppers
Posted: 7/19/13 at 7:20pm
It hardly bears mentioning but the ultimate showstopper is:
Soliloquy (from CAROUSEL)
A quieter but very popular song:
Hey, There (PAJAMA GAME)
Lots of younger people seem to record:
Music of the Night (PHANTOM)
Of course, if you can sing it, there's:
Being Alive (COMPANY)
I heard Larry Kert stop a show with Sigmund Romberg's:
Serenade (THE STUDENT PRINCE)
If you're more a character actor than big voice:
Reviewing the Situation (OLIVER!)
And if you have more personality than voice:
Let's Not Talk About Love (LET'S FACE IT)
Tchaikovsky (LADY IN THE DARK)
(Note: skip the soliloquies in SHENANDOAH. John Cullum did them beautifully, but they are boring.)
#4Male Showstoppers
Posted: 7/19/13 at 7:33pm
All I Care About is Love (Chicago)
The Side Step (Best Little Whorehouse)
The Impossible Dream (Man of La Mancha)
This Nearly was Mine (South Pacific)
Watching the Show (The Times)
Anthem (Chess)
Gigi (Gigi)
Updated On: 7/19/13 at 07:33 PM
#5Male Showstoppers
Posted: 7/19/13 at 7:34pmPITY THE CHILD from CHESS
"TO LOVE ANOTHER PERSON IS TO SEE THE FACE OF GOD"- LES MISERABLES---
"THERE'S A SPECIAL KIND OF PEOPLE KNOWN AS SHOW PEOPLE... WE'RE BORN EVERY NIGHT AT HALF HOUR CALL!"--- CURTAINS
Starship
Broadway Star Joined: 7/29/12
#7Male Showstoppers
Posted: 7/19/13 at 7:48pm
Being Alive - Company
Can't Take My Eyes off of You - Jersey Boys
Petrified - Taboo
"I wish the stage were as narrow as the wire of a tightrope dancer, so that no incompetent would dare step upon it." Goethe
hanabana
Leading Actor Joined: 5/12/12
#8Male Showstoppers
Posted: 7/19/13 at 8:03pm
Here are some that I really like and think are showstopper worthy. I don't know if all of them would really be considered showstoppers though, especially considering the timing of them in the performances:
Confrontation - Jekyll & Hyde
Goodbye - Catch Me If You Can
Raise A Little Hell - Bonnie & Clyde
Memphis Lives in Me - Memphis
I've Been, and I'm Alive - Next To Normal
WicaS
Chorus Member Joined: 11/3/11
#9Male Showstoppers
Posted: 7/19/13 at 8:15pm
@GavestonPS. I already know my question's gonna sound stupid, but I need to ask it anyway : What makes Being Alive such a hard song to sing? I mean I know it's not a piece of cake, after all it IS Sondheim, but the highest note is A flat, otherwise Bobby hits only a couple of Fs in it.
But I agree, BEING ALIVE is one great showstopper.
#11Male Showstoppers
Posted: 7/19/13 at 8:43pmCan anyone think of a male equivalent to something like "The Music and the Mirror" or "I'm a Brass Band"? A really dance-heavy male showstopper?
"...and in a bed."
#12Male Showstoppers
Posted: 7/19/13 at 8:59pm
Funny from City of Angels
Sunset Blvd from Sunset Blvd
Art has a double face, of expression and illusion.
#13Male Showstoppers
Posted: 7/19/13 at 9:00pm
Thanks for the advice, Gav. I wasn't plannig on performing the songs anyway, but it's still good to know. I love Al Jolson as well. 
Sing, "All I Really Need is the Girl", and "I Can Do That" come to mind.
#14Male Showstoppers
Posted: 7/19/13 at 9:22pm
@GavestonPS. I already know my question's gonna sound stupid, but I need to ask it anyway : What makes Being Alive such a hard song to sing?
Because to really work, the song should be set at the very top of the singer's range. (Frankly, that was what was lacking in Larry Kert's rendition: it was obvious he could sing every note and then some.)
Dean Jones' remains the definitive version to me because every time I hear it, I'm really not sure if he will make it through the number or not. And that's how the song should be sung.
All IMO, obviously.
P.S. There was nothing stupid about your question. I'm sure others here will disagree with me.
#15Male Showstoppers
Posted: 7/19/13 at 9:23pm
Can anyone think of a male equivalent to something like "The Music and the Mirror" or "I'm a Brass Band"? A really dance-heavy male showstopper?
"It's Not Where You Start, It's Where You Finish" from SEESAW.
Mr Roxy
Broadway Legend Joined: 5/17/03
#16Male Showstoppers
Posted: 7/19/13 at 9:40pm
You Should Be Loved - Sideshow
Into the Fire - Scarlet Pimpernel
TITM - J/H
Poster Emeritus
FishermanBob
Broadway Legend Joined: 7/9/12
#17Male Showstoppers
Posted: 7/19/13 at 10:13pm
A classic showstopper from a classic play:
Sit Down You're Rockin' the Boat - Guys and Dolls
Updated On: 7/19/13 at 10:13 PM
#18Male Showstoppers
Posted: 7/19/13 at 10:20pmFor me Being Alive it's an immensely challenging number to perform in the sense that the emotions and the singing go hand in hand. The higher you sing it, the more powerful and emotional it becomes. Those final notes should sound like an explosion, and no one can deliver the song as Raul does, at least for me.
#19Male Showstoppers
Posted: 7/19/13 at 10:39pmSunset Boulevard and Love Changes Everything have some really nice nuances and those killer money notes at the end. Great songs for men.
"The sexual energy between the mother and son really concerns me!"-random woman behind me at Next to Normal
"I want to meet him after and bang him!"-random woman who exposed her breasts at Rock of Ages, referring to James Carpinello
#20Male Showstoppers
Posted: 7/19/13 at 10:47pm
I've Got Your Number from LITTLE ME
All I Need Is The Girl from GYPSY
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)
#21Male Showstoppers
Posted: 7/19/13 at 10:50pm
Being Alive's final notes *could* be done the way Raúl did it, which I find incredibly satisfying and electrifying and stunning, or it could be done the way my other favorite rendition of the song was performed, which is Adrian Lester's from the Donmar production. His take was bruised and battered, emotionally devastating, filled with a lump in his throat that the final notes cleared away, but not all the way. Or do it the way NPH did two years ago, where it seems to fall in on itself and frightens Bobby with the thought of it.
A couple of other showstoppers:
Molasses to Rum and/or Is Anybody There? (1776)
Betrayed (THE PRODUCERS) (literally a show-stopper)
This Is Not Over Yet (PARADE)
She Loves Me (SHE LOVES ME) (I've seen this song get an ovation before Georg even starts singing, the audience was that ready for the joy to explode)
Make Them Hear You (RAGTIME)
Words don't deserve that kind of malarkey. They're innocent, neutral, precise, standing for this, describing that, meaning the other, so if you look after them you can build bridges across incomprehension and chaos. But when they get their corners knocked off, they're no good anymore…I don't think writers are sacred, but words are. They deserve respect. If you get the right ones in the right order, you can nudge the world a little.
jonartdesigns
Broadway Legend Joined: 5/15/04
#22Male Showstoppers
Posted: 7/20/13 at 6:35pm
I believe- Book of Mormon
Where is the life that late I led- Kiss me Kate
Epiphany- Sweeney Todd
"Grease," the fourth revival of the season, is the worst show in the history of theater and represents an unparalleled assault on Western civilization and its values. - Michael Reidel
TheatreKid3
Broadway Star Joined: 3/25/12
#23Male Showstoppers
Posted: 7/20/13 at 8:03pm
Both male dance showstoppers I can think of are from the same show:
"Angry Dance" & "Electricity" from BILLY ELLIOT.
I think the latter is the closest thing to a male "Music and the Mirror."
Updated On: 7/20/13 at 08:03 PM
DrJekyll
Chorus Member Joined: 3/24/12
