Act I finales
Act I finales
#0Act I finales
Posted: 11/23/04 at 3:28pmWhich musical do you think has the best Act I finale? For me it's a tie between Phantom of the Opera and Wicked.
millie_dillmount
Broadway Legend Joined: 4/22/04
#1re: Act I finales
Posted: 11/23/04 at 3:32pm
The Producers ("Along Came Bialy")
Beauty and the Beast ("If I Can't Love Her")
I can't really state, though, that they are the best Act I Finales of all time, though.
"We like to snark around here. Sometimes we actually talk about theater...but we try not to let that get in our way." - dramamama611
#2re: Act I finales
Posted: 11/23/04 at 3:32pm
Sweeney Todd - hands down. IMO, it is the absolute, unchallanged, best musical ever written. It's brilliant in every way, shape, and form, and the ACT I Finale is incredible. I just love it! I seriously do not think it will ever be topped. It is a timeless tale that is told so magnificantly. Do I love it, or what?
Honorable mention would probably go to Les Miserables or Ragtime, for me! These, IMO, are the 2nd (Ragtime) and 3rd (Les Miz) best musicals ever written. It's still a sin that TLK won best musical over Ragtime. I lost all respect for the Tony Awards that year.
"What the hell happened to you? You look like a Make-A-Wish Kid. You know, I just knew you were gonna bring shame on this new family of ours, and it just figures you had to go make yourself over into some heroin-shootin skate board chic on the only day E! could interview you!" - Cherry Cherry, on her daughter Mary Cherry
#3re: Act I finales
Posted: 11/23/04 at 3:35pmi think Rent or Wicked.
"gimme a bottle of bourbon and half a chicken and i'll conquer the world!"
Broadway Legend Joined: 12/31/69
#4re: Act I finales
Posted: 11/23/04 at 3:37pmlove Rent's, wicked's is awesome, oklahoma's is really good too (the revival), but my all time favorite is 42nd Street. It leaves you wondering.."Oh no! What's going to happen, is the show going to close? oh boy!" hehe :)
FabalaCohen
Broadway Star Joined: 10/30/04
#5re: Act I finales
Posted: 11/23/04 at 3:38pmPhantom, Les Miz, Rent, and Mamma Mia- yes, I think that was a good ending to the first act. (personal opinion of what I've seen)
"During this performance, please feel free to let your cell phones and pagers ring willy-nilly. However, do remember that there are heavily-armed knights on stage and you might well be dragged up and impaled."
(Pre-curtain announcement at the new Broadway musical Monty Python's Spamalot)
MargoChanning
Broadway Legend Joined: 4/5/04
#6re: Act I finales
Posted: 11/23/04 at 3:47pm
This thread comes up literally EVERY month (do a search and you'll find at least a dozen of them).
Anyway, I'm bored at work so......
Nothing comes close to GYPSY and DREAMGIRLS, IMO.
"What a story........ everything but the bloodhounds snappin' at her rear end." -- Birdie
[http://margochanning.broadwayworld.com/]
"The Devil Be Hittin' Me" -- Whitney
Updated On: 11/23/04 at 03:47 PM
Yankeefan007
Broadway Legend Joined: 3/20/04
robbiej
Broadway Legend Joined: 5/20/03
#8re: Act I finales
Posted: 11/23/04 at 3:54pm
Margo,
I agree...nothing comes close in terms of solo spots that bring down the curtain. But my heart belongs to an epic finale featuring an entire cast in turn of the century Swedish outfits and birch trees...A Weekend in the Country.
SUBLIME!
"I'm so looking forward to a time when all the Reagan Democrats are dead."
BWayBoy88
Broadway Legend Joined: 4/23/04
Broadway Legend Joined: 12/31/69
#10re: Act I finales
Posted: 11/23/04 at 4:16pmI agree Margo- try the search- but definitely Dreamgirls.
Gothampc
Broadway Legend Joined: 5/20/03
#11re: Act I finales
Posted: 11/23/04 at 4:40pm
Obviously not many of you saw Evita when it was on Broadway. And obviously this thread is a desperate cry to bring it back.
The Act I finale of Evita has the entire cast onstage singing "A New Argentina". There are crowds, there are torches, there are banners...there is excitement. The crowd is singing: "The voice of the people can not be and will not be and must not be denied." It was the best ensemble work ever.
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.
Marquise
Broadway Legend Joined: 6/1/04
#13ACT I FINALE
Posted: 11/23/04 at 4:48pm
SWEENEY TODD, hands down.
You can't beat 'A Little Priest'
"One no longer loves one's insight enough once one communicates it."
The opposite of creation isn't war, it's stagnation.
The opposite of creation isn't war, it's stagnation.
MargoChanning
Broadway Legend Joined: 4/5/04
#14ACT I FINALE
Posted: 11/23/04 at 4:50pm
Gee, Priest I never would have guessed that that would be your pick 
"What a story........ everything but the bloodhounds snappin' at her rear end." -- Birdie
[http://margochanning.broadwayworld.com/]
"The Devil Be Hittin' Me" -- Whitney
robbiej
Broadway Legend Joined: 5/20/03
#15ACT I FINALE
Posted: 11/23/04 at 4:51pm
Priest,
You couldn't just once defy expectations and pick the Act 1 finale of HOW NOW, DOW JONES, could you?
NOT ONCE?????
"I'm so looking forward to a time when all the Reagan Democrats are dead."
#16ACT I FINALE
Posted: 11/23/04 at 4:58pm
Sweeney Todd
Anyone Can Whistle
City of Angels
"A little nonsense now and then is relished by the wisest men" - Willy Wonka
#17ACT I FINALE
Posted: 11/23/04 at 5:03pm
Really? I think the finale to Phantom is pretty anticlimactic (could that chandelier fall any slower?)
The best Act I finale is Les Miz's "One Day More". It brings all the characters onstage, it gets the audience on the edge of their seats about what is to come, and it's triumphant and thrilling.
BlueWizard's blog: The Rambling Corner
HEDWIG: "The road is my home. In reflecting upon the people whom I have come upon in my travels, I cannot help but think of the people who have come upon me."
#18ACT I FINALE
Posted: 11/23/04 at 5:05pmWicked and Rent.
"Learn how to laugh.
Learn how to love.
Learn how to live.
That's my style."
-Follies
#19ACT I FINALE
Posted: 11/23/04 at 5:08pm
Can't believe I'm the first one (this time around) to mention RAGTIME.
EDIT: Also, PARADE's Act One finale is wonderful as well.
"High time we made a stand and shook up the views of the common man" - Tears for Fears
Updated On: 11/23/04 at 05:08 PM
#20ACT I FINALE
Posted: 11/23/04 at 5:09pm
*Sigh*
No show from the 90's to the present would probably even make my Top 20.
The only two that might would be THE PRODUCERS and RAGTIME.
"One no longer loves one's insight enough once one communicates it."
The opposite of creation isn't war, it's stagnation.
The opposite of creation isn't war, it's stagnation.
geri loves wicked
Understudy Joined: 9/11/04
#21ACT I FINALE
Posted: 11/23/04 at 5:15pmWICKED. it gave me chills!
Everybody's got the right to their dreams...
#22ACT I FINALE
Posted: 11/23/04 at 5:15pmReally, "The Producers"?? I thought the Act I finale was pretty "meh."
BlueWizard's blog: The Rambling Corner
HEDWIG: "The road is my home. In reflecting upon the people whom I have come upon in my travels, I cannot help but think of the people who have come upon me."
Updated On: 11/23/04 at 05:15 PM
#23ACT I FINALE
Posted: 11/23/04 at 5:24pm
Well, I was thinking long and hard for another show from the 90's and on, besides RAGTIME, that even compared to shows before that.
And really, only RAGTIME even competes.
You're right. THE PRODUCERS really doesn't.
"One no longer loves one's insight enough once one communicates it."
The opposite of creation isn't war, it's stagnation.
The opposite of creation isn't war, it's stagnation.
Allie
Broadway Legend Joined: 11/2/04
#24ACT I FINALE
Posted: 11/23/04 at 5:26pmHello, Dolly! has a pretty great Act 1 ending! Before the parade passes by
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