Act I finales- Page 3

[BlueWizard]

Posted: 11/24/04 at 4:00pm

i find it hard to believe that no one else likes miss saigon's act one finale? i think it's so incredibly emotional...

I don't think anyone said they didn't like it, it just wasn't named as anyone's favourite. But yes, that moment IS a wonderful one; "I'll Give My Life For You" is a very powerful song.

Before I finally saw Miss Saigon, though, I always thought the Act I finale was after Kim shoots Tam, because that's the end of the first disc on the OLC. That also would have made a stirring end to the first act, with the heart-pounding "This Is The Hour."

[apdarcey]

Posted: 11/24/04 at 4:04pm

haha... you know what i meant!
yes, i never understood why they did that to the olc recording, it screws me up every time... the complete symphonic has it the right way though...

[BlueWizard]

Posted: 11/24/04 at 4:14pm

I'm pretty sure it's to balance the running times of the two discs...both stand at around 50 minutes (rather than one at 65 and the other at 35). They did the same thing to Les Miz; the end to the first disc is usually Do You Hear The People Sing (depending on which recording you have).

[edenespinosalover]

Posted: 11/24/04 at 9:55pm

I agree with Sweeney having the best Act I finale. Stephen is just amazing and so is the show. I also like "Sunday in the Park with George"'s ending in the first act as well. So basically, any Sondheim show is gonna have an awesome Act I finale...Anything thing that Sondheim writes is awesome.

[spiderdj82]

Posted: 11/24/04 at 10:00pm

Phantom of the Opera. I mean, a freakin' Chandelier falls.

[FosseBoi]

Posted: 11/24/04 at 10:14pm

DEFYING GRAVITY!!!! From WICKED!!!!!!

[StickToPriest]

Posted: 11/24/04 at 10:18pm

POTO relies on spectacle rather than substance to end Act I.

But that seems to be Broadway's mantra nowadays: Spectacle Over Substance.

[Jon]

Posted: 11/24/04 at 11:28pm

When I saw POTO - about 5 years into its run, the chandelier didn't do anything that met the definition of "fall" - it desceneded slowly and gently toward the stage in the the most anti-climactic moment I've ever seen on Broadway.

[BwayTheatre11]

Posted: 11/24/04 at 11:33pm

From what I have seen/heard, Ragtime, Dreamgirls, and RENT...there are a lot of great ones.

[CattleCall]

Posted: 11/24/04 at 11:42pm

I've said this before, but the only reason I've gone to Beauty and the Beast 4 times is because of it's act one finale. It's magical and dramatic, and it makes me believe in the power of theater every time I see it.

[gettinhep]

Posted: 11/25/04 at 1:06am

I must second the thought on 'Sunday In The Park With George.' The image of the characters, frozen in the finished painting, is the perfect climax to Act 1.

[spiderdj82]

Posted: 11/25/04 at 1:56am

I do like the ending of the first act of Sunday in the Park. I just wish they would have developed the second act more.

[AuBrie]

Posted: 11/25/04 at 2:11am

I know it has already been said many times but Les Mis has the best Act 1 Finale... hands down.

Ragtime and Rent also have great act 1 finales

[thibodeaux]

Posted: 11/25/04 at 3:07am

It's so hard for me to pick one. . .And many of my favorites have been mentioned. . .But, I'll post them anyway.

* Ragtime
* RENT
* Dreamgirls
* Sweeney Todd
* Caroline, or Change
* Sunday in the Park with George
* Into the Woods
* Wicked
* 1776 (way creepy...)

Those are some.

[Humberto_Luna]

Posted: 11/25/04 at 10:16am

The best of the best: DREAMGIRLS

[onceadancer2]

Posted: 11/25/04 at 2:30pm

I am showing my age agaain, but the best first act finales were:

1.BABES IN ARMS, where after singing JOHNYY ONE NOTE, someone got socked in the jaw at which point the curtain fell.
2. BOYS FROM SYRACUSE. Let Antipholus In number fairly bubbled over with the entire corps de ballet jumping around in every kind of body contortion while the chorus kept repeating LET ANTIPHOLUS IN.
3. PAL JOEY. Gene Kelly partnering every girl in the corps and finally winding up wirh Vivienne Segal at which point the lights came up on the Chez Joey nightclub.
4. ON YOUR TOES. La Princess Zenobia ballet, a spoof on all those crazy oriental ballets with a really wicked spoof by Tamara Geva and Ray Bolger prancing around the stage as a slave.
5. BY JUPITER. ray Bolger singing No Mother No, after which Robert Alton send him pirouetting acros the stage in a dazzling and dizzying succession of high acrobatic dancing.
6. FINIAN'S RAINBOW. Great Come and Get IT Day with entire singing corps raising their hands heavenward as the curtain fell.

Probably others, but these come to mind right now!

Miriam

[another_day_2day]

Posted: 11/25/04 at 2:40pm

i would go with les mis(with the right cast)...also the producers...rent's is awesome also

[Broadway_freak]

Posted: 11/25/04 at 3:19pm

Evita, hands down. Especially the new tour's finale. Spine-tingling!

[DestinyBeckoned]

Posted: 11/25/04 at 3:34pm

I'm grateful to whoever mentioned Sunday in the Park with George first, because I completely forgot about it for a minute. That would have to be my favorite.

And I was disappointed in the chandelier in Phantom. I knew that it was supposed to fall, but it didn't make any sort of falling noise, and it looked like a big cake made out of cloth and crystal. I had been expecting too much, I guess.

[2day4u9704301]

Posted: 11/25/04 at 3:57pm

I'm gonna have to go with Aida on this one. "The Gods love Nubia" is one of the most powerful songs I have heard in the theater. Moved me every time!

[LyTeMyCanDyI]

Posted: 11/25/04 at 4:30pm

Les Miz, Wicked, Miss Saigon, Cabaret, from what I've seen.

[DancerGirl16]

Posted: 11/25/04 at 4:41pm

Les Miserables - One Day More, it is sad that is the act I finale because honestly, the epilogue is NOTHING compared to it. And honestly a show's finale should be better then the act I finale lol

Sweeney Todd - Little Priest! "Those above will serve those downbelow!

Nine - Bells of St. Sebestain, one of the greatest harmonies of all time!

[Letty2]

Posted: 11/25/04 at 4:59pm

I am obsessed with the Urinetown Act 1 Finale!! Its so powerful and there is so much stuff going on that it like overwhelms me!! :) Although i have noticed that Urinetown, Hairspray, and Les Mis, all have like revolutionary type act 1 finales..

[Marquise]

Posted: 11/25/04 at 5:01pm

i wasn't even born but "Turkey Lurkey Time" from "Promises, Promises" brought the house down.

i have seen the Tony Awards perfromance with the OBC at the Lincoln Center Library for the Performing Arts though. . .AMAZING!

[kangaroo]

Posted: 11/25/04 at 6:16pm

Les Miserables (One Day More)
Miss Saigon (I'd give my life for you)

Wicked (Defying Gravity)
Oklahoma! revival (with HJ)
Aida (Gods love Nubia)

from best to worst... my own personal preference