All time great theater moments?- Page 2

[wickedrentq]

Posted: 4/2/06 at 5:49pm

Lorelai--it's called "Finale"

[LorelaiGilmore]

Posted: 4/2/06 at 5:51pm

Thanks! I was almost positive that's what it was called, but then I wasn't sure, so I put the whole "Do you hear the people sing finale" thing down, to be on the semi-safe side.

[TheaterAddict7652]

Posted: 4/2/06 at 10:13pm

I never saw Dreamgirls, but I'm sure "And I Am Telling You..." must have been amazing!

[LorelaiGilmore]

Posted: 4/2/06 at 10:15pm

^I wish I could have seen it! I'm thinking that the movie version won't be the same. *sigh*

[MargoChanning]

Posted: 4/2/06 at 10:27pm

After 30+ years and 1000+ shows, nothing I've ever seen compares to the "It's All Over/And I Am Telling You" Act I finale of DREAMGIRLS where the standing ovation started halfway through the song. Nothing else is even close.

Updated On: 4/2/06 at 10:27 PM

[Dollypop]

Posted: 4/2/06 at 10:29pm

January 16, 1964

Carol Channing.

Red dress

Staircase.

Nothing has ever come close to it.

[catstagestud]

Posted: 4/2/06 at 10:39pm

As already said: "Circle of Life" from TLK...what a thrilling and visually stunning moment in theatre!

"I'll Cover You" (reprise)-I saw RENT for the first time last March in NYC and this is where I simply lost it...the music, the lyrics, the raw emotion of the situation combined make for one of the most moving songs I've ever experienced personally in the theatre.

"What About Love" from TCP...props to having a situation which could be staged as tacky and tasteless and creating a beautiful moment for both Celie and Shug where everything seems to be laid out on the table...I got teary eyed here.

There are others but those are my top three.

Oh and honorable mention: Ana Gastyer as Elphaba, "No Good Deed"...there aren't words to describe how powerful this song was.

Cheers,

Christopher

[thevolleyballer]

Posted: 4/2/06 at 11:06pm

A general theater moment that will be remembered:

Idina's emergence from the wings in Wicked on January 9, 2005. Amazing energy in the entire room, and amid all the cheering, there was true silence and awe when she walked onstage. That's one of the greatest moments of live theater that I've witnessed.

[justagirl2]

Posted: 4/2/06 at 11:39pm

The finale of Les Miserables is just beautiful.

I also second the bottle dance in Fiddler on the Roof...the intensity of the music and the dance just keeps building, it's great. Plus, it's one of those great moments in theater where the boys get to shine.

[Blanche]

Posted: 4/3/06 at 12:10am

The kiss in POTO after Christine sings "God grant me courage to show you, you are not alone" in the Broadway production with Mark Jacoby as the Phantom. I swear I saw electricity coursing through his body during that kiss. It wasn't overplayed, it was rather subtle, but it has remained in my memory ever since. There are many shows with many memorable moments, but this stood out to me as something truly exceptional. I've seen POTO several times with other Phantoms and this was the only time that happened. Mark Jacoby was just amazing.

[lesmisforever]

Posted: 4/3/06 at 12:16am

The finale of Les Miserables gets to me, especially live.

I haven't seen Wicked yet (I'm going to in May!), but "For Good" brings tears to my eyes and "Defying Gravity" has an amazing affect on me.

[Thesbijean]

Posted: 4/3/06 at 12:21am

Christine Ebersole, last moment of her last solo "Another Winter in a Summer Town."

The most vulnerable, painful, beautitufl moment I have witnessed on the stage.

Other honorable mentions:

Audra McDonald singing Your Daddy's Son from Ragtime

End of Bernadette's Rose's Turn from Gypsy

We Are Descended from Dessa Rose

[Kevinoes]

Posted: 4/3/06 at 12:33am

I'll expand on "Defying Gravity", just to stir the WICKED loathers.

I do agree that the visual and melody are extremely powerful but I think the context is truly chilling. If done by a convincing Elphaba *cough*Idina*cough*, the transformation from insecure girl to icon should be seamless and chilling. That lyric that sends it off "No Wizard that there is or was is ever gonna bring me down!" cues a blasting minor chord followed by the mob and Glinda's melancholy/bitter "I hope your happy". It's a chilling reminder of the choice she has made and foreshadowing of the events we, as the audience, know are to come. Still, Mr. Schwartz manages to resolve it to a triumphunt finale as Elphaba bravely flies on, in pursuit of what she believes. I think that is pretty heavy crap.

Ditto on Dolly's entrance.

I'll have to add "Cool" from WEST SIDE STORY. Jerome Robbins worked his dancers' asses off in this imfamously difficult and strainuous dance number. Even watching it on film, you're speechless. It's a terrific authorship.

[rosekwbp]

Posted: 4/3/06 at 1:58am

The entire production of Bernadette's Gypsy but especially Some People and Rose's Turn.

[wickedrentq]

Posted: 4/3/06 at 10:13am

Kevinoes, I totally agree about Cool

And the music is fantastic too!

[??]

Posted: 4/3/06 at 10:38am

*silence*.......





Oh God....I'm dead......





unbelievably powerful moment.

[TheaterAddict7652]

Posted: 4/3/06 at 10:13pm

I'll have to add "Cool" from WEST SIDE STORY.

Of course! I'd also like to add to that all of the dance numbers- the Prologue, the Dance at the Gym, America the Rumble and Somewhere. The dances from West Side Story are some of the most breathtaking I've ever seen.

There's a lot I am not certain of...

[Necromancer07707]

Posted: 4/3/06 at 11:16pm

!!! The first shot at Gavroche in LES MIS. I can still hear all the casps.

Biff walks in on Willy and his lover in DEATH OF A SALESMAN.

The final tableau of THE KENTUCKY CYCLE.

The underwater/above water moments in THE DIVINERS (if timed correctly).

And I'll second the end of SWEENEY, from the time when Sweeney's realization of his wife occurs through 'til when Tobias first sings "Attend the tale"

[cliffarico]

Posted: 4/3/06 at 11:25pm

Patty Duke and Anne Bancroft as Helen Keller and Annie Sullivan in the dining room scene, where Helen learns to fold her napkin.

[jpbran]

Posted: 4/3/06 at 11:40pm

Some cheesy ones, but here goes:

Les Mis: Empty Chairs, Gavroche shot, Drink With Me
Rent:I'll Cover You reprise, One Song Glory
Aida: Sealed in the tomb scene... finale.
Wicked: Defying Gravity, scene that first shows monkeys on fence wall
Assassins: Unworthy of Your Love
Miss Saigon: Kim's Nightmare (amazing, despite a lot of other weaknesses)
Ave Q: Wish I Could Go Back to College.... (powerful and unexpected)
Cabaret: Tomorrow Belongs... (movie too)
Lion King: Opening scene, Endless Night
Urinetown: Run Freedom Run
Company: Ladies Who Lunch and Being Alive
Ragtime: Wheels of a Dream
Chitty: Cheese-fest, but the car's first flight kicked a**.

[itsmeeeee]

Posted: 4/3/06 at 11:52pm

See What I Wanna See: Rising, Up and seeing the huge mascara smudges on Idina Menzel's face in R Shomon.
Rent: Out Tonight, the excitement and movement is electric
Wicked: Defying of course
TLK: He lives in you Reprise
Hairspray: Harver Fierstien's fat, nasty, steamy entrance

[thevolleyballer]

Posted: 4/3/06 at 11:55pm

When Bob Martin's voice comes on over the dark theater in The Drowsy Chaperone. Amazing.

[ALWrules]

Posted: 4/3/06 at 11:57pm

POTO- "You alone can make my song take flight. It's over now, the music of the night."

Les Miz- One Day More
Lion King- Circle of Life
The Producers- Springtime for Hitler
Miss Saigon- Nightmare
Death of a Salesmen- "Attention must be paid."
Richard the III- "Now is the winter of our discontent..."
Sweeney Todd-Epiphany
42nd Street- Curtain comes up to show the feet of the dancers.
Hedda Gabler- The protagonist's death

[broadwayboy430]

Posted: 4/4/06 at 12:03am

I don't know about you all, but anytime there is a really small dance move that grabs everybodys attention in any Fosse number is chilling.

[wickedrentq]

Posted: 4/4/06 at 2:08am

Theateraddict, read my first post in this thread

Great minds think alike!