Best 11 O'Clock Number Ever?

[j.garcia]

Posted: 10/31/18 at 2:48pm

For anyone unfamiliar with the term, an 11 o'clock number is 11 o'clock number is a term for a big, show-stopping song that occurs late in the second act of a two-act musical, in which a major character, often the protagonist, comes to an important realization.

 

I was inspired by the best song thread, which was just too difficult to pick one so I thought introducing a category would help. I think the greatest 11 o'clock of all time is "Rose's Turn" from Gypsy. Thrilling every time. 

[lotiloti]

Posted: 10/31/18 at 3:08pm

Fifty per cent  from Ballroom

[BwayLB]

Posted: 10/31/18 at 3:30pm

My favorites have to be I Know Where I’ve Been from Hairspray, Memphis Lives In Me from Memphis, Listen from the 2010 US tour of Dreamgirls rewritten as a reconciliation duet between Deena and Effie, the title song in Oklahoma, What I Did For Love from A Chorus Line, the title song from Sister Act, Electricity from Billy Elliot, There’s Music In You from Cinderella, Shall We Dance from the King and I, Sit Down Your Rockin the Boat from Guys and Dolls and Reach from On Your Feet

[CATSNYrevival]

Posted: 10/31/18 at 3:30pm

The greatest 11 o'clock of all time is "Rose's Turn" from Gypsy. You answered your own question.

[adamgreer]

Posted: 10/31/18 at 4:00pm

This discussion begins and ends with Rose's Turn.

[carnzee]

Posted: 10/31/18 at 4:10pm

Everybody rise for the greatest Eleven O'Clocker of All Time...

The Ladies Who Lunch.

[robskynyc]

Posted: 10/31/18 at 5:00pm

"rose's turn," but a very close second is "and i am telling you"

[adamgreer]

Posted: 10/31/18 at 5:03pm

robskynyc said: ""rose's turn," but a very close second is "and i am telling you""

That's an act 1 finale, not an 11:00 number.

[carnzee]

Posted: 10/31/18 at 5:04pm

robskynyc said: ""rose's turn," but a very close second is "and i am telling you""

"And i am telling you" isn't an eleven o'clock number, but it is a great first act closing number. 

[Kad]

Posted: 10/31/18 at 5:15pm

"Lot's Wife" is the second-best.

[Phillytheatreguy10]

Posted: 10/31/18 at 5:22pm

Rose's Turn, no question.

[MrsSallyAdams]

Posted: 10/31/18 at 5:22pm

Roses Turn sets the template for some great confessional solos: (All of My Life, Betrayed, Lots' Wife, Send in the Clowns, Lucy and Jessie, I'm Going Back, The Music that Makes Me Dance, Being Alive/Ladies Who Lunch).

As far a group numbers go I'm partial to "You Can't Stop the Beat" from Hairspray. I've heard both it, and "I Know Where I've Been," referred to as the 11 o'clock number in different texts.

[ScottyDoesn'tKnow2]

Posted: 10/31/18 at 5:37pm

"Rose's Turn" no question. 

[Dollypop]

Posted: 10/31/18 at 5:48pm

"Hello,Dolly!"

Don't argue.

[ScottyDoesn'tKnow2]

Posted: 10/31/18 at 6:12pm

I always thought "So Long Dearie" was the 11 o'clock number for Hello Dolly!

[Dollypop]

Posted: 10/31/18 at 6:19pm

Didn't I tell you not to argue?

[poisonivy2]

Posted: 10/31/18 at 6:42pm

Some modern great 11 o'clock numbers:

"She Used to Be Mine" - Waitress

"Hold Me In Your Heart" - Kinky Boots

"Joseph Smith American Moses" - Book of Mormon

"You Can't Stop the Beat" - Hairspray

[Jarethan]

Posted: 10/31/18 at 7:07pm

There are so many great ones.  Beyond #1, I am not sure that the order is quite as precise as I list, but a fun topic.  I am also sure that I am probably forgetting my favorite one (maybe my second favorite one):

1.  Rose's Turn -- No Question

2.  Betrayed -- The Producers

3.  I'm Going Back (to the Bonjour Tristesse Brassiere Company) -- Bells Are Ringing

4.  So Long, Dearie -- Hello Dolly

5.  Cabaret -- Cabaret

6.  Nowadays / Great Honey Jam -- Chicago

7.  Shall We Dance -- The King and I

8.  Being Alive -- Company

9.  If He Walked into My Life Today -- Mame

10. Is Anybody There? -- 1776

11. I've Grown Accustomed to Her Face -- My Fair Lady

12. You I Like -- The Grand Tour

 

Hello, Dolly is the best 10:00 number, hands down.  I don't think The Ladies Who Lunch is an 11 o'clock number, even if it is a great one.  Isn't it a little too early?  I also don't think group numbers -- You Can't Stop the Beat, Lucy and Jessie, RaiseYou Up --  qualify as 11:00 o'clock numbers.  There are more like 'great closing numbers' (or 'part of' in the case of Lucy and Jessie) IMO.

[TotallyEffed]

Posted: 10/31/18 at 7:08pm

Rose’s Turn is the clear winner but I do love me some Gimme, Gimme.

[Mike66]

Posted: 10/31/18 at 7:16pm

Rose's Turn.

Full stop. Long pause.

Second choice (from recent years) -- Cynthia Erivo's "I'm here."  I've seen a LOT of theatre, but never the way she brought the crowd to their feet EVERY night.

But.... the best 11oclock is still... Rose's Turn.

(and lots of the others being mentioned here are great -- but not 11 oclock pieces)

m

[Jarethan]

Posted: 10/31/18 at 7:26pm

Mike66 said: "Rose's Turn.

Full stop. Long pause.

Second choice (from recent years) -- Cynthia Erivo's "I'm here." I've seen a LOT of theatre, but never the way she brought the crowd to their feet EVERY night.

But.... the best 11oclock is still... Rose's Turn.

(and lots of the others being mentioned here are great -- but not 11 oclock pieces)

m"

Re your last comment, I agree.  I identified some and questioned whether they were really 11 o'clock numbers, but i could not articulate why I thought they might not be.  I probably don't really see my #8 through #11 as real 11 o'clock numbers in some way, but I listed them because IMO they are great numbers in what would be the 11 o'clock slot, and they are solos sung by the leads.  Hard to explain why I feel Betrayed is a great 11 o'clock number, while Being Alive is a great number in the 11 o'clock slot, but may not be a real11 o'clock number.  Sure I sound like an idiot...but at least it got me to think about late in the show numbers over the past 50-60 years.

[Mike66]

Posted: 10/31/18 at 8:41pm

I've always thought that an 11 oclock number was the moment when it comes together for the protagonist.  We hear 'I want' early in Act 1, and then we watch him.her.they try to get what 'I want'.

Up and down we go -- and then -- just before 11 oclock (in the old days), that protagonist tells us how getting it (or not getting it) actually turned out.  Victory or failure.  Or somewhere in between.  

That;s why Roses Turn is the bestest ever.  Ethel Merman (sorry Im old), stepped to the footlights and told everyone (within shouting distance, which was a couple of blocks) how it had all turned out.  And how she felt about all of it.  And nobody who heard her will ever forget it.

I may be wrong --and I'm asking not telling -- but it has to be that kind of moment --  And it's not the end of the show -- there are consequences, and we need to hear about that, too.  Like the final act in Shakespeare -- the denouement, if you will.

That's why (to me) it's Cynthia Erivo singing "I'm here" from Color Purple or Jessie Mueller baring her soul in the Waitress.  In Kinky Boots, it's "Hold Me in Your Heart" -- because it's 'that moment' when you see into his soul.  And of course, in Cabaret, the title number.  (Yes, all equally unforgettable magical moments that I wouldn't trade for anything.)

As said by others, it's not the finale, and it's not always the show stopper.  But it's the moment when all the pieces come together and the audience can see why they've come for the evening.

Well, at least, that's how I see it -- and perhaps I'm wrong.  

m

 

[adamgreer]

Posted: 10/31/18 at 10:29pm

I already mentioned that there’s nothing that even comes anywhere close to Rose’s Turn, but I started to think about what some of my other favorites were tonight. I have two other favorites, neither of which touch Rose’s Turn, but are still pretty good:

Back to Before, from Ragtime. Whether it was performed by the late, great Marin Mazzie, Donna Bullock, or Christianne Noll, it always soared.

My other favorite is If He Walked Into My Life, from Mame.

[BroadwayConcierge]

Posted: 10/31/18 at 10:40pm

Nothing new to contribute, just that "Rose's Turn" is indeed the 11 o'clock number against which all others are measured.

[Skywalker3]

Posted: 11/1/18 at 6:06am

I have to say: Goodbye from Catch me if you can. 

It has everything you want in a 11 o'clock song. 
Drama, music and an ending to the story, but not the ending of the show.