Best 11 O'Clock Number Ever?- Page 2

[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. 

[Dave28282]

Posted: 11/1/18 at 7:22am

Not really a showstopper but I think "I know the Truth" from Aida is one of the most beautiful 11 O'Clock numbers.

[carnzee]

Posted: 11/1/18 at 8:06am

When does "Home" from The Wiz occur? That sounds like a great eleven o'clock number.
Maybe "Last Midnight" from Woods? Or is that too early?
" Move On" from Sunday is amazing.
Follies seems to have four great eleven o'clock numbers back to back. "Losing my Mind" would be my favorite.

This thread has made me realize how much Sondheim understood about the late in Act II number. He took what he learned from Gypsy and applied it well.

[Gizmo6]

Posted: 11/1/18 at 9:08am

Ok so Rose's Turn is the best in my opinion but some others from less well-known musicals or adaptions that stand out for me. 

The song Already Home the Webber wrote for Glinda in Act 2 of his revised Wizard of Oz, I also love the Red Shoe Blues for the Wicked Witch of the West. It's great to flesh out the two female witch characters. 

At the moment I'm obsessed with Irma La Douce title song. 

Then He's my Boy from Everyone's Talking About Jamie is one of the stand out female songs of the last decade. 

Then there's Quiet Please There's a lady onstage from Boy from Oz

 

Lastly off the top of my mind is Anything but lonely from Aspects of Love. 

[aj88]

Posted: 11/1/18 at 9:20am

It's obvious that Rose's Turn is the epitome of this topic, but I do often consider If He Walked Into My Life from Mame to be a personal favorite.

Also, you could consider Reviewing the Situation from Oliver! as an 11 o'clock number.

Goodbye from Catch Me If You Can was mentioned, and I think Fly Fly Away is another strong song (though it is sung by a character we don't spend a lot of time with so it almost feels strange in the moment).

[poisonivy2]

Posted: 11/1/18 at 9:53am

"She Used to Be Mine" as an amazing 11 o'clock number:

Early in act one Jenna's I Want song was "What Baking Can Do." She dreamed of a better life with "sugar, butter, flour." She was going to use her pie-making abilities to make a better life for herself and her baby. She isn't sure how she's going to get what she wants but she's going to do it.

"She Used to be Mine" is sung after Earl has discovered her stash of money she was going to use to go to the pie contest. He's taken it, and she's seemingly back at square one. She's going to have to make a better life for herself without this pie-making pipe dream. She sings:

"She is all of this mixed up and baked in a beautiful pie
She is gone, but she used to be mine"

And it's the emotional high point of the musical and seems to work no matter who's singing it. 

[GF21]

Posted: 11/1/18 at 10:44am

I have a soft spot for "The Hill" from Once.

[hanabana]

Posted: 11/1/18 at 11:04am

I am so glad someone said "Goodbye" from Catch Me If You Can here!  I feel exactly the same way - IMO, it is truly an unforgettable moment to see this number performed live in the show.

I also think that "It All Fades Away" from the Bridges of Madison County is an amazing 11 O'clock number.  I still remember seeing it in the theater and hearing the audience react to it!  It was magical.

[GeorgeandDot]

Posted: 11/1/18 at 11:17am

Rose's Turn- Gypsy
Lot's Wife- Caroline, or Change
Move On- Sunday in the Park with George
Ladies Who Lunch- Company

[SomethingPeculiar]

Posted: 11/1/18 at 11:21am

I like the two schools of thought about the 11 o'clock number, the latter of which isn't discussed as much:

1)  Main character has a climax or moment of realization –– Rose's Turn, If He Walked Into My Life, Send In The Clowns, So Long Dearie, Gimme-Gimme

2)  Supporting character's moment in the spotlight, which is often less plot-driven and more of an added "flavor" for act 2 –– Sit Down You're Rockin' the Boat, Ladies Who Lunch, Brush Up Your Shakespeare, Gotta Have A Gimmick, The Miller's Son, I Know Where I've Been, You'll Never Walk Alone


And let's not forget about the shows that, it could be argued, have 2+ eleven o'clock numbers: My Fair Lady (Without You/Accustomed to Her Face), Fun Home (Days & Days/Telephone Wire/Edges of the World), Company (Ladies Who Lunch/Being Alive), Bridges of Madison County, the Follies loveland sequence

Updated On: 11/1/18 at 11:21 AM

[Lot666]

Posted: 11/1/18 at 12:52pm

Gizmo6 said: "I also love the Red Shoe Blues for the Wicked Witch of the West."

Fantastic song, delivered with gusto by Hannah Waddingham.

Gizmo6 said: "Anything but lonely from Aspects of Love."

Beautiful.

I'll also add "Words Fail" from Dear Evan Hansen.

[Gizmo6]

Posted: 11/1/18 at 2:37pm

Lot666 said: "Gizmo6 said: "I also love the Red Shoe Blues for the Wicked Witch of the West."

Fantastic song, delivered with gusto by Hannah Waddingham.

Gizmo6 said: "Anything but lonely from Aspects of Love."

Beautiful.

I'll also add "Words Fail" from Dear Evan Hansen."

Waddington was brilliant and I loved the sampling of Night on Bald Mountain in the dance break. 

Aspects of Love is coming to Southwark Playhouse soon in a really stripped back version that i hope I can see, nearly just for this song. 

[Lot666]

Posted: 11/1/18 at 2:42pm

Gizmo6 said: "Waddington was brilliant and I loved the sampling of Night on Bald Mountain in the dance break."

That was a indeed an inspired addition!

Gizmo6 said: Aspects of Love is coming to Southwark Playhouse soon in a really stripped back version that i hope I can see, nearly just for this song."

I've never seen it, but "Anything But Lonely" is the show's signature song by most accounts. I'm also very fond of "Mermaid Song".

[denali.fire]

Posted: 11/1/18 at 6:03pm

I have always thought that Funny Girl  had two 11o'clock numbers.

10:55  "Who Are You Now"   and 11:05  "His Is the Only Music that Makes Me Dance."

[Mike66]

Posted: 11/1/18 at 6:40pm

denali.fire said: "I have always thought that FunnyGirl had two 11o'clock numbers.

10:55 "Who Are You Now" and 11:05 "His Is the Only Music that Makes Me Dance.""

Interesting..  I've always thought of the latter as the 11 oclock number, with "Who are you" are the set-up, if you will.  

Until just now, I thought it was a rule that there is one 11 oclock number.  But I just realized that's kind of a dumb thing to say, especially in an art form where the rules, if there are any exist to be broken

[GE 2]

Posted: 11/2/18 at 5:54am

Hard to do better than Gypsy... but I do love "Can't stop the beat" from Hairspray.

How about Nowadays from Chicago?

Updated On: 11/2/18 at 05:54 AM

[CT2NYC]

Posted: 11/2/18 at 7:40am

GE 2 said: "Hard to do better than Gypsy... but I do love "Can't stop the beat" from Hairspray.

How about Nowadays from Chicago?"

"You Can't Stop the Beat" is the finale. "I Know Where I've Been" is the 11 o'clock number from Hairspray.

[kelsey1389]

Posted: 11/2/18 at 10:24am

Have to agree with "Rose's Turn", but I also think that "Always Starting Over" from if/then is a gorgeous song (though I will admit I'm not 100% sure if that's an 11 o'clock number). Also might throw "Monster" from Frozen into the mix, although it might come too early in the second act?

[Loopin’theloop]

Posted: 11/3/18 at 8:41am

Lot666 said: "Gizmo6 said: "Waddington was brilliant and I loved the sampling of Night on Bald Mountain in the dance break."

That was a indeed an inspired addition!

Let’s not give them too much credit here Night on Bald Mountain was used because it’s in the movie. It is a nice nod though.

[amoni]

Posted: 11/3/18 at 7:24pm

"Home" from "The Wiz" is a close second. A small girl alone center stage starting soft and ending by raising the roof.

[ebroadwayrundown]

Posted: 11/4/18 at 8:02am

I've always thought that "Franklin Shepard, Inc." was the 11 o'clock number for "Merrily We Roll Along," but since the show runs backwards it happens at 8:30.

[NYCblurb]

Posted: 11/4/18 at 9:37am

Phillytheatreguy10 said: "Rose's Turn, no question."

---

I agreed on this answer until last year, at which time this changed. Prior to that I think nothing had matched Tyne Daley's turn as Rose at the St. Jame's theater until Cynthia Erivo's I'M HERE in the revival of THE COLOR PURPLE in my lifetime on Broadway.