Best Act I Finales? (I fixed it :) ) — Page 3

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#51

re: Best number before intermission?

Posted: 8/23/04 at 9:56pm

"And I'm Telling You..." from Dreamgirls
"Everything's Coming Up Roses" from Gypsy
"A New Argentina" from Evita
"I Am What I Am" from LaCage
"Tomorrow Belongs to Me" - the reprise in Cabaret at the wedding party
"Too Many Mornings" - for the various productions of Follies that make the break here for two acts!
"Defying Gravity" from Wicked

#52

re: Best number before intermission?

Posted: 8/23/04 at 10:01pm

"One Day More" from Les Miserables. Hands Down.

-If you don't like your fate, change it. You are your own master.- Aida

#53

re: Best number before intermission?

Posted: 8/23/04 at 10:16pm

I also agree with I Am What I Am

#54

re: Best number before intermission?

Posted: 8/23/04 at 10:19pm

Thanks to Morosco to finally mentioning I GOT RHYTHM from CRAZY FOR YOU.

And it seems Morosco is the one who stole The Scream!

#55

re: Best number before intermission?

Posted: 8/23/04 at 10:22pm

1. One day more! - Les Miserables
2. Comfort and Joy - Bat Boy,
Defying Gravity - Wicked
Little Priest - Sweeney Todd
La Vie Boheme - Rent

When someone blunders, we say that he makes a misstep. Is it then not clear that all the ills of mankind, all the tragic misfortunes that fill our history books, all the political blunders, all the failures of the great leaders have arisen merely from a lack of skill in dancing. - Moliere

#56

re: Best number before intermission?

Posted: 8/23/04 at 10:23pm

I agree with many of those and would add BE ITALIAN.

" ...the happiness in the tune convinces me that I'm not afraid."

#57

re: Best number before intermission?

Posted: 8/23/04 at 10:24pm

"La Vie Boheme"- RENT
"Defying Gravity"- Wicked
"One Day More"- Les Miz
"Karma Chamelion"- Taboo
"Blood Money"- JCS

I have my books and my poetry to protect me...

#58

re: Best number before intermission?

Posted: 8/23/04 at 10:26pm

Anything Goes - Anything Goes
Ever After - Into the Woods
A Weekend in the Country - A Little Night Music

And the Act I Finale to "Sunday in the Park with George" is beyond amazing

Updated On: 8/23/04 at 10:26 PM

#59

re: Best number before intermission?

Posted: 8/23/04 at 10:30pm

Ooh, good choices, kissmy cookie. :) And the Act I finale of Sunday in the Park With George is simply called "Sunday." Gaaaah. So. Good.

Updated On: 8/23/04 at 10:30 PM

#60

re: Best number before intermission?

Posted: 8/23/04 at 10:33pm

tugboat?

#61

re: Best number before intermission?

Posted: 8/23/04 at 10:37pm

Oh, "Sunday" is definitely up there.

I also like
"One Day More"
"And I'm Telling You..."

#62

re: Best number before intermission?

Posted: 8/23/04 at 10:55pm

I second Yankeefan's and add "Les Mis". Wow, I didn't know that was La Cage's Act 1 Closer-LOVE that song! Also, La Vie Boheme and I think Little Shop's is very coolly creepy.

Rosencrantz: "Be happy - if you're not even HAPPY what's so good about surviving? We'll be all right. I suppose we just go on." - from Tom Stoppard's Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead

Updated On: 8/23/04 at 10:55 PM

#63

re: Best number before intermission?

Posted: 8/23/04 at 11:05pm

I hate to say it's the best because different shows call for different types of First Act Finales, but IMHO the multi-character montage (like One Day More) is the ideal. It's a chance to recap and remind the audience what the status of each character is at act's end, and artistically it provides a built-in reason to bring characters and ensemble onstage and achieve a big, powerful finale with enough impact on the viewer to last through libations (EDITED because "co*ktails" is apparently obscene) and the line at the bathroom.

Someone may have used this format earlier, but to the best of my knowledge WEST SIDE STORY set the standard with the Tonight reprise. If WSS set the standard, LES MIS perfected it with One Day More.

"The last train out of any station will not be full of nice guys." - Dr. Hunter S. Thompson

"I wash my face, then drink beer, then I weep. Say a prayer and induce insincere self-abuse, till I'm fast asleep"- In Trousers

Updated On: 8/23/04 at 11:05 PM

#64

re: Best number before intermission?

Posted: 8/23/04 at 11:08pm

I agree completely with "Sunday" - what a song/moment presented in such a beautiful way - you really felt you were part of the creation of the art.

#65

re: Best number before intermission?

Posted: 8/23/04 at 11:16pm

Amen to almost all the posts, especially Til We Reach that Day, and Comfort and Joy

Here are my choices of those that havent already been mentioned:

*Ever After~ Into the Woods
* The World is Mean and How to Stay Alive~ Threepenny Opera which normally has 2 intermissions and 2 act finales
*Autumn/Finale !~ Titanic
*Angel Mom~Ruthless!

Yes that's me. No, it's not a Rent homage.

#66

re: Best number before intermission?

Posted: 8/23/04 at 11:23pm

Oh and I forgot Who Will Love Me as I am from Side Show

Soooo gorgeous

Yes that's me. No, it's not a Rent homage.

#67

re: Best number before intermission?

Posted: 8/23/04 at 11:24pm

I've just listened to "Sunday" 3 times in a row. Anyone who thinks Sondheim can't be melodic is out of their sad little mind.

-Plum, on a musical high

#68

re: Best number before intermission?

Posted: 8/23/04 at 11:27pm

Amen to
Wicked
And
Rent

All previously mentioned are great, but I don't think I can top Les Miz...

One Day More makes me want to cry just thinking about it....seeing then men marching and the lovers and the innkeepers in the sewer and Javert all singing their own anthem....simply supurb, some of the most beautiful music ever

#69

re: Best number before intermission?

Posted: 8/23/04 at 11:29pm

A LITTLE PRIEST.

The end. No contest. At all.

"One no longer loves one's insight enough once one communicates it."

The opposite of creation isn't war, it's stagnation.

#70

re: Best number before intermission?

Posted: 8/23/04 at 11:53pm

I hate to say it's the best because different shows call for different types of First Act Finales, but IMHO the multi-character montage (like One Day More) is the ideal.
Someone may have used this format earlier, but to the best of my knowledge WEST SIDE STORY set the standard with the Tonight reprise. If WSS set the standard, LES MIS perfected it with One Day More.

I completely agree, Broadway Matt.

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."

#71

re: Best number before intermission?

Posted: 8/24/04 at 12:15am

I love the Act I Finale for "Sunday in the Park with George." Although I think that's where the show should end. I don't like the second act.

Gypsy - Betty Buckley http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tUN5XoB5vFs&feature=youtu.be

#72

re: Best number before intermission?

Posted: 8/24/04 at 12:21am

I love Chicago's act 1 finale. It's just such a GREAT moment. Just LOVE It.

Roxie and Velma finish singing "My own Best Friend", Roxie faints, and announces she's going to have a baby. Everyone is in a frenzy and Velma is pissed. The curtain closes with everything going crazy and Velma's "And all that Jazzzz".

It really is the pefect moment too close Act 1, and such a fun way to do it.

#73

re: Best number before intermission?

Posted: 8/24/04 at 4:40am

Vor dem SchloB from Tanz der Vampire. Awesome!

Who can explain it, who can tell you why? Fools give you reasons, wise men never try -South Pacific

#74

re: Best number before intermission?

Posted: 8/24/04 at 7:58am

Les Miz and Urinetown.

"What can you expect from a bunch of seitan worshippers?" - Reginald Tresilian

#75

re: Best number before intermission?

Posted: 8/24/04 at 8:37am

Well, I'm going back to the Golden Age-
Arthur's final monologue and the knighting of Sir Lancelot -"Camelot"(orchestral reprise of "I Wonder What The King Is Doing Tonight?)
The Rumble - "West Side Story" (the "Tonight Quintet" IS not at intermission
"Old Maid" - "110 in the Shade"
"Climb Ev'ry Mountain" - "The Sound of Music"

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