Best Opening Number (In Your Opinion) Since 1997? — Page 2

Ragtime

Honeymoon in Vegas

Jarethan said: "I had not thought about this until seeing this. I realized that some of the great opening numbers are from the past 20 years. If you think about some of the great musicals, they did not have big opening numbers, e.g., South Pacific, MFL, Dolly, Mame, Man of La Mancha, Phantom, Gypsy, Evita (clearly effective,but...), The Music Man. (Clearlythere are alsoTradition, Cabaret and Company; and special mention to the opening of Follies, which may not be a number per se but is still amazing when well done).

Re the past 20 years, I agree with a lot of the posters, but I would rank as follows:

1. Ragtime: formymoney,maybe the greatest opening number ever. It accomplished so much story telling, yet entertained the hell out of you.

2. The Lion King: IMO it is major downhill from there, but the opening number, which is really just a procession, is stunning. It is the reason The LionKing remains the hit it is today.

3. Hamilton: I don't know how much this has to do with the electricity in the air, but I think the opening number sets the tone for the entire show.

4. Titanic: the chorals are so great,and it does an incredible job of introducing all of the characters. I still get goosebumps when I occasionally listen to it.

5. Come From Away. That show would not be the hit it is without that opening number. It tells you that itis going to be okay to be entertained bythe show, and that you needn't worry about planes falling out of the sky.

Honorable Mention: The King of Broadway. IMO The Producers gets bad-mouthed a lot on this board. It isto me still the most entertaining show in that time period, and the opening number does a great job of setting the scene, introducing us to Max Bialystyock. Urinetown, for its pureaudacity."

Jarethan- Yes! I could not agree more! I also loved Something Rotten’s opening.

Two that really set the tone and get you into it: The Wedding Singer & Legally Blonde

One of the best as of late: 9 to 5

Off the top of my head:

"There Will be Sun", Groundhog Day

"Prologue/The Coney Island Waltz", Love Never Dies (original London production)

"The Circle of Life", The Lion King

GREAT COMET

Best Opening Number of a Show That Maintains that Quality For the Remainder of the Production - Ragtime

Best Opening Number of a Show that Goes Downhill From There - The Lion King

Imagine opening this up to best opening number of all time?

Oklahoma "Oh what a beautiful morning".

Sound of Music "Hills are alive with the sound of music".

And if overtures count...

Carousel "The Carousel Waltz"

Phantom of the Opera.

And is there a stronger suite of songs to start a musical ever than Les Miserables? In tears by the time you get to "I dreamed a dream".

GE 2 said: "Imagine opening this up to best opening number of all time?

Oklahoma "Oh what a beautiful morning".

Sound of Music "Hills are alive with the sound of music".

And if overtures count...

Carousel "The Carousel Waltz"

Phantom of the Opera.

And is there a stronger suite of songs to start a musical ever than Les Miserables? In tears by the time you get to "I dreamed a dream".

I have seen several live productions of The Sound of Music and, without the camera swooping down, the mountains gorgeously everywhere, and Julie Andrews' voice, the opening is fine, but not 'best of' calibre IMO.

Re Phantom, that deadly dull auction scene comes before the chandelier rising to the title theme, which I agree is great theatre...not really an opening, however, again IMO.

We can just disagree on Oh, What a Beautiful Morning, andI have to acknowledge that I hate Oklahoma.

Jarethan said: "a-mad said: "Best Opening Number of a Show That Maintains that Quality For the Remainder of the Production - Ragtime

Best Opening Number of a Show that Goes Downhill From There - The Lion King"

Absolutely agree, per my comments above. Better summarized by you.

Re other comments, Thought Mama Who Bore Me was a lousy opener...so much so, that I started getting scared that i was going to hate the show. Hello may be a terrific number, but it is not the opening number. IMO the opening number is not the first number, it is the number that starts the show immediately, e.g., Ragtime, Tradition, Wilkhommen, The Circle of Life, the tap-dancing in 42nd Street (fever there was one, this is it...the curtain was not even up), All That Jazz (which I forgot when submitted my choices). Others may disagree, but it needs start immediately with singing and / or dancing."

A chorus of agreement. "Circle of Life" is, give or take, "I Hope I Get It," my favorite opening of all time and -- echoing the previous poster -- I'd actually have a better time if I left after it. Not a fan of any of the rest of "Lion King" but that number has made me cry every time I've seen it.

Since the Hill Cumorah pageant scene opens TBoM, "Hello" is not, in the strictest sense and according to their definition, an opening number. But I still like to think it counts.

I personally think a more interesting thread would be worst numbers...most shows in my opinion, even 'bad' ones, have good opening numbers. I suspect it's because they are often (but not always) written quite early on and frame the entire thing - they are so important to get right I would argue that many shows would never get mounted if it weren't for strong opening numbers.