Best act 1 finale

#1

re: Best act 1 finale

Posted: 7/30/08 at 3:25pm

One Day More - Les Miserables

---

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

#2

re: Best act 1 finale

Posted: 7/30/08 at 3:26pm

Well in Is He Dead? the proposal + prompt fainting by NLB is a high one on my charts

#3

re: Best act 1 finale

Posted: 7/30/08 at 3:28pm

Spring Awakening - the Hayloft scene, just because it is so awkward standing in the Ladies' Room during Intermission.

Also, I love Coming Up Roses in Gypsy.

#4

re: Best act 1 finale

Posted: 7/30/08 at 3:34pm

Everything's Coming Up Roses is plenty "climactic." It's the start of Louise becoming a star.

#5

re: Best act 1 finale

Posted: 7/30/08 at 3:34pm

I kind of love "A New Argentina," especially in the original Bway production, with LuPone trumpeting those high notes over and over.

And "Sunday" in SITPWG.

#6

re: Best act 1 finale

Posted: 7/30/08 at 3:36pm

None of you are even close. (eta: oops I posted at the same time as Reginald)

The best Act 1 finale, bar none, is Evita.

The entire cast is onstage, some holding torches, some holding banners. They are singing "A New Argentina". It ends "The voice of the people, can not be, and will not be and must not be denied".

Don't believe me? Go look at the 1980 Tony Awards clip and see if you don't pee your pants after watching it.

---

If anyone ever tells you that you put too much Parmesan cheese on your pasta, stop talking to them. You don't need that kind of negativity in your life.

Updated On: 7/30/08 at 03:36 PM

#7

re: Best act 1 finale

Posted: 7/30/08 at 3:37pm

Is that all you got from it

#8

re: Best act 1 finale

Posted: 7/30/08 at 3:40pm

I don't know if these are the best, but some of my favorites are "Ever After" from Into the Woods, "The Bells of St. Sebastian" from Nine, and I've been obsessed with "Blackout" from In the Heights lately.

#9

re: Best act 1 finale

Posted: 7/30/08 at 3:42pm

I love the staging for Light in the Piazza, with Margaret walking in on Clara and Fabrizio. The blackout has perfect timing, just as she realizes what is going on and is about to make a move.

In the Heights is so over-stimulating... in a good way though.

---

::bust a move::

#10

re: Best act 1 finale

Posted: 7/30/08 at 3:55pm

"A Little Priest" -- picture going into the show knowing absolutely nothing about it. I can't imagine what you must feel like going into intermission after that.

"August: Osage County" ends on some ridiculous highs after act one and especially act two.

And another vote for "One Day More."

#11

re: Best act 1 finale

Posted: 7/30/08 at 3:56pm

I am holding my breath all during "Everything's Coming Up Roses" and when the house lights come up, I finally exhale. It's a pretty intense Act I closer.

"Dreamgirls" is my pick.

#12

re: Best act 1 finale

Posted: 7/30/08 at 3:58pm

Sondheim is pretty darn good at those act 1 closers. 'A Little Priest' and 'Sunday' are both high on my list of favourites. Also 'One Day More!', and - why not - 'La Vie Boheme B'. The ENERGY, man! :3

---

Notes from the Earlham Street Gutter

#13

re: Best act 1 finale

Posted: 7/30/08 at 4:03pm

A Little Priest - Sweeney
I Believe - Spring Awakening
Defying Gravity (how original of me, I know) - Wicked
Feeling Electric - Next to Normal
So Much Better - Legally Blonde
Astonishing - Little Women

---

I know you. I know you. I know you.

#14

re: Best act 1 finale

Posted: 7/30/08 at 4:03pm

Everything's Coming Up Roses - Gypsy
And I Am Telling You... - Dreamgirls
A Little Priest - Sweeney Todd
Till We Reach That Day - Ragtime
One Day More - Les Mis
Along Came Bialy - The Producers
'Act 1 Finale ' - Urinetown
If I Can't Love Her- Beauty and The Beast

Also the 1st Act finales from LSOH, Light In The Piazza and Dirty Rotten Scoundrels.

---

"You drank a charm to kill John Proctor's wife! You drank a charm to kill Goody Proctor!" - Betty Parris to Abigail Williams in Arthur Miller's The Crucible

#15

re: Best act 1 finale

Posted: 7/30/08 at 4:09pm

If I Can't Love Her from Beauty and the Beast. I don't know why, but I was just so overwhelmed and stared at the stage for a while after the lights came back on.

#16

re: Best act 1 finale

Posted: 7/30/08 at 4:16pm

Depends on what you look for in the half way climax.

Defying Gravity has always given me actual goose bumps and it leaves you buzzing.

Thats rare, usually there is a 'wow' but that takes the crown because its so spectacular.

However, I am partial to 'And I'm Telling You' even though its dulled down with 'Dreamgirls' sneaking in before the curtain. 'One' from Bare is pretty powerful when sung well. The end of 'Blackout' is good too.

#17

re: Best act 1 finale

Posted: 7/30/08 at 4:22pm

It would seem as though having "The Dreams" come in at the end of "And I Am Telling You..." would dull the Act I finish but for some reason, I find it really adds to the emotion of the moment. Perhaps because we see that, despite Effie's declaration, they are in fact moving on with out her.

#18

re: Best act 1 finale

Posted: 7/30/08 at 4:26pm

In the Heights, Les Miserables, and Gypsy [especially with the letter-ripping] all took my breath away.

---

One time, Patti LuPone punched me in the face...


It was awesome. - theaterkid1015

#19

re: Best act 1 finale

Posted: 7/30/08 at 4:36pm

I know these aren't original but...
Defying Gravity- Wicked - because, it's simply exhilerating and incredible
One Day More - Les Mis - I love that song....
So Much Better - LB- I like where they black out, plus, it's the best song in Legally Blonde
If I Can't Love Her - BATB - Just a really good song, and I love when the set turns around
La Vie Boheme B - RENT - I just sat in awe of the first act...crying my eyes out for reasons I barely understood, dried my eyes @ intermission, then started all over again with Seasons of Love...

#20

re: Best act 1 finale

Posted: 7/30/08 at 4:42pm

Wicked- Defying Gravity is awesome!

My Fair Lady- It was such a powerful ending, and they weren't even singing. I love how they end it on Eliza's dress.

---

Upcoming Shows: Quilters, A Bronx Tale, August: Osage County, Wicked, Spring Awakening, Little House on the Prairie

Updated On: 7/30/08 at 04:42 PM

#21

re: Best act 1 finale

Posted: 7/30/08 at 4:43pm

Gypsy
Passing Strange
Sweeney Todd
Wicked (The show should have ended right there. Act II is an abomination)

#22

re: Best act 1 finale

Posted: 7/30/08 at 4:48pm

I thought that Audra McDonald in 110 IN THE SHADE singing "Old Maid" was stunning.

Frankly, I think that anything Audra McDonald does is stunning...

#23

re: Best act 1 finale

Posted: 7/30/08 at 5:00pm

I really like Roosevelt Petrucius Coleslaw from Caroline, or Change. I think that it really fits the show, and yet it is still a great song to listen to.

#24

re: Best act 1 finale

Posted: 7/30/08 at 5:02pm

Before they cut the intermission during previews, Storms a Brewin' in ....Trailer Park... was a great finale.

#25

re: Best act 1 finale

Posted: 7/30/08 at 5:10pm

Maybe because I just saw an excellent production of ALNM at the Shaw Festival in Niagara-on-the-Lake my vote would go to "A Weekend in the Country." It combines several plot threads and sets up a great what-will-happen.

But that's just one of many possibilities.

---

Cast albums are NOT "soundtracks."
Live theatre does not use a "soundtrack." If it did, it wouldn't be live theatre!

I host a weekly one-hour radio program featuring cast album selections as well as songs by cabaret, jazz and theatre artists. The program, FRONT ROW CENTRE is heard Sundays 9 to 10 am and also Saturdays from 8 to 9 am (eastern times) on www.proudfm.com