Encores after songs in a Broadway show?- Page 2

[blondebaby589]

Posted: 10/29/08 at 3:20pm

And just like the Joseph mega-mix, we can't forget the one in Footloose as well.

[blondebaby589]

Posted: 10/29/08 at 3:20pm

Sorry double post!

Updated On: 10/29/08 at 03:20 PM

[Paul W. Thompson]

Posted: 10/29/08 at 4:13pm

To me, "Kiss Me, Kate"'s "Always True to You in My Fashion" is the best example of a traditional encore, because I think there are two full ones written out, and then the third one (if Lisa Kirk gets that many) is different ("anchors aweigh"), clueing in the audience that they should stop demanding more encores because there aren't any more.

And a question: what was the first encore that was written to get interrupted, so that there isn't a second chance for applause? It wasn't "Shall We Dance?", was it? This is a very effective device, but I think it got to where it is overused and a little predictable. Highly effective in small doses, however.

[Schmerg_The_Impaler]

Posted: 10/29/08 at 4:21pm

I really, really love the encore of "You Can Get Away With Anything" from "The Woman In White." First of all... it's just the best song from the show, and second of all, it gives a good reason for the encore-- a cheesy pun. ("You can get away with anything, as long as you don't bore/Still a brimming bank account or steal a last encore!")

[winston89]

Posted: 10/29/08 at 4:21pm

Josh Freilich, what your talking about is a reprise. They reprise Under The Sea and it is even on the cast album with the name Under The Sea Reprise.

An example of an Encore would be what Mamma Mia does AFTER the bows. Or Anything can Happen and Supercal AFTER the bows. An encore is done after the bows but a reprise is when they reprise a song or a bit of a song during the show.

[HeyMrMusic]

Posted: 10/29/08 at 4:29pm

Hm, I'm not familiar with this "Sit Down You're Rocking the Boat" encore. It's not in the score and I don't remember performing it when I did the show.

South Pacific is filled with encores. It has encores for many of the major songs ("Some Enchanted Evening," "A Wonderful Guy," "I'm Gonna Wash That Man..." and "Bali' Ha'i" to an extent) and then has reprises of them (and the other songs that were not encores) later in the show as well. Lots of repeated music! I don't mind though, it's such a glorious score.

~Steven

[winston89]

Posted: 10/29/08 at 4:30pm

Yes, but those reprises not encores.

[HeyMrMusic]

Posted: 10/29/08 at 4:39pm

Actually, winston89, encores can also refer to songs that are repeated directly after the applause for the song. For example, after the applause for "A Wonderful Guy" in South Pacific, it goes directly into the same chorus they just finished singing. In the score, it is titled, "Encore: I'm in Love With a Wonderful Guy." A reprise of the song would be if they repeated it later in the show, not directly after they just finished singing it.

~Steven

[HeyMrMusic]

Posted: 10/29/08 at 4:49pm

O, and Paul, the encore for "I'm Gonna Wash That Man..." in South Pacific (written before The King and I) is interrupted when Nellie realizes that Emile is there. It's used for comedy, not the same effect as "Shall We Dance," but it's still an interruption of an encore.

~Steven

[Sondheim_Geek]

Posted: 10/29/08 at 4:51pm

'13' does Brand New You.

[winston89]

Posted: 10/29/08 at 4:57pm

HeyMrMusic, your right. I mean I can't count the number of times a show has done something like this. There is a song and it is over. And then they use the same tune as backround music while they are changing the sets or something like that. I guess that the backround music of the song would be considered an encore. There were people on this thread who were confusing encores with a reprise thought.

[HeyMrMusic]

Posted: 10/29/08 at 5:03pm

I'm not talking about scene change music though, which is something separate. I'm talking about when Anna sings "Hello Young Lovers" in The King and I a second time directly after she sang it the first time. That is not scene change music or a reprise; that's an encore.

~Steven

[philly03]

Posted: 10/29/08 at 7:38pm

The Scarlet Pimpernel in every version of hte show I have seen/remember has always done "Into the Fire" (Reprise: by the album's standards) after curtain calls. And usually the curtain falls, the Percy comes out and has a bow, then everyone comes on and sings it. Whooooooo

[Paul W. Thompson]

Posted: 10/29/08 at 9:34pm

Good points, Steven! You are always right on the mark.

[Josh Freilich]

Posted: 10/29/08 at 10:55pm

Josh Freilich, what your talking about is a reprise. They reprise Under The Sea and it is even on the cast album with the name Under The Sea Reprise.

It can't count. It can only count if it's sung after dialogue, and not directly after a song, hence, that specific reprisal "Under the Sea" must have been mistitled as a reprise when it works more along the lines of an ENCORE.

[James885]

Posted: 10/29/08 at 10:57pm

When I saw Mary Poppins, I think they did "Anything Can Happen" and "Supercal..." as an encore. Legally Blonde does encores the "Legally Blonde Remix" after curtain call. Young Frankenstein does a "Together Again" encore. The Little Mermaid does encore "Under The Sea" but it's sung before the cast takes their bows, so it segues right into the curtain call.

I think my favorite post-curtain call encore is the one done by The Color Purple, when they sing the title song again. I'm actually surprised that Wicked doesn't do something after curtain call.

[Paul W. Thompson]

Posted: 10/29/08 at 11:19pm

I hate to be putting my foot down here, but I think we need to get our terminology straight.

An "encore" is when a number stops (ostensibly for applause) and then starts again, either to repeat the last chorus or to sing a verse/chorus again, especially with new lyrics. Classically speaking, this would occur at the decision of the actor or the conductor, based on audience reaction. Later, such "encores" were written in so as to further the action with an interuption, or were just so expected that the production did the encore whether the audience responded at a particular performance or not.

A "tag" is a way to get an actor off stage and/or end a scene with a musical number, even though the audience has already had a chance to applaud. Perhaps this developed because the writers wanted to end the scene with a number, but the actor wanted to stand onstage and receive applause. I think you can have a few lines of dialogue between number and tag and it still counts as a tag.

A "playout" or "playoff" is the same as a "tag," only there is no vocal, it's only instrumental.

A "reprise" is when a song or a part thereof is repeated, either verbatim or with changes, later in the show than when it first appears.

A "curtain call" is whatever music happens after the plot is over and the bows have started, whether or not the actors fully drop their characterizations. This is of course going to be a "reprise" of one or more tunes from the show. It could even be quite lengthy, which gained popularity with the 1990s "Joseph" revival and its "Megamix." The only exception to a curtain call being a "reprise" is the rare example of a number appearing as a surprise to the audience, as in "Waterloo" from "Mamma Mia."

"Exit music" is what the orchestra plays after the bows are finished and the cast has exited. Again, this is always a "reprise," unless it is a new piece, as was the case with the exit music from "City of Angels."

Therefore, doing a number later in the show is NEVER an encore. Encores happen in the same scene, usually as a direct segue, and never after a plot point has occured. Anything else is a type of reprise.

As Doctor Pangloss would say, "Any questions?"
Updated On: 10/29/08 at 11:19 PM

[HeyMrMusic]

Posted: 10/29/08 at 11:51pm

Very well said, Paul.

Isn't the exit music in City of Angels just an instrumental version of "Double Talk"? I think it may be renamed as "Double Talk Walk". I've played the show once and performed in the show also. It has to be one of the most exciting exit music pieces ever arranged.

Please correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe "Together Wherever We Go" from Gypsy also has an encore.

~Steven

[Paul W. Thompson]

Posted: 10/29/08 at 11:55pm

You are correct again! I stand corrected. I don't know what I was thinking of--maybe it'll come to me.

But yes, "Double Talk Walk" is incredible. As I recall, hardly anyone left the theater until it was over!

[strelimyn]

Posted: 10/30/08 at 12:29am

In Hello, Dolly!, I'm pretty sure Put On Your Sunday Clothes also has an encore while the Millinery set is coming in (I assume?).

[HeyMrMusic]

Posted: 10/30/08 at 1:12am

No worries, Paul. You probably just thought it was its own entity since it's so incredible.

~Steven

[Paul W. Thompson]

Posted: 10/30/08 at 7:05pm

Did I just kill this thread by mistake?

[Josh Freilich]

Posted: 10/30/08 at 7:33pm

Please correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe "Together Wherever We Go" from Gypsy also has an encore.

Yes, it does... after the characters SAY something first.

[HeyMrMusic]

Posted: 10/30/08 at 11:54pm

Ah, I had forgotten that there is dialogue after the applause.

~Steven

[Josh Freilich]

Posted: 10/31/08 at 12:53am

The encore was originally "Through thick and through thin, all out or all in," but with the addition of "When the audience boos, we won't drop our cues", the lyrics "We go in a group, we tour in a troupe" were moved to the encore.