Favorite FINALE in Musicals- Page 3

[jv92]

Posted: 3/11/15 at 12:40pm

Emily Grishman's Finale work is incredible, of course. But imagine what Mathilde Pincus would have done with Finale had she lived to work with it! Would have been one hell of a Finale. Am I right, temms?

[temms]

Posted: 3/11/15 at 12:54pm

Or Miller Music, for that matter. I learned sometime ago that Miller Music Services was actually started and run by John Miller's father, he being the contractor on at least half the shows on Broadway today. Interesting how it runs in the family like that.

[To explain the insider "humor", "Finale" is the name of the computer music notation software used to print scores of most Broadway shows. Emily Grishman is one of the unsung heroes of musical theatre who oversee the exacting task of creating the scores and orchestra parts and having them be readable - you see her listed as "Musical Preparation". In the days before computer, it was all done by hand and Mathilde Pincus was one of the best. It's not a glamorous job but you can't do a musical without it and the good ones are very appreciated.]

[FutureDirector]

Posted: 3/11/15 at 1:26pm

Aside from a lot of the other wonderful endings already listed:

"Wheels of a Dream (Reprise)" from Ragtime is one of the most epic finales I've ever seen. Same with "Old Red Hills of Home" from Parade

and on a more intimate level "Louder Than Words" from Tick Tick Boom.

[mamaleh]

Posted: 3/11/15 at 1:49pm

"I Go to Rio" - THE BOY FROM OZ. It had me wafting on air all the way home, making for a problematic commute to NJ.

Honorable Mentions: The tableau in "1776."
"You Can't Stop the Beat" - HAIRSPRAY
CABARET (current revival)

[Musical Master]

Posted: 3/11/15 at 2:21pm

SOUTH PACIFIC and THE KING AND I are my favorite kind of finale, the instrumental finale. The choir finales in many musicals are really good but the ones that just play music at the end are my favorites.

[Sushisake]

Posted: 3/11/15 at 2:23pm

The finale of TITANIC really got to me. Even just listening to the recording stirs incredible emotions.

[jnb9872]

Posted: 3/11/15 at 3:58pm

MY FAIR LADY, besides being generally perfect in practically every way, has my favorite Instrumental ending. "I've Grown Accustomed to Her Face" is already a terrific final number, but the Orchestral swell as the melody picks up "I Could Have Danced All Night" is triumphantly gorgeous.

[Mr. Nowack]

Posted: 3/11/15 at 5:58pm

^^^^^^
Oh my gosh YES! Gives me such feels every time.

[Fantod]

Posted: 3/11/15 at 5:59pm

Absolutely. It's such a warm moment on stage and, in my opinion, a better way to end the story than in Pygmalion

[Elfuhbuh]

Posted: 3/11/15 at 6:04pm

I always feel so guilty for enjoying the ending of My Fair Lady, considering how George Bernard Shaw probably rolls in his grave every time it's mentioned.

[jo]

Posted: 3/11/15 at 7:07pm

A lot - Les Mis of course ( although I thought the film adaptation made it even more rousing), the poignant reprise of CAMELOT at the end ( although I never saw it onstage but I have the the original cast recording), the cheerful finale of Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, Hairspray's You Can't Stop the Beat, Billy Elliot, and The Boy from Oz ( the closing show was even more of a crowd pleaser maybe because it was the end of a yearlong run and the audience were practically dancing, or at least singing, in their seats ). A lot more that I have probably forgotten.

Mamaleh - here's the press reel of those moments from TBFO:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0-P77A9THEM







Updated On: 3/11/15 at 07:07 PM

[sctrojan65]

Posted: 3/11/15 at 10:06pm

Cabaret…yes. Truly haunting.
West Side Story…gets me every time.
On a more fun note…."Joseph Megamix" from Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat from the revival with Michael Damian.

[jv92]

Posted: 3/11/15 at 10:08pm

I forgot to mention a more recent finale that's really unsettling and brilliant, which is the end of THE SCOTTSBORO BOYS.

[seahag2]

Posted: 3/12/15 at 2:36am

The finale from The Secret Garden where Mary is about the enter the garden is so sweet and gets me every time.

[chewy5000]

Posted: 3/12/15 at 4:51am

I love the way that A Little Night Music concludes, with all the threads neatly tied up and that waltz fading into the night at last.

[REVA107]

Posted: 3/12/15 at 10:46am

I have to ask- I've seen Gypsy three times and the TV-Movie version over a hundred. If "Rose's Turn" isn't the finale to Gypsy, what are you considering to be the finale?

Updated On: 3/12/15 at 10:46 AM

[JoseLee_]

Posted: 3/13/15 at 3:30pm

Sister Act "Spread the Love Around"
The Wiz "Home"

[Jazzyhands]

Posted: 3/13/15 at 4:30pm

I agree- Cabaret. Intense, haunting, sublime.


Updated On: 3/13/15 at 04:30 PM

[victorg]

Posted: 3/13/15 at 6:19pm

easily, "one" from "a chorus line"!!

[GavestonPS]

Posted: 3/13/15 at 6:47pm

"I have to ask- I've seen Gypsy three times and the TV-Movie version over a hundred. If "Rose's Turn" isn't the finale to Gypsy, what are you considering to be the finale?"

There is a scene between Rose and Gypsy after "Rose's Turn". Laurents was always adamant that the SCENE is the finale of the musical play, even if it sometimes plays awkwardly after the "high" of "Rose's Turn". (And I think he's right, no matter how thrilling "Rose's Turn" may be.)

By the same reckoning, Higgins' "I've Grown Accustomed to Her Face" may be the last song, but it isn't the finale of MY FAIR LADY.

[The Other One]

Posted: 3/13/15 at 9:07pm

The Flesh Failures/Let The Sunshine In from HAIR, leading up to that shattering final image.

[CoverYou]

Posted: 3/14/15 at 1:16pm

Hairspray hands down.