Favorite Instrumental Break

[Emcee4ever]

Posted: 3/15/07 at 3:30pm

I like the 45-second instrumental in Wicked after the Wicked Witch of the East and before Wonderful, and the dance break during If You Could See Her from Cabaret.

[Pippin]

Posted: 3/15/07 at 3:33pm

I love the samba break in "coffee break" from the revival of H2$.

[WickedOne2]

Posted: 3/15/07 at 7:08pm

The trumpets entering on the catwalk in Can't Take My Eyes Off of You.

[vmlinnie]

Posted: 3/15/07 at 7:12pm

Oh God, far too many to think of. I'll be back with answers, too many right now. I do love a good break, don't you?!

[shesamarshmallow]

Posted: 3/15/07 at 7:14pm

Right now it's the "And now some legal jargon" dance break in What You Want from Legally Blonde.

[B3TA07]

Posted: 3/15/07 at 7:17pm

The hoedown part of "Boys'll Be Boys"

[vmlinnie]

Posted: 3/15/07 at 7:18pm

Answers!

I agree with the wicked one, it's a ballroom thing, and it's lovely, isn't it? I also love the dance bits in the title number of Hello, Dolly!, though there are good ones in other numbers there too.

Mary Poppins, Step in Time, and various other bits. Also Chicago, it's just such fun, and bloody hard to play if you're in the band! I've played that stuff, and God it wrecks your embouchure!

[Yankeefan007]

Posted: 3/15/07 at 7:28pm

Where's North?

[gymdudeva]

Posted: 3/15/07 at 7:39pm

The trumpets entering on the catwalk in Can't Take My Eyes Off of You.

Aren't there trombones too?!! (I play the trombone, and we are sensitive about these things. :) )

Do long dance breaks count, or are we talking about shorter things?

The Music and the Mirror
Aggie Song from Whorehouse

[Unknown User]

Posted: 3/15/07 at 7:43pm

"I like the 45-second instrumental in Wicked after the Wicked Witch of the East and before Wonderful."

Is Wicked Witch Of The east on CD yet?

I like The Music and the Mirror.

[Emcee4ever]

Posted: 3/15/07 at 8:30pm

No it's not, but they have the break on CD before Wonderful actually starts.

[BudFrump23]

Posted: 3/15/07 at 8:35pm

Right now, I can't get the instrumental break of Adela from Bernarda Alba out of my head. (Her green dress song)

[husk_charmer]

Posted: 3/15/07 at 8:40pm

Tough one, either the dance break in "All the Live Long Day" from "Working" OR most of "Chorus Line"

[COOOOLkid]

Posted: 3/15/07 at 9:17pm

The helicopter scene in Miss Saigon just fits the whole scene amazingly well in my opinion.

(As long as it's only the instruments playing, it counts as 'instrumental break,' right?)

[clarkstallings]

Posted: 3/15/07 at 9:24pm

This is more of a dance break, but I love the instrumental dance arrangement in "Gaston" from BATB.

[Kringas]

Posted: 3/15/07 at 9:29pm

Dreamgirls, "Party Party" right after "drive the people crazy!"

[Broadwayboy2631]

Posted: 3/15/07 at 9:29pm

In Urinetown, there is this kick ass instrumental break in "Snuff That Girl"

[ElFantasma14]

Posted: 3/16/07 at 10:23am

I adore the dance break in "And the Money Kept Rolling In", especially the giant pause in the original production; the transition music in between "Confrontation" and "Look Down" in Les Miz, and the short musical interlude after Sweeney kills Mrs. Lovett until Toby comes in.

[tellybox]

Posted: 3/16/07 at 10:30am

The Music and The Mirror

And would Tick Tock count?

[BrodyFosse123]

Posted: 3/16/07 at 10:43am

From 3 Michael Bennett shows:

ALL the instrumental/dance breaks in "Turkey Lurkey Time" from PROMISES, PROMISES, "Tick Tock" from COMPANY and of course..."The Music and the Mirror" from A CHORUS LINE.

All featuring the sensational Donna McKechnie, who STILL knows how to work an instrumental/dance break.



Updated On: 3/16/07 at 10:43 AM

[wickedrentq]

Posted: 3/16/07 at 6:08pm

IMO, the ultimate instrumental break is "Cool" from West Side Story. The tension that creates and the amazing orchestrations, gah!

Other great instrumental breaks include the dance portions of "America" from WSS, the romantic underscore in "Maria" when Tony just keeps speaking/singing her name over the orchestra, the beautiful break in One Hand, One Heart..

And if the dream/nightmare could count as a "break" for Somewhere, that would probably have to surpass even Cool, as it's absolutely amazing how Bernstein transforms the music perfectly, flowing perfectly from the beautiful dream-like music, to the nightmare-rumble music.

There's no pattern among my choices, I swear

Other ones I really like are the dance/instrumental break in "Dance of the Robe" from Aida, the whistling in "Wouldn't It Be Loverly" from My Fair Lady,the break in "Close Every Door" from Joseph, the little break near the end of Music of the Night, the break in "Rent", the dance break in "76 Trombones" from The Music Man, and the brief break in "Memory."

And not sure if it counts as a "break," but I adore the brief clarinet solo in Once On This Island right before "A Part Of Us."

[vmlinnie]

Posted: 3/16/07 at 6:14pm

Cool is good, but I found it one of the hardest things I've ever played in the concert band I'm in, my fingers were nearly falling off after it.

I also love the gap in 'The Money kept rolling in' when Che goes

No there's never been a star, no, not like Eva Peron -












Roll!...

[wickedrentq]

Posted: 3/16/07 at 6:19pm

"Cool is good, but I found it one of the hardest things I've ever played in the concert band I'm in, my fingers were nearly falling off after it. "

Amen!! That's part of what makes it so great!

If you played it for band, did you play the piece, Symphonic Dances from West Side Story? Either that or the actual score are pretty much equally hard. I played Symphonic Dances in 10th grade all-county, and I felt the same way about Cool. I played a much easier version of highlights of WSS in 7th grade all-county and Cool was just a tad easier. But I was so excited for the score when I got it to master Cool.

the saddest thing I couldn't imagine an existing song being harder than Cool...well, there was one in the WSS score no less--The Rumble!

[vmlinnie]

Posted: 3/16/07 at 6:28pm

We're playing a medley with Cool, Tonight, Maria, finishing with Somewhere. It's nice. I play lead clarinet, by the way.

[jacobp]

Posted: 3/16/07 at 8:42pm

Nowadays/Hot Honey Rag- Chicago its kind of an instrumental break

Can't Take My Eyes off of You

THe Music and the Mirror