Favorite Overture(s)?

I was just listening to the OBCR of Bring it On the Musical and the overture just energized me up. Then I was thinking that I should talk about it here and ask you guys what your favorite overtures are. I'll start... my favorite overtures are from:

Bring it On the Musical, Next to Normal, Miss Saigon, Everyday Rapture, The Rocky Horror Show (2000), The Color Purple (2005), Chicago, Aladdin, Beautiful, Cats, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (I don't like how it's only 27 seconds though. It's like they just took the beginning of Pure Imagination and just said, "We'll just put this as the overture." I wish they would've taken more time and actually make it an overture), Phantom, Prince of Broadway, Candide, and Mamma Mia!

Definitely Candide, Gypsy, On the Twentieth Century, Hello Dolly!, Annie Get Your Gun, The Music Man, and many of the Rodgers & Hammerstein shows.

I like the overtures to Dear World, Flower Drum Song, Darling of the Day, Out of This World, Ben Franklin in Paris, Jennie, and many others.

I have to agree with A8- Dear World's overture is simply thrilling and never fails to put me in a good mood. Henry, Sweet Henry is up there for me too. 

Hello, Dolly!, Throughly Modern Millie, The King and I, R&H's Cinderella, Newsies, Anything Goes, Crazy for You, Funny Girl, West Side Story, Legally Blonde, and Holiday Inn are my favorites.  

PORGY & BESS

PARDON MY ENGLISH

ST. LOUIS WOMAN

MERRILY WE ROLL ALONG

FUNNY GIRL, GYPSY (any Jule Styne show)

SOUTH PACIFIC

Does the CAROUSEL Waltz count?

Updated On: 9/13/17 at 10:34 AM

On The Twentieth Century

She Loves Me

 

Hello Dolly Sunset Boulevard

 

HELLO DOLLY (1994 revival)

MAN OF LA MANCHA

GYPSY

 

Galt MacDermot's DUDE has a thrilling overture. I'm being deadly serious, it's fantastic. It's its own piece of music not heard elsewhere in the show.

SWEET CHARITY is probably my personal favorite.

And to give credit where it's due, PHANTOM OF THE OPERA has a damn effective overture. And the JESUS CHRIST SUPERSTAR overture is a brilliant piece of music.

PROMISES, PROMISES is superb. Has anyone said MACK AND MABEL or MERRILY? Because those too.

 

edited: Oh, pretty much everybody said MERRILY. As they should.

Updated On: 9/13/17 at 02:55 PM

Candide and Merrily are easily my favorites. 

Also not an overture, but The Dance at The Gym is probably my favorite instrumental ever written and is better than most (if not all) of the other songs in West Side Story. 

Victor/Victoria...plus I like how it seamlessly transitions into Paris By Night and the street scene behind the scrim slowly appears. 

I agree with two already noted: R+H Cinderella and Phantom. I also like Seussical, and Spamalot was a fun number. 

And while not an overture, the enter'acte for Sunset Boulevard is a beautiful too, especially when Michael Xavier climbs on stage in those trunks. The audience was so hushed. Half wanted to applaud, half wanted to cat call! LOL What a beautiful man. 

The Man of La Mancha OBCR overture absolutely floored me the first time I heard it. I literally had to stop for a second and take it in. Hoooooly crap.

The Thoroughly Modern Millie overture comes in second for me. Such a great, upbeat, and oh-so-roaring-20's intro.