My favorites are Sexual Overtures!!
Gypsy
Merrily We Roll Along
La Cage Aux Folles
Hello Dolly
Broadway Star Joined: 10/14/06
Beauty and the Beast has a gorgeous Entr'acte!!
& I love the Millie & Drowsy Overtures = )
omg!! doesnt murry poopinz hav a grate oovertore alzo!!!!!!
Broadway Legend Joined: 8/10/06
I have to say, I am a big fan of both the overture and entr'actes of It's a Bird; It's a Plane; It's Superman!, and the entire score for that matter.
Broadway Legend Joined: 9/29/04
Overtures:
Big River
Dirty Rotten Scoundrels
Mamma Mia!
Footloose
Seussical
Merrily We Roll Along
Gypsy
The only Entr'Actes I've ever really enjoyed are those from Little Shop of Horrors and Big River. Love 'em.
Overtures:
Wicked
Hairspray (not the opening's intro)
Dirty Rotten Scoundrels
Drowsy Chaperone
Entractes:
Beauty and the Beast
The overture and entr'acte to The Pirate Queen are both really great to me. It seemed that the trouble truly started when the actors opened their mouths.
Overture: DRS and Titanic
Entr'acte: Titanic (since it becomes happy, and then ends in a bit of a peril mood)
I love the overtures from CHICAGO and DRS. I also love the Entr'Acte from Phantom, which I refer to as it's "real" overture because the first one is really just transitional music (not to say its not awesome).
Featured Actor Joined: 5/8/06
Whoa, whoa, whoa! Guys, what exactly is your definition of an OVERTURE? How could Wicked even be considered to have an overture, even the best?!! It's like twenty seconds long!! And I saw "Into the Woods" mentioned, which has neither an overture or an entr'acte. It doesn't even have an unused one like Chorus Line.
On the subject, H2$ revival has a great, re-arranged overture. And of course, The Full Monty is so vibrant...and the great plus is that it's not just a taste of the musical themes, but a taste of the feel of the fun show ahead. DRS somewhat accomplishes it, but it's a bit too long, plus it's the same theme as "The Reckoning".
I'm also a fan of Urinetown's overture, sharing the same attributes as Full Monty. And, because it's my favorite musical, I have to give a thumbs-up to the entr'acte of Avenue Q, even though I have never heard the original...
I agree with the above, but I don't see how one could argue that Phantom of the Opera doesn't have an overture/entr'acte, as someone on this thread did earlier. It has both: a 3-minute overture and an entr'acte that's similar in length, technically. Yes, they're just the musical themes rearranged, but I still enjoy the entr'acte. Anyway, my list, roughly in order...
Overtures: Merrily We Roll Along, The Light in the Piazza, My Fair Lady
Entr'Actes: Cabaret, Phantom of the Opera, Ragtime
Updated On: 12/29/06 at 08:42 PM
Overtures: West Side Story, Candide
Entr'actes: Beauty & The Beast, Cabaret (although Cabaret's best orchestral sounds come out in the fabulous "finale ultimo" IMO)
Broadway Legend Joined: 7/16/05
Overtures (in no order):
Merrily We Roll Along
Chicago
The Light in the Piazza
South Pacific
Candide
Follies
Sunset Boulevard (it kind of counts?)
Entr'acte: Definitely Cabaret with Chicago following
Broadway Legend Joined: 9/12/04
Overtures:
THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA
CHICAGO
CATS
SUNSET BOULEVARD
MY FAIR LADY
Entr'actes:
CHICAGO
Swing Joined: 4/20/06
Overtures
Goodtime, Charley
Gigi
Dance a Little Closer
Overture: Definitely Dirty Rotten Scoundrels.
Stand-by Joined: 12/31/69
goldenstate, since when did Avenue Q have an en'tracte?
So, we're all agreed it's Gypsy, right?
Broadway Legend Joined: 7/16/05
Wasn't that kind of implied before this thread was even thought up? I'm pretty sure that is just what everyone knows/considers the default 'favorite overture' to be.
I think the best overture of all time has to be FOLLIES
followed by Chicago.
I also really like LITP
C is for Company, I have posted "So we all agree it's Gypsy, right?" at least a dozen times on at least a dozen different threads. I am amused at how many times the kids ask this question. This is really becoming our site's "Are we there yet?"
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