Ragtme OBC: I will forever get chiils at the end of 'Wheels of a Dream' starting with "and he will ride."
Billy Elliot OLC: the end of 'We Once Were Kings' when the grate to the coal elevator closes
Into the Woods OBC: all of 'Giants in the Sky'
Songs for a New World OCR: the end of 'Flying Home'
Les Miserables OLC: When the ensemble softly sings "Do you hear the people sing?" in the finale. Also, the simple fact that characters have recurring melodies throughout the show. Nothing short of genius.
I'm sure there are plenty more I can't think of right now!
"To love another person is to see the face of God." -Les Miserables
In the Heights: In When You're Home, the line "I couldn't get my mind off you all day," and Chris Jackson does this little riff on "day." Same thing with "I will try to make myyyyy way" in When the Sun Goes Down. I have to go back and listen to those parts all the time. His voice just sounds phenomenal. Next to Normal: At the end of Make Up Your Mind/Catch Me I'm Falling when everyone's singing with just the bass. Catch Me If You Can: All of Goodbye, especially the key change. Also the way Aaron Tveit uses a hard "r" at the end of "gutter" and "butter" in Butter Outta Cream. How to Succeed (current revival): All of Rose Hemingway's nuances in her voice in Happy to Keep His Dinner Warm. BoM: "I LOVE YOU, ORLANDOOOOOO." I can't help but laugh every time. Spelling Bee: JTF's "I like my hair, really it is pleasant to the touch" in I'm Not That Smart Spring Awakening: The last verse in Mirror Blue Night.
**Whenever Laurie Beechman comes blazing out of the chorus with a solo line in ANNIE; and of course her chill-inducing NYC.
**Victoria Mallory in the OBC of A LITTLE NIGHT MUSIC: "...and you have to admit I'm endearing; I help keep things humming. I'm not domineering; what's one small shortcoming...?"
**Marilyn Cooper's dusky alto singing "What better way can a single girl with leisure spare time find..." from the oddly endearing "Who Knows?" in I CAN GET IT FOR YOU WHOLESALE
**Margery Gray's "Do the heaven...hop!" on the 1962 ANYTHING GOES recording
**Susan Johnson's "one Canadian dime" from "I Know How it is" on the OBC of THE MOST HAPPY FELLA
**and of course, no list would be complete without Carol Channing's early aborted entrance "Erm..." in HELLO DOLLY's "Put on Your Sunday Clothes"
NIGHT MUSIC REVIVAL: This recording's full of really, really little moments that I keep listening to over and over again. A few... *Every Day a Little Death, around 1:48, Erin Davie's "Ah, well" is just so delicate and beautiful, especially after her harsh second verse. *A Weekend in the Country, around 1:53, Leigh Ann Larkin holds out "guess WHERE" and it sounds so good amongst the quick lyrics and pace of the song. *You Must Meet My Wife (reprise): I just love the tenor's tone. It's so easy and nice to listen to.
*Sutton Foster's high belting at the end of Anything Goes and Blow Gabriel Blow on the new cast recording is wonderful!
*Audra McDonald is so sassy in "Give It To 'em Good Carrie" on the Carousel recording, and she sounds incredible, especially on "if you packed all your brains in a pollywog's head he'd never even grow to be a frog". I also love all the "old-school" 1940s disses.
*One crazy thing I've noticed in "Beyond My Wildest Dreams" from The Little Mermaid is how Sierra Boggess doesn't say any of her final consonants on the phrase "But not like (this!)" I'm obsessed with it and listen for it every time now.
Adrienne Lennox's "Curtain time.. here we go" towards the end of the opening in Kiss Me, Kate. "I Want Moore" during Tunnel Of Love in Side Show and Emily Skinner's "I Know I'll Be His Bride"
''With the number of people I ignore, I'm lucky I work at all in this town'' - Helena Bonham Carter
Rory O'Malley's "Imagine that your brain is made of tiny boxes, and find the box that's gay and CRUSH IT, okay?!" from Turn It Off (The Book Of Mormon) Also all of Hello and I Believe in BOM.
In Two by Two from THE BOOK OF MORMON, near the end when they sing "Two by Two, we march for victory, armed with the greatest book in history." there is some harmony there, and I just love the way it sounds.
Light in the Piazza - Fable - "Look! Look! Look!" Gets me everytime. Just the emotion in her voice, the piano falling in declivity, all the music. It's just breathtaking.
Company (2006 Revival) - Being Alive - where Raul belts "Mock me" I felt him there.
Sunday In The Park With George - "Move On" - "And the feeling, and the light...moving on!/We've always belonged together" The buildup there is EPIC. It's cathartic. I use to cry every time I heard it. -Also, the second "Sunday": "On-an-or-din-ary Sunday!" Beautiful! and the discordant piano chords before George's last few lines.
Updated On: 7/17/12 at 10:07 PM
Company (06): **The way Barbara Walsh makes her lines pop in the opening, especially "Bob we're having people next SATURDAY NIGHT", the whole line just soars but "saturday night" pops with her great belt. **Basically everything Raul does, but I am obsessed with his "crazy Amy" in Someone is Waiting. It rings, I love it.
The Last 5 Years: **I'm in the minority who's favourite song is Nobody Needs to Know. To me, it's perfect, and I have some memories with it, but that's beside the point. My favourite spots are 1)"hey kid, good morning, you look like an angel". I feel like Norbert is talking to me, it's so intimate and sincere, and I love this side of Jamie; and 2)from "conscious, deliberate mistakes" when strings do the really high slide...UGH. 3)"Aliri-i-ight, I get what I need" the powerful riff into the breakdown, seriously, perfect. Ok, this song is full of these moments, and I could go one forever, but seriously, why does this song make me fall in love with Jamie more? He's being a schmuck! **In A Miracle Would Happen, the whole "gesticulating with my left hand and that WHUP there's Cathy..." section is so well done by Norbert.
Lippa's Wild Party: **Make Me Happy is full of them, (the whole show is full of them), but the trio on "In my hands" is everything, plus BDJ's "WHAAATTT?!" it gut wrenching and the way the organ grinder/circus music comes in at the end, especially when BDJ sings "how many girls could love a clown?" UGH my heart! **Idina does some of her fiercest belting in this show. Her small bits in Let Me Drown slay me (and Life of the Party is my favourite Idina piece). **What Is It About Her? is perfect. The way Julia weaves in and out is so beautiful and heartbreaking, but BDJ SLAYS this piece. "now comes another man pretending he can win her heart, well let him start! What is it about her?!?!" is perfection. I'm gonna stop with this show, but I could really go on all day.
Sunday In The Park With George: **We Do Not Belong Together: "No one is me, George, no one is MEE" and "tell me what you feel" til "which I thought you were a part of!" break me heart. This is one of the most gut wrenching pieces in musical theatre, for me, as I feel super connected to Dot but you see so much of George's pain too. These people need each other but can't give the other what they need at the same time, and this song is everything. **Finishing the Hat: I am obsessed with this song. And Mandy's performance of it. The way he FEELS the music and puts everything he has into the soaring melody of "And when the woman that you wanted goes" section. Absolute perfection. It's best when you can see him, as he gets his whole body into the movement of the melody, this performance is so definitive.
Cabaret (9: **I Don't Care Much. This is the most beautiful song in the show, and since I recently closed the show as Sally I have a super guttural reaction to it (the sound of it sends me to tears because of where it is in the show, I associate it with crying and despair, but that's the actor in me). Alan Cumming is perfection on the recording, the way he manipulates his voice to fill the simple melody is beautiful. "go or staaAAAAYYYYY" near the beginning, the harsh "toooouuuuuuCCCCHHH" first time through, the anguished first "warning's fair", the growl and the second time through of "I don't care much", and the tortured ending give the song so much life and depth and hurt. And now I'm crying because of the song and how much I miss performing this perfect show.
That's it for now, but I'm kind of obsessed with this thread and (clearly) have a lot of little favourite moments, so there's probably more to come.
Give me a bottle of bourbon and half a chicken and I'll conquer the world!
Pretty much all of the Hair NBCR, but especially: The tribe's giggling and repetition of the word "spread" around 2:20 in "I Got Life"
I think it's Bryce Ryness who goes up to a RIDICULOUSLY high note around 2:10-2:20 in "Three-Five-Zero-Zero." Sounds like a flute or something but I think it's actually him.
The dialogue recorded on the London Cast Recording of Parade before "Sh'Ma" slays me. Leo's whole bit about God having a purpose for everyone. Ugh all the tears.
Brent Carver's It's Hard to Speak My Heart, Parade as well. "I know it makes no sense, I swear I don't know why...you see me as I am, you can't believe I'd lie."
Malcolm Gets on the majority of Story of My Life, but especially his geeky laugh. It's so endearing.
THE LIGHT IN THE PIAZZA -Kelli O'Hara's voice going into crescendo at the end of the ouverture. -``That's a completely naked statue!!!`` -``Come with me, in the places that I KNOOOOOW, la passegiata`` -``MUSEOOO! La, la,la,la,la,la,la,la,la,la,la,la,la, FRABIZIO NACARELLI, FABRIZIO NACARELLI, HE'S WAITING FOR ME, HE'S WAITING FOR ME, CLARA JOHNSON 142 EAST LAKE ST, CLARA JOHNSON 142 EAST LAKE ST`` -Clara's Interlude (so beautiful and heartbreaking)
PARADE -``The sun rises in Atlanta, agaaaaaaaaaaaaaiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiin`` -``Straight from New York, Lucille, Isn't he a smart Luciiiiiiiiiilllle`` -``I could be a quiet little girl, and cook your little meal, and bow to your commands, or I could start to SCREEAAM ACROSS THE WHOLE DAMN SOUTH AND NEVER SHUT MY MOUTH UNTIL they understaaaand``
SIDE SHOW
The fortune teller in The Devil You Know, so fierce ``Why are my feelings racing around inside? Will I explode if all of my thoughts collide?`` ``I know he loves me, I know I'll be his bride`` ``I NEED SOME TIME ON MY OWWWNNNN`` ``Here I am, all alone, yours to take. Smooth me out, calm me down, stop the ache. Dont hold back, Don't hold on, Hold me tiiight`` ``I WANT, I WANT, I want to show you. I want to show you desiiirrree. The heat, the flame. I know you are on firrrreeee.`` and the dance between Daisy and Terry. ``WHERE IS MIIIIIIIINNNNNNEEEEEEEEEEEEE?`` ``Loooove, We love stories of looove and romance, Love created in song and in daaance, Any reminder there's always a chance, Love could transform our liiiiiiveees, Loooove, looove`` ``Marry you Terry, not on your life, I would be crazy, to be your, wife! WHO IS THE FREAK HERE, THE COWARD, THE LOAT? MARRY YOU TERRY? NO, I WANT YOU OUT!``
URINETOWN ``THAT'S MY DAD! That's my daddyyyyyyyyy! That's my daddyyyyyy!`` The Act One Finale
WICKED ``Dr Dillamond, if something bad is happening to the Animals, someone got to tell the Wizard. That why we have a wizard!`` ( I love how hopeful Elphaba is that the Wizard is able to fix everything. Kind of heartbreaking, if you know how it actually turns out.) The instrumental part before Wonderful. ( Althought I actually love Wicked, I hardly ever listens to the cast recording. They cut so many of the lines and orchestrations that truly make the show magical. I love how they kept that part, it is one of the most stunning moment in the show. I hope that they will make a complete cast recording for the 10th anniversary of the show.)
When some balloon or something pops during the 10th anniversary "Castle on a Cloud". The little girl's voice jumps for a second, but then carries on with the song like nothing happened. Like a boss.
My eyes often well up from the reprise of "I Am the One" until the end of the recording of Next To Normal. I particularly love hearing Louis Hobson's voice soaring while he sings "...the price of love is loss, but still we pay, we love anyway." I lost a loved one very unexpectedly during the summer of 2009, and I took a lot of comfort in those lyrics, as well as Alice singing "...some hurts never heal. Some ghosts are never gone, but we go on." So true.
"The price of love is loss, but still we pay; We love anyway."
The Ragtime prologue always gives me goosebumps and the slowdown at the end is particularly effective (it then speeds up and breaks off into several parts of harmony, which is incredible).