Longest Showtune

[Gothampc]

Longest Showtune#1

Posted: 6/28/10 at 3:49pm

Does anyone know what the longest song from a musical is?

Would it be one of the ones from A Chorus Line like "Hello Twelve..." or "Music and the Mirror"?

If anyone ever tells you that you put too much Parmesan cheese on your pasta, stop talking to them. You don't need that kind of negativity in your life.

[ljay889]

Longest Showtune#2

Posted: 6/28/10 at 3:50pm

Do Sondheim song/scenes count? If they do, "Putting it Together" is up there.

[Gothampc]

Longest Showtune#2

Posted: 6/28/10 at 3:54pm

I also thought about "Meadowlark" from The Baker's Wife. I didn't check the run time, but it just seems like a long song.

If anyone ever tells you that you put too much Parmesan cheese on your pasta, stop talking to them. You don't need that kind of negativity in your life.

[Phyllis Rogers Stone]

Longest Showtune#3

Posted: 6/28/10 at 3:55pm

I guess it depends on what you mean by length. I don't see how there could be an actual answer since tempo and arrangement will vary from production to production.

[Reginald Tresilian]

Longest Showtune#4

Posted: 6/28/10 at 3:56pm

Good point, Phyl. I suppose you could count number of bars.

[givesmevoice]

Longest Showtune#5

Posted: 6/28/10 at 3:58pm

^ but that still isn't accurate, because it doesn't take tempo into account.

When I see the phrase "the ____ estate", I imagine a vast mansion in the country full of monocled men and high-collared women receiving letters about productions across the country and doing spit-takes at whatever they contain. -Kad

[newintown]

Longest Showtune#6

Posted: 6/28/10 at 3:58pm

Aren't "The Coconut Girl" and the London sequence from The Girl Who Came To Supper pretty lengthy?

[Reginald Tresilian]

Longest Showtune#7

Posted: 6/28/10 at 4:00pm

But, givesmevoice, it would be accurate if that was the criterion you were measuring by.

Otherwise, as PRS points out, the question is unanswerable.

[Kad]

Longest Showtune#8

Posted: 6/28/10 at 4:01pm

The lengthiest songs from cast recordings I have are:
Final Sequence (Sweeney Todd OBC- 14:10)
Simple (Anyone Can Whistle OBC- 12:57)
Prologue: Into the Woods (ITW OBC 11:5

The Final Sequence from Sweeney and the opening from ITW are comprised of several smaller songs, so I don't think those would count. Simple, however, is fairly musically consistent.

"...everyone finally shut up, and the audience could enjoy the beginning of the Anatevka Pogram in peace."

[givesmevoice]

Longest Showtune#9

Posted: 6/28/10 at 4:04pm

Reg, that's true.

Kad, I had never realized how long Simple is until I saw Anyone Can Whistle at Encores.

When I see the phrase "the ____ estate", I imagine a vast mansion in the country full of monocled men and high-collared women receiving letters about productions across the country and doing spit-takes at whatever they contain. -Kad

[ljay889]

Longest Showtune#10

Posted: 6/28/10 at 4:05pm

Yeah, but Simple is another Sondheim scene/song. It's not a traditional song.

[iluvtheatertrash]

Longest Showtune#11

Posted: 6/28/10 at 4:43pm

If you're talking 1 person or 2 person songs, traditional ballads, uptempos, patters, whatever... NOT scenes?

1. Soliloquy, Carousel
2. Meadowlark, The Baker's Wife,
3. Carrie, Carrie
4. The Ballad of Billy McCaw, Cats

...to name a few.

"I know now that theatre saved my life." - Susan Stroman

[Mark_E]

Longest Showtune#12

Posted: 6/28/10 at 4:52pm

Hard work from Fame runs at around 12 minutes.

Notes/Prima Donna from Phantom around 11

[Mr Roxy]

Longest Showtune#13

Posted: 6/28/10 at 9:07pm

The Baby Love Miracle Show - The Grass Harp

Poster Emeritus

[Mildred Plotka]

Longest Showtune#14

Posted: 6/28/10 at 9:17pm

Words cannot express my love for The Babylove Miracle Show.

"Broadway...I'll lick you yet!"

Updated On: 6/28/10 at 09:17 PM

[twinbelters]

Longest Showtune#15

Posted: 6/28/10 at 10:27pm

Halleluuu, heed the call! Babylove loves you all! Exactly what I was going to say. Amazing song.

With Irma you gotta do something!

[twinbelters]

Longest Showtune#16

Posted: 6/28/10 at 10:27pm

Halleluuu, heed the call! Babylove loves you all! Exactly what I was going to say. Amazing song.

With Irma you gotta do something!

[twinbelters]

Longest Showtune#17

Posted: 6/28/10 at 10:27pm

Halleluuu, heed the call! Babylove loves you all! Exactly what I was going to say. Amazing song.

With Irma you gotta do something!

[Cabarob]

Longest Showtune#18

Posted: 6/29/10 at 12:58am

they were cut down significanly on their respective cast albums, but in the shows Too Darn Hot in "Kiss Me Kate" and I've Got Rhythm in "Crazy For You" both run over 14 minutes.