Musicals with 3+ Acts?

#1

Musicals with 3+ Acts?

Posted: 7/19/06 at 8:07am

Hey! I was just looking at IBDB's page for Anyone can Whistle, and when I looked at the song selection, it showed how there were three acts, much to my surprise.

Other than LOTR, are there any other musicals that comes to your mind which has 3 or more acts?

---

"Hey, you! You're the worst thing to happen to musical theatre since Andrew Lloyd Webber!" -Family Guy

#2

re: Musicals with 3+ Acts?

Posted: 7/19/06 at 8:13am

Peter Pan had three acts.

To tell you the truth, there aren't a lot of musicals with three acts. However, there are a TON of straight plays with three acts.

---

MARGARET: "Clara, stop that. That's illegal." - The Light in the Piazza

"I'm not in Bambi and I'm not blonde!" - Idina Menzel

#3

re: Musicals with 3+ Acts?

Posted: 7/19/06 at 8:21am

Both Bernarda Alba and 3hree have three acts on the CDs...

#4

re: Musicals with 3+ Acts?

Posted: 7/19/06 at 8:23am

Also:

The Chocolate Soldier
Porgy and Bess
St. Louis Woman
The Boy Friend
No No Nanette
The Most Happy Fella
The Apple Tree

---

Begin at the beginning and go on till you come to the end: then stop.

Updated On: 7/19/06 at 08:23 AM

#5

re: Musicals with 3+ Acts?

Posted: 7/19/06 at 8:58am

While the BERNARDA ALBA playbill lists that it has three acts, the show is performed without intermission.

#6

re: Musicals with 3+ Acts?

Posted: 7/19/06 at 9:23am

When I saw "No, No Nanette" it was done in 2 acts.
My recording of "St. Louis Woman" (Vanessa Williams) only mentions 2 acts.

I think "Gone with the wind" had 3 acts.

Updated On: 7/19/06 at 09:23 AM

#7

re: Musicals with 3+ Acts?

Posted: 7/19/06 at 9:42am

The original and the revival versions of No No Nanette have three acts. Some theatres may combine it to two, but it's a three act musical, with three distinct settings.

And the original St. Louis Woman had three acts. Encores reduced it to two.

---

Begin at the beginning and go on till you come to the end: then stop.

Updated On: 7/19/06 at 09:42 AM

#8

re: Musicals with 3+ Acts?

Posted: 7/19/06 at 9:57am

I know it was originally a TV musical, but doesn't Cinderella have three acts?

#9

re: Musicals with 3+ Acts?

Posted: 7/19/06 at 10:05am

The Threepenny Opera usually has 3 acts, although the recent revival cut it down to 2.

---

"The hallmark of aristocracy is responsibility. Oh brother, that got me, that did me in!"

#10

re: Musicals with 3+ Acts?

Posted: 7/19/06 at 10:34am

can falsettos count?

#11

re: Musicals with 3+ Acts?

Posted: 7/19/06 at 11:00am

No, unless a theatre staged a triple bill of In Trousers, March of the Falsettos and Falsettoland.

Falsettos just used March of the Falsettos for Act One and Falsettoland for Act Two.

---

Begin at the beginning and go on till you come to the end: then stop.

Updated On: 7/19/06 at 11:00 AM

#12

re: Musicals with 3+ Acts?

Posted: 7/19/06 at 11:03am

no, i know what the broadway version did. but a lot of theatres do a triple bill. the story is 3 acts.

#13

re: Musicals with 3+ Acts?

Posted: 7/19/06 at 11:06am

Really? What theatres have staged it that way?

---

Begin at the beginning and go on till you come to the end: then stop.

#14

re: Musicals with 3+ Acts?

Posted: 7/19/06 at 11:09am

Yes, Peter Pan and The Most Happy Fella have three acts. Porgy and Bess is more like an opera than anything. But it's still awesome. I love all three of them.

---

Butters, go buy World of Warcraft, install it on your computer, and join the online sensation before we all murder you. --Cartman: South Park ATTENTION FANS: I will be played by James Barbour in the upcoming musical, "BroadwayWorld: The Musical."

#15

re: Musicals with 3+ Acts?

Posted: 7/19/06 at 11:18am

"Falsettos" is two acts. If you include "In Trousers", then you are not doing "Falsettos". You are doing "The Marvin Trilogy". You are also doing something that will last more than three hours!

#16

re: Musicals with 3+ Acts?

Posted: 7/19/06 at 1:34pm

Most early musical comedies were three acts. These "gaiety" shows were designed so that each act took place in one basic set. The sets were changd at intermission. (NO NO NANEETE observes this.)

---

Cast albums are NOT "soundtracks."
Live theatre does not use a "soundtrack." If it did, it wouldn't be live theatre!

I host a weekly one-hour radio program featuring cast album selections as well as songs by cabaret, jazz and theatre artists. The program, FRONT ROW CENTRE is heard Sundays 9 to 10 am and also Saturdays from 8 to 9 am (eastern times) on www.proudfm.com

#17

re: Musicals with 3+ Acts?

Posted: 7/19/06 at 1:36pm

Anyone Can Whistle and Apple Tree a lot of times are performed in Two Acts, simply b/c Act 1 is normal lenght but 2 and 3 aren't...at least in the productions I've seen.

Peter Pan is one that needs the 3rd act to stay in place...I've seen it twice as a two act, and it kills the action, and you get some lengthy blackouts for the audience. (Out of the Nursery, and into the Pirate Ship)

#18

re: Musicals with 3+ Acts?

Posted: 7/19/06 at 1:40pm

Double post

Updated On: 7/19/06 at 01:40 PM

#19

re: Musicals with 3+ Acts?

Posted: 7/19/06 at 1:45pm

Pink Champagne
Bitter Sweet
Pacific 1860
Waltzes from Vienna
Sybil
King's Rhapsody

They're all rather of an age or type...

Updated On: 7/19/06 at 01:45 PM

#20

re: Musicals with 3+ Acts?

Posted: 7/19/06 at 1:47pm

no, i know what the broadway version did. but a lot of theatres do a triple bill. the story is 3 acts.

I would also want to know which theaters have done this.

---

Listen, I don't take my clothes off for anyone, even if it is "artistic". - JANICE

#21

re: Musicals with 3+ Acts?

Posted: 7/19/06 at 2:05pm

I just did Cinderella and it had 3 acts.

---

"I'll show you a laughgasm. I'll gasm all over this stage!"
"Interesting choice"

#22

re: Musicals with 3+ Acts?

Posted: 7/19/06 at 3:28pm

Happy End has three acts. (Weill/Brecht)

#23

re: Musicals with 3+ Acts?

Posted: 7/20/06 at 4:54am

Virgins - A Musical Threesome
Dean Bryant & Matthew Frank


Catch it in September at the NYMTF.
You'll LOVE IT!!

In both intervals the entire staging is changed, including seating et al...

---

"...But Kungurtseva reels off multiple fouettes and the tape is stopped so she can take a bow. The Jester, an abomination introduced to Swan Lake in Soviet times, extorts applause from the audience. The cuts don't help the storytelling, the production is bare bones and they go for the '50s-style happy ending. The audience cheers like mad at the end. It's the Russian ballet, after all..."

#24

re: Musicals with 3+ Acts?

Posted: 7/20/06 at 5:30am

I dunno why, but when I used to watch the Mary Martin version of Peter Pan, it had title cards to show the acts. It went like this:

Act I, Act II and Act IV. I never knew where Act III went.

#25

re: Musicals with 3+ Acts?

Posted: 7/20/06 at 10:37am

Out of town, Cabaret had three acts. I'm assuming the first act ended after "Tomorrow Belongs to Me" sung by the waiters.

How do three act musicals work (ex. No, No Nanette, Apple Tree)? Are there three intermissions?