Broadway Legend Joined: 8/15/05
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?
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.
Both Bernarda Alba and 3hree have three acts on the CDs...
Also:
The Chocolate Soldier
Porgy and Bess
St. Louis Woman
The Boy Friend
No No Nanette
The Most Happy Fella
The Apple Tree
While the BERNARDA ALBA playbill lists that it has three acts, the show is performed without intermission.
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
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.
I know it was originally a TV musical, but doesn't Cinderella have three acts?
The Threepenny Opera usually has 3 acts, although the recent revival cut it down to 2.
Broadway Legend Joined: 6/10/04
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.
Broadway Legend Joined: 6/10/04
no, i know what the broadway version did. but a lot of theatres do a triple bill. the story is 3 acts.
Really? What theatres have staged it that way?
Broadway Legend Joined: 11/23/05
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.
Broadway Legend Joined: 2/20/04
"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!
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
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)
Stand-by Joined: 3/16/06
Stand-by Joined: 3/16/06
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
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.
I just did Cinderella and it had 3 acts.
Featured Actor Joined: 7/12/04
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...
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.
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?
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