Prayers in Broadway Musicals...

[InfiniteGirl]

Posted: 9/3/05 at 10:55pm

Trying to think of sung prayers in musicals. Got Sabbath Prayer from Fiddler. What else...?

[GovernorSlaton]

Posted: 9/3/05 at 10:57pm

Hymn to Dionysos - The Frogs
Bar Mitzvah prayers - Falsettoland
Numerous Jewish prayers, including the prayer over the candles - Caroline or Change

[Hairspraydoll]

Posted: 9/3/05 at 11:00pm

Um Pray in Once On This Island

Updated On: 9/3/05 at 11:00 PM

[lvpblues]

Posted: 9/3/05 at 11:00pm

"Pass the Cross to Me" - Shenandoah

i know its technically a hymn, but 9 years of Catholic school remind me that a hymn is a "sung prayer".

Damn those nuns.

Speaking of which, the "Preludium" and "Wedding Processional" in "The Sound of Music" consist of many traditional Latin rites.

Updated On: 9/3/05 at 11:00 PM

[WickedGeek28]

Posted: 9/3/05 at 11:03pm

I'll second Caroline and Fiddler.

[insomniak]

Posted: 9/3/05 at 11:06pm

How could anyone forget 'Bring Him Home'?

[hot_brdwy_diva]

Posted: 9/3/05 at 11:06pm

Prayer For a Duck - Pippin!

"His breath has ebbed, his pulse is low
His feet are webbed, but even so
You must know
That although our tears are poised to burst
We've kept our faith warm through the worst
We haven't cursed our luck or run amuck
To prayer we've stuck
Please reward our pluck
And save this duck!"

So cute :)

[Marguerite Chauvelin]

Posted: 9/3/05 at 11:13pm

The Finale in Les Mis also has Valjean and Fantine praying. That kind of goes along with "Bring Him Home".

[liotte]

Posted: 9/3/05 at 11:13pm

Heaven Help Me from Footloose

[tagiunagi]

Posted: 9/3/05 at 11:24pm

Kaddish from Rags

[jasonf]

Posted: 9/3/05 at 11:30pm

How about "Til We Reach That Day" from Ragtime?
"How Blessed We Are" from Big River
In a way, "Rain Song" from 110 in the Shade
"If Prayin' Were Horses" from Civil War
"My Maker" from Jane Eyre
"Gethsemane" from JCS
"Close Every Door" from Joseph
"Why God Why" from Miss Saigon

--- I think it depends on what TYPES of prayer you're looking for!

[WickedJerseyGirl]

Posted: 9/3/05 at 11:41pm

Eva starts praying at the end of the Waltz in Evita. She's fussing at the man upstairs anyway.

[broadwaystar2b]

Posted: 9/3/05 at 11:42pm

Almost everything from Godspell

[lamentingenvelope]

Posted: 9/3/05 at 11:51pm

Prayer of the Comfort Counselor from Spelling Bee!

[Gingersnap]

Posted: 9/4/05 at 12:02am

Les Miserables has more than its share of prayer-like songs. Even before I saw the show, I had heard Michael Crawford's rendition of "Bring Him Home" and thought it was some sort of hymn...I had no familiarity with the musical at the time. A few months after seeing it, though, I did a high school theology paper on it.

And there's always that Latin chorus in "Carpe Noctem" from "Tanz der Vampire." "Dies irae, Kyrie, Libera me Domine. Dies Irae, Kyrie, Requiem Da Domine." And so on...

[chinkie azn jai]

Posted: 9/4/05 at 12:21am

the title song from the Color Purple

[little_sally]

Posted: 9/4/05 at 12:24am

As far as off-Broadway goes, there's some Latin prayers in Nunsense and there's the song "Our Father" from A Man of No Importance.

[YankeesFan175]

Posted: 9/4/05 at 12:55am

a WHOLE bunch in bare. peter says the our father a lot, the opening song is a mass, and a lot of parts take place in confession.

[pab]

Posted: 9/4/05 at 1:19am

The Bells of St. Sebastian from NINE

But the music of the ringing
Was the music of our singing
When we were singing Kyrie Eleison,
Kyrie Eleison, Kyrie Eleison.
Each day at lauds
Each night at vespers
From every tower the hour would be tolled
For those of us at St. Sebastian,
No longer young and not yet old.

[Pinguin]

Posted: 9/4/05 at 1:30am

Sh'ma in Parade.

[ZONEACE]

Posted: 9/4/05 at 1:51am

while not on Broadway, nor an entire song, but Edgar's section in "Comfort and Joy" from Bay Boy is a prayer, albeit a prayer to not be a bat anymore.

[BobbyBubby]

Posted: 9/4/05 at 1:55am

"Evening Prayers" from Carrie

[Jon]

Posted: 9/4/05 at 3:47am

What about "Tender Shepherd" from PETER PAN, or "One Hand, One Heart" from WSS (technically a wedding vow, but still, they're talking to God).

There are several points in TWO BY TWO in which people talk to God, including one section where the entire cast prays in unison:

OH LORD, CREATOR OF THE EARTH
RULER OF THE SKIES AND THE SEA
OH LORD. PROVIDER OF THE LIGHT
GIVE US FAITH, GIVE US HOPE...

[jo]

Posted: 9/4/05 at 7:33am

Colm Wilkinson's BRING HIM HOME from Les Miserables is exceptionally powerful and poignant as he sings it to a sleeping Marius ( played by Michael Ball in the original production). Turning full circle, Michael Ball has recorded this song and he also delivers the song with the same emotional intensity ( maybe from sharing that exceptional moment onstage decades ago).

Even played without the lyrics, this melody is haunting and very touching ( it was used as background music for the death at the barricades scene in STAGE BY STAGE, a documentary on Les Mis).

[Gooch]

Posted: 9/4/05 at 9:17am

There are HOASANNAs in both Sarafina and JCS.