Saddest moment in musical — Page 4

I don't really cry at sadness-- I cry when I'm moved, which is different from being sad. And so many things in musicals are cloyingly sad. I will say that nothing has been more upsetting, to me at least, than the last ten minutes or so of Grey Gardens.

Sweeney Todd doesn't move me-- it thrills me. The ending is sort of sad if you take it literally, but I don't. Rent is cloying to me. Next to Normal is very sad, but I don't know if I've bawled in it, or even cried. I may have teared up.

But I tend to cry more often when things are touching or moving-- the end of Ragtime, the end of Sunday in the Park with George, the end of King and I, Soliloquy in Carousel (if done right). Those get me. Tony dying in West Side Story doesn't. Besides, he's not really the most developed character. If Louise died at the end of Gypsy, maybe I'd cry.

The end of Act 1 of CHILDREN OF EDEN when God embraces Eve.
The end of COME TO MY GARDEN/LIFT ME UP in THE SECRET GARDEN when Collin falls asleep in his mother's arms.
THE LETTER REPRISE in BILLY ELLIOT (THE LETTER in Act 1 is bad enough, but the reprise is a killer).
The Act 2 reprise of the porch scene in Act 2 of CAROUSEL and the IF I LOVED YOU reprise.

There are many sad parts in a musical but there are only a very few times when I did the whole stupid/ugly Oprah cry...

The End of "Blood Brothers" w/ Petula Clark
Sarah's Death in the REVIVAL of "Ragtime" (I saw the original and don't remember if I bawled or not)
and
"Will I?"/"I'll Cover You (reprise) from "Rent" (Two days after finding out I was HIV+)
and I'm Here from "The Color Purple"
Those four times are when I really thought I may not be able to finish I weas crying so hard...

I have gotten the "chills, saddness, sorrow, little tears" a lot of times...

Send in the Clowns from "A Little Night Music"
I am What I am "La Cage Aux Folles"
For Good "Wicked"
Most of "Chess"

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In the Los Angeles production of Parade, at the end of the show Lucille gets handed a handkerchief by the reporter (Britt Craig?) She goes to pick it up and Leo's wedding ring, which was folded up in it, falls to the stage.

To those who said Gavroche's death...I started laughing hysterically last Saturday when I saw it...Is that bad?

Happy/Sad from The Addams Family has definitely made me cry.

The end of The Drowsy Chaperone.

Far from the Home I Love from Fiddler on the Roof.

I Confess from Footloose. I saw a production about a month ago and ugly cried.

"Christine, I love you." in Phantom.

^^^^ Agreed, although for me it's most of Act II of Hamilton.

Also "Telephone Wire" from Fun Home, "Left Behind" from Spring Awakening, and "Welcome Home" from The Bandstand (I've been patiently waiting for a cast album to come out ever since I saw the show).

Updated On: 7/31/16 at 11:30 PM

Thanks for reviving this thread, ManinChair.

Several of mine were mentioned in 2011:

The ending of Les Miz, when JVJ dies and Fantine welcomes him into heaven, as the reprise of "Do You Hear the People Sing?" Plays

Kim's suicide in "Miss Saigon." I only heard the cast album and realized I couldn't emotionally handle the actual musical.

Billy Bigelow's return as a ghost in "Carousel"

The king's death in "The King and I."

The ending of "Fiddler on the Roof."

The ending of "Camelot."

The ending of "Man of La Mancha."

"Christine, I love you" through the end of "The Phantom of the Opera."

Audrey

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When Sarah dies in Ragtime - and when Coalhouse is shot as he surrenders in Ragtime.

The Hamiltons learning to live with the unimaginable.

Louise meeting Billy in Carousel is up there, too.

Someone posted earlier that Tony's death in West Side Story didn't register with him/her because Tony is not the show's most developed character. Maria is, though, and her reaction to it is heartbreaking.

For wondrful musicals of the past like Milk and Honey, Hello, Dolly!, The Student Gypsy, and so many others, the saddest moment was when the curtain fell. A magical experience had ended --- and what could be sadder than that?



Sadly, with today's critics' darlings, the final curtain is the only happy moment in the show, and it can't come quickly enough. It fact, with these, the curtain should never even go up!

"There's a world" as I saw it performed in the dutch version of Next to Normal. For an idea of that production, here's a compilation made by the production company. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-pe95HZnWH4 The snippet of that song starts at 03:05


The end of Blood Brothers got to me as well

Updated On: 8/1/16 at 12:10 PM