Sweet Overtures

[feinstein9]

Posted: 10/10/04 at 4:44am

with all this talk about finalle's and openings, i was wondering what your favourite overtures were?
mine:

-carousel (in a catagory all it's own)
-merrily we roll along
-full monty

[Mr Roxy]

Posted: 10/10/04 at 7:20am

Mack & Mabel
Gypsy
Any Jule Styne Overture
Any Jerry Herman Overture

[Glebb]

Posted: 10/10/04 at 8:17am

Candide
Bells Are Ringing
Camelot
My Fair Lady
NINE

Adding
A LITTLE NIGHT MUSIC

Updated On: 10/10/04 at 08:17 AM

[mominator]

Posted: 10/10/04 at 8:24am

Camelot here. Just love it!

[Yankeefan007]

Posted: 10/10/04 at 8:46am

9

[jo]

Posted: 10/10/04 at 8:50am

Many from the older musicals --

Camelot
My Fair Lady
South Pacific
King and I
Carousel
King and I
Man of La Mancha
Hello, Dolly

and a few others.

[Mary_Ethel]

Posted: 10/10/04 at 9:05am

Hi feinstenin9 :),

Yes, THE CAROUSEL WALTZ is MORE than just an overture. It is a prologue to CAROUSEL that sets up story, characters, mood and tone WITHOUT A SINGLE WORD OF DIALOGUE!

[Mary_Ethel]

Posted: 10/10/04 at 9:10am

Hey Mr. Roxy, :)

Jule Styne Overtures--Yes!

His overtures ALWAYS set the tone as to what to expect in the show that followed:

FUNNY GIRL - "Snippets of "People" heard throughout

GENTLEMEN PREFER BLONDES - Bouncy, rythmetic pseudo-1920s music

BELLS ARE RINGING - how many Overtures do you that know that starts of with a PHONE RINGING?

[Glebb]

Posted: 10/10/04 at 9:10am

The Carousel Waltz/Overture in the Hytner version is so amazing the audience cannot help but be spellbound for the rest of the musical. It is genius.

[Unknown User]

Posted: 10/10/04 at 9:12am

As a fairly strong romantic classicist, I tend toward anything the Frederick Loewe wrote - especially My Fair Lady. But I also have a very soft spot in my heart for The King and I - which is still the most beautiful score for my taste.

[Mary_Ethel]

Posted: 10/10/04 at 9:12am

Hi Glebb, :)

You may be aware of this, but the overture to CANDIDE is performed quite often as a separate piece by many classical orchestras.

[Mary_Ethel]

Posted: 10/10/04 at 9:15am

Hello Mom... :)

Yes. The Overture to CAMELOT is so majestic, builds to a wonderful climax and includes bits of outstanding "If Ever I Would Leave You."

Sets up tone PERFECTLY for first scene.

[Glebb]

Posted: 10/10/04 at 9:16am

Yeppers, I know that. That overture along with "Oh Happy We" and "Make Our Garden Grow" are things that I sometimes play over and over on my iPod.

Did you know that I do all my shopping there (Kleins) with Mary and Ethel?

[Mary_Ethel]

Posted: 10/10/04 at 9:21am

Hi Jo... :)

I agree. The MAN OF LA MANCHA Overture announces that you are about to see a VERY intense musical with a foreign setting (snippets of foreign-sounding music heard throughout.) It rises and falls many times to indicate the numerous "up and down" plot changes to come. And its rousing climax? MAGNICENT!!!

[Mary_Ethel]

Posted: 10/10/04 at 9:23am

Hi Glebb, :)

I agree. THE CAROUSEL WALTZ is genius.

I often wonder how the idea for opening CAROUSEL in that manner was determined.

[Mary_Ethel]

Posted: 10/10/04 at 9:29am

Hello DGrant, :)

We've already discussed MY FAIR LADY overture, so let's chat about THE KING AND I.

VERY majestic--sets tone perfectly and finds room to include snippets of all of the many score's popular tunes.

The conflict to follow (by Anna & The King) can be heard. Uses "Asian" music to identify locale. Ultimately, it announces that the show to follow will be WORTHY of your attention.

[Mary_Ethel]

Posted: 10/10/04 at 9:34am

OK Glebb... :)

Chorus Member: "Things With Good Lines!"

Judy: "Like Things from Kleins?"

etc.

Glebb, I think we need to start a BELLS ARE RINGING thread!

[Glebb]

Posted: 10/10/04 at 9:36am

I think I need to listen to my OBC recording of BELLS ARE RINGING right now!

[Mary_Ethel]

Posted: 10/10/04 at 9:37am

My favorite Overture is THE MOST HAPPY FELLA (1956).

In just a few brief moments, it tells us we're about to see a story about a man who loves his wife and his willingness to accept her however she is.

[millie_dillmount]

Posted: 10/10/04 at 9:44am

Thoroughly Modern Millie
Urinetown
42nd Street
The Producers
Gypsy
Phantom of the Opera
Chicago
Wonderful Town

[Mary_Ethel]

Posted: 10/10/04 at 9:51am

Great Idea Glebb! :)

Just don't get confused and play that lousy Faith Prince revival.

[Mary_Ethel]

Posted: 10/10/04 at 9:55am

Hi Millie... :)

As I have posted earlier, I love WONDERFUL TOWN and the overture is DYNAMITE!

It is so rhytmic and pulsating--it takes energy just to listen to it! You can almost HEAR the sounds of 1930s New York as you listen to the "big band" selections! The climatic finish leads perfectly into opening number, "Christopher Street."

[Glebb]

Posted: 10/10/04 at 10:04am

NEVAH!

[millie_dillmount]

Posted: 10/10/04 at 10:06am

Mary_Ethel: I don't particularly care for Wonderful Town's music as a whole with the exception of a few songs, but the overture is excellent! I love that old-fashioned sound, as in Millie and 42nd Street.

[magruder]

Posted: 10/10/04 at 10:19am

Two choices for me, both because they have layers and layers of detail in the orchestrations:

Take Me Along - it's a Phil Lang masterpiece. The writing is so full and rhapsodic. The title song weaves through the entire Overture and then finally explodes at the end.

No No Nanette - The whole thing is perfection, with some of the finest orchestrations (Ralph Burns) and dance arrangements (Luther Henderson) of any show. But the Overture contains one of my favorite pieces of writing...a fantasia on "Tea for Two" where the two pianos are doing these exilirating runs up and down the keyboard. Wild stuff.