The best 3 seconds in the theatre — Page 3

There's soooo many:

* The last notes of THE KING AND I in the final scene

* The first few secs of Overture in THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA

* in CHICAGO when the overture changes into All That Jazz and Velma rises up

* "So if you care to find me..." in Defying Gravity in WICKED
* "Tell them how I am defying gravity!" in DG in WICKED

* in THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA when the candles start to rise up from the floor from the mist

Well, some of my favorite three-second (give or take) increments USED to be:

The very beginning of the Chicago overture, when there was only one dancer onstage, right before the rest of the ensemble entered; and the part during Roxie when the boys took the stage.

The jarring first notes the band played at the beginning of the Rocky Horror Show revival; and the vamp between Time Warp and Sweet Transvestite, as the elevator with Frank in it was lowered.

I'd also have to concur with Raul's note in Petrified, and the It's Meeeee part of Defying Gravity, as well as the part that immediately follows - "So if you care to find me," etc. (Though I've only seen Idina in that role, so I don't know if it would affect me the same way with anyone else singing it.)

There are also a lot of fabulous three second highlights in Movin' Out, which I can't properly describe in any way that would do them justice.

Oh, and Liev Schreiber beckoning Jordan Lage (The police detective) to follow him in Glengarry Glen Ross...(I could be here all day doing this.)

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Last line of the first Act of PROOF.

Or the last few lines of Act 2 in KING HEDLEY II, but that's more like ten seconds.

The nuclear bomb blast in COPENHAGEN.

On a cast recording- Any of Terry's final notes in his Pimpernel songs.

Live- Ellen hugging Tam at the end of Miss Saigon
"Viva La Vie Boheme!" -Rent

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Defying Gravity when Elphaba Rises and says 'It's MEEEEEE'.
Seriously, gets me every time.

Les Mis - Do You Hear The People Sing - the opening chords.

Rent: "Because reason says I should have died three years ago"

Side Show: The opening notes that are so quiet and then the chorus comes in with "Come look at the freaks"

Nine: Final chorus of "The Bells of St. Sebastian" --especially when the sopranos hit those really beautiful notes on the London Concert Recording

A Little Night Music: The opening waltz

Spelling Bee: The final note in the "I Love You Song" when all three actors hit exactly the same note and blend perfectly

Tick..Tick..Boom: When Raul grabs the chair just before "cynical town can be tough on an angel"

Oh there are a million more, but that's a start.

And how about the three seconds after the show when your favorite actor gives you their undivided attention to sign a poster or pose for a photo.

From "Joseph...Dreamcoat"

Strange as it seems,
There's been a run of crazy dreams
And a man who can interpret
Could go far - could become a star

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"I'm sorry, I didn't see that show, what is the seemingly anti-semitic reference???

THAT is your favorite 3 seconds?

How sad that is...

Please, enlighten me...I don't get it!"

This is the moment when Caroline has had enough. Noah made her give back the $20 she found in her pocket and at this point in her life she can't take any more. He tells her:

"There's a bomb!
President Johnson has built a bomb
Special-made to kill all Negroes
I hate you
I hate you
Kill all Negroes
Really for true!
I hope he drops his bomb on you!"

Just this alone stuns Caroline and she responds to this immature and childish and hateful statement with the most hateful thing she can tell this small Jewish boy.

"And hell's where Jews go when they die"

That moment when she says this to the one person in the show who honestly admires her is simply amazing, sad and powerful. She is taking all of her frustration out in one sentence on a little boy. She has used her Christianity as a means of killing him. This is the moment that sets her upon her quest for true change. Caroline isn't necessarily Anti-Semitic but she is subject to the same prejudices as whites were to blacks in the 1960's.

When Caroline utters those hurtful words (to paraphrase the show) 'our hearts bleed for her' and she instantly withers inside. She is ashamed of herself but more than just shame, she wants to kill the Caroline who would say that, the Caroline who when she speaks "all that comes out is hate!" She needs to kill that Caroline and create and change and become a Caroline that can live and work and provide for her children. Do not take this as a moment where Anti-Semitism is celebrated. It couldn't be further from the truth. That moment is when the worlds of Caroline and Noah collide and implode.

I highly reccomend the show to anyone of any religion, race, creed, etc. It is stirringly powerful and honest and truthful. It doesn't focus on world events or enormous world-changing moments, it focuses on one woman's desire to change her life and to renew her soul and her spirit in order to love. It is a gorgeous score and a gorgeous show with a message that transcends oppression, racism and all other forms of persecution.

Caroline is Beauty.

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Updated On: 7/20/05 at 06:48 PM

A few of my fav's:

The optional high B flat in "Maria" from WSS

Sweeney's entrance in "The Ballad of Sweeney Todd"

From "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?"--the end of George's big monologue: "And for the past 30 years, so I am told, he has not uttered...one...sound."

So many more...

A few of my fav's:

The optional high B flat in "Maria" from WSS

Sweeney's entrance in "The Ballad of Sweeney Todd"

From "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?"--the end of George's big monologue: "And for the past 30 years, so I am told, he has not uttered...one...sound."

So many more...

Rent: "Because reason says I should have died three years ago"


I AGREE!! .. i was just about to put it, and then i saw that Strictly Showtunes had put it down

that line always gets me !

also the end of "cant help falling inlove with you" in all shook up when the hole cast is belting that part out gave me chills !

"i swear i'd give my life for you" that line in Miss Saigon,

the ending of cabaret
and i have to say roger walking on stage in teh beginnin of rent

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