all-time greatest musical showstoppers

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all-time greatest musical showstoppers

Posted: 3/8/05 at 8:38am

What do you believe are the all-time greatest musical showstoppers?
I would nominate SOLILOQUY as greatest male solo showstopper, ROSE'S TURN as greatest female solo showstopper, and SIT DOWN, YOU'RE ROCKIN' THE BOAT as the greatest ensemble showstopper.
Any other thoughts?

re: all-time greatest musical showstoppers

Posted: 3/8/05 at 8:51am

"And I am Telling You"--Dreamgirls
"Gethsemane"--JCS

"They're eating her and then they're going to eat me. OH MY GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOD!!!!" -Troll 2

re: all-time greatest musical showstoppers

Posted: 3/8/05 at 8:52am

I'm sorry if I'm too young, but I nominate "You Can't Stop the Beat". It's the most exciting number I've ever seen in a musical!

"I'm the STAR!"--Daniel Reichard during Glory Daze sound check

re: all-time greatest musical showstoppers

Posted: 3/8/05 at 10:10am

I definitely agree with "Sit Down, You're Rockin' The Boat" as one of the all time greatest showstoppers.....since I not long ago played Nicely-Nicely, I can say that number brought down the house every night....

Cheers,
The Balladeer

"Someone tell the story...Someone sing the song...."

re: all-time greatest musical showstoppers

Posted: 3/8/05 at 10:15am

Might be easily disagreeable because I don't know if you would consider it a "showstopper" but I would say

Little Priest - Sweeney Todd

if not

Sit Down Your Rocking the Boat

When someone blunders, we say that he makes a misstep. Is it then not clear that all the ills of mankind, all the tragic misfortunes that fill our history books, all the political blunders, all the failures of the great leaders have arisen merely from a lack of skill in dancing. - Moliere

re: all-time greatest musical showstoppers

Posted: 3/8/05 at 10:44am

hmm before nominating "you can't stop the beat" which is of course a nice song, but do listen to a few more shows. You'll discover gems

I agree with the ones mentioned in the first place as they are brillantly written and executed (in the original production).

Updated On: 3/8/05 at 10:44 AM

re: all-time greatest musical showstoppers

Posted: 3/8/05 at 12:35pm

A Little Priest is MOST DEFINITELY a showstopper, dancergirl.

Word. Word, indeed.

re: all-time greatest musical showstoppers

Posted: 3/8/05 at 12:48pm

hmm...Bring on the Men...*pauses a moment for Linda Eder*

the Gospel funeral hymn in Big River

Easy as Life and Elaborate Lives...Aida

"Be not like dumb, driven cattle. Be a hero in the strife." A Psalm of Life...Walt Whitman

re: all-time greatest musical showstoppers

Posted: 3/8/05 at 1:22pm

"Lot's Wife" - Caroline or Change
"I Am Telling You..." - Dreamgirls

those two are just stuck in my head today. :)

Suzanne: I never use catalogs. I'd rather go in the store and see all the salespeople groveling and sucking up to you. Julia: Pardon me, I never knew they were so solicitous at the K-Mart.

#10

re: all-time greatest musical showstoppers

Posted: 3/8/05 at 1:30pm

"And I Am Telling You I'm Not Going" -- DREAMGIRLS
"Rose's Turn" -- GYPSY
"You Gotta Have A Gimmick" -- GYPSY
"The Music and the Mirror" -- A CHORUS LINE
"I Got Love" -- PURLIE
"People" -- FUNNY GIRL
"Don't Rain On My Parade" -- FUNNY GIRL
"The Oldest Profession" -- THE LIFE
"Whatever Lola Wants" -- DAMN YANKEES
"Steam Heat" -- PAJAMA GAME
"If My Friends Could See Me Now" -- SWEET CHARITY
"Who's That Woman" -- FOLLIES
"I'm Still Here" -- FOLLIES
"The Ladies Who Lunch" -- COMPANY
"Glitter and Be Gay" -- CANDIDE
"Turkey Lurkey Time" - PROMISES PROMISES
"Hello Dolly" -- HELLO DOLLY
"Anything You Can Do" -- ANNIE GET YOUR GUN
"100 Easy Ways" -- WONDERFUL TOWN

"What a story........ everything but the bloodhounds snappin' at her rear end." -- Birdie [http://margochanning.broadwayworld.com/] "The Devil Be Hittin' Me" -- Whitney

Updated On: 3/8/05 at 01:30 PM

#11

re: all-time greatest musical showstoppers

Posted: 3/8/05 at 1:37pm

the song A Little Priest comes at the end of the first act of SWEENEY TODD. It does not have the opportunity to be a "show stopper."

"Blow out the candles Robert and make a wish. Want something, want SOMETHING."

#12

re: all-time greatest musical showstoppers

Posted: 3/8/05 at 1:42pm

the HELLO DOLLY! number is a true showstopper. There have been many times when a few Dollys did the ENTIRE number again for an audience.

I'm the Greatest Star by Streisand in FUNNY GIRL,,got loooooooong applause before the show could continue..

Rose's Turn is of course a showstopper....... as is

The Music and the Mirror from A CHORUS LINE

In the most recent Broadway revival of GUYS&DOLLS, they did an uninspired Sit Down You're Rockin the Boat -- but the show was stopped with substained applause when Nathan Lane and Faith Prince did Sue Me.

Measure The Valleys, Measure the Hills from RAISIN stopped the show

The Rain In Spain is the showstopper from MY FAIR LADY

"Blow out the candles Robert and make a wish. Want something, want SOMETHING."

#13

re: all-time greatest musical showstoppers

Posted: 3/8/05 at 4:04pm

My all-time favorites:
You Can't Stop The Beat
Don't Rain On My Parade
La Vie Boheme
No One Mourns The Wicked
One Day More
Do You Hear The People Sing
Seasons Of Love
Finale of Les Miz

Updated On: 3/8/05 at 04:04 PM

#14

re: all-time greatest musical showstoppers

Posted: 3/8/05 at 4:12pm

ummm Defying Gravity! I don't care what most of you think...I LOVE Stephen Schwartz! :)

#15

re: all-time greatest musical showstoppers

Posted: 3/8/05 at 4:26pm

On My Own can be if done right.

#16

re: all-time greatest musical showstoppers

Posted: 3/8/05 at 4:26pm

"No One Mourns the Wicked"?? But when that song happens, the show has barely STARTED...

I always thought that showstoppers were songs that STOPPED THE SHOW... literally! Like, the audience would burst into such an ovation that the show would have to stop for the audience. According to this definition, Act One and ultimo finales do not count.

I wish that "Suddenly, Seymour" was considered a 'showstopper'... it's a great 11 o'clock number, but it doesn't usually stop the whole show.

#17

re: all-time greatest musical showstoppers

Posted: 3/8/05 at 4:26pm

Look for the Silver Lining- Sally
A pretty girl is like a melody -Ziegfeld Follies of 1918
My Man -Ziegfeld Follies of 1919
Old Man River -Show Boat
Brother Can you Spare A dime? -Americana
Stormy Weather-?
You're the Top-Anything Goes
New Yor, New York -On the Town
Hey There- Pajama Game
hello Dolly -Hello Dolly
Rose's Turn-Gypsy
If I were a rich man- Fiddler on the Roof
One -A chorus line
I am what I am -La cage

~And let us try, before we die, to make some sense of life~

#18

re: all-time greatest musical showstoppers

Posted: 3/8/05 at 5:27pm

Glitter and Be Gay from Candide...my absolute favorite at this moment.

"This is what I trained to do, and this is what I love about theater. What I love about being an actress is being able to really look into myself and understand another human being. And out my own self, to shape and form and fashion a real human being--and to present that in such a way that people see something of themselves or their own understanding in that human being." --Phylicia Rashad

#19

re: all-time greatest musical showstoppers

Posted: 3/8/05 at 5:29pm

Defying Gravity
I know Where I've Been

#20

re: all-time greatest musical showstoppers

Posted: 3/8/05 at 5:37pm

"Glitter and be Gay" Candide
"I Know Where I've Been" Hairspray
"And I'm Telling You..." Dreamgirls
"When I Look at You" The Scarlet Pimpernel
"Rose's Turn" Gypsy
"Dance of the Robe" Aida
"Elaborate Lives" Aida
"Soliloquiy" Carousel
"Be Our Guest" Beauty and the Beast
"A New Life" Jekyll and Hyde among others...

www.christopherviolett.com

#21

re: all-time greatest musical showstoppers

Posted: 3/8/05 at 5:42pm

Glitter and be Gay
Easy as Life
Suddenly Seymour
Defying Gravity
No Good Deed
Last Midnight
Gimme Gimme

And you think of all of the things you've seen, and you wish that you could live in between ,and you're back again only different than before... After the Sky. -Into the Woods (Jack)

#22

re: all-time greatest musical showstoppers

Posted: 3/8/05 at 5:52pm

I thought "Betrayed" from The Producers was great..

Also, "Fine Fine Line" from Avenue Q..Stephanie D'Abruzzo had me in tears!

And the other thing about the Phantom Lady was, Bert, she realized, in the city that never sleeps... What did she realize, Kitten? That all the songs she'd listened to, all the love songs, that they were only songs. What's wrong with that? Nothing, if you don't believe in them. But she did, you see. She believed in enchanted evenings, and she believed that a small cloud passed overhead and cried down on a flower bed, and she even believed there was breakfast to be had... Where? On Pluto. The mysterious, icy wastes of Pluto.

#23

re: all-time greatest musical showstoppers

Posted: 3/8/05 at 5:56pm

I agree with 'Betrayed' a definite show stopper, also I have to throw in 'Once before I go' from 'The Boy from Oz' whatever you think of the show, or the music Hugh Jackman made that one a showstopper in the literal sense.

#24

re: all-time greatest musical showstoppers

Posted: 3/8/05 at 5:56pm

I agree girlfortartaglia about fine fine line. i also think "i am telling you" and "hello dolly" are amazing showstoppers.

"At the opening night party, they had clowns on stilts, jugglers, a chocolate fountain, popcorn, hot dogs. [My son] looked at me like I had been holding back. Like, 'This is what you do?' I had to tell him, 'No, no, darling. Opening nights don't usually look like this.' It's usually a dark bar with a bottle of vodka." ?Chitty Chitty Bang Bang's Jan Maxwell plus i proudly share the title of the shortest member over the age of 10 with wickedrentq!

#25

re: all-time greatest musical showstoppers

Posted: 3/8/05 at 7:49pm

Wait....but You Can't Stop The Beat....stops the entire show. It's the ending? Still, great song!

Here's my list:
Suddenly Seymour
Glitter and Be Gay
Gimme Gimme
On My Own

mizzie!

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