showstopping moments in songs

I was just listening to "A New Argentina" and it made my think of this.

In theatre, what are some moments in songs that just leave you speechless

In "A New Argentina" it would be when Patti starts belting high and sings, "he supports you, for he loves you..." so amazing

Updated On: 7/21/09 at 08:48 PM

The end of "God Loves the Nubia" in Aida. Heather Headley just has an amazing voice and I get chills just thinking about that song.

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The most memorable standing ovation I have ever been witness to happened during the final notes of "Bring Him Home" in the original Les Miz on Broadway. That stopped the show in a way I've never seen before or since.

Algonquin, I have to agree with you when it comes to Bring Him Home, I saw the original production, the revival, and a HS production, and in all of them the crowd was caught breathless by that song.

Sorry for the double-post, I'm not on my own computer right now.

The production was just ok, but Brian Stokes Mitchell's "Impossible Dream" from Man of La Mancha literally took my breath away.

Defying Gravity from Wicked

The end of Blood Brothers (no other musical has made me sob like an idiot)

I also have to admit that Sara Ramirez's 'Whatever happened to my part?' from Spamalot left me rolling on the floor. A show stopper in a very different way.

It isn't really "during" a song, but the scene immediately following "Another Winter In a Summer Town" in Grey Gardens is one of the most emotionally affecting moments I've ever seen in a theatrical production. I never quite loved the show as much as many people on this board did, but when I was leaving the performance I saw, there was a woman in front of me who literally couldn't stop crying her entire way out of the theater, and I knew so, so well what she was feeling.

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Also, when you can understand what she's saying up there. NOOOOO I'm not alluding to Patti at ALL... :)
Ahem...did I really say that? :O
it was the wind...

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Your Daddy's Son in Ragtime when Audra sings

*Spoilers*
Couldn't hear no music,
Couldn't see no light.
Mama, she was frightened,
Crazy from the fright.
Tears without no comfort,
Screams without no sound.
Only darkness and pain,
The anger and pain,
The blood and the pain!
I buried my hear in the ground!
In the ground-
When I buried you in the ground.

*end or Spoliers*

It's just FIERCE!!!!!

The end of all that Jazz when Velma sings "No, I'm no one's wife
But, oh, I love my life And All That Jazz!". It gives me chills almost every time.

Ditto on "A New Argentina" and "The Gods Love Nubia". This is kind of random, but when Heather Headley is riffing at the end of "The Gods Love Nubia"...am I the only one that's obsessed with the part when she sings "Semi divided OoOOOOOooooOO"?

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Woah, I was actually just thinking about this in my car.

Anyway, this might not count, it is actually the end of the show, but when The Flesh Failures changes to "Let the Sunshine in" every time I get chills. Every time. Whether I'm actually watching the show or just listening on my iPod. It's a perfect moment.

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Oh my! AndAllThatJazz22 I just listened to "Your Daddy's Son." That was incredible. I am now a HUGE fan of Audra McDonald. I never really gave her a listen to, and now I love her. Her voice at the beginning is so chilling and haunting.

Might I add, this single song has moved Ragtime to the top of my MUST BUY LIST. And also my MUST DO SOME RESEARCH LIST.

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Updated On: 7/25/09 at 12:39 AM

I love that part of defying gravity also...

and I love the part in "A Boy Like That" in any production where she says "very smart, Maria, very sMARRRRT"

^
Looks like we've got a new Wicked fan on the boards. Welcome, fellow Ozian.

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