None of you are even close. (eta: oops I posted at the same time as Reginald)
The best Act 1 finale, bar none, is Evita.
The entire cast is onstage, some holding torches, some holding banners. They are singing "A New Argentina". It ends "The voice of the people, can not be, and will not be and must not be denied".
Don't believe me? Go look at the 1980 Tony Awards clip and see if you don't pee your pants after watching it.
If anyone ever tells you that you put too much Parmesan cheese on your pasta, stop talking to them. You don't need that kind of negativity in your life.
I don't know if these are the best, but some of my favorites are "Ever After" from Into the Woods, "The Bells of St. Sebastian" from Nine, and I've been obsessed with "Blackout" from In the Heights lately.
I love the staging for Light in the Piazza, with Margaret walking in on Clara and Fabrizio. The blackout has perfect timing, just as she realizes what is going on and is about to make a move.
In the Heights is so over-stimulating... in a good way though.
"A Little Priest" -- picture going into the show knowing absolutely nothing about it. I can't imagine what you must feel like going into intermission after that.
"August: Osage County" ends on some ridiculous highs after act one and especially act two.
I am holding my breath all during "Everything's Coming Up Roses" and when the house lights come up, I finally exhale. It's a pretty intense Act I closer.
Sondheim is pretty darn good at those act 1 closers. 'A Little Priest' and 'Sunday' are both high on my list of favourites. Also 'One Day More!', and - why not - 'La Vie Boheme B'. The ENERGY, man! :3
A Little Priest - Sweeney I Believe - Spring Awakening Defying Gravity (how original of me, I know) - Wicked Feeling Electric - Next to Normal So Much Better - Legally Blonde Astonishing - Little Women
Everything's Coming Up Roses - Gypsy And I Am Telling You... - Dreamgirls A Little Priest - Sweeney Todd Till We Reach That Day - Ragtime One Day More - Les Mis Along Came Bialy - The Producers 'Act 1 Finale ' - Urinetown If I Can't Love Her- Beauty and The Beast
Also the 1st Act finales from LSOH, Light In The Piazza and Dirty Rotten Scoundrels.
"You drank a charm to kill John Proctor's wife! You drank a charm to kill Goody Proctor!" - Betty Parris to Abigail Williams in Arthur Miller's The Crucible
If I Can't Love Her from Beauty and the Beast. I don't know why, but I was just so overwhelmed and stared at the stage for a while after the lights came back on.
Depends on what you look for in the half way climax.
Defying Gravity has always given me actual goose bumps and it leaves you buzzing.
Thats rare, usually there is a 'wow' but that takes the crown because its so spectacular.
However, I am partial to 'And I'm Telling You' even though its dulled down with 'Dreamgirls' sneaking in before the curtain. 'One' from Bare is pretty powerful when sung well. The end of 'Blackout' is good too.
It would seem as though having "The Dreams" come in at the end of "And I Am Telling You..." would dull the Act I finish but for some reason, I find it really adds to the emotion of the moment. Perhaps because we see that, despite Effie's declaration, they are in fact moving on with out her.
I know these aren't original but... Defying Gravity- Wicked - because, it's simply exhilerating and incredible One Day More - Les Mis - I love that song.... So Much Better - LB- I like where they black out, plus, it's the best song in Legally Blonde If I Can't Love Her - BATB - Just a really good song, and I love when the set turns around La Vie Boheme B - RENT - I just sat in awe of the first act...crying my eyes out for reasons I barely understood, dried my eyes @ intermission, then started all over again with Seasons of Love...
I really like Roosevelt Petrucius Coleslaw from Caroline, or Change. I think that it really fits the show, and yet it is still a great song to listen to.
Maybe because I just saw an excellent production of ALNM at the Shaw Festival in Niagara-on-the-Lake my vote would go to "A Weekend in the Country." It combines several plot threads and sets up a great what-will-happen.
But that's just one of many possibilities.
Cast albums are NOT "soundtracks." Live theatre does not use a "soundtrack." If it did, it wouldn't be live theatre!
I host a weekly one-hour radio program featuring cast album selections as well as songs by cabaret, jazz and theatre artists. The program, FRONT ROW CENTRE is heard Sundays 9 to 10 am and also Saturdays from 8 to 9 am (eastern times) on www.proudfm.com