I am pretty surprised that nobody wrote the Act One closer from "Parade"... talk about dramatic! The orchestrations in the last minute of Act One is worth the price of admission alone.
Also, I'm really glad that somebody else posted "Light in the Piazza." I thought that I was the only one. I find that Act One ending INCREDIBLY powerful with the staging and the fast blackout. I actually gasped out loud. lol.
"Piazza." Dear God. Breathtaking. "Say It Somehow" is s beautiful and then POW. Blackout. Amazing.
Act two of "August: Osage County." I realize it's "act one finale," but one simply can't neglect "You can't do this. This is my house!" "You don't get it, do you? I'M. RUNNING. THINGS. NOWWWW!" Blackout.
Oh, and "Sweeney." 1) "A Little Priest" is one of the greatest showtunes of all time and 2) it's the epitome of a "WTF?" moment. And right before intermission, no less!
Great choices everyone! Here are mine (mostly repeats):
One Day More (I love how all the song themes are mixed together) Sunday (simply beautiful) Oh Brand New Day from Blood Brothers (Such an optimistic song for such a tragedy) Defying Gravity (speaks for itself) Gimme Love from Kiss of the Spider Woman Saturday Night in the City from Wedding Singer (not a great musical, but really fun end of act 1) A Little Priest (of course)
Mostly a rehash of what everyone else has said....but here goes:
One Day More(Les Miserables) A New Argentina (Evita) The first time I heard this live, I fell in love with the theatre Everything's Coming Up Roses (Gypsy) And I Am Telling You... (Dreamgirls)It still rips my heart out. Defying Gravity (Wicked) The first time I heard this song was when I heard Stephanie J. Block belt it out. 25-ish years after I saw Evita, it reminded me why I love live theatre.
4 pages already--with a high-profile revival in full swing--and no one has mentioned HAIR yet??
Although I guess the quality of that ending depends on who's in the show that night...
But really, aside from the ta-tas and the wee-wees, the end of "Where Do I Go" is a truly stirring Act One closer.
"If there is going to be a restoration fee, there should also be a Renaissance fee, a Middle Ages fee and a Dark Ages fee. Someone must have men in the back room making up names, euphemisms for profit."
(Emanuel Azenberg)
I agree with the last few posters who wrote Parade. The cakewalk is absolutly chilling.
<------ Me and my friends with patti Lupone at my friends afterparty for her concert with audra mcdonald during the summer of 2007.
"I am sorry but it is an unjust world and virtue is only triumphant in theatricle performances" The Mikado
hmmm la vie boheme is probably still number one for me and i love blackout
"I dreamt I married a 5-year-old boy. He treated me like a queen and was perfectly lovely. We took a driving trip for our honeymoon. Then it dawned on me: 'Oh my God! He doesn't have a driver's license! We could get arrested!'" - megan mullally