I personally like powerful overtures. I really love the Phantom and DOTV overtures. The overture to Kiss Me, Kate has always been one of my favorites. Its not an overture, but the prologue to Into the Woods always keeps me smiling (especially the witch's rap.
hands down GYPSY... as soon as it started, it just gave me this huge thrill of musicals in the late 80s early 90s when i was a small child..and how "old school" bway used to be with the conductor in full tuxedo.. and just real music..not bubble gum stuff..dont get me wrong, i love mamma mia but Gypsy is what bway is all about and that overture is a story in itself.
Updated On: 10/23/03 at 12:34 AM
Have to agree, SEUSSICAL always puts a big smile on my face. If it wasn't so repetitive I would also put THE FULL MONTY, that also puts me in a good mood.
Wasn't this one up before. Anyway, favorite overtures:
1929 Spring Is Here (Rodgers) 1931 Cat and The Fiddle (Kern) The Bandwagon (Schwartz) 1933 As Thousands Cheer (Berlin) 1934 Anything Goes (Porter) 1936 On Your Toes (Rodgers) 1937 Babes In Arms (Rodgers) 1938 Boys From Syracuse (Rodgers) 1939 Very Warm For May (Kern) Too Many Girls (Rodgers) 1940 Pal Joey (Rodgers) 1943 Oklahoma (Rodgers) Early To Bed (Waller) 1946 Annie Get Your Gun (Berlin) 1947 Finian's Rainbow (Lane) 1949 Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (Styne) 1951 Tree Grows In Brooklyn (Schwartz) 1953 Wonderful Town (Bernstein) 1956 Candide (Bernstein) Bells Are Ringing (Styne) 1957 West Side Story (Bernstein) 1959 Juno (Blitzstein) Gypsy (Styne) Fiorello (Bock) 1961 Milk and Honey (Herman) I Can Get It For You Whoelsale (Rome) 1966 Mame (Herman) 1983 La Cage (Herman)
Every movement has a meaning--but what the hell does it mean!
Everyone knows the great Styne sound is the standard-bearer. But bravo for remembering one of the most exciting from a flop -- "It's a bird, it's ... superman!" I used to live in the DC area, and a local news show picked it up for its theme. I never tired of hearing it. Another one I love, also by Strouse, is APPLAUSE. The score was pretty ordinary,but the overture sold the show. (I've said it elsewhere, but I thin "Wicked" would be wise to follow suit -- start us off with a big exciting, percussive chunk of "Defying Gravity," rather than the faux Sweeney, atonal stuff that segues into "No one mourns..." If the pop sound was established as the house lights dim, people might not be so jarred when the score uses that idiom for the emotional expressions of its lead, Elphaba. Just a thought. Overtures are sort of passe these days, but they always had a purpose -- to give us a sense of the tone and "feel" of a show.)
"I'm a comedian, but in my spare time, things bother me." Garry Shandling
I thought I was the only one who enjoyed "Superman". The show was one of the most enjoyable shows I have ever seen. To this day, I do not know why it did not succeed. It was 2 hours of mindless entertainment . All the show wanted to do was entertain & you forgot all the BS that was going on in the world outside
Superman didnt do well because, I don't think they were trying to be as farcical about musical theater as they were. If it came along in todays theater, and was played like Urinetown...it would have been wunderbar!
STEVOS
"IF I TRY THERE MAY BE A CHANCE / WE COULD LOVE WITH OUR EYES CLOSED/ WITH OUR EYES CLOSED WE COULD CHANGE THE WORLD!"- Stephen Dwight
I know it is not an Overture per say but the Symphonic Ragtime at the end of the double cd from the Original Broadway Cast is brilliant! I love the music.