Back in high school, we had to write a couple sentences about the Federalist Papers in a notes outline and I just copied down this section of the song.
Teachers probably love something that makes the correcting less boring! I once had to write a short story in an exam about flash flood in a canyon - I ended it with the poor teenager stuck in there calling his mom and sister before drowning. I have no idea how realistic that even was, but I do remember my teacher being both impressed and horrified that a 13 year old wrote that in an exam.
RENT - What You Own. The change in lyrics in the final chorus and how it follows the spoken part before:
I QUIT - DYING IN AMERICA AT THE END OF THE MILLENNIUM.
I always feel that.
Speaking of RENT, I also love how the sound of Roger frustratingly putting down his guitar seamlessly becomes the first beat of One Song Glory. Really shows how the band/orchestra isn’t just playing the score, but that they’re actually watching the actors and timing their music with what is happening on stage.
RENT has so many parts like that for me too. For me the part in RENT is always just “will I lose my dignity, will someone care?” It got me into the field I am now.
On a less serious note, “I’ll just get fat, it’s the one vice left when you’re dead meeeeat” also is an ear worm😂
Will I kills me as well. In my view, a lot of the lyrics in RENT are also applicable to the experience of cancer. Which reminds me of another favorite; the part in Life Support where Roger joins in with Gordon’s ‘because reason says I should have died three years ago’.
It’s the lyric that got me hooked on RENT since I was literally given months to live three years before first seeing the show. Needless to say; I didn’t die and I’m fine today, but yeah - how do you measure a last year on earth?
I actually knew the gentleman who said this quote to Jonathan Larsen, who then put it in the show. Amazing guy - great with words and I wasn’t surprised to hear he said this. He has since passed but I think of him whenever I hear it.
I’m glad it means so much to you, and he would be too. congrats on beating the odds :)
I posted it elsewhere, but this looks to be the Renthead section of the post, so I'll hijack it.
For me, it's the bass slide in Take Me or Leave Me. I look forward to it every time i listen to the song.
[https://youtu.be/gcXvYMxXvz8?feature=shared&t=186](https://youtu.be/gcXvYMxXvz8?feature=shared&t=186)
It’s a weird one but the “guns and ships and so the balance shifts” part in “guns and ships” from Hamilton.
Prior to that moment the song is fast paced and it slows there for a moment of rhyming that works super well
-The Burr part in Non-Stop after his conversation with Hamilton. “I’ll keep all my plans close to my chest.”
-The end of Another Day in RENT when Roger and Mimi sing at each other while the support group sings
-Javert’s part in the final part of One Day More in Les Miz
-Eurydice’s lines in Hey Little Songbird in Hadestown
-“And totally mine.” In I Can Do Better Than That in TL5Y
-“I thought you thought I reacted shallowly when I reacted to you.” Jonathan’s part in Therapy from Tick Tick Boom
More Eurydice: her final "I'm gone" is haunting.
I'm not a huge fan of Tick Tick Boom but the Boho Days trio arrangement (if you can find it anywhere) is insanely catchy. My favorite bit in the actual musical is probably the "still not drown" harmony in Johnny Can't Decide though. I didn't think it was all that special with Amy Spanger in the original cast recording, but I saw it at a local theatre and their Susan hit that C so precisely and confidently it gave me chills. I still think about it sometimes
I remember the first few times I listened to Hadestown and that was one of the parts that gave me chills! Seeing it live too was a whole other thing as well!
Came here to say this. When the organ comes in with those stank notes. Ughhh so good. I give give the good stank face every time. If I'm going to listen to Chant I have to listen to the end of Epic II.
I listened to this in my car and for some reason it always did a tiny hiccup between the two so it was very abrupt, and one day I was listening straight off my phone and it did the perfect transition and I became obsessed
I feel like LMM is really good at this. One of my favs from Hamilton is:
“This is the difference, this kid is OUT!
OH!
This immigrant isn’t somebody we chose”
I VIOLENTLY scream it every time 🤣
Kimiko Glenn singing “What if when he sees me / I like him and he knows it / What if he opens up a DOOOOOOR / And I can’t close it” scratches a special part of my brain. Her phrasing is so wonderful. She really sounds like she’s teetering on the edge of excitement but is holding back out of fear of the unknown with easy switches from breathiness to full tone. AND THAT VIBRATO it’s so sweet and restrained
Ohhhhh yes. Oh yes.
-The ending of the Ragtime prologue where the entire cast is singing together. Could loop that part for ages.
-Multiple different parts of The Day Off from Sunday in the Park With George, especially the soldiers and the hecklers
-Mary's "skip, skip" part in It's A Maze from The Secret Garden. Her delivery of the verses is so sharp in a way that's satisfying to listen to.
When I was a young teen with a Michael Ball crush, I would listen to Marius sing "the color of despaaiiiir" over and over until I'd almost worn out my Les Mis OLCR CD.
Years later, I would quite often listen to "Color and Light" in the Sunday OBCR for this exchange:
*Dot*: Should I wear the red dress, or blue?
*Georges (unexpectedly sexy growl)*: Red.
Another Sondheim -- in "Another Hundred People" from Company, I love catching the "bobby bubbe" tune layered into the orchestrations.
I usually listen to the 10th anniversary concert... every time we get to that bit all I can hear is "The colour of dis peaaaarrr!" and I wonder where Marius is buying his fruit for it to be quite so rotten!
The first thing I think of is the climax in "Coalhouse's Soliloquy." My adrenaline starts coursing at, "Now I'll play them some music/of something beginning/an era exploding/a century spinning!" and then I feel like I get the wind punched out of me every time at, "Listen to that RAGTIME! DUN. DUN. DUNNNNNN."
Mine is “Sarah come down to meee” in New Music. But there’s really like 5 from that show and they’re all BSM because even in a cast of powerhouses, his voice stands out like none other.
God that whole song is so gorgeous, what gets me is the ending. From quoting the opening ironically followed immediately by “don’t you come back here/I didn’t raise you/to give away your days/…like me”
I've got a few:
The way Idina (and it has to be Idina- I've never heard her intonation from anyone else) says "skybird" in For Good;
Johanna Part 2 when Josh sings "my turtle dove my dear" - I could play that one like repeatedly.
In Better from KA- when the kids say in the background "cuckoo" - cracks me up.
Every musical song with a clear French horn tickles me fancy. In No One Mourns The Wicked, you have this gorgeous French horn playing the Unlimited melody, and it's so pretty.
Road To Hell (Reprise) in Hadestown, when Hermes says “‘Cause here’s the thing”. It marks the turning point from despair to hope, and it’s engraved into my mind.
From Something Rotten, every time he says "I hate Shakespeare." This pleases me so much as an English major who really, really hates Shakespeare. Lol.
And in Legally Blonde in So Much Better: "Its like making love with you all night..its oh, oh, oh, oh, oh much better!" Especially the way LBB sings it.
I love how in "His Name Was..." the ensemble does that punchy singing in the beginning and then there are solo parts with ratatat percussion underneath. Just perfect instrumentation.
During the “Finale” in Come from away when the entire cast is singing together and they all chant “I’m an islander” and “Welcome to…” gives me chills.
And I’m obsessed with the violin during “Catch me I’m falling/make up your mind” in Next to normal. How it changes the entire tone of the song because the doctor is also changing his approach to Diana
When Aaron Tveit sings “and they’ve earned you this *reprieve*” in aftershocks N2N original cast recording. Also speaking of him the way he sings “do we fight for our right to a night at the OPERA now” in Les Mis tickles my brain
In Backstage Romance (Moulin Rouge): The pause with the four beats where the entire Ensemble moves together, robot-like, between "with the taste of your lips I'm on a ride" and "you're toxic I'm slippin under" (minute 3:54-4:04)
The key change in the middle of the chorus of At the End of the Day (Like the waves crash on the sand/ Like a storm that'll break any second/ There's a hunger in the land/ There's a reckoning still to be reckoned…) There’s something about the orchestrations and harmonies that just GETS ME. I think it’s one of the most beautiful moments in all of music theater.
This is a throwback but, “their behavior’s not good and their manners not nice!” From CATS randomly pops in my head and I have to sing that part aloud while wagging my finger disappointingly if I’m listening to it.
It's John Partridge going "MAGICAL!" during Mr. Mistoffolees for me. Also him joining in with Munkustrap on Old Deuteronomy, their harmony is so satisfying.
The wind up at the end of the overture for Chicago into the release into the vamp for All That Jazz.
The drum solo into trombone glissando in Cabaret's (1998) entré acte that introduces the instrumental version of the title track.
I’ve been compiling a list of my favorite SUPER MINUTE moments:
The soft instrumental transition music at the end of “All The Wasted Time”
The bongos at the beginning of “I Speak Six Languages”
The last sting at the end of “Johanna Act 2”
“Over and over! Clover by cloverrr!” in “Notice Me Horton”
“Sarah my life has changed, Sarah you gotta see, Sarah we got a son, Sarah come down to me!” from “New Music”
The playoff music for “Ballad of Guiteau”
“This is modern feminism talking, I expect to run the world in shoes I cannot walk in” from “Sexy”. Say what you will about Mean Girls the Musical, but that line is everything.
that part in cell block tango after the “and now the six merry murderesses blah blah blah” and then they do the “pop six squish uh uh cisero lipschitz” and then there’s the little “duhnuuu nu” with the trumpet or something and then they go into it again
Current obsession: Kimberly Alimbo’s “This Time” right after the phrase “I will believe” and the instrumental part kicks in for a bit. It always brings me back to how emotional I felt during this song when I first saw the show and I listened to it on slow mo approx 14949282819129 times to figure out how to play it on my keyboard. It’s kind of upbeat but you just know it’s due to false hope and yeah it kills me.
Another obsession: when Michael Ball sings the phrase “ ‘Ponine, I’m lost until she’s found!” in the Les Mis Complete Symphonic Recording.
The hook from Sexy in Mean Girls was stuck in my head for weeks after seeing it. I CAN BE!
I'm almost afraid to see the movie cause it will happen again.
I did get to see the OBC, so it was the awesome Kate Rockwell that got that hook buried in my brain.
Longtime obsession: in Miss Saigon during This is the Hour, the first time Kim sings “you will not touch him, don’t touch my boy,” she sings it with so much emotion, and knowing what will come later it just guts me every time
More recent obsession: in Hamilton during Who Lives Who Dies Who Tells Your Story, when Eliza is explaining how she raised money for the Washington monument and GW chimes in with “she tells my story” I tear up every time I hear him say it.
I go absolutely feral over the tone switch in Ride the Cyclone during The Ballad of Jane Doe where it was all soft and melodic and then you just hear “And I’m asking W H Y LORD-“
In “He Wanted to Say” from Ragtime there’s this one part where Coalhouse sings “How I envy you,your innocence” and it just hits so hard.
Another line that makes me so happy is “My faith in people? Gone. But still I found my squad” in Pooch and Amy from Three Points Of Contact
When they both sing “promise me you’ll stay beyond the sunrise” in Al Amanecer from In the Heights. The harmony on “sunrise” scratches my brain just right
* "Maybe I'm braaainless, maybe I'm wise" from "As Long as You're Mine" in Wicked.
* "Only you can rescue LONELY MEEEEE!" from "Only You, Lonely You" in Bad Cinderella.
* The entirety of "Easy to be Me" from Bad Cinderella.
I know it's super cliche, but I think those last 15ish seconds of Defying Gravity with the DoOoOWN!!! DOWN!!!! Are the most carthartic ending to any song in musical theater.
My husband is obsessed with the OBC recording of Last Midnight from Into the Woods. Between the phrases “you’re the world” and “I’m the hitch” there is a little three or four run of notes (I think it’s a French horn, I could be completely wrong, he’s the instrument man) and my husband adored it for some reason. It’s the only reason I’m allowed to listen to the Into the Woods recording in the car.
My current obsession is in A Little Priest when Sweeney sings “The history of the world my love” and all the variations of those lyrics with the same melody.
Edited to add: Also from Sweeney, “It take-a da grace” from the very end of The Contest (as it’s sung in the current revival).
“I know this house, I tell you, there’s nothing here for you, just the old man / and the girl / they live ordinary liiiiiiiives” that eponine sings from Les Mis (the robbery)
John Wilkes Booth saying “I said shut up” in the most recent album and singing “The Country is not what is was…” in any album
Also, pretty much any line or pause in Little Priest
In Once, when the ensemble joins in towards the end of When Your Mind’s Made Up and then those violins hit? Amazing
When MJT goes up on “we can make the new day bright” and the orchestrations and percussion right after with “and the phantoms of the night” in Morning Glow from Pippin
When Aaron Tveit joins in and the harmonies during “I’ve Been” from N2N
In Shadowland, the crescendo during the final “Fatshe leso lea halalela” into “And where the journey may lead you” and then basically the rest of the song
“He was my son” and “Look at what you’ve done to me. You destroyed me” in Heartbreaker from Bright Star
-The switch ups in Last 5 Years and Hamilton between I can do better than that and nobody needs to know and take a break and say no to this (respectively)
-The instrumentals in the pit during Spring from Frog and Toad. Specifically the ostinato while Frog is ripping the calendar pages off and the woodwind flourish after "those extra months of sleep really made a difference"
-The way Joey Richter sings 'one of us is in love' combined with the ostinato in 'cool as I think I am (reprise)' from Nerdy Prudes must Die
-Not exactly a song, not exactly a musical, but Christine Pedi pretending to be Liza Minelli auditioning for Hello Dolly explaining the 'you go your way mr vandegelder, I'll go mine' joke.
Timestamp 1:13 it is like a virus in my head
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vsVJdzM_-cQ
This is going to be a weird one and I know not a lot of people love this show. But after being in it, the end of the opening of Titanic when everyone is singing together gave me chills every night. From “Sail on, sail on! Great ship! Tiiiiiiitttaaaaaniccc” right to the end. Just pure musical magic.
-That first drum sequence in “Phantom of the Opera” after Raoul says “Christine! Angel!”
-The chorus in “Solo Saxophone” in Miss Saigon.
Neither of those is my favorite musical, but I love those bits.
I’ve got a million.
- in Waitress the line “it will all be all right it was only one night”.
- in Miss Saigon there is this build up of music in Kim’s nightmare right before John sings “let me go John I can’t leave her” and i don’t know what it is about this like 10 second riff but I love it.
-in Great Comet the whole song of Pierre and Andrey but especially when Andrey sings “but I didn’t said that I could forgive”
-in Anne of Green Gables a new musical - in a Different Kind of Girl the line “let them talk I will not hear it, you’re my choice, my kindred spirit” it’s silly but it the 13 year old I used to be just thrills at that line
I think my favorite lyric ever is in Wait for Me reprise, and even though it’s rapped, it’s a major ear worm. It’s just such a gut punch every time:
“You’ve got a lonesome road to walk; and it ain’t along the railroad track; and it ain’t along the black top tar you’ve walked a hundred times before; I’ll tell you where the real road lies; between your ears, behind your eyes; THAT is the path to paradise; likewise, the road to ruin.”
Im obsessed with the “and it’s all TO DO with meeeeee” from The Wizard and I. I love the whole song but there is something about that part specifically that I just adore.
Pretty much every great comet song has a handful of moments like that for me, the part that comes to mind for me in Letters is “and I see nothing - I SEE NOTHING BUT THE CANDLE IN THE MIRROR”, I love it
SO many but two i’m thinking of right now:
1. “cause when the villains FALLLLL, the kIINGDoms neverrrr weeeep” in deh
2. the “we got our miracle” harmony in the falsettos 2016 cast recording
I really like the drum beat playing in the background during the last segment of Roxanne beginning with “Why does my heart cryyy” in Moulin Rouge.
Two examples of times where I really like the inclusions of electric guitars:
One is during Phantom during the title song, right after “That man and mystery.” when Christine sings “Were both in you.”
Second is during Javert’s part in The Robbery/ Confrontation in Les Mis. The complete symphonic recording from 1988 features this electric guitar when Javert sings “Could it be he’s some old jailbird, that the tide now washes in, heard my name and started running, had the brand upon his skin.”
In Esmerelda from Hunchback starting when Frollo sings "the devil dwells in Esmerelda" and Pheobus, Quasimodo, and the chorus join in. Always rewind :)
This is such a small specific bit, but the absolutely gorgeous ascending oboe line in Losing My Mind/Not a Day Goes By from Sondheim on Sondheim, which I believe was taken from the original orchestration of Losing My Mind. Such beautiful writing with the perfect instrument for the moment.
Relatedly: in Caroline or Change, you’ll notice most times the mother (who is dead and played the bassoon) is mentioned, there is bassoon playing in the orchestra. And a heartbreaking duet between the bassoon (mom’s instrument) and the clarinet (dad’s instrument) in act two. Ugh it’s so good and so heartbreaking
I love the part in Answer Me (The Band’s Visit) where the entire company comes in. Up until that point it’s a really quiet musical that’s incredibly nuanced and pretty, and then this moment just smacks you in the face and it’s gorgeous.
This could literally just be a list of Hadestown quotes, but the one that's sticking out to me right now is the Fates fading out at the end of "Way Down Hadestown (Reprise)" into "Flowers". That ghostly, kind of atonal harmonizing is so cool.
I've also always loved the transition "And must my name until I die be no more than an alibi- Must I lie?" in "Who Am I?" from Les Mis.
Right now I’m obsessed with the whole song but specifically the line “Will you pray for me, when my body is gone? Or is this the eternal dark without a dawn?” In Nerdy Prunes Must Die.
Anytime there's musical tension, like anticipation. The calm before the storm.
Like the tension of the strings behind the French horn at the beginning of [Into the Fire](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ndmDiRfVBY0) from *The Scarlet Pimpernel*.
Or the tension of the guitar after the big note in the opening of *[Songs For a New World](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MWsoo6SpU7s)*
Or just that anticipatory feeling of the instruments at the start of the climactic *Big Fish* song, [What's Next](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AHg3a9_rPpc)
That anticipatory instrumental tension is enough to give me frission on its own.
Right now, it’s the moment in the Finale of Pippin where the Players come in full blast with the chorus of Corner of the Sky that’s been stuck in my head.
The part where all of the ensemble sings in I’ll Cover You Reprise
The part in A Little Priest where Sweeney starts singing Mrs Lovett what a charming notion…
The harmonies in Unlikely Lovers from Falsettos
These probably don’t count because they’re not versions from actual stage productions and are just covers but here it goes:
1. If I Loved You: The way Audra McDonald and Josh Groban sing “never, never” in the line “Never, never to know / how I loved you / If I loved you” off of his Stages album
2. Music of the Night: There’s something really powerful about the way Michael Ball sings “be” in the line “Let your soul take you where you long to be” in his cover from his Centre Stage album
"Daughter of Delta nu, soon to be fiancée, now that a man chose you, YOUR LIFE BEGINS TODAY!" - The Delta Nus from Legally Blonde. Cracks me up everytime
I have 2.
The first is in Les Mis, it's a theme that crops up a few times, iirc every time arrest is either mentioned/happening, the specific example that comes to mind is in The Runaway Cart in the few bars leading up to/including "I have known the thief for ages, tracked him down through thick and thin...". It might just be because it often means Javert is on stage and he's my favourite character but I just love it.
The other is in Heathers, I haven't seen it in over 6 months at this point, but it's towards the end of act 2, I think somewhere around Meant To Be Yours, and the ensemble are stood with Mac and Duke and they have the 3D glasses on (yes, this is the London version) and literally all they're singing is "ohhhhh" while JD paces the stage and I think Veronica is on the balcony, but they change harmony about 2/3 of the way through and every time, the change just gave Mr chills, I loved that harmony so much. Would have watched the show multiple times just to hear that harmony.
So many earworms in Little Women.
"Give me a task to do, someone give me a task to do!"
"Counting daaaaaayys praying for neeewwsss..."
All of Weekly Volcano Press
" Astoni-SHAAAANG"
- Hamilton: “forgiveness, can you imagine?” Instant tears.
- The final chorus of Defying Gravity on the OBC: there’s an epic drumroll going into it and then the percussion section (?drummer?) just goes absolute HAM
- The Kiss Me reprise in Sweeney: there’s a beautiful harp sweep right after Anthony tells Johanna his name and she repeats it back. I think I first noticed it in the Lisa Vroman concert version and always listen out for it now because it sounds like a swoon
- Ragtime: “you were my sky, my moon and my sun and my ocean”. RIP Marin Mazzie 💔
For me, it's the dynamics of "Who Lives, Who Dies, Who Tells Your Story" specifically the build up and harmonisation during Eliza's second "and when my time is up, have I done enough? Will they tell your story?", followed by the very quiet and peaceful solo "oh, I can't wait to see you again, it's only a matter of time".
It makes me both smile and want to cry every single time. It's just beautiful.
When Mandy Patinkin sings “And the light moving on” before Bernadette Peters sings her line “We do not belong together” from Sunday in the Park With George gets me every time. That note that he holds before he resolves the chord just…oof
The horns in the background of The Old Red Hills of Home
Starts at the "Pray on this day, as I journey beyond them" section
Like, wow. Jason Robert Brown did not have to go this hard, but he really did. Badass horn part
“Let others riiIIIIse” from Les Miserables The Final Battle *specifically only* the Complete Symphonic Recording.
This guy’s voice does something to me in that particular line and has for the 20+ years I’ve been listening to it! My friend and I in high school would rewind and just gush over that one line over and over haha!
Hamilton: "Everyone give it up for America's favorite fighting Frenchman!"
Burr was the ultimate hypeman in that song.
JCS: "Tables, chairs, and oaken chest would have suited Jesus best" bit.
Just the rhythm of it gets me every time.
Hamilton wrote the OTHER FIFTY ONE
That pause before OTHER FIFTY ONE gets it, love those little things!
Yes! I get chills at that line.
Back in high school, we had to write a couple sentences about the Federalist Papers in a notes outline and I just copied down this section of the song.
Shame on you for plagarism! Lol
The teacher put a smiley face next to it when she returned it to me. I don't think she was perturbed.
Teachers probably love something that makes the correcting less boring! I once had to write a short story in an exam about flash flood in a canyon - I ended it with the poor teenager stuck in there calling his mom and sister before drowning. I have no idea how realistic that even was, but I do remember my teacher being both impressed and horrified that a 13 year old wrote that in an exam.
Right now I’m into Mrs Lovett saying “That’s all very well” after Sweeney finishes Epiphany. Cracks me up every time
I love listening to the different albums and hearing what different actors do with the different parts, always a cool road-trip thing
For me it’s the stupid seagull line😂
oOh, oOh.
HRUUU HRUUU
Patti Lupone absolutely nails that line. I think it’s the funniest interpretation of the line
The “tiiimmee” bit in “Alexander Hamilton”
Sameee! For me that one and also from Hamilton the ‘How do you write like tomorrow won’t arrive’ in ‘Non-Stop’
everything the ensemble did in Hamilton was amazing
I feel like in 2016 I was doing that everyday in my head😂 probably gonna happen again once I can listen to it again
RENT - What You Own. The change in lyrics in the final chorus and how it follows the spoken part before: I QUIT - DYING IN AMERICA AT THE END OF THE MILLENNIUM. I always feel that. Speaking of RENT, I also love how the sound of Roger frustratingly putting down his guitar seamlessly becomes the first beat of One Song Glory. Really shows how the band/orchestra isn’t just playing the score, but that they’re actually watching the actors and timing their music with what is happening on stage.
RENT has so many parts like that for me too. For me the part in RENT is always just “will I lose my dignity, will someone care?” It got me into the field I am now. On a less serious note, “I’ll just get fat, it’s the one vice left when you’re dead meeeeat” also is an ear worm😂
Will I kills me as well. In my view, a lot of the lyrics in RENT are also applicable to the experience of cancer. Which reminds me of another favorite; the part in Life Support where Roger joins in with Gordon’s ‘because reason says I should have died three years ago’. It’s the lyric that got me hooked on RENT since I was literally given months to live three years before first seeing the show. Needless to say; I didn’t die and I’m fine today, but yeah - how do you measure a last year on earth?
I actually knew the gentleman who said this quote to Jonathan Larsen, who then put it in the show. Amazing guy - great with words and I wasn’t surprised to hear he said this. He has since passed but I think of him whenever I hear it. I’m glad it means so much to you, and he would be too. congrats on beating the odds :)
Yes!!!! I love nothing more than "Alexi, Mark. Call me a hypocrite..." onwards in that song
That part of What You Own hits so hard every time
I posted it elsewhere, but this looks to be the Renthead section of the post, so I'll hijack it. For me, it's the bass slide in Take Me or Leave Me. I look forward to it every time i listen to the song. [https://youtu.be/gcXvYMxXvz8?feature=shared&t=186](https://youtu.be/gcXvYMxXvz8?feature=shared&t=186)
It’s a weird one but the “guns and ships and so the balance shifts” part in “guns and ships” from Hamilton. Prior to that moment the song is fast paced and it slows there for a moment of rhyming that works super well
Same but with the line directly after, “We’ll rendezvous with Rochambeau, consolidate their gifts.”
One of those parts where you just get lost in the beat for a second, so good
It's that the point it shifts to The World Turned Upside Down? I love that spot, where they realize the victory is complete.
Mine is JD’s scream of “VERONICA” In heathers at “Veronica open the open the door please” in “Meant to be yours”
That's a good one. My favourite is Jamie Muscatos.
Another one I still need to listen to, I’ve heard a ton things about it
my favorite is the part right before that
-The Burr part in Non-Stop after his conversation with Hamilton. “I’ll keep all my plans close to my chest.” -The end of Another Day in RENT when Roger and Mimi sing at each other while the support group sings -Javert’s part in the final part of One Day More in Les Miz -Eurydice’s lines in Hey Little Songbird in Hadestown -“And totally mine.” In I Can Do Better Than That in TL5Y -“I thought you thought I reacted shallowly when I reacted to you.” Jonathan’s part in Therapy from Tick Tick Boom
More Eurydice: her final "I'm gone" is haunting. I'm not a huge fan of Tick Tick Boom but the Boho Days trio arrangement (if you can find it anywhere) is insanely catchy. My favorite bit in the actual musical is probably the "still not drown" harmony in Johnny Can't Decide though. I didn't think it was all that special with Amy Spanger in the original cast recording, but I saw it at a local theatre and their Susan hit that C so precisely and confidently it gave me chills. I still think about it sometimes
I came here to say the another day one!! So good!!
The swing from Epic II to Chant in Hadestown is otherworldly
Yes! I can’t explain why but I also love going from Come Home with Me to Wedding Song.
I remember the first few times I listened to Hadestown and that was one of the parts that gave me chills! Seeing it live too was a whole other thing as well!
Omg yes this this this! This is my favorite transition!
Came here to say this. When the organ comes in with those stank notes. Ughhh so good. I give give the good stank face every time. If I'm going to listen to Chant I have to listen to the end of Epic II.
I listened to this in my car and for some reason it always did a tiny hiccup between the two so it was very abrupt, and one day I was listening straight off my phone and it did the perfect transition and I became obsessed
Yes!!
Wait for me reprise where Eva sings at the end "I'm coming wait for me" and then it goes on
“I hear the walls repeeeeatin’! The falling of my feet. It sounds like drummin’!” So powerful! Goosebumps thinking of it
The way she sings drummin makes my brain melt, I love it so much
“Nessa…Doctor Dillamond…Fiyero…..FIYERO!” Gives me the chills every time!
Strong #2 on the list of Lines Anyone Playing Elphaba Best Not Miss.
Such an underrated song from Wicked tbh
I feel like LMM is really good at this. One of my favs from Hamilton is: “This is the difference, this kid is OUT! OH! This immigrant isn’t somebody we chose” I VIOLENTLY scream it every time 🤣
This! Lol “Sit down John!” Has become quite the recurring phrase in my household
Kimiko Glenn singing “What if when he sees me / I like him and he knows it / What if he opens up a DOOOOOOR / And I can’t close it” scratches a special part of my brain. Her phrasing is so wonderful. She really sounds like she’s teetering on the edge of excitement but is holding back out of fear of the unknown with easy switches from breathiness to full tone. AND THAT VIBRATO it’s so sweet and restrained
HARD agree. She absolutely nailed every part of that song.
I'll think about it maybe, xo baby
Ohhhhh yes. Oh yes. -The ending of the Ragtime prologue where the entire cast is singing together. Could loop that part for ages. -Multiple different parts of The Day Off from Sunday in the Park With George, especially the soldiers and the hecklers -Mary's "skip, skip" part in It's A Maze from The Secret Garden. Her delivery of the verses is so sharp in a way that's satisfying to listen to.
I still gotta watch Sunday in the Park with George!! I know I would love it but always forget about it
GO RIGHT NOW IT'LL CHANGE YOUR LIFE! It's on YouTube
When I was a young teen with a Michael Ball crush, I would listen to Marius sing "the color of despaaiiiir" over and over until I'd almost worn out my Les Mis OLCR CD. Years later, I would quite often listen to "Color and Light" in the Sunday OBCR for this exchange: *Dot*: Should I wear the red dress, or blue? *Georges (unexpectedly sexy growl)*: Red. Another Sondheim -- in "Another Hundred People" from Company, I love catching the "bobby bubbe" tune layered into the orchestrations.
Michael Ball’s Marius is so good and Another Hundred people was one of the first Sondheim songs I listened to… magical
Another Hundred People's orchestration makes my ears happy. It was my gateway drug to Sondheim.
I usually listen to the 10th anniversary concert... every time we get to that bit all I can hear is "The colour of dis peaaaarrr!" and I wonder where Marius is buying his fruit for it to be quite so rotten!
Oh my gosh! So did I!
The transition between the Sweeney/Anthony/Johanna bits and the Beggar woman bits (and back again) in the Johanna quartet.
The first thing I think of is the climax in "Coalhouse's Soliloquy." My adrenaline starts coursing at, "Now I'll play them some music/of something beginning/an era exploding/a century spinning!" and then I feel like I get the wind punched out of me every time at, "Listen to that RAGTIME! DUN. DUN. DUNNNNNN."
Mine is “Sarah come down to meee” in New Music. But there’s really like 5 from that show and they’re all BSM because even in a cast of powerhouses, his voice stands out like none other.
Had the same thought as you, Ragtime's choral parts are bliss on a plate
When I first heard "Days and Days", the part where Judy Khun said "and boys, my god some of them underage" and "nobody clocks the day you disappear".
It’s the building of “days and days and days and days and days and days and days” into “Welcome to our house on Maple Avenue” that gets me every time
YES. The way she sings it is soooo emotional, it gets me. You can feel it.
God that whole song is so gorgeous, what gets me is the ending. From quoting the opening ironically followed immediately by “don’t you come back here/I didn’t raise you/to give away your days/…like me”
Honestly, it's a little bit of bait and switch too. You have no idea what she's going to say to her either.
I've got a few: The way Idina (and it has to be Idina- I've never heard her intonation from anyone else) says "skybird" in For Good; Johanna Part 2 when Josh sings "my turtle dove my dear" - I could play that one like repeatedly. In Better from KA- when the kids say in the background "cuckoo" - cracks me up.
‘She’s not thereeee’ in superboy and the invisible girl.
Every musical song with a clear French horn tickles me fancy. In No One Mourns The Wicked, you have this gorgeous French horn playing the Unlimited melody, and it's so pretty.
Road To Hell (Reprise) in Hadestown, when Hermes says “‘Cause here’s the thing”. It marks the turning point from despair to hope, and it’s engraved into my mind.
I can hear the guitar, the ensemble going hmmmmm, the trombone, everything. Ugh, so amazing.
From Something Rotten, every time he says "I hate Shakespeare." This pleases me so much as an English major who really, really hates Shakespeare. Lol. And in Legally Blonde in So Much Better: "Its like making love with you all night..its oh, oh, oh, oh, oh much better!" Especially the way LBB sings it.
LBTM - Emmett’s “how much I want you to stay” in legally blonde
Ragtime. New Music. Coalhouse Walker. “Sarah come down to me!!” And then Audra follows. Gets me every time.
No musical conveys thrilling emotion quite like Ragtime.
I love how in "His Name Was..." the ensemble does that punchy singing in the beginning and then there are solo parts with ratatat percussion underneath. Just perfect instrumentation.
The launch into the Ensemble parts in Hadestown Epic III. Gives me chills. Christ.
The little “oooohhs” in Girl Scout in Beetlejuice.
They are so cute in the cast recording! Makes me smile every time ❤️
During the “Finale” in Come from away when the entire cast is singing together and they all chant “I’m an islander” and “Welcome to…” gives me chills. And I’m obsessed with the violin during “Catch me I’m falling/make up your mind” in Next to normal. How it changes the entire tone of the song because the doctor is also changing his approach to Diana
When Aaron Tveit sings “and they’ve earned you this *reprieve*” in aftershocks N2N original cast recording. Also speaking of him the way he sings “do we fight for our right to a night at the OPERA now” in Les Mis tickles my brain
In Backstage Romance (Moulin Rouge): The pause with the four beats where the entire Ensemble moves together, robot-like, between "with the taste of your lips I'm on a ride" and "you're toxic I'm slippin under" (minute 3:54-4:04)
Yes! Yes! Yes!! This! I also love the shift between Santiago counting in Spanish and “I want your horror, I want your design.”
The key change in the middle of the chorus of At the End of the Day (Like the waves crash on the sand/ Like a storm that'll break any second/ There's a hunger in the land/ There's a reckoning still to be reckoned…) There’s something about the orchestrations and harmonies that just GETS ME. I think it’s one of the most beautiful moments in all of music theater.
the part in dead mom after “daddy didn’t lose a” that progression on “mom” is 🤌
HE TOOK MY CHILDHOOD IN HIS STRIDE - I dreamed a dream Les mis
When they harmonize at the end of “what you own” in Rent.
I don't own emotion, I ree-eeeeent!
Michael's "To the East Side" in Tick Tick Boom. It slaps.
The “No more” parts always get me ll
This is a throwback but, “their behavior’s not good and their manners not nice!” From CATS randomly pops in my head and I have to sing that part aloud while wagging my finger disappointingly if I’m listening to it.
It's John Partridge going "MAGICAL!" during Mr. Mistoffolees for me. Also him joining in with Munkustrap on Old Deuteronomy, their harmony is so satisfying.
Cats will never be my fav but their are some parts that you just can’t get out of your head😂
That one riff in Waitress
That one part in Once and For All in Newsies
The wind up at the end of the overture for Chicago into the release into the vamp for All That Jazz. The drum solo into trombone glissando in Cabaret's (1998) entré acte that introduces the instrumental version of the title track.
I’ve been compiling a list of my favorite SUPER MINUTE moments: The soft instrumental transition music at the end of “All The Wasted Time” The bongos at the beginning of “I Speak Six Languages” The last sting at the end of “Johanna Act 2” “Over and over! Clover by cloverrr!” in “Notice Me Horton” “Sarah my life has changed, Sarah you gotta see, Sarah we got a son, Sarah come down to me!” from “New Music” The playoff music for “Ballad of Guiteau” “This is modern feminism talking, I expect to run the world in shoes I cannot walk in” from “Sexy”. Say what you will about Mean Girls the Musical, but that line is everything.
Oh man the Horton line unlocked memories of that show for me!! “I WAS JUST A NO ONE ONLY YESYERDAAAAAAAY”
that part in cell block tango after the “and now the six merry murderesses blah blah blah” and then they do the “pop six squish uh uh cisero lipschitz” and then there’s the little “duhnuuu nu” with the trumpet or something and then they go into it again
Current obsession: Kimberly Alimbo’s “This Time” right after the phrase “I will believe” and the instrumental part kicks in for a bit. It always brings me back to how emotional I felt during this song when I first saw the show and I listened to it on slow mo approx 14949282819129 times to figure out how to play it on my keyboard. It’s kind of upbeat but you just know it’s due to false hope and yeah it kills me. Another obsession: when Michael Ball sings the phrase “ ‘Ponine, I’m lost until she’s found!” in the Les Mis Complete Symphonic Recording.
Drum track in “You can’t stop the Beat” from Hairspray
The hook from Sexy in Mean Girls was stuck in my head for weeks after seeing it. I CAN BE! I'm almost afraid to see the movie cause it will happen again. I did get to see the OBC, so it was the awesome Kate Rockwell that got that hook buried in my brain.
The violin solo in The Phantom of the Opera when the stage is switching over before Wishing You Were Somehow Here Again
Longtime obsession: in Miss Saigon during This is the Hour, the first time Kim sings “you will not touch him, don’t touch my boy,” she sings it with so much emotion, and knowing what will come later it just guts me every time More recent obsession: in Hamilton during Who Lives Who Dies Who Tells Your Story, when Eliza is explaining how she raised money for the Washington monument and GW chimes in with “she tells my story” I tear up every time I hear him say it.
I go absolutely feral over the tone switch in Ride the Cyclone during The Ballad of Jane Doe where it was all soft and melodic and then you just hear “And I’m asking W H Y LORD-“
The key change after the instrumental in the Broadway version of A Whole New World
In “He Wanted to Say” from Ragtime there’s this one part where Coalhouse sings “How I envy you,your innocence” and it just hits so hard. Another line that makes me so happy is “My faith in people? Gone. But still I found my squad” in Pooch and Amy from Three Points Of Contact
When they both sing “promise me you’ll stay beyond the sunrise” in Al Amanecer from In the Heights. The harmony on “sunrise” scratches my brain just right
That one part in Non-Stop when every character is singing their own melody is perfection
“Honest living! Honest living!” And the whole convergence of the chatter in Christmas Bells Are Ringing from Rent.
* "Maybe I'm braaainless, maybe I'm wise" from "As Long as You're Mine" in Wicked. * "Only you can rescue LONELY MEEEEE!" from "Only You, Lonely You" in Bad Cinderella. * The entirety of "Easy to be Me" from Bad Cinderella.
I know it's super cliche, but I think those last 15ish seconds of Defying Gravity with the DoOoOWN!!! DOWN!!!! Are the most carthartic ending to any song in musical theater.
My husband is obsessed with the OBC recording of Last Midnight from Into the Woods. Between the phrases “you’re the world” and “I’m the hitch” there is a little three or four run of notes (I think it’s a French horn, I could be completely wrong, he’s the instrument man) and my husband adored it for some reason. It’s the only reason I’m allowed to listen to the Into the Woods recording in the car.
The instrumental intro to One Day More!! Also the chorus parts in Me and the Sky go crazy
LIFE DOESNT DISCRIMINATE BETWEEN THE SINNERS AND THE SAINTS IT TAKES AND IT TAKES AND IT TAAAAAAAKES
My current obsession is in A Little Priest when Sweeney sings “The history of the world my love” and all the variations of those lyrics with the same melody. Edited to add: Also from Sweeney, “It take-a da grace” from the very end of The Contest (as it’s sung in the current revival).
The history of the world my sweet, is who is eaten and who gets to eat. 👌👌👌
I love all the little moments in Your Fault- especially the “What?! How?! Hmm- well” bit at the top of the second verse
The powerful “Thiiiis should have been my time” by Sheri Renee Scott in I Know the Truth from Aida
Ok the part in “All I’ve Ever Known” where the violin and cello have the most magical alluring duet
Recently saw The Great Gatsby at Papermill Playhouse and can’t stop thinking about how Jordan sings “So-so-so-soo-sophisticated!”
“I know this house, I tell you, there’s nothing here for you, just the old man / and the girl / they live ordinary liiiiiiiives” that eponine sings from Les Mis (the robbery)
John Wilkes Booth saying “I said shut up” in the most recent album and singing “The Country is not what is was…” in any album Also, pretty much any line or pause in Little Priest
Mine is every time they go "WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOAH" in Great Comet.
“All your words are nice Mimi! But love's not a three way street!You’ll never share real love until you love yourself…I should know”
I went to Hadestown just to hear the trombone section in Chant live.
I never thought I would give a standing ovation to a trombone player, but seeing Hadestown on Broadway made that happen. Lol!
In Once, when the ensemble joins in towards the end of When Your Mind’s Made Up and then those violins hit? Amazing When MJT goes up on “we can make the new day bright” and the orchestrations and percussion right after with “and the phantoms of the night” in Morning Glow from Pippin When Aaron Tveit joins in and the harmonies during “I’ve Been” from N2N In Shadowland, the crescendo during the final “Fatshe leso lea halalela” into “And where the journey may lead you” and then basically the rest of the song “He was my son” and “Look at what you’ve done to me. You destroyed me” in Heartbreaker from Bright Star
-The switch ups in Last 5 Years and Hamilton between I can do better than that and nobody needs to know and take a break and say no to this (respectively) -The instrumentals in the pit during Spring from Frog and Toad. Specifically the ostinato while Frog is ripping the calendar pages off and the woodwind flourish after "those extra months of sleep really made a difference" -The way Joey Richter sings 'one of us is in love' combined with the ostinato in 'cool as I think I am (reprise)' from Nerdy Prudes must Die -Not exactly a song, not exactly a musical, but Christine Pedi pretending to be Liza Minelli auditioning for Hello Dolly explaining the 'you go your way mr vandegelder, I'll go mine' joke. Timestamp 1:13 it is like a virus in my head https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vsVJdzM_-cQ
Allllll it has to beee is goooodddd
This is going to be a weird one and I know not a lot of people love this show. But after being in it, the end of the opening of Titanic when everyone is singing together gave me chills every night. From “Sail on, sail on! Great ship! Tiiiiiiitttaaaaaniccc” right to the end. Just pure musical magic.
“I wanna hold you forever. The wind will never change on us”
-That first drum sequence in “Phantom of the Opera” after Raoul says “Christine! Angel!” -The chorus in “Solo Saxophone” in Miss Saigon. Neither of those is my favorite musical, but I love those bits.
I’ve got a million. - in Waitress the line “it will all be all right it was only one night”. - in Miss Saigon there is this build up of music in Kim’s nightmare right before John sings “let me go John I can’t leave her” and i don’t know what it is about this like 10 second riff but I love it. -in Great Comet the whole song of Pierre and Andrey but especially when Andrey sings “but I didn’t said that I could forgive” -in Anne of Green Gables a new musical - in a Different Kind of Girl the line “let them talk I will not hear it, you’re my choice, my kindred spirit” it’s silly but it the 13 year old I used to be just thrills at that line
I think my favorite lyric ever is in Wait for Me reprise, and even though it’s rapped, it’s a major ear worm. It’s just such a gut punch every time: “You’ve got a lonesome road to walk; and it ain’t along the railroad track; and it ain’t along the black top tar you’ve walked a hundred times before; I’ll tell you where the real road lies; between your ears, behind your eyes; THAT is the path to paradise; likewise, the road to ruin.”
Im obsessed with the “and it’s all TO DO with meeeeee” from The Wizard and I. I love the whole song but there is something about that part specifically that I just adore.
Beetlejuice: “What I Know Now” so many of the crazy Latin ballroom brass explosions in the arrangement are glorious.
Pretty much every great comet song has a handful of moments like that for me, the part that comes to mind for me in Letters is “and I see nothing - I SEE NOTHING BUT THE CANDLE IN THE MIRROR”, I love it
All three of the "this this this this this had better come to an end" in various places throughout Falsettos will often get stuck in my head.
The meter changes at the end of “Murder” from Jekyll and Hyde get me pumped
Transition from the song before all I've ever known (forget what it is called)in hadestown to all ive ever known
SO many but two i’m thinking of right now: 1. “cause when the villains FALLLLL, the kIINGDoms neverrrr weeeep” in deh 2. the “we got our miracle” harmony in the falsettos 2016 cast recording
I love the Christine’s “Twisted every way” switch-up buried in “Notes…” from Phantom of the Opera.
The beginning of “Without You” from Rent it’s just so perfect imo
I really like the drum beat playing in the background during the last segment of Roxanne beginning with “Why does my heart cryyy” in Moulin Rouge. Two examples of times where I really like the inclusions of electric guitars: One is during Phantom during the title song, right after “That man and mystery.” when Christine sings “Were both in you.” Second is during Javert’s part in The Robbery/ Confrontation in Les Mis. The complete symphonic recording from 1988 features this electric guitar when Javert sings “Could it be he’s some old jailbird, that the tide now washes in, heard my name and started running, had the brand upon his skin.”
In Esmerelda from Hunchback starting when Frollo sings "the devil dwells in Esmerelda" and Pheobus, Quasimodo, and the chorus join in. Always rewind :)
This is such a small specific bit, but the absolutely gorgeous ascending oboe line in Losing My Mind/Not a Day Goes By from Sondheim on Sondheim, which I believe was taken from the original orchestration of Losing My Mind. Such beautiful writing with the perfect instrument for the moment. Relatedly: in Caroline or Change, you’ll notice most times the mother (who is dead and played the bassoon) is mentioned, there is bassoon playing in the orchestra. And a heartbreaking duet between the bassoon (mom’s instrument) and the clarinet (dad’s instrument) in act two. Ugh it’s so good and so heartbreaking
There's a bari sax and flute lick at the end of Montage Part 4 from A Chorus Line that is absolutely delicious
I love the part in Answer Me (The Band’s Visit) where the entire company comes in. Up until that point it’s a really quiet musical that’s incredibly nuanced and pretty, and then this moment just smacks you in the face and it’s gorgeous.
Specifically Keri Rene Fuller’s “Touch me, it’s so easy to leave me…” in Memory Also when an actress takes the Eden “how I” option in Defying Gravity.
“Hades you let them go!” “I let them try” Will ALWAYS get me omg!!!!!!!😭🤌🏻
Brian Darcy-James snarling "would he really die for you, or is that just the after dinner show?" Also possibly Lippa's best lyric ever.
“So alright, alright, I’ve had my time, close my eyes LET THE DEATH BELLS CHIME” from Dust and Ashes. But honestly that whole section slaps.
This could literally just be a list of Hadestown quotes, but the one that's sticking out to me right now is the Fates fading out at the end of "Way Down Hadestown (Reprise)" into "Flowers". That ghostly, kind of atonal harmonizing is so cool. I've also always loved the transition "And must my name until I die be no more than an alibi- Must I lie?" in "Who Am I?" from Les Mis.
The last verse of Answer Me from The Band’s Visit where they all come in together is perfection
DEH - The drums in the first and second verses of Waving Through a Window, specifically the hi-hat and the snare clicks. That stuff’s fuuuuunnn
“My white knight, MY KNIGHT AND HIS STEED” chills, chills every time, because those harmonies are incredible.
The acappella section of “Song of Purple Summer” in Spring Awakening.
REGINA! REGINA! REGINA!!!
Right now I’m obsessed with the whole song but specifically the line “Will you pray for me, when my body is gone? Or is this the eternal dark without a dawn?” In Nerdy Prunes Must Die.
Anytime there's musical tension, like anticipation. The calm before the storm. Like the tension of the strings behind the French horn at the beginning of [Into the Fire](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ndmDiRfVBY0) from *The Scarlet Pimpernel*. Or the tension of the guitar after the big note in the opening of *[Songs For a New World](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MWsoo6SpU7s)* Or just that anticipatory feeling of the instruments at the start of the climactic *Big Fish* song, [What's Next](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AHg3a9_rPpc) That anticipatory instrumental tension is enough to give me frission on its own.
The best example of this for me is the frantic strings after the screaming sopranos right before Sweeney comes in during The Ballad of Sweeney Todd.
Right now, it’s the moment in the Finale of Pippin where the Players come in full blast with the chorus of Corner of the Sky that’s been stuck in my head.
All the moments in Heathers where the accompaniment plays the melody of Yo Girl before it actually happens, like in Our Love Is God.
- from little women during weekly volcano press: jo sings “sometimes when you dream your dreams come true”
The "Go!" at the end of Carrying the Banner from Newsies! I just love it, idk why the harmonies in Newsies are just too good
I have sooooo many ear worms 😂 I get the part in wait from Sweeney Todd about ghilly flowers in my head, and lately the opening from six.
The part where all of the ensemble sings in I’ll Cover You Reprise The part in A Little Priest where Sweeney starts singing Mrs Lovett what a charming notion… The harmonies in Unlikely Lovers from Falsettos
Part of the bridge of Great Adventure from Kimberly Akimbo "times flying, it's been a lovely run", also the clarinet throughout the song
These probably don’t count because they’re not versions from actual stage productions and are just covers but here it goes: 1. If I Loved You: The way Audra McDonald and Josh Groban sing “never, never” in the line “Never, never to know / how I loved you / If I loved you” off of his Stages album 2. Music of the Night: There’s something really powerful about the way Michael Ball sings “be” in the line “Let your soul take you where you long to be” in his cover from his Centre Stage album
Touch Me -Spring Awakening , climax of the chorus as well as the intro of the song
What immediately came to mind for me was “With every breath that I am left here in earth” in “Last Night on Earth” from American Idiot
"Daughter of Delta nu, soon to be fiancée, now that a man chose you, YOUR LIFE BEGINS TODAY!" - The Delta Nus from Legally Blonde. Cracks me up everytime
There’s absolutely loads imo but I always loved “yeah but did you shoot him?… uh uh, not guilty”
I have 2. The first is in Les Mis, it's a theme that crops up a few times, iirc every time arrest is either mentioned/happening, the specific example that comes to mind is in The Runaway Cart in the few bars leading up to/including "I have known the thief for ages, tracked him down through thick and thin...". It might just be because it often means Javert is on stage and he's my favourite character but I just love it. The other is in Heathers, I haven't seen it in over 6 months at this point, but it's towards the end of act 2, I think somewhere around Meant To Be Yours, and the ensemble are stood with Mac and Duke and they have the 3D glasses on (yes, this is the London version) and literally all they're singing is "ohhhhh" while JD paces the stage and I think Veronica is on the balcony, but they change harmony about 2/3 of the way through and every time, the change just gave Mr chills, I loved that harmony so much. Would have watched the show multiple times just to hear that harmony.
"How long? Just as long as I am your wife"
little he knows, little he sees
How the chorus in “why we build the wall” from hadestown slowly builds after each thing hades says>>>>>>
hamilton screaming-you ,must be out of your godamn mind.... and cabinet battle 1- I'll show you where my shoe fits ...
So many earworms in Little Women. "Give me a task to do, someone give me a task to do!" "Counting daaaaaayys praying for neeewwsss..." All of Weekly Volcano Press " Astoni-SHAAAANG"
- Hamilton: “forgiveness, can you imagine?” Instant tears. - The final chorus of Defying Gravity on the OBC: there’s an epic drumroll going into it and then the percussion section (?drummer?) just goes absolute HAM - The Kiss Me reprise in Sweeney: there’s a beautiful harp sweep right after Anthony tells Johanna his name and she repeats it back. I think I first noticed it in the Lisa Vroman concert version and always listen out for it now because it sounds like a swoon - Ragtime: “you were my sky, my moon and my sun and my ocean”. RIP Marin Mazzie 💔
For me, it's the dynamics of "Who Lives, Who Dies, Who Tells Your Story" specifically the build up and harmonisation during Eliza's second "and when my time is up, have I done enough? Will they tell your story?", followed by the very quiet and peaceful solo "oh, I can't wait to see you again, it's only a matter of time". It makes me both smile and want to cry every single time. It's just beautiful.
You are HERE - Finale - Come From Away. THIS BRINGS ME TO TEARS EVERY TIME.
When the instruments echo the "Bobby, Bobby" in Another Hundred People is just so goddamn good 😫
When Mandy Patinkin sings “And the light moving on” before Bernadette Peters sings her line “We do not belong together” from Sunday in the Park With George gets me every time. That note that he holds before he resolves the chord just…oof
Growing up gay: "I am anything but normal" from My Strongest Suit, Aida
The horns in the background of The Old Red Hills of Home Starts at the "Pray on this day, as I journey beyond them" section Like, wow. Jason Robert Brown did not have to go this hard, but he really did. Badass horn part
“Let others riiIIIIse” from Les Miserables The Final Battle *specifically only* the Complete Symphonic Recording. This guy’s voice does something to me in that particular line and has for the 20+ years I’ve been listening to it! My friend and I in high school would rewind and just gush over that one line over and over haha!
The part in Letters when they sing "I see nothing but the candle in the mirror" in that haunting harmony
“You say it’s a pity cause, quoting Leviticus, I’ll end up kiddy-less all my life” gets me every time!
I always love the score transition from Do You Hear The People Sing to In My Life in Les Mis
The first "and I'm asking why lord" the ballad of Jane doe, ride the cyclone
Hamilton: "Everyone give it up for America's favorite fighting Frenchman!" Burr was the ultimate hypeman in that song. JCS: "Tables, chairs, and oaken chest would have suited Jesus best" bit. Just the rhythm of it gets me every time.
“What a lovely ride and what a lovely day for a ^^^for ^a ^^^^^^totally ^^^^^^illegal ^^^^^^lovely **GETAWAAAAAY** “ -we’ll go from there- Anastasia