# Assemble the perfect broadway musical **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 12, 2007, 10:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/assemble-the-perfect-broadway-musical/426118 "2007-11-12T10:06:22Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![MaxTheVool](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9fc29f/32.png) [@MaxTheVool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MaxTheVool)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2007, 10:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/assemble-the-perfect-broadway-musical/426118/1 "2007-11-12T10:06:22Z")
So, for all you broadway lovers, assemble the perfect musical out of parts from other musicals. Each musical must have the following: (1) An opening number (2) An act 1 closer (3) An act 2 opener (4) A finale (5) A (romantic) love song (6) A medley (7) A humorous song (8) A song that doesn’t fit any of the above All 8 songs must be from different shows. (I’m not imagining that you’re actually fitting a plot in here, just assembling your 8 favorite songs in the above categories… but if you’re more ambitious than I, go ahead). My choices: (1) The opening from **Ragtime** does a fanastic job of introducing all the characters and the mood and the storylines and some history all while being fun and exciting and toe-tapping. ( **Try to Remember** from **The Fantasticks** is a better song, but not as good an opening number.) (2) **La Vie Boheme** from **Rent**. Not my favorite song from **Rent** , but a perfect up note to bring in intermission, and one of those songs you have to sing along with loud in the car. (3) Not a great choice, but I’m not coming up with much, so I’ll go with **The Last Supper** from **Jesus Christ Superstar**. It’s, uhh, nice. (4) The finale from **Les Miz**. “Take my hand, and lead me to salvation…”. I just never get sick of it. **Les Miz** may be the greatest work of art of my lifetime. (5) Perhaps the most beautiful broadway song ever written, **Tonight** from **West Side Story**. (Actually, the best version of **Tonight** is the awesome medley with the gangs and Anita and Tony+Maria, but only part of it is a love song.) (6) **At the Ballet** from **A Chorus Line**. This song is melodically beautiful, and also introduces characters with a level of honesty and intimacy that is rare. (7) **Popular** from **Wicked**. “Don’t be offended by my frank analysis, think of it as personality dialysis”. Clever wordplay and a catchy melody. (Only gets in because **Springtime For Hitler** gets disqualified, as it originally came from the movie.) (8) **Sit Down You’re Rocking the Boat** from **Guys and Dolls**. One of the rare songs that makes me want to get up and dance. And I don’t dance. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2007, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/assemble-the-perfect-broadway-musical/426118/2 "2007-11-12T16:35:55Z")
(1) **Requiem** from EVITA (2) **Close Every Door** from Joseph (3) **Masquarade** from Phantom of the Opera (4) **Starlight MegaMix** from Starlight Express (5) **Half A Moment** from Jeeves (6) **As If We Never Said Good-bye** from Sunset Boulevard (7) **It’s A Pig** from By Jeeves (8) **Take That Look Off Your Face** from Song & Dance ---
**Author:** ![storyteller0910](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecae2f/32.png) [@storyteller0910](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/storyteller0910)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2007, 3:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/assemble-the-perfect-broadway-musical/426118/3 "2007-11-13T03:57:18Z")
Fun game, but tough. Let’s see… (1) An opening number “Ragtime” from _Ragtime_ (2) An act 1 closer “Comfort and Joy” from _Bat Boy_ (3) An act 2 opener “Bui Doi” from _Miss Saigon_ (4) A finale “Louder Than Words” from _Tick… Tick… Boom!_ (5) A (romantic) love song “The Next Ten Minutes” from _The Last Five Years_ (6) A medley “Goodbye / Boom Boom” from _Elegies_ (7) A humorous song “Big Ass Rock” from _The Full Monty_ (8) A song that doesn’t fit any of the above “On the Steps of the Palace” from _Into the Woods_ ---
**Author:** ![This\_ll\_Do](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/this_ll_do/32/3023_2.png) [@This\_ll\_Do](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/This_ll_Do)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2007, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/assemble-the-perfect-broadway-musical/426118/4 "2007-11-13T19:41:11Z")
All 8 songs must be from different shows. Each musical must have the following: (1) An opening number “All that Jazz” from _Chicago_ (2) An act 1 closer “Anthem” from _Chess_ (3) An act 2 opener “Masquerade” from _Phantom of the Opera_ (4) A finale “One” (Reprise) from _A Chorus Line_ (5) A (romantic) love song “Written in the Stars” from _Aida_ (6) A medley Curtain call/“Joseph Megamix” from _Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat_ (7) A humorous song “Reviewing the Situation” from _Oliver!_ (8) A song that doesn’t fit any of the above “Tomorrow Belongs to Me” from _Cabaret_ ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2007, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/assemble-the-perfect-broadway-musical/426118/5 "2007-11-13T19:50:16Z")
You left out splashy gratuitous dance number, so I’ll add _Shall We Dance_ from _THE KING & I_. For over-the-top funny number, _Kids!_ from _BYE BYE BIRDIE_ (but only if Maureen Stapleton will return from the grave long enough to stick her head in an oven). For _A Song That Doesn’t Fit Any of the Above_, I’ll go with _I Know Where I’ve Been_, a beautiful song from _Hairspray_ that one critic said was as out-of-place as a Hebrew prayer for Holocaust victims would have been in _The Producers_.