What does exactly is an 11 O'clock number? All I know is that he usually comes after the showstopper.
If anyone can shed some light on this for me, please do.
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Back when shows started at eight-thirty (I think), the number that took place around eleven o'clock was meant to kind of jolt the audience back awake. It's generally the second-to-last or third-to-last song. Or...I could be totally wrong.
Curtain times used to be at 8:30 and not 8:00, so the climactic, showstopping number (usually a big solo number) would happen at roughly 11:00 ("Rose's Turn," for example).
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Would Fable from The Light in the Piazza be their 11 o'clock number?
I know its the last song, its just so great.
I want to write music. I want to sit down right now at my piano and write a song that people will listen to and remember and do the same thing every morning...for the rest of my life. - Jonathan Larson. Tick, Tick...BOOM!
It's basically the main character's star turn. Yep, "Rose's Turn" and more recently Sutton's "Gimme Gimme" from TMM.It usually is the star performer's final number and is written so that the star can WOW the audience with their singing talent (think Streisand's "My Man"/"Music That Makes Me Dance"). In a nutshell, it's the star's final "tour de force". It doesn't have to neccesarilly be the best number of the show and it usually is strictly a vocal performance without dance. Most of all it involves only one performer and book wise can often sum up the show's main character's anguish, self awareness and cathartic realization of change.
Margo (or anyone), would "I Am Changing" from Dreamgirls be considered as an 11 o'clock number even though it is rather early in the 2nd Act? Updated On: 3/27/05 at 02:28 PM
An 11 O'Clock Number is not necessarily the "star" song. Half of the time it is usually a big company number that revitalizes the audience. In classic shows, it was rarely a star number. Some of really good examples are:
Sit Down You're Rockin the Boat Always True to You (In My Fashion) You Gotta Get a Gimmick Lullaby of Broadway A Lot Of Livin' To Do Swing Run, Freedom, Run Gee, Office Krupke! I Know Where I've Been
Updated On: 3/27/05 at 02:34 PM
Actually, Avenue Q's is "I Wish I Could Go Back To College" 11 o'clock numbers are not to be confused with Act 1 finales (It's the difference between "Everything's Coming Up Roses" and "Rose's Turn")
Actually, the 11 O' Clock number is, for the most part, a solo.
Ragtime: Back to Before Big River: Free At Last Company: Being Alive In Les Mis' case it would be On My Own, cuz that's about the time the song comes on anyway (just a joke, people)
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Thesbe....you're forgetting the most glaring words in this theater reference...the time element involved..11 O'CLOCK!!!!!!As someone stated earlier, in the Golden Age of theater, shows normally began at 8:30 and given the usual 2 1/2 hour running time duration, usually ended around eleven o'clock. Quite a few of your examples came WAY before the very end of the show. As far as NOT being a solo star turn, google up Peter Filichia's Diary on the TheaterMania.com site. He speaks of how upset Judy Holiday was about not getting an eleven o'clock number in "Bells Are Ringing' so they quickly wrote her "I'm Goin' Back"(to the Bonjour Tristesse Brazziere Company) at the last minute.
Also, the 11 o'clock number is frequently a revelation on the part of the lead character or characters. Thesbijean, I agree with Dem - a lot of those are way too early to be the 11 o'clock number.
Would "A Change in Me" be Beauty and the Beast's 11 o'clock number? I've always tried to figure out what exactly its 11 o'clock was. Before "Change in Me" I would have said "Beauty and the Beast" was its 11 o'clock even though it occurs a little early and really doesn't deal with the main character's feelings or emotions.
Remember, not every show has an 11 o'clock number. Some of the ones listed here are ridiculous (how is "There's a Fine, Fine Line" AVENUE Q's 11 o'clock number??! IF the show has one, the closest possibility would be "The Money Song").
I don't think LES MIZ has an 11 o'clock number.
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