Which Broadway song do YOU find the most powerful? Let us know below, and be sure to check out our video of the Top 100 Broadway Songs of All Time - ruclips.net/video/RQJjXyP9ezo/видео.html
Hey guys, congrats! Please, make a a top 10 list of the most difficult Broadway/off Broadway/ Hollywood musicals songs best sung, will you? I would include Getting Married Today / Putting it Together and Supercalifragilistiexpialidocious/Mary Poppins, both by the great Julie Andrews, as well as Don't Rain on My Parade, by Streisand! The rest is on you, thanks a bunch.
"One Day More" is uplifting and exciting, but for me, the song that always gives me goosebumps is "Bring Him Home." I love its quiet but expressive melody, and the words get me every time.
Agreed. Back in '92, I took part in an Aids benefit at St. Malachy's (The Actors' Chapel) in NYC. I read "In Memory of Major Robert Gregory," by W.B.Yeats, and pretty much blew people away. Then Colm Wilkinson sang bring him home. After that, I'm sure no one in the audience remembered what I'd done except, possibly, my son.
I was just coming to mention nothing from the Phantom...which is my all time favorite. Masquerade...The Music of the Night...Wishing You Were Somehow Here Again...
“You’ll never walk alone” as an also ran? You must be kidding. It should have been number one, but if not that, could easily have bumped a number of other songs off the list. That is one of the most hauntingly beautiful and uplifting songs every written. Same with “Ol Man River”. Also, I would have included “This is the moment” from Jekyll and Hyde.
My college choir did "One Day More" as a flash mob. I love how every character has their own little vignette, and each has its own melody. The actors have to be on their "A game".
A friend of mine, and I, sang "For Good" in a choir concert. There wasn't a dry eye in the house, or on stage. We were both crying. For me, I thought about what I would say to my best friend if I knew that I would never see her again. I would tell how she has effected my life.
Also, I saw Patti LupPone and Mandy Patinkin in Evita in 1979. Explosive Perfection! Watching the Tony Awards that year, I paced feverishly about my NYC apartment until Patti won Best Actress. Exultation! The sheer glory of that production!
“I Am What I Am” from La Cage aux Folles, “Not My Father’s Son” from Kinky Boots, “Back to Before” from Ragtime, “Corner of the Sky” from Pippin, and “Stars”, “Empty Chairs at Empty Tables” “On My Own”, “Bring Him Home”, and “Do You Hear the People Sing” all from Les Miserables.
"Bring Him Home," " and "I Dreamed a Dream," from "Les Miserables;" "The Music of the Night," from "Phantom of the Opera;" "Something Wonderful," and "Hello Young Lovers" from "The King and I," "If Ever I Would Leave You" from "Camelot;" and "Being Alive," from "Company." I also love "Edelweiss" from "The Sound of Music" (and basically anything from Rodgers and Hammerstein).
I’m shocked that ‘As Long as He Needs Me’ from Oliver isn’t on here. It’s a hauntingly gorgeous song that embodies every experience of someone who refuses to discard love, regardless of the circumstances
@@essaboselin5252 if that was a stab at me, my 3 theatre degrees prove otherwise (but thank you for calling me a 20-something, I’m actually in my 30s). If you were saying that Ms Mojo know nothing about what real powerful musical numbers are, you are correct.
Oh, good call. The way Nancy defends her cruel and abusive paramour; by making herself believe he needs her and so it's OK for him to hit her breaks my heart.
@@essaboselin5252 There's definitely a recency bias here! I would not have included anything from RENT. Not a single Jerry Herman song - nothing from Hello Dolly or Music Man? Guys and Dolls (Sit Down, you're Rockin' the Boat)? Nothing from Funny Girl?
Truly, I've just burst into tears on the last chord of Memory "Cats". Heartbreaking 💔 And Jennifer Holliday ("Dreamgirls") just killed it with her voice and expression. She is living her role, not playing. Simply the best
My son is 33 now. When he was six, I took him and sister to see Cats on Broadway, NYC. We were in the sixth row front, I’ll never forget it. After the song ‘MEMORIES’, the lights go down, the theater is silent. And my son, with his loud sweet voice says “that was AMAZING, I can’t wait to see this again!” The entire theater erupted in laughter and applause. I still laugh at how funny that moment was…..😅
That actually tightened my throat and bought tears to my eyes! My daughter, now 38, absolutely loves Broadway music as do I. POTO, Evita, Cats, Les Mis, Rent, Hamilton, the list goes on. As she grew up it was a joy to see her reactions. It has always brought us close. My first show as a young child was Fiddler On The Roof. I am so great full to my school and parents for giving me that opportunity to have a lifetime of beauty and also be able to share it with my daughter.
I not even joking when I say that I thought of both of those songs while watching the video! for good and no one is alone are on my daily playlist for forever!
When you mentioned The Impossible Dream (from Man of La Mancha), I wish you had included Richard Kiley's rendition. He played the original on Broadway. And, IMHO, he was amazing!!!!
Hamilton's "Burn" always brings a lump to my throat. And "I don't know how to love him" from Jesus Christ Superstar is one of the all-time greatest love songs.
so is I dreamed a Dream, so is On My Own, So is Empty Chairs at Empty Tables, So is Bring Him Home, so is the red and the black...pretty much all bangers!!
" You'll Never Walk Alone". Sweet, inspirational...an almost gospel anthem. It's one of my absolute favorites. And it's gotten me the gig when I auditioned with it. If ALW, or S/B weren't allowed.
It's great song but Carousel the musical is not preformed much any more. Think the part of story if I love the abusive man enough I can fix things is not acceptable to preform or represent any more.
My God. Dozens of amazing songs are missing from this. Off the top of my head: "She Used To Be Mine" - Waitress "I'm Here" - The Color Purple "Wheels of a Dream," "Till We Reach That Day," and "Make Them Hear You" - Ragtime "Lily's Eyes" and "How Could I Ever Know" - The Secret Garden "For Good" and "No One Is Alone" - Into the Woods "For Forever," "You Will Be Found," and "Waving Through A Window" - Dear Evan Hansen "'Til I Hear You Sing" - Love Never Dies
The Last Midnight from Into the woods just hits the heart. The witch is going mad from her situation, just losing her daughter and feeling helpless. It's like you can feel and see her descent into grief as the song goes on its just sooo good.
10. Memory (Cats) 9. One Day More (Les Miserables) 8. The Impossible Dream (Man of La Mancha) 7. Satisfied (Hamilton) 6. Defying Gravity (Wicked) 5. And I’m Telling You (Dream Girls) 4. Somewhere (West Side Story) 3. Seasons of Love (Rent) 2. Being Alive (Company) Honorable Mentions: Climb Every Mountain (Sound of Music) Don’t Cry Foe Me Argentina (Evita) Not a Day Goes By Old Man River (Showboat) You’ll Never Walk Alone (Reprieves) 1. Sunday (In the Park With George)
"Old Man River" as sung/performed by Paul Robeson in the 1936 Show Boat movie is incomparable. Ben Forster's live performance of Gethsemane from the 2012 UK production of Jesus Christ Superstar. Breathtaking.
My dad saw Jennifer Holliday in Dreamgirls on Broadway years ago. He says it was one of the most amazing things he’s ever experienced. But I was pleased by your #1.
I sang "Somewhere" at my grandma's funeral, afterwards I was told by everyone that she would have loved it and everyone was crying while I was singing.
I loved every song from "Sunday In the Park With George", but if I had to pick one to be included in this list, I would have chosen "Move On". The lyrics, "I chose and my world was shaken. So what? The choice may have been mistaken, the choosing was not. You have to move on." were a powerful commentary on responsibility, recovery, ambition, and self determination. For an artist who is struggling to find his purpose and inspiration, the lines' "Anything you do, let it come from you, then it will be new. Give us more to see." Is both inspiration and permission. Absolutely beautiful song that still gives me goosebumps every time I hear it.
Oh boy, you probably know this already but the amount of Broadway talent on Law and Order is so numerous, they once did a whole bit on the Tony Awards about how many actors had roles on it!
Impossible not to or the list would be a mockery which it is anyway! Actgually in all fairness there is no right or wrong and this is ART so the Beauty is in the EAR of the Listener.
Memory will always have a special place in my heart. After reading skimbleshanks the railway cat, I was hooked on finding the others and the music even more after hearing it for years on my mom's Andrew Lloyd Webber compilation album
The reprise/finale of "Something Wonderful" from The King and I is digging back into classics, too, but unforgettable powerful in the dramatic context. But I'll still hold out for "Make Our Garden Grow. " The way Bernstein cuts out the orchestra and lets the chorus and the small ensemble carry the high point is almost unbearably poignant, the power of the naked human spirit to fail and rise again.
Absolutely agree. I was bitterly disappointed when a snippet from "Make Our Garden Grow" was shown in the introductory material and then didn't even make it into the Honorable Mentions.
I much prefer older musicals because they don't use mics. You get to really see visually and hear vocally the power in a song when it's solely produced by the performer rather than augmented by microphones. Just the sound of Ethel Merman's voice filling a theater over and above the chorus and orchestra was immensely thrilling. Mary Martin could do it as well but in a more mellow sound. Julie Andrews did it beautifully in "My Fair Lady" and then along with Robert Goulet in "Camelot". I want to hear what a singer actually sounds like un-miked and feel their vocal power throbbing through me from my ears to my toes. Anybody who can carry a tune can sing powerfully with a mic, the truly talented can do it on their own. Audra MacDonald & Brian Stokes Mitchell have the only voices that I know of who could fill the entire theater with their voice today.
It takes more to sing powerfully than just being able to carry a tune, mic or not. Problem is, when you're trying to sing over an entire orchestra without a mic then the type of music you can do remains very limited.
@@jenniferczerniawski9177 Absolutely! I fell in love with it when I heard the song The First Transformation. I was so impressed because the song is so physical.
I know it wasn't done on Broadway, but Luther Vandross's version of The Impossible Dream is sublime. He had one of the most perfect voices I've ever heard.
Eight of us did Seasons of Love in a choir concert. They didn't need to give us sheet music because we were all RENT heads. The audience gave us a standing ovation.
More underrated gems from Andrew Lloyd Webber "tell Me on a Sunday", "Moving On" from Sondheim's "Sunday in the Park with George", "We build the Wall" from "Hadestown", "You will be Found" "Dear Evan Hanson, "wonderful" "The King and I", "Gethsemane" "Jesus Christ Superstar and "the Flesh Failures/Let the Sun Shine" from "Hair"
You should have the audiences reaction to Melba Moore singing 'I Got Love' in the musical Purlie. Forcing Melba to do multiple encores in the middle of the show, never seen anything like it since.
"Me and the Sky" Come from Away "Safer" First Date "Maybe" Next to Normal (though there are so many strong choices in this musical) "Laura, Laura" High Fidelity (I know it had one of the shortest runs in Broadway history, but this song gets me every time)
Maybe it was left out because Porgy and Bess is officially an opera (though I've often thought that's how Les Mis should be classified...but isn't). I have to admit, though, that if P & B had been included, I would have been hard-pressed to choose between "Summertime" and "My Man's Gone Now"--the latter never fails to give me major goosebumps.
Honestly, the most powerful song in Porgy and Bess is It Ain’t Necessarily So, but Porgy and Bess is an opera, not a musical. In contrast, Les Mis was absolutely written for the Broadway stage.
Saw Man of La Mancha 3 times. First run, London, and Lincoln Center Revival. If the genie came to me and told me he'd take away the arthritis, and make me as swift and strong as I was in my youth, if I would only agree to erase my memories of Man of La Mancha, I'd tell him to take a hike. I'm sorry you didn't show Richard Kiley as Cervantes/Quixote. He was magnificent.
@@jantoas2983 Actually, the first time I saw it I was a young soldier, about to be shipped overseas, having a free standing room ticket, courtesy of the USO. Kiley and Joan Deiner were off receiving their Tonys. Kiley's stand-in was Jon Cypher, who was Prince Charming to Julie Andrews' Cinderella, and will be best remembered as the arsehole Police Commissioner in Hill Street Blues (or, maybe, NYPD Blue). He was great. Keith Michel played Cervantes/Quixote in London (not so great, but Richard Roundtree and Joan Deiner were there). Saw Kiley in the revival, sitting next to my, pregnant, wife.This show had spoken to my soul so much, and I wanted her to share that feeling so passionately, that I couldn't look at her during the performance. Finally, after Quihana's death, as the company started the reprise, I snuck a look. She was wearing a low-cut dress, and her decolletage was shining with tears. So, all respect to Brian Stokes Mitchell but, as William Butler Yeats wrote, everything was better "When I was a boy, with never a crack in my heart."
I am quite old, and you remind me of why I loved musical theater (when I was able to afford it lol.) No one reaches your soul with greater ease, and more profoundly. Once again, thank you Ms. Mojo.
Reading down this list was wonderful...you very rarely if ever hear these songs on ANY RADIO OR STREAMING STATION that's why I got a portable cd player!!..Great up lifting music never dies..but it can be forgotten
Ms. Mojo I like how you took the time to highlight Jennifer Holiday, Jennifer Hudson and Amber Riley in the Dream Girls clip. That musical is older than me and it is like the gift that keeps on giving to artists careers. Well done.
Hmmm, Some Enchanted Evening, This Nearly Was Mine, Carefully Taught, I Have Dreamed, Something Wonderful, I Could Have Danced Al Night, If Ever I would leave You, Camelot (reprise), If I Loved You. Oldies, but goodies.
How did "Children Will Listen" from the finale of "Into the Woods" not even make the list? That's a beautiful song that leaves you to with all kinds of emotions.
“Who I’d Be” from Shrek the Musical is another beautifully powerful Broadway song. Brian D’Arcy James really did a phenomenal job going through the different emotions of someone who’s been misunderstood and mistreated for being different and seen or stereotyped as something that he really isn’t and expressing what he’d love to be if he could be somebody else while expressing his desire for a happy ending. It really adds more depth to the character of Shrek.
Personally, I disagree with the top pick. That could have easily have gone to Ol' Man River OR You'll Never Walk Alone and those were just honorable mentions! Gethsemane from Jesus Christ Superstar deserves a mention, and once you actually know the story behind HAIR, the finale "Flesh Failures/Let The Sunshine In" is just so tragically powerful. "Wheels of a Dream" from Ragtime is an unforgivable snub. I like most of this list except for Sunday, Satisfied, and Being Alive, I would have swapped those with some of the others I listed or were listed in Honorable Mentions.
i was outside ready to do my exercise for the day and I put my earphones on to listen to my just received special order of the west end original cast recording of Miss Saigon. I did not move for almost 3 hours. The show was still 2ish year away from its Broadway opening. I have accepted the fact that even though Miss Saigon is my favorite show very few come close to agreeing.Les Misérables, the casting in lead roles in productions including on Broadway where Chris(male lead) was off key throughout the whole show. Yes we all have our favorites but was there ever cast boring Thenardiers nope but boring The Engineer yep. And the Miss Saigon ending( rewritten numerous times) with different music and words was never anything but heartbreaking as it was meant to be. and with the various amazing Kim's how could your heart not break. There was little in the show to raise your spirits. But the Score the Score the Score so magnificent. There was no attempt to sugar coat it (Broadway It) you could leave the Theater feeling good. These were not the best of times for humankind. How brave the creative team allowed this to be.Cameron Mackintosh Producer Nicholas Hytner Director Bob Avian staged the musical numbers. Alain Boublil Book - Lyrics Claude-Michel Schonberg Book- Composer and RICHARD MALTBY JR. ALL THE WORDS SPOKEN AND SUNG IN THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE.
My guy, Raul Esparza, in the thumbnail. Always exciting when he gets recognition for his singing. Very talented and massively underrated for his acting.
One of the first musicals I had ever seen, The Roar of the Greaspaint (the smell of the crowd) tried out in my native Phiiladelpha on its way to Broadway. This was the first time I ever experienced a performance that literally stopped the show: Gilbert Price singing "Feeling Good." Honerable mention: Our Time from Merrily we Roll Along.
I have so many great shows and Feeling Good is not in my top 10 but the above remark is spot on Mr Price stopped the show in a way I had never seen before or since!
Thanks for including Climb Every Mountain and You'll Never Walk Alone. Of course Old Man River!! Perhaps Summertime? But they're old fashioned, for sure. Seasons of Love is so pop--I much prefer Loving You from Passion.
All these great songs are not funny, which makes sense, but I chuckled when I heard so many that my young self knew as "the boring song on the album"--Impossible Dream, Climb Ev'ry Mountain, You'll Never Walk Alone (apologies to Liverpool). A song can be powerful but not heavy. I'm thinking of "Beautiful Candy". It's from 1961's Carnival (often confused with Carousel). That musical is little remembered only because a movie deal fell through, so most people haven't seen it. "Beautiful Candy" is a a light-hearted anthem for taking life less seriously--very helpful very often. Here's a MsMojo suggestion: "Broadway musicals with very young women in romances with creepily older men." Carnival is one, along with "Sound of Music" (admittedly a true romance), Evita, Annie Get Your Gun (both also true), South Pacific, My Fair Lady, and I'm sure there are others. It often seems as if Broadway producers are lonely old men with active fantasy lives.
I absolutely love when Mojo includes clips from the Les Miz 2014 revival cast. I saw that cast on Broadway in 2014. Out of my 12 times seeing the show, it remains the only time I've seen it on Broadway.
The Impossible Dream - been sung by many but only one brought me and my husband to total tears - Jim Nabors. You’ll never be the same after hearing him.
Which Broadway song do YOU find the most powerful? Let us know below, and be sure to check out our video of the Top 100 Broadway Songs of All Time - ruclips.net/video/RQJjXyP9ezo/видео.html
Gravity, Lilly’s eyes, children of Eden, My Man.
My mom raised me on Rodgers and Hammerstein and NOWHERE was ANY mention of the King and I'd Shall We Dance?
I'm shocked!
I think your picks are awful 😵💫
I mean I think that Make Them Hear You from Ragtime shoulda made it in
Hey guys, congrats! Please, make a a top 10 list of the most difficult Broadway/off Broadway/ Hollywood musicals songs best sung, will you? I would include Getting Married Today / Putting it Together and Supercalifragilistiexpialidocious/Mary Poppins, both by the great Julie Andrews, as well as Don't Rain on My Parade, by Streisand! The rest is on you, thanks a bunch.
I adore "One Day More", it always gives me goosebumps, and I love how it gives every character a section to sing. What a memorable way to close Act 1!
Sunrise, Sunset from Fiddler on the Roof. Gets me EVERY TIME.
Do You Love Me? makes me tear up every time
My father used Sunrise, Sunset in the speech he made at the rehearsal dinner for my wedding.
Still brings tears to my eyes remembering it.
My father sang it at my wedding also. It brings me to tears. What a wonderful memorable moment I will treasure especially since he passed.
Empty Chairs at Empty Tables and Do You Hear The People Sing? both from Les Miserables are beautifully powerful imo.
I love Do You Hear the People Sing. Such an emotional song.
Heart wrenching beautifil!
"One Day More" is uplifting and exciting, but for me, the song that always gives me goosebumps is "Bring Him Home." I love its quiet but expressive melody, and the words get me every time.
"Bring Him Home" from Les Misérables is one of the most powerful and moving songs ever written.
Agreed! Goosebumps just thinking about it!
Should be #1
Agreed. Back in '92, I took part in an Aids benefit at St. Malachy's (The Actors' Chapel) in NYC. I read "In Memory of Major Robert Gregory," by W.B.Yeats, and pretty much blew people away. Then Colm Wilkinson sang bring him home. After that, I'm sure no one in the audience remembered what I'd done except, possibly, my son.
@@conroche1535 Great post. ☺️
@@conroche1535I mean, it could've been worse. You could've gone after Colm.
Broadway performances just give you the chills. The actors on stage are undeniably sophisticated and all the more talented.
Facts
I think … What I Did For Love… from the Chorus Line deserves a spot here too.
Same! My bestie is doing Chorus Line but I'm not in it sadly 😢
It's the PG version but it's still fun
Not even an honorable mention for POTO’s Music of the night??? The absolute definition of beautifully powerful
Masquerade always gets me...
I agree!
I lose it when I hear "Think of Me" from Phantom...I'm just a big puddle!
I was just coming to mention nothing from the Phantom...which is my all time favorite. Masquerade...The Music of the Night...Wishing You Were Somehow Here Again...
Andrew got the money. He didn't care about source. Im sure he's OK with that...
"You've Got to Be Carefully Taught" from South Pacific has a deeply meaningful message that, sadly, still resonates today.
Good choice
Yes indeed! "South Pacific" was highly controversial when it premiered and still challenges the prejudices of many.
My favorite musical and a very powerful song!
@@mdeysenroth great musical. Younger than spring time. And this nearly was mine. Are also very moving.
"Younger than springtime" anyone?
IF EVERY I SHOULD LEAVE YOU...esp as sung by Robert Goulet! Absolutely is deserving to be on this list!
Oh yes!!
“You’ll never walk alone” as an also ran? You must be kidding. It should have been number one, but if not that, could easily have bumped a number of other songs off the list. That is one of the most hauntingly beautiful and uplifting songs every written. Same with “Ol Man River”. Also, I would have included “This is the moment” from Jekyll and Hyde.
Three great additions.
Absolutely agree
Also, "Somewhere" from "Westside Story. and "Where is Love" from "Oliver."
“Bring him home” - Les Mis, “Never Enough “ - The Greatest Showman ❤❤❤❤❤
My college choir did "One Day More" as a flash mob. I love how every character has their own little vignette, and each has its own melody. The actors have to be on their "A game".
"Tomorrow" from Annie honestly always has a place in my heart
A friend of mine, and I, sang "For Good" in a choir concert. There wasn't a dry eye in the house, or on stage. We were both crying. For me, I thought about what I would say to my best friend if I knew that I would never see her again. I would tell how she has effected my life.
Also, I saw Patti LupPone and Mandy Patinkin in Evita in 1979. Explosive Perfection!
Watching the Tony Awards that year, I paced feverishly about my NYC apartment until Patti won Best Actress. Exultation! The sheer glory of that production!
Jennifer Holiday . You know the play and her showstopper ❤
Everything's coming up Roses from Gypsy.
Others may have mentioned it: Ben Platt singing "You Will Be Found" from "Dear Evan Hansen" clearly belongs on this list!
“I Am What I Am” from La Cage aux Folles, “Not My Father’s Son” from Kinky Boots, “Back to Before” from Ragtime, “Corner of the Sky” from Pippin, and “Stars”, “Empty Chairs at Empty Tables” “On My Own”, “Bring Him Home”, and “Do You Hear the People Sing” all from Les Miserables.
Wow. The Music of the Night! How could you leave out The Phantom? And what about Don't Rain On My Parade?
"Bring Him Home," " and "I Dreamed a Dream," from "Les Miserables;" "The Music of the Night," from "Phantom of the Opera;" "Something Wonderful," and "Hello Young Lovers" from "The King and I," "If Ever I Would Leave You" from "Camelot;" and "Being Alive," from "Company." I also love "Edelweiss" from "The Sound of Music" (and basically anything from Rodgers and Hammerstein).
I’m shocked that ‘As Long as He Needs Me’ from Oliver isn’t on here. It’s a hauntingly gorgeous song that embodies every experience of someone who refuses to discard love, regardless of the circumstances
Like Ms Mojo lists, this was made by some 20-something who doesn't know anything about the genre.
@@essaboselin5252 if that was a stab at me, my 3 theatre degrees prove otherwise (but thank you for calling me a 20-something, I’m actually in my 30s). If you were saying that Ms Mojo know nothing about what real powerful musical numbers are, you are correct.
Oh, good call. The way Nancy defends her cruel and abusive paramour; by making herself believe he needs her and so it's OK for him to hit her breaks my heart.
@@essaboselin5252 There's definitely a recency bias here! I would not have included anything from RENT. Not a single Jerry Herman song - nothing from Hello Dolly or Music Man? Guys and Dolls (Sit Down, you're Rockin' the Boat)? Nothing from Funny Girl?
There is a fantastic version of this song at the concert where women sing men's songs and men sing Women'ssongs.
The Impossible Dream always gives me goosebumps!
“Losing My Mind” from Follies. Having once experienced unrequited love, this song brings tears to my eyes every time I hear it.
Truly, I've just burst into tears on the last chord of Memory "Cats". Heartbreaking 💔
And Jennifer Holliday ("Dreamgirls") just killed it with her voice and expression. She is living her role, not playing. Simply the best
I always cry at Memory as is was my grandad's funeral song. Almost 3 years ago since he passed and I still miss him like it was yesterday.
Betty Buckley killed it on Broadway! I cry when I hear that song, too. Another song that kills me is No More from Into The Woods.
My son is 33 now. When he was six, I took him and sister to see Cats on Broadway, NYC. We were in the sixth row front, I’ll never forget it. After the song ‘MEMORIES’, the lights go down, the theater is silent. And my son, with his loud sweet voice says “that was AMAZING, I can’t wait to see this again!” The entire theater erupted in laughter and applause. I still laugh at how funny that moment was…..😅
That actually tightened my throat and bought tears to my eyes! My daughter, now 38, absolutely loves Broadway music as do I. POTO, Evita, Cats, Les Mis, Rent, Hamilton, the list goes on. As she grew up it was a joy to see her reactions. It has always brought us close. My first show as a young child was Fiddler On The Roof. I am so great full to my school and parents for giving me that opportunity to have a lifetime of beauty and also be able to share it with my daughter.
I like this selection because it's a lot of songs I hadn't heard before. There are sooo many great ones. "What I Did for Love" is another classic.
"No One Is Alone" from Into the Woods is a quietly powerful gem I feel should have gotten a mention.
Also "For Good" from Wicked. Both songs make me cry every time.
No more from into the woods as well
I not even joking when I say that I thought of both of those songs while watching the video! for good and no one is alone are on my daily playlist for forever!
When you mentioned The Impossible Dream (from Man of La Mancha), I wish you had included Richard Kiley's rendition. He played the original on Broadway. And, IMHO, he was amazing!!!!
Yes, I thought the same thing.
Nobody but nobody sings it like Richard. Kylie, I could listen to it over and over and over all day long. I love it so much!!
I agree!!! I saw him on Broadway and it was magical.
I saw him on Broadway, he was stupendous.
Surprised at the #1 pick. Never heard of it. All of the others were familiar and beautiful.
It's a great song, but it would not have been my #1 either. You would appreciate it in the context of the show.
I never heard of it either. Bring Him Home would be my top
Pick.
A fantastic Sondheim show! If you ever have the chance to see it - go!!
funny, I just posted the same comment. Glad I'm not alone.
I agree, and when I listened to the excerpt was not impressed. So many more powerful, meaningful songs.
Hamilton's "Burn" always brings a lump to my throat. And "I don't know how to love him" from Jesus Christ Superstar is one of the all-time greatest love songs.
For me, one beautiful broadway song is “You Will Be Found”.
So simple yet so powerful, definitely agree with you here!
Same! I don't usually listen to DEH(I'm more of a Beetlejuice girl)but that song is so amazing!
Do You Hear the People Sing? from Les Miz is equally as powerful as One Day More.
People fighting for their lives, their rights are always powerful.
I’m surprised the Les Mis song wasn’t higher on the list
so is I dreamed a Dream, so is On My Own, So is Empty Chairs at Empty Tables, So is Bring Him Home, so is the red and the black...pretty much all bangers!!
" You'll Never Walk Alone".
Sweet, inspirational...an almost gospel anthem. It's one of my absolute favorites. And it's gotten me the gig when I auditioned with it. If ALW, or S/B weren't allowed.
It's great song but Carousel the musical is not preformed much any more. Think the part of story if I love the abusive man enough I can fix things is not acceptable to preform or represent any more.
My God. Dozens of amazing songs are missing from this. Off the top of my head:
"She Used To Be Mine" - Waitress
"I'm Here" - The Color Purple
"Wheels of a Dream," "Till We Reach That Day," and "Make Them Hear You" - Ragtime
"Lily's Eyes" and "How Could I Ever Know" - The Secret Garden
"For Good" and "No One Is Alone" - Into the Woods
"For Forever," "You Will Be Found," and "Waving Through A Window" - Dear Evan Hansen
"'Til I Hear You Sing" - Love Never Dies
Agree, some very questionable songs on the list
Elaine Paige, was the only one who could sing Memories, then Susan Boyle came along then there were 2
"Memory"
Love Susan!
Barbra Streisand did a great version
Betty Buckley!
@@Beowulfie Betty Buckley, the master. No one can compare.
The Last Midnight from Into the woods just hits the heart. The witch is going mad from her situation, just losing her daughter and feeling helpless. It's like you can feel and see her descent into grief as the song goes on its just sooo good.
Ol' Man River by Paul Robeson, hands down.
Far too few people even know Paul Robeson's name, but everyone should know his name, his voice, and his story.
Geez, I could think of a dozen songs from Phantom, Les Miz, Cats, etc. that would push Sunday off the list!!
Empty Chairs for one.
"Send in the Clowns" from "A Little Night Music." Talk about, ok SING about, heartfelt stellar regretful reminiscence.
10. Memory (Cats)
9. One Day More (Les Miserables)
8. The Impossible Dream (Man of La Mancha)
7. Satisfied (Hamilton)
6. Defying Gravity (Wicked)
5. And I’m Telling You (Dream Girls)
4. Somewhere (West Side Story)
3. Seasons of Love (Rent)
2. Being Alive (Company)
Honorable Mentions:
Climb Every Mountain (Sound of Music)
Don’t Cry Foe Me Argentina (Evita)
Not a Day Goes By
Old Man River (Showboat)
You’ll Never Walk Alone (Reprieves)
1. Sunday (In the Park With George)
"Old Man River" as sung/performed by Paul Robeson in the 1936 Show Boat movie is incomparable. Ben Forster's live performance of Gethsemane from the 2012 UK production of Jesus Christ Superstar. Breathtaking.
I have sung in many musicals...not broadway and they are the most moving and dramatic and skillful that we humans have ever created. Well done!
"Close Every Door" from Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat. Always makes me weak in the knees.
An excellent list. I'd suggest considering Some Enchanted Evening from South Pacific and Anything Goes from the play with the same name.
My dad saw Jennifer Holliday in Dreamgirls on Broadway years ago. He says it was one of the most amazing things he’s ever experienced.
But I was pleased by your #1.
I sang "Somewhere" at my grandma's funeral, afterwards I was told by everyone that she would have loved it and everyone was crying while I was singing.
WHOA big props for singing at a funeral. I couldn't even speak at my dad's funeral (& I certainly couldn't sing).
@@its-MK... I don’t know HOW I was able to tbh.
@@SConArt87 Well, brava! I'm super impressed. And I'm sure it was beautiful & meant a lot to everyone there. I'm sorry for your loss.
I loved every song from "Sunday In the Park With George", but if I had to pick one to be included in this list, I would have chosen "Move On". The lyrics, "I chose and my world was shaken. So what? The choice may have been mistaken, the choosing was not. You have to move on." were a powerful commentary on responsibility, recovery, ambition, and self determination. For an artist who is struggling to find his purpose and inspiration, the lines' "Anything you do, let it come from you, then it will be new. Give us more to see." Is both inspiration and permission. Absolutely beautiful song that still gives me goosebumps every time I hear it.
No one sings Being Alive (Company) better than Raúl Esparza.
Agreed.
NPH does a pretty good job imho
He's awesome🥹❤️
Who knew that ADA Barba (Raul Espaza) Could Sing! He brings tears to my eyes!
Oh boy, you probably know this already but the amount of Broadway talent on Law and Order is so numerous, they once did a whole bit on the Tony Awards about how many actors had roles on it!
Indeed! Raul is a prolific Broadway and theater actor - the man is amazing.
Listen to Dean Jones sing "Being Alive" Amazing
I saw Raul Espaza when he did Company and he was fantastic. If I remember correctly he won a Tony that year for it .
❤him
I'm glad you included The Impossible Dream
Impossible not to or the list would be a mockery which it is anyway! Actgually in all fairness there is no right or wrong and this is ART so the Beauty is in the EAR of the Listener.
Rose's Turn from Gypsy is incredibly powerful, especially as delivered by Patti LuPone.
But didja ever hear Angela Lansburys version? They're both great. But nobody could ever beat Dame Angela as an actress.
I could add another dozen by Sondheim, God of Broadway. We were so lucky to have had him in our lives.
Memory will always have a special place in my heart. After reading skimbleshanks the railway cat, I was hooked on finding the others and the music even more after hearing it for years on my mom's Andrew Lloyd Webber compilation album
If you are insistent on topping the list with Songheim, I feel Send in the Clown is one of his more epic numbers.
Oh GOD YES ! I HAD FORGOT ABOUT THAT ONE,ONE OF THE BEST.
The reprise/finale of "Something Wonderful" from The King and I is digging back into classics, too, but unforgettable powerful in the dramatic context. But I'll still hold out for "Make Our Garden Grow. " The way Bernstein cuts out the orchestra and lets the chorus and the small ensemble carry the high point is almost unbearably poignant, the power of the naked human spirit to fail and rise again.
Absolutely agree. I was bitterly disappointed when a snippet from "Make Our Garden Grow" was shown in the introductory material and then didn't even make it into the Honorable Mentions.
I love that moment too. It's like time is suspended for a shimmering moment.
I much prefer older musicals because they don't use mics. You get to really see visually and hear vocally the power in a song when it's solely produced by the performer rather than augmented by microphones. Just the sound of Ethel Merman's voice filling a theater over and above the chorus and orchestra was immensely thrilling. Mary Martin could do it as well but in a more mellow sound. Julie Andrews did it beautifully in "My Fair Lady" and then along with Robert Goulet in "Camelot". I want to hear what a singer actually sounds like un-miked and feel their vocal power throbbing through me from my ears to my toes. Anybody who can carry a tune can sing powerfully with a mic, the truly talented can do it on their own. Audra MacDonald & Brian Stokes Mitchell have the only voices that I know of who could fill the entire theater with their voice today.
Most now haven't ever heard that.
It takes more to sing powerfully than just being able to carry a tune, mic or not. Problem is, when you're trying to sing over an entire orchestra without a mic then the type of music you can do remains very limited.
@@sdigf3167 I know, and that's a shame. It's so thrilling to hear a performer do that and only those with a truly powerful voice can do it.
In His Eyes and A new Life from "Jekyll and Hyde" - goosebumps all the time 🥰
Mine is Once Upon a Dream.
Yes! Jekyll and Hyde doesn't get the love it deserves!
@@jenniferczerniawski9177 Absolutely! I fell in love with it when I heard the song The First Transformation. I was so impressed because the song is so physical.
It was a fantastic show!
I know it wasn't done on Broadway, but Luther Vandross's version of The Impossible Dream is sublime. He had one of the most perfect voices I've ever heard.
The finale from Jesus Christ Superstar is one of my favourites...
you'll never walk alone, Carousel
Eight of us did Seasons of Love in a choir concert. They didn't need to give us sheet music because we were all RENT heads. The audience gave us a standing ovation.
I’d like to take a moment to talk about Lifeboat from Heathers. It’s the most accurate representation of being suicidal i’ve ever heard in media.
I was on board until the end! I was disappointed with the number one choice! Could have thought of a dozen more!
Maybe more people's choices would have been included if the list had been expanded to 20.
More underrated gems from Andrew Lloyd Webber "tell Me on a Sunday", "Moving On" from Sondheim's "Sunday in the Park with George", "We build the Wall" from "Hadestown", "You will be Found" "Dear Evan Hanson, "wonderful" "The King and I", "Gethsemane" "Jesus Christ Superstar and "the Flesh Failures/Let the Sun Shine" from "Hair"
Oh God, I just realised that Sunday from Tick... Tick...BOOM! is heavily inspired by Sunday. Now it makes me want to cry at that film again.
One Day More still takes my breath away. ❤❤❤❤❤❤
“I’m Here” from the color purple. “I Dreamed a Dream” from les mis
I disagree with your assessment. MY #1 goes to ONE DAY MORE. Whenever I hear and sing it, I ball like a baby! So very POWERFUL!
Bawl, not ball. But ONE DAY MORE is, as you say, a showstopper.
@@sueheather5203 LOL! Of course it’s BAWL! What was I thinking? (Not enough coffee!)
I hope you mean "bawl", but maybe not.
It needed to be a top 20. At least.
When Jennifer Hudson sang and I’m telling you, that is the only time I have seen an audience give a standing ovation during a movie!
You should have the audiences reaction to Melba Moore singing 'I Got Love' in the musical Purlie. Forcing Melba to do multiple encores in the middle of the show, never seen anything like it since.
I saw a standing ovation after seeing the movieCHICAGO just saying
"Me and the Sky" Come from Away
"Safer" First Date
"Maybe" Next to Normal (though there are so many strong choices in this musical)
"Laura, Laura" High Fidelity (I know it had one of the shortest runs in Broadway history, but this song gets me every time)
I was hoping for Summertime from Porgy and Bess... Maybe next list?
Maybe it was left out because Porgy and Bess is officially an opera (though I've often thought that's how Les Mis should be classified...but isn't). I have to admit, though, that if P & B had been included, I would have been hard-pressed to choose between "Summertime" and "My Man's Gone Now"--the latter never fails to give me major goosebumps.
Honestly, the most powerful song in Porgy and Bess is It Ain’t Necessarily So, but Porgy and Bess is an opera, not a musical.
In contrast, Les Mis was absolutely written for the Broadway stage.
"The Confrontation," from "Les Miserables," sung by Colm Wilkinson and Philip Quast, is very powerful.
Wow. "What I Did For Love" was not even an honorable mention.
My number one is what I did for love from Chorus Line. Best song
One of my favorites also can't believe it wasn't include
"Until We Reach that Day" from Ragtime is one of these amazingly powerful songs.
Saw Man of La Mancha 3 times. First run, London, and Lincoln Center Revival. If the genie came to me and told me he'd take away the arthritis, and make me as swift and strong as I was in my youth, if I would only agree to erase my memories of Man of La Mancha, I'd tell him to take a hike. I'm sorry you didn't show Richard Kiley as Cervantes/Quixote. He was magnificent.
i would have considered it Blasphemy to say anyone but Kiley. and then along came Brian Stokes Mitchell.
@@jantoas2983 Actually, the first time I saw it I was a young soldier, about to be shipped overseas, having a free standing room ticket, courtesy of the USO.
Kiley and Joan Deiner were off receiving their Tonys. Kiley's stand-in was Jon Cypher, who was Prince Charming to Julie Andrews' Cinderella, and will be best remembered as the arsehole Police Commissioner in Hill Street Blues (or, maybe, NYPD Blue). He was great. Keith Michel played Cervantes/Quixote in London
(not so great, but Richard Roundtree and Joan Deiner were there). Saw Kiley in the revival, sitting next to my, pregnant, wife.This show had spoken to my soul so much, and I wanted her to share that feeling so passionately, that I couldn't look at her during the performance. Finally, after Quihana's death, as the company started the reprise, I snuck a look. She was wearing a low-cut dress, and her decolletage was shining with tears. So, all respect to Brian Stokes Mitchell but, as William Butler Yeats wrote, everything was better "When I was a boy, with never a crack in my heart."
I am quite old, and you remind me of why I loved musical theater (when I was able to afford it lol.) No one reaches your soul with greater ease, and more profoundly. Once again, thank you Ms. Mojo.
Somewhere is a duet in the movie, but in the Broadway musical it is a solo sung by an offstage soprano (Reri Grist in the original cast).
Reading down this list was wonderful...you very rarely if ever hear these songs on ANY RADIO OR STREAMING STATION
that's why I got a portable cd player!!..Great up lifting music never dies..but it can be forgotten
Ms. Mojo I like how you took the time to highlight Jennifer Holiday, Jennifer Hudson and Amber Riley in the Dream Girls clip. That musical is older than me and it is like the gift that keeps on giving to artists careers. Well done.
Hmmm, Some Enchanted Evening, This Nearly Was Mine, Carefully Taught, I Have Dreamed, Something Wonderful, I Could Have Danced Al Night, If Ever I would leave You, Camelot (reprise), If I Loved You. Oldies, but goodies.
Oh, my goodness, yes. As I commented earlier, I found this list much too slanted to the more recent musicals.
This really needs to be a top 20 list. So many songs missing.
I'm surprised Fiddler on the Roof was not mentioned. Also Santa Fe from Newsies.
How did "Children Will Listen" from the finale of "Into the Woods" not even make the list? That's a beautiful song that leaves you to with all kinds of emotions.
I'm so glad Man of La Mancha made it on here!
“Who I’d Be” from Shrek the Musical is another beautifully powerful Broadway song. Brian D’Arcy James really did a phenomenal job going through the different emotions of someone who’s been misunderstood and mistreated for being different and seen or stereotyped as something that he really isn’t and expressing what he’d love to be if he could be somebody else while expressing his desire for a happy ending. It really adds more depth to the character of Shrek.
Personally, I disagree with the top pick. That could have easily have gone to Ol' Man River OR You'll Never Walk Alone and those were just honorable mentions! Gethsemane from Jesus Christ Superstar deserves a mention, and once you actually know the story behind HAIR, the finale "Flesh Failures/Let The Sunshine In" is just so tragically powerful. "Wheels of a Dream" from Ragtime is an unforgivable snub. I like most of this list except for Sunday, Satisfied, and Being Alive, I would have swapped those with some of the others I listed or were listed in Honorable Mentions.
I still believe… Miss Saigon … so powerful and moving and heart breaking !!!
i was outside ready to do my exercise for the day and I put my earphones on to listen to my just received special order of the west end original cast recording of Miss Saigon. I did not move for almost 3 hours. The show was still 2ish year away from its Broadway opening. I have accepted the fact that even though Miss Saigon is my favorite show very few come close to agreeing.Les Misérables, the casting in lead roles in productions including on Broadway where Chris(male lead) was off key throughout the whole show. Yes we all have our favorites but was there ever cast boring Thenardiers nope but boring The Engineer yep. And the Miss Saigon ending( rewritten numerous times) with different music and words was never anything but heartbreaking as it was meant to be. and with the various amazing Kim's how could your heart not break. There was little in the show to raise your spirits. But the Score the Score the Score so magnificent. There was no attempt to sugar coat it (Broadway It) you could leave the Theater feeling good. These were not the best of times for humankind. How brave the creative team allowed this to be.Cameron Mackintosh Producer Nicholas Hytner Director Bob Avian staged the musical numbers. Alain Boublil Book - Lyrics Claude-Michel Schonberg Book- Composer and
RICHARD MALTBY JR. ALL THE WORDS SPOKEN AND SUNG IN THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE.
My guy, Raul Esparza, in the thumbnail. Always exciting when he gets recognition for his singing. Very talented and massively underrated for his acting.
Kiss the day good bye, the sweetness and the sorrow. Wish me luck, the same to you. But I can't regret what I did for love, what I did for love.
One of the first musicals I had ever seen, The Roar of the Greaspaint (the smell of the crowd) tried out in my native Phiiladelpha on its way to Broadway. This was the first time I ever experienced a performance that literally stopped the show: Gilbert Price singing "Feeling Good." Honerable mention: Our Time from Merrily we Roll Along.
I have so many great shows and Feeling Good is not in my top 10 but the above remark is spot on Mr Price stopped the show in a way I had never seen before or since!
She Used To Be Mine from Waitress... has me in tears
Thanks for including Climb Every Mountain and You'll Never Walk Alone. Of course Old Man River!! Perhaps Summertime? But they're old fashioned, for sure. Seasons of Love is so pop--I much prefer Loving You from Passion.
All these great songs are not funny, which makes sense, but I chuckled when I heard so many that my young self knew as "the boring song on the album"--Impossible Dream, Climb Ev'ry Mountain, You'll Never Walk Alone (apologies to Liverpool).
A song can be powerful but not heavy. I'm thinking of "Beautiful Candy". It's from 1961's Carnival (often confused with Carousel). That musical is little remembered only because a movie deal fell through, so most people haven't seen it. "Beautiful Candy" is a a light-hearted anthem for taking life less seriously--very helpful very often.
Here's a MsMojo suggestion: "Broadway musicals with very young women in romances with creepily older men." Carnival is one, along with "Sound of Music" (admittedly a true romance), Evita, Annie Get Your Gun (both also true), South Pacific, My Fair Lady, and I'm sure there are others. It often seems as if Broadway producers are lonely old men with active fantasy lives.
I love your suggestion. Let’s see if they go for it.
I absolutely love when Mojo includes clips from the Les Miz 2014 revival cast. I saw that cast on Broadway in 2014. Out of my 12 times seeing the show, it remains the only time I've seen it on Broadway.
The Impossible Dream - been sung by many but only one brought me and my husband to total tears - Jim Nabors. You’ll never be the same after hearing him.
Raul Esparza is a national treasure 😍
I saw Cats in London. During Memories, the audience was hushed and then the gulp of fighting tears!
"Memory"
@@uckbee You are right! I stand corrected.
@@susancullimore5643 :^ )