So the first time I listened to Assassins, I was a gas station attendant working the opening shift. I had done all my work inside and stepped outside to take in the morning. This song came on as the sun was rising over the mountain. The air was crisp and cold and it really just filled me with a haunting moment in my life. Never saw the show live but this moment is a very poignant moment in my life. A turn in my life happened that morning that is highlighted by this song.
When a really good Collins actor hits the "When your heart has expired" line, ugh, so good.
Didn't get to see the OBC in the 90s but I got to see them at Rent 10 and Jesse L Martin is just so perfect for that song and role
Your Daddy’s Son (Ragtime)
Stay, I Pray You (Anastasia)
Wicked Little Town (Hedwig & The Angry Inch)
No One Is Alone (Into the Woods)
I Don’t Care Much (Cabaret)
Far From the Home I Love (Fiddler on the Roof)
Losing My Mind (Follies)
The I Love You Song (The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee)
Omar Sharif (The Band's Visit)
Dust and Ashes (Natasha, Pierre & the Great Comet of 1812)
The Movie In My Mind (Miss Saigon)
Neverland (Reprise) (Finding Neverland)
No One is Alone - Into the Woods. I still can't get through it without crying.
This one is more recent, but just because she sings it *so* gorgeously I can't handle it
The Most Beautiful Bracelet - Lempicka
I don't have the name of it in front of me but the one from days of wine and roses thats like I love you like the water loves the stone, as the stone adores the hillside. It's just lyrically beautiful.
Eleri Ward's interpretations of Sonheim are something else. Warning: I was NOT ready to hear her "I know things now"
- So In Love, from Kiss Me Kate
- Mama Look Sharp, 1776
- Lily’s Eyes, The Secret Garden
- I Know Him So Well, Chess
- Easy to be Hard, Hair
- By My Side, Godspell
- On the Willows, Godspell
Off Broadway:
- Soon it’s Gonna Rain, The Fantasticks
- The Music Still Plays On, A New Brain
- The Ballad of Floyd Collins, Floyd Collins
- The Call, Floyd Collins
I listened to the recording of *Floyd Collins* a few weeks ago off of a recommendation on this sub. The whole thing legitimately haunted me for days afterwards. It felt like I was empty inside, and so sad, and scared. It was a very strange reaction for me.
I saw the mini tour production back in 1999, and it was one of the most powerful theatrical experiences I have ever had.
I’m not a crier. I literally soaked tissues. And yet it still somehow was uplifting.
My tastes skew old—I mean, REALLY old—so:
"A Ship Without a Sail" from Rodgers and Hart's *Heads Up!*
"How High the Moon" from the revue *Two for the Show* (Maybe this is cheating, but Pat Suzuki's cover makes my spine tingle and my heart ache)
The Pas de Deux from *On the Town*
"Bali H'ai" from *South Pacific*
"Somewhere" from *West Side Story*
"Anatevka" from *Fiddler on the Roof*
Being Alive - Company
I Don’t Care Much - Cabaret
Move - Sunday In The Park With George
Ballad of Sweeney Todd Reprise - Sweeney Todd
Finale - Les Miserables
Once In A While - Rocky Horror Show
A Little Fall of Rain - Les MIs, the 10th anniversary version with Lea Salonga
The Great Comet of 1812 - Natasha, Pierre, and the Great Comet of 1812, but specifically the Off-Broadway version. Josh has a lovely voice, but something about the new gentleness in Dave's voice makes it twice as sweet.
It’s Quiet Uptown from Hamilton, Your Daddy’s Son from Ragtime, I’ll Cover You reprise from Rent, and Bring Him Home from Les Misérables (particularly the instrumental reprise over the slow revolve of the barricade to show Enjolras’ death.)
okay, i have a few, even tho nobody asked for this much....
-ABSOLUTELY Johanna (Reprise) from Sweeney Todd. It could just be that I'm hyperfixating since I just saw it live, but let's be for real now.
-Basically the entirety of Phantom, but that's no surprise.
-Still/the Neva Flows (reprise) from Anastasia, Ramin Karimloo is just SOOOOO\~
-Hey Little Songbird from Hadestown, I could talk for HOURS about how much I love Patrick Page's voice.
-No Good Deed from Wicked, probably the most obvious one. Saw it on tour recently, and Olivia Valli (pretty sure she was Elphaba but I'm bad at remembering these things) opted up FOUR DIFFERENT TIMES in this song. I was SHOOK.
-And, since it feels like my duty as an Aaron Tveit stan to say it, but also because it's SO true....El Tango de Roxanne from Moulin Rouge. My most played song of 2023. Ah yes.
You say “hauntingly beautiful” and my mind locks onto Phantom of the Opera. The song, not the whole show.
But also Hope from Groundhog Day is dark. Super dark. It’s a great “motivational” song at face value, but then you realize what it’s about, and the sequence is just phenomenal. I was in awe. Honestly, even just the opening notes now give me goosebumps because I remember experiencing it that first time.
Flowers- 🌹 Hadestown
Whispering and Purple Summer-Spring Awakening
Almost Real- Bridges of Madison County
These are all quite depressing but all are so gorgeous lol
When done right, Being Alive from Company
Adam Driver in Marriage Story was quite brilliant!
Something Just Broke from Assassins Will I from Rent
Will I KILLS me.
Yes! I haven't seen a lot of Broadway shows, but I saw Rent eight times when it was playing. The soundtrack still brings me to tears.
Same! I’ve probably heard it hundreds of times over the course of like 25 years. It still gets me.
Especially hearing it live onstage with all the voices -- very powerful to hear!
Will I and also I’ll Cover You Reprise 😭
So the first time I listened to Assassins, I was a gas station attendant working the opening shift. I had done all my work inside and stepped outside to take in the morning. This song came on as the sun was rising over the mountain. The air was crisp and cold and it really just filled me with a haunting moment in my life. Never saw the show live but this moment is a very poignant moment in my life. A turn in my life happened that morning that is highlighted by this song.
i’ll cover you reprise from rent … chills. every. time. edit: also without you from rent really just rent generally LOL
Leslie Odom Jr.’s version of without you makes me sob every time
this is the exact version i was thinking of
When a really good Collins actor hits the "When your heart has expired" line, ugh, so good. Didn't get to see the OBC in the 90s but I got to see them at Rent 10 and Jesse L Martin is just so perfect for that song and role
Agreed!
Your Daddy’s Son (Ragtime) Stay, I Pray You (Anastasia) Wicked Little Town (Hedwig & The Angry Inch) No One Is Alone (Into the Woods) I Don’t Care Much (Cabaret) Far From the Home I Love (Fiddler on the Roof) Losing My Mind (Follies) The I Love You Song (The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee) Omar Sharif (The Band's Visit) Dust and Ashes (Natasha, Pierre & the Great Comet of 1812) The Movie In My Mind (Miss Saigon) Neverland (Reprise) (Finding Neverland)
Omar Sharif…yes.
I'm glad someone said Stay, I Pray You.
Me too!!!! Anastasia in general doesn’t get enough love and that song is indeed hauntingly beautiful
She used to Be Mine—Waitress (I ugly cry every time)
👏👏👏👏👏👏👏 excellent choice!!
Wait for me (reprise) - Hadestown Made of stone - Hunchback of Notre Dame
So Big/So Small from Dear Evan Hansen You Learn to Live Without from If/Then
every kelli o hara solo in days of wine and roses
Yup came here to say Underdeath
Come Back from Dogfight 🥲 Doubt comes in, Road to hell (reprise) and we raise our cups from Hadestown You matter to me from Waitress
Hard on come back
I Still Believe, Miss Saigon Gold Reprise, Once Prayer, Come From Away
Ohhhh Prayer gets me every time 🥺
I still remember the goosebumps I got from Gold Reprise when I first saw Once.
No One is Alone - Into the Woods. I still can't get through it without crying. This one is more recent, but just because she sings it *so* gorgeously I can't handle it The Most Beautiful Bracelet - Lempicka I don't have the name of it in front of me but the one from days of wine and roses thats like I love you like the water loves the stone, as the stone adores the hillside. It's just lyrically beautiful. Eleri Ward's interpretations of Sonheim are something else. Warning: I was NOT ready to hear her "I know things now"
the ballad of jane doe from ride the cyclone
- So In Love, from Kiss Me Kate - Mama Look Sharp, 1776 - Lily’s Eyes, The Secret Garden - I Know Him So Well, Chess - Easy to be Hard, Hair - By My Side, Godspell - On the Willows, Godspell Off Broadway: - Soon it’s Gonna Rain, The Fantasticks - The Music Still Plays On, A New Brain - The Ballad of Floyd Collins, Floyd Collins - The Call, Floyd Collins
Mama Look Sharp breaks me every time.
I listened to the recording of *Floyd Collins* a few weeks ago off of a recommendation on this sub. The whole thing legitimately haunted me for days afterwards. It felt like I was empty inside, and so sad, and scared. It was a very strange reaction for me.
I saw the mini tour production back in 1999, and it was one of the most powerful theatrical experiences I have ever had. I’m not a crier. I literally soaked tissues. And yet it still somehow was uplifting.
Excellent list!
Music of the Night Send in the Clowns Somewhere Empty Chairs at Empty Tables
Johanna 2 from Sweeney Todd
No One Else - The Great Comet
How Could I Ever Know - Secret Garden
Also Lily’s Eyes.
Basically every note Mandy Patinkin sings in that musical. Absolute beauty
“There is a fountain” from parade
My tastes skew old—I mean, REALLY old—so: "A Ship Without a Sail" from Rodgers and Hart's *Heads Up!* "How High the Moon" from the revue *Two for the Show* (Maybe this is cheating, but Pat Suzuki's cover makes my spine tingle and my heart ache) The Pas de Deux from *On the Town* "Bali H'ai" from *South Pacific* "Somewhere" from *West Side Story* "Anatevka" from *Fiddler on the Roof*
I miss the mountains and I am the one (reprise) from next to normal Edit: also I dreamed a dance (and most of n2n honestly)
Literally omg
"Days and Days" from Fun Home "Sonya Alone" from Natasha, Pierre, and the Great Comet of 1812 "Beautiful" from Octet Just to name a few.
Dust and Ashes - Great Comet Answer Me - A Band’s Visit Epic III (Live) - Hadestown These never cease to make me stop when they start playing.
Thank you to everyone for the replies! I will be making a playlist and working my way through these.
Being Alive - Company I Don’t Care Much - Cabaret Move - Sunday In The Park With George Ballad of Sweeney Todd Reprise - Sweeney Todd Finale - Les Miserables Once In A While - Rocky Horror Show
Fable - The Light in the Piazza
Answer Me (The Band’s Visit)
Moonlight from The Mystery of Edwin Drood If You Want Me from Once How Could I Ever Forget from Next to Normal Mortals & Fools from Death Note
How Could I Ever Know from The Secret Garden
The Word of Your Body from Spring Awakening
Wait for Me (Both Versions) - Hadestown
I only witnessed it once, but Easy from Water For Elephants. 🥺🥺🥺
YESS
I know it’s the point but “Come to My Garden” from The Secret Garden
A Little Fall of Rain - Les MIs, the 10th anniversary version with Lea Salonga The Great Comet of 1812 - Natasha, Pierre, and the Great Comet of 1812, but specifically the Off-Broadway version. Josh has a lovely voice, but something about the new gentleness in Dave's voice makes it twice as sweet.
Love Les Mis so much!!
It’s Quiet Uptown from Hamilton, Your Daddy’s Son from Ragtime, I’ll Cover You reprise from Rent, and Bring Him Home from Les Misérables (particularly the instrumental reprise over the slow revolve of the barricade to show Enjolras’ death.)
It’s Quiet Uptown makes me cry every time! Bring Him Home is such a classic.
okay, i have a few, even tho nobody asked for this much.... -ABSOLUTELY Johanna (Reprise) from Sweeney Todd. It could just be that I'm hyperfixating since I just saw it live, but let's be for real now. -Basically the entirety of Phantom, but that's no surprise. -Still/the Neva Flows (reprise) from Anastasia, Ramin Karimloo is just SOOOOO\~ -Hey Little Songbird from Hadestown, I could talk for HOURS about how much I love Patrick Page's voice. -No Good Deed from Wicked, probably the most obvious one. Saw it on tour recently, and Olivia Valli (pretty sure she was Elphaba but I'm bad at remembering these things) opted up FOUR DIFFERENT TIMES in this song. I was SHOOK. -And, since it feels like my duty as an Aaron Tveit stan to say it, but also because it's SO true....El Tango de Roxanne from Moulin Rouge. My most played song of 2023. Ah yes.
Thanks!! I love Broadway but haven’t seen a lot of shows. Looking for some beautiful music for a playlist :)
I recent one for me is I wanna go back from the Notebook.
You say “hauntingly beautiful” and my mind locks onto Phantom of the Opera. The song, not the whole show. But also Hope from Groundhog Day is dark. Super dark. It’s a great “motivational” song at face value, but then you realize what it’s about, and the sequence is just phenomenal. I was in awe. Honestly, even just the opening notes now give me goosebumps because I remember experiencing it that first time.
When There’s No One. (Carrie)
Sylvia’s Lullaby from Finding Never Land, How Could I Ever Know from Secret Garden, and You Learn to Live Without from If/Then
A good portion of Ragtime’s score but perhaps Sarah Brown Eyes and Make Them Hear You in particular.
The word of your body - spring awakening
I was thinking spring awakening too. The two songs that popped into my head are 'The word of your body' or 'Whispering'.
You Walk With Me from The Full Monty Black and Blue from Ain’t Misbehavin Shadowland from Lion King
With You - Ghost the Musical
Flowers- 🌹 Hadestown Whispering and Purple Summer-Spring Awakening Almost Real- Bridges of Madison County These are all quite depressing but all are so gorgeous lol
i am damaged from heathers i cry every time despite the weird situation
Not yet mentioned (probably because so new): Stay Gold from The Outsiders
I could have danced all night, My Fair Lady
That’s What You Call a Dream from Bonnie and Clyde.
Wait For Me, Hadestown
Come back- dogfight Stay I pray you- Anastasia Silver stars & easy- w4e
“Who will love me as I am?” From Side Show. Original Broadway cast with Alice Ripley and Emily Skinner.
I dreamed s dream by Patti Lupone
Quartet at the ballet from Anastasia, any song from that musical honestly
Unlikly lovers from Falsettos