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  • A number of songs from Evil Dead: The Musical could qualify, but "It's Time" takes the cake. With over-the-top lines like "Tonight (Kick you square,) you will die (in the balls) by the saw or the gun!" and "When danger calls, you must the balls of an ox, or a bear, or any large mammal~!" It's a step away from parodying this trope.
  • Stephen Sondheim in general.
    • When A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum was struggling with its out-of-town tryouts, Sondheim was called upon to replace the opening number "Love is in the Air" with something that better fit the farcical tone of the show. The result, "Comedy Tonight", helped save the show and is one of the most infectious introductions a musical could ask for.
    • The entire point of Assassins seems to be to give these to people who really don't deserve them. The Ballads of Booth, Guiteau, and Czolgosz have some SERIOUS Draco in Leather Pants potential. "Ballad of Booth" is particularly amazing, as for one brief moment, you actually pity John Wilkes Booth And then The Balladeer sings again and brings you back to your senses.
    • Though the plot has some issues, and the show was quite terribly received when it first opened, Anyone Can Whistle gave us some wonderful songs, such as "There Won't Be Trumpets", "Anyone Can Whistle", "A Parade in Town", "Everybody Says Don't", and the epic Massive Multiplayer Ensemble Number, "Simple", which is anything but.
    • Into the Woods - "Last Midnight", a whole bunch of other stuff that qualifies for Tear Jerker. "Agony" is a Funny Moment for the first act, but then the reprise in the second act is even funnier.
  • A lot of Next to Normal:
    • "I'm Alive". Brilliant, gorgeous, and scary as hell.
    • "Aftershocks" is one of the creepier songs on Broadway, and one of the most captivating. Actually, anything sung by Gabe deserves a mention, since Gabe is incredibly sexy. Every note he sings is Made of Win.
    • "Perfect for You", or any song with Henry for that matter is bound to be a Heartwarming Moment.
    • "I Miss the Mountains" has gotten standing ovations at numerous performances.
    • The finale, "Light", is pretty much the entire point of the show. That no matter how dark and depressing life can get, there's still light, there's still hope. It also has one of the strongest, heartwarming, tearjerking, and for those with mental illness, inspiring lines in the show:
      And you find a way to survive/And you find out you don't have to be happy at all/To be happy you're alive
    • The very first number, "Just Another Day", is enough to let you know what you're in for. The four-part counterpoint at the end is powerful, and enough to drive you to tears.
  • Cirque du Soleil loves awesome original music for awesome acts. Examples:
    • "Taiko" (Mystere; these drums are regarded as a Moment of Awesome of their own under the Theater listing)
    • Alegría's Title Theme Tune is Cirque's Signature Song for a reason. The title is Spanish for "joy in the midst of sorrow", and it actually manages to evoke that concept musically — it sounds despairing and joyful at once, the aural version of a Bittersweet Ending.
    • "O":
      • If the title track, "O", doesn't move you to tears of joy and give you shivers, you have no soul.
      • "Simcha" (Russian swings) may be the happiest piece of music ever.
      • Although the song known in O as "Debbie" isn't on the show's CD, it CAN be heard on the CD soundtrack of Cirque du Soleil: Journey of Man; it's the song of the same title (albeit with English lyrics).
    • The first show to use previously extant music was LOVE — since it's the music of The Beatles, the show serves it, not the other way around. And it was remixed especially for the show. Who knew that "Strawberry Fields", "Penny Lane", "In My Life", and "Hello Goodbye" could be combined into a coherent whole? Or, for that matter, "Drive My Car", "What You're Doing", and "The Word"?
    • Luzia's main theme, "Cierra Los Ojos", in both its live and soundtrack renditions, is basically the Spiritual Successor to "Alegria".
    • Amaluna has its main theme, "Come Together" (aka "Magic Ceremony"), which gets everyone in the audience clapping, no, pounding their palms along to the beat during its finale reprise, the Chinese pole song ("Creature of Light"), the first straps number ("Tempest"), the waterbowl number ("Hope" and "O Ma Lay"), the uneven bars theme ("Fly Around")... Actually, the whole show. (Again!)
    • Nearly all of the soundtrack to Volta qualifies, but highlights include:
      • The techno-rock tune during the Otaku Double Dutchers' opening act, which unfortunately did not get a soundtrack release.
      • "Man Craft", an Enya-esque New Age vocalise during the second part of Waz's acro lamp act.
      • "The Bee and the Wind", a tear-jerking violin and choral piece played during the flashback to young Waz BMX flatland riding while his mother dances along. The sounds of childish laughter make it even more heart-rending.
      • "The Change", from the Swiss rings and bungees act at the show's halfway point, has one hell of an chorus that will get the audience singing along.
      • The aptly named "To the Stars" complements the Acrobatic Ladders act kicking off the show's second half.
      • "Modern Jungle", a neoclassical synth-funk tune to which the Freespirits dive though a rotating stack of hexagonal hoops in improbable positions.
      • "Globetrotters", sadly not available on the soundtrack album, is a punchy industrial hip-hop track, originally used for the trial bike act during the show's Canadian run, then repurposed for the baton juggling act later in the US tour.
      • "Elevation", the song for the hair suspension act, begins with a Vangelis-style symphonic electronica intro, before morphing into a Dead Can Dance pastiche, complete with Lisa Gerrard-esque scatting vocals by Camilla Bäckman.
      • "Battle of the Man", an Orchestral Bombing piece played in the Hall of Equals, where a group of Asian drummers are suspended from the rafters while either a baton twirler or an aerial strap duo perform and Waz is initiated into the Freespirits tribe.
      • "Like Kids" is a fitting drum 'n trap number for the BMX finale ultimo.
    • Crystal is their first non-artist-specific show to use covers of pop hits, which are surprisingly well-executed and integrated into the story. Exhibit A: Ariane Moffatt's rendition of Sia's "Chandelier" during the swinging trapeze number.
  • Wicked:
    • "Defying Gravity" never fails to give goosebumps. It's not a showstopper for nothing.
    • Add "What Is This Feeling" to the list for Les Yay Music.
    • "For Good" is one of the final songs in the whole musical, the harmonies towards the end of the song are superb.
    • "As Long As You're Mine". It's dark, sexy, and utterly perfect for the scene.
  • Any given Tom Waits musical has a few of these. It's probably the Villain Song.
    • The Black Rider ranges from the tragic melancholy of "The Briar and the Rose" to the gleefully diabolical Villain Songs "Just the Right Bullets" and "Flash Pan Hunter". There's also the messed-up instrumental "Oily Night" to go along with a satanic ritual.
    • Franks Wild Years: "Way Down in the Hole". So awesome it became the theme music for The Wire.
    • Woyzeck kicks off with a chromatic scale that morphs into the terrifyingly excellent "Misery is the River of the World". And then there's the ''three' Villain Songs, "Everything Goes to Hell", "God's Away on Business", and "Starving in the Belly of a Whale". And the instrumental, "Knife Chase", which is Exactly What It Says on the Tin.
  • Man of La Mancha is often erroneously referred to as a one-song show. It's not, really, it's just that "The Impossible Dream" is so damn good.
    • And once you've heard Joan Diener's cover of "Aldonza" on the French cover, with Jacques Brel, you will be riveted to your seat, goosebumps all over you, and you will never consider Man of La Mancha to be a one-song show again.
    • "Dulcinea" is a gorgeous ballad that is abruptly turned into a raucous, rollicking chorus number.
    • Watch "I, Don Quixote" performed by a talented actor, and you will stand up and cheer.
  • Chicago:
  • "How do you do? I see you've met my faithful handyman...."
    • Riff Raff's entrance in the finale, where he kicks in the door. Best part of the film.
    • So many pieces qualify that you can make a case for including the whole show. "Science Fiction (Double Feature)", "Dammit Janet", "There's A Light", "The Time Warp", "Sweet Transvestite", "The Sword of Damocles", "I Can Make You A Man", "Hot Patootie", "Touch-a Touch-a Touch Me" and "Eddie" are consecutive songs and all very much worthy of being here.
  • Spamalot:
    • "Find Your Grail" is so incredibly, unbelievably, and intentionally cheesy that it wraps back around to awesome.
    • You Won't Succeed On Broadway If You Don't Have Any Jews! Well, saying that you're Jewish isn't really the sort of thing you say to a heavily armed Christian...
  • Little Shop of Horrors:
    • Of all the assorted Cut Songs that Little Shop of Horrors produced, "The Worse He Treats Me" is the one with the most understandable reason for cutting; it completely mischaracterizes the female lead, is disturbing, and doesn't really fit in anywhere. It's STILL Awesome Music.
    • "Skid Row" is one of the catchiest and one of the most motivating songs in musical theatre, up there with "One Day More" and "Do you Hear the People Sing" from Les Misérables. It's just stunning, and the crescendo that happens before Seymour's part (which is extremely catchy) makes that segment even better.
    • Though it was written for the movie, "Mean Green Mother From Outer Space" is occasionally readded to the show, and it's DEFINITELY this. The best part, though, is the end of the song, which wasn't present in the movie, as Audrey II eats Seymour. The Cut Song that it replaced, "Bad", is also pretty awesome.
    • And "Sominex" (the last song before things start falling apart), and "Suppertime II" (when things DO start falling apart). Also "Somewhere That's Green (Reprise)", one of the best examples of Tear Jerker ever.
    • Dentist is a Villain Song and one of the most memorable songs.
    • "Grow For Me", "The Meek Shall Inherit", and "Ya Never Know". "We'll Have Tomorrow (and A Little Dental Music)" would be a perfect candidate as well, were it not a Cut Song.
  • "Rent, rent, rent, rent, rent! We're not gonna pay rent! 'Cause everything is RENT!" The movie version is even more epic, because they're able to BURN THEIR EVICTION NOTICES.
    • Try to listen to "La Vie Boheme" and not sing along.
    • Finale B. Not only is it an amazing medley of major themes from the rest of the musical, if you listen close, even to the recording or movie version, you can hear Angel's voice. On the stage version, Angel comes back out onstage. There's something ridiculously awesome about it. In the alternate ending for the film, you also see Angel - the screen cuts back to the opening visual, with all of them singing into microphones onstage, and near the end of the song she walks out and joins them.
    • "Will I". Two-line stanza in canon. Tear Jerker.
    • "Take Me Or Leave Me". Idina Menzel belting her mouth off is always awesome, but this song has an epic battle between two lesbians. Needless to say, awesomeness ensues.
    • "I'll Cover You (reprise)". One of the biggest Tear Jerker moments in musical history.
  • Hairspray:
    • It is virtually impossible to listen to "You Can't Stop the Beat" without feeling the urge to get up and dance. (This can get quite awkward if you're driving.)
    • "I Can Wait" which was cut from the movie.
    • "I Know Where I've Been" is the best song in the entire show.
  • The Music Man:
    • "Trouble" and "Seventy-Six Trombones". Combined, they represent one of the most effective sales pitches/cons ever made.
    • Without You, probably one of the most epic Take Thats in musicals.
  • Newsies had some pretty rousing numbers.
    • "Carrying the Banner" and "Seize the Day" stand out in particular, while "Watch What Happens" is the requisite beltfest for the female lead.
    • "The World Will Know" and "Once and For All" , each a Massive Multiplayer Ensemble Number, where the strike really comes together.
  • Jekyll & Hyde:
    • Listen to "This Is The Moment" from and you will feel invincible.
    • Furthermore, "Confrontation". Jekyll is a tenor, Hyde is a baritone, and the actor sings a duet WITH HIMSELF.
    • Depending on the singers, Dangerous Game has the potential to be either this or incredibly narmy. However, the Robert Cucciolli and Linda Eder version is most definitely Awesome Music.
    • Alive and its reprise.
  • Sunset Boulevard:
    • "As If We Never Said Goodbye". If it wasn't a Sanity Slippage Song, it would be the most touching tribute to movies ever.
    • The title song is brilliant on its own, but if you have a good Joe Gillis, it reaches epic heights.
    • A superb instrumental can be found in "Car Chase".
  • In the Heights:
  • "When my eyes darken" from the Israeli play "Funeral". it's a very depressing song about a dead newborn baby who miss his living mother, but it's also kind of awesome in his on way.
  • "Memory" from Cats. Grizabella's entire subplot is that she left the Jellicle tribe to be famous and acted like a total Jerkass. So, naturally, when she comes back, the cats don't want any part of her. "Memory" is her saying that she wants the old days back and that she was sorry for being a bitch in the most awesome way possible.
  • Hair has many, many awesome songs, some very short and sung in quick succession, but to name a few:
    • "The Flesh Failures/Let The Sunshine In", the show's tearjerking finale. The pounding rhythm and poetic lyrics make it one of the more powerful songs in the musical.
    • "I Got Life", an upbeat number in which the main character tries to explain to his parents that he doesn't need much, so long as he's got life. By listing off all of his body parts in rapid succession. It's more awesome than it sounds.
    • "Hair", the title song, where the hippies explain their long-haired way of life.
  • Bill Bailey's stage performances include a lot of awesome music. Probably the best would be the in Tinsleworm, where he, with a local group of Indian musicians, perform a "Hindi Indie" version of Radiohead's "Creep". Many of the rest are also hilarious: Das Hokey Kokey, the Pope's doorbell, Portishead's version of Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah or the full version of the Roundabout song.
  • Evita. Definitely both stage and movie versions. "Don't Cry For Me, Argentina" is absolutely spellbinding. It's enough to make you want to fall to your knees in veneration.
  • Godspell.
    • The crucifixion and the finale - reprising "Prepare Ye" with the "Long Live God" round.
    • "Bless the Lord" as done by Shoshana Bean in the 2000 off-Broadway revival.
    • "We Beseech Thee" is the last upbeat song in the show, and it shows how everyone following Jesus has come together like a family.
  • "Die, Vampire, Die!" from [title of show]. Also, A Way Back To Then. Nostalgia never sounded so awesome!
  • Tick, Tick... Boom! is all the proof we need that Jonathan Larson was more than just the guy who wrote RENT.
    • "Come to Your Senses", especially that very long ending note.
    • "Therapy" starts out fairly measured but quickly turns into a Patter Song duet with counterpoint and is a Funny Moment.
    • The finale "Louder Than Words" is absolutely one of the best examples of what a Moment of Awesome should be.
  • Kristina (aka Kristina from DuvemÃ¥la) has a lot of good music, but few things can beat "Gold Can Turn To Sand". In the original Swedish version, Kristina's "You Have To Be There" is one of the best songs from any musical ever. Unfortunately the English translation is poor, repetitive and has little of the original lyric's emotion and angst.
  • The Secret Garden, the musical:
    • The moment in "I Heard Someone Crying" when the music swells and the characters all start singing their various parts in counterpoint.
    • "Where in the World" definitely qualifies — and then it segues into "How Could I Ever Know", cementing the deal.
  • Say what you will about Bleach The Musical, it's got some good songs. "Hona Sainara" and "Catharsis of Eternity" just plain rock.
  • Spring Awakening:
    • "Mama Who Bore Me (Reprise)". Just. So. Amazing.
    • "Touch Me" also has some incredible moments, especially the buildup to the climax. "Consume my wine, consume my mind..."
    • "I Believe" which is two minutes of non-stop harmony.
    • And "Totally Fucked" is roughly three minutes and fifteen seconds of pure cathartic awesomeness.
    • "Those You've Known" is the climax of the entire plot and is hauntingly beautiful. The same goes for the live performance of "The Dark I Know Well".
      • "The Dark I Know Well" is kind of Nightmare Fuel, but it is amazing and powerful, painful and haunting.
      • The German incarnation of Spring Awakening is also a powerful experience, with the almost ethereal version of "Whispering" as "Hör nür hin".
    • "The Song Of Purple Summer" is both a showstopper and the end of the show.
  • The Russian Dance from The Nutcracker Suite, with the distinction of being Awesome Music in a ballet!
  • In Béla Bartók's one-act opera Duke Bluebeard's Castle, the opening of the fifth door reveals the full extent of Bluebeard's wealth as a landowner. The accompanying power chords are overwhelmingly awesome and are played by a pipe organ at full volume alongside the entire brass orchestra.
  • Bertolt Brecht and Kurt Weill's The Threepenny Opera gave us "Die Moritat von Mackie Messer" ("The Ballad of Mack the Knife"), but "Zuhälterballade" ("Pimp's Ballad") is also awesome. What a beautiful, slow tango. They had some amazing music in their works. All you have to do is get past the rather depressing stories. Or enjoy them together, as you really should.
  • Legally Blonde The Musical:
    • "Ireland" and its reprise. Humor, a touch of pathos, and an actress with a big voice!
    • "So Much Better" is basically pure, gleeful, triumph and personal achievement expressed in song.
    • "Legally Blonde" is a song of such shocking pain, sorrow, loss of self-worth, and in the end solidarity that it takes you by surprise after all the peppy, fun, upbeat numbers that came before. But then when Elle gets her Heroic Second Wind and Vivienne comes in on the Reprise...sheer win.
    • "Take It Like is A Man" hilarious and heartwarming.
      Emmett What is this place?
      Elle It's called... A department store.
      Emmett It's beautiful...
  • Urinetown:
    • "Run, Freedom, Run!" is so awesome that even hostage Hope has to bounce along with it.
    • "Cop Song" is pretty epic as well. Also "Snuff That Girl". Both can be creepy as Hell when done right, and are major ear worms to boot.
    • The delightfully twisted "Don't Be The Bunny".
    • And the frantic, pounding "Why Did I Listen To That Man" where everything goes wrong.
  • The Addams Family has some fantastic songs ("When You're An Addams", "Happy/Sad", and "Move Toward the Darkness", among many others), but the crown has to go to Alice's "Waiting", which is a scathing, hurting, vicious strike back at her neglectful husband, and it stops the show cold.
    “That was dark, even for us!”
  • "Rose's Turn" from Gypsy is probably the greatest Sanity Slippage Song ever, no matter who it's performed by. Also from Gypsy, "Everything's Coming Up Roses" basically consists of the starring diva chewing up the scenery for four solid minutes.
  • The Magic Flute: The Queen of the Night gets just two solo arias, but they're some of the most spectacular soprano arias ever written: "O zittre nicht" and "Der Hölle Rache".
    • What makes it even better is right after "Der Hölle Rache" Sarastro shows up and sings "In diesen heil'gen Hallen" as if to say "you thought that soprano was good? Let me show you what a BASS can do."
    • Also, the finale is utterly beautiful and uplifting, especially the orchestra in the playout. And who can forget Papageno and Papagena? Let's just say: MOZART = King of Awesome Music!
  • Team Starkid has a lot of brilliant songs.
    • The student production Me and My Dick has a few seriously great songs. The Massive Multiplayer Ensemble Number "Ready To Go" comes to mind, as does the epically adorable "Even Though". "There Ain't Nothing Like A Dick" is amazing too. Pretty good showing for a musical about walking and talking genitalia, eh?
    • From A Very Potter Senior Year: "I'm Just a Sidekick" definitely qualifies, as well as "Everything Ends", "When I Was", "This is the End", "A Very Potter Senior Year", "When You Have to Go All the Way Home"... dang it, these kids are talented. The reprise of "Back To Hogwarts" counts as well.
    • Another year, another awesome soundtrack: Twisted: The Untold Story Of A Royal Vizier combines musical themes from the Disney Animated Canon and Wicked with the usual StarKid magic: "Dream a Little Harder", "I Steal Everything", "1001 Nights", "Happy Ending", and "Twisted" are all highlights.
  • Cole Porter's Anything Goes deserves a special mention.
    • Despite the now-awkward title, "Blow, Gabriel, Blow" is just pure win.
    • The song "You're the Top" is one HELL of a belt fest for Sutton Foster and Colin Donnell and they pull it off PERFECTLY. Imagine a song that's the complete OPPOSITE of "Anything you can do, I can do better."
    • The title song "Anything Goes" gets special mention for having some stand out tap-choreography.
  • 13 brings us "Brand New You", which may well be the best song of the musical. All of Lucy's songs are quite nice, too.
  • The Wedding Singer:
    • "Saturday Night in the City", "Right in Front of Your Eyes" and "It's Your Wedding Day" and its reprise. The rest of the show's good enough, but those three are pretty fantastic.
    • "Grow Old with You" was really sweet too. Overall, the song is just embodies what it's like to love someone and want to marry them.
  • Sierra Boggess' rendition of "Part of Your World" in the Broadway production of The Little Mermaid - starting sweet and full of surprising vocal power
  • 9:
    • "My Husband Makes Movies". Marion Cotillard's version was simply gorgeous.
    • And speaking of Marion Cotillard, the sadness and neglect implicit in "My Husband Makes Movies" comes to a crescendo of bitterness and thoroughly justified rage in "Take It All". Her character's suffering at the hands of her cheating husband, who only knows how to take and not to give, is expressed via a fantasy cabaret scene in which her husband sits and watches as she performs for a club full of men who tear her clothes off. Intense, poignant scene with awesome music to boot.
  • Ragtime:
    • "Your Daddy's Son" and "Make Them Hear You". Beautiful and heartbreaking.
    • It opens with CMOA. The various groups swirling around each other, mixing, separating, then blasting out that last verse- amazing.
  • The Scarlet Pimpernel:
    • Obvious, but "Into The Fire" is worth including on the list. And then there's "The Riddle": "Every Judas once loved a Jesus/ But finally, treason will seize us". DAMN. It helps when one of the singers is Terrence Mann, of course.
    • Speaking of Terrence Mann, "Falcon In The Dive" is amazing and "Where's The Girl" just sends shivers down your spine
    • "The Creation of Man" is such a Funny Moment that it's impossible not to crack up, it's so wonderfully ridiculous. In a fairly serious show, too.
  • Children of Eden is Stephen Schwartz's less-loved show, but it's got a couple great numbers.
    • "Spark of Creation", "The Hardest Part of Love", and "Lost In The Wilderness" are all excellent, but the clinchers are the A Capella harmonies in the Act One Finale and title song "Children of Eden" and Act Two Finale, "In the Beginning". If you do not leave the theatre sobbing and/or amazed at the talented cast, someone is doing their job horribly, horribly wrong.
    • "Stranger To The Rain". If you were wondering why Japeth loves Yonah, this song shows just how amazing she is, race of Cain or not.
    • And "Let There Be" must be mentioned as it's an amazing opening number and sets the tone perfectly.
  • "Keys/It's Alright" from Passing Strange. It starts as a ballady number, in which the main character, Youth — who's on his finding-myself world journey - has just arrived in Amsterdam and needs a place to stay, and a new friend simply hands him her house keys and says she can stay with him — and he is understandably touched. It builds into a huge explosive celebration of hope and optimism and "everything's gonna be alright", with the narrator bringing Youth's artist heroes into the song to encourage him as well:
    James Baldwin says IT'S ALRIGHT!
    Coltrane says IT'S ALRIGHT!
    Chester Himes says IT'S ALRIGHT!
    Jimi Hendrix says IT'S ALRIGHT!
    Josephine Baker says IT'S ALRIGHT!
    She came and told me it was ALRIGHT!...
  • Yes, it flopped on Broadway. But that doesn't mean that Lestat: The Musical didn't have any awesome songs. Listen to Claudia's song, "I Want More".
  • Parade, for which Jason Robert Brown won a Tony.
    • "Real Big News", Craig the reporter's soulful anthem to the big news of Leo Frank's case that could save his writing career.
    • "How Can I Call This Home?", Leo Frank's plaintive worries about being a Northerner in the South.
    • "There Is A Fountain/It Don't Make Sense", a gorgeous and extremely powerful song about grief as Mary's family and friends mourn her Special shout-out to Frankie's achingly simple yet heartbreaking solo lyrics.
    • "You Don't Know This Man", Lucille Frank's epic verbal smackdown of reporters trying to accuse her husband of terrible acts.
    • "All The Wasted Time", a sweeping love ballad between Leo and Lucille, as they reaffirm their love for one another after years of distance, despite all the tragedy of their circumstances.
    • "That's What He Said", Jim Conley's gospel-heavy number during Leo's trial, one of the most Epic Rocking court testimonies ever given.
    • "This Is Not Over Yet", the biggest Hope Spot in the musical, with a very excited Leo and Lucille duet and lightning-fast piano accompaniment.
  • "And I Am Telling You (I'm Not Going)" from Dreamgirls. Only when Jennifer Holliday sings it, though — 'cause once you've gone Holliday, you ain't never going back.
  • Several of theatre's biggest divas are given these every time they go on stage.
  • The 2013 adaptation of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory has lots of delightful songs that can stand alongside those of the two famous film adaptations, even as its use of the 1971 film's "Pure Imagination" as Climactic Music is (or was; it was moved to an earlier scene in later productions) a true Heartwarming Moment.
    • "Don't'cha Pinch Me Charlie" is a great Crowd Song as everyone celebrates Charlie Bucket's Golden Ticket find.
    • The song that follows that — and closes out Act One — manages to be a solo turn that feels much bigger than a Crowd Song. "It Must Be Believed to Be Seen" starts with a clever variant on Willy Wonka's entrance in the 1971 version and goes on to reveal every facet of the character — the whimsicality, philosophy, and even creepiness — in less than five minutes. Pair this tune with amazing orchestrations, and then add Douglas Hodge's vocal on the Original London Cast Recording, and you will believe.
    • As Danny Elfman did in the 2005 film, songwriters Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman have a ball with the Oompa-Loompas' four "The Villain Sucks" Song numbers. Again, each gets a different style; the Gratuitous Disco Sequence "Juicy!" (for Violet) and Cyberpunk Is Techno "Vidiots" (for Mike) are perhaps the highlights. (Unfortunately "Juicy!" became a Cut Song in later stagings.)
  • Quite a few of Salieri's songs from Mozart L'Opera Rock. Especially "Le Bien qui Fait Mal" which sounds like it should be played at an upper-class bondage club... and looks it played out in an upper-class bondage club. "Dors Mon Ange" is soft, lullaby-like and mournful, befitting a funerary song.
  • Matilda gives us "Revolting Children", the kickass Crowd Song as the children begin to stand up to Trunchbull. And "Naughty" reminding us all that little does not equal weak.
  • The revival of the musical version of Carrie has some awesome songs to balance the Camp. Pretty much anything sung by Margaret is bound to be amazing, especially "When There's No One" and her part of "Evening Prayers." The actress playing Carrie is no slouch herself; just listen to "The Destruction."
  • Heathers. The entire damn thing. But a few standouts:
    • "Dead Girl Walking" is one of the best Intercourse with You songs to ever grace the stage, and it's just a great song in general, being fun, sexy, amusing, and even tender and sweet in some parts.
    • "Our Love is God." Perfect closer to the first act, starting off heartwarming and ending terrifying.
    • "Meant to Be Yours," when performed correctly... which the actor on the official soundtrack does.
    • Pretty much all of "Seventeen," but especially JD and Veronica's harmony on the lines: "Let us be seventeen, if we've still got the right!" "So, what's it gonna be? I wanna be with you..." "Wanna be with you..." "Wanna be with you, tonight!"
    • "Candy Store" is an awesome girl power anthem, if more on the bitchy side of girl power. But the three-part harmonies in the second chorus are quite literally to die for.
  • Fun Home:
    • Changing my Major, a song depicting the main character Allison's sexual awakening as a lesbian. Even if it's a slow song, The message that it conveys to the audience about what it actually feels like to sexually awaken for some people whether it be the mixed emotions of joy and fear. Allison, who's only 20 during the song, was so scared and bottled up all her feelings about what gender she really shows attraction towards. And how flipping ecstatic she is after her first time with her roommate. The feelings she has when she figures out she's not alone. The shear joy, unsureness, and overall satisfaction with herself is truely what makes this song so kickass, especially for LGBT+ theatre fans.
    • Ring of Keys, as well as being an amazing song, was a showstopper at the 2015 Tony Awards. That's right, a twelve year old girl was a Tony awards show stopper. Bad. Ass.
    • "Maps" is a somber song sung by Regular Allison about how geographically small her Dad's life is since besides travelling to Munich with Helen, most of his life was spent in Beach Creek, Pennsylvania.
    • Flying Away (Finale), just... wow. (Listen to it with headphones, seriously do it.)
  • Really, the music of Hamilton in general is so great, it could warrant its own page. So we gave it one.
  • The musical adaption of School of Rock has TONS of amazing songs.
    • "Stick it to the Man" is a song about Dewey teaching the kids of Horace Green about how unfair the world is- adding a little more rock to the famous "Man" speech from the film
    • "You're In The Band" is awesome because not only is the song good as Dewey forms the student into a rock band, but all the little solos the kids do are actually the child actors playing their instruments.
    • "When I Climb To The Top Of Mount Rock" is a KILLER opening number about Dewey and his rock star dreams.
    • "Where Did Rock Go?" is sung by Principal Rosalie Mullins about how the pressure placed on her as a principal of an expensive prep school has made her repress her old, carefree, rock-and-roll-filled self, and that she wants it back. It's a gorgeous song.
    • "Teacher's Pet", in which all the kids play the instruments and do all their own solos.
  • 42nd Street, despite being an older musical, really does have some great songs.
    • "We're in the Money" is a song within the musical's musical The Pretty Lady. With the right tap choreography, it can be a show stopper. In fact, it IS considered a historical showstopper in Broadway.
    • "Lullaby of Broadway" is a crowd rallying song devoted to getting lead protagonist Peggy Saywer to replace Dorothy Brock in the show's musical.
  • Pretty much every single song from Avenue Q (except for "I'm Not Wearing Underwear Today") is this trope, but special mention to "The Internet Is for Porn", "Everyone's A Little Bit Racist", "There's a Fine, Fine Line", and "For Now".
  • "Michael in the Bathroom" from Be More Chill, a heart-wrenching and raw panic attack in song form that is pushed into awesome territory by the sheer emotion of the singer's screaming, anguished voice.
  • The musical adaptation of Little Women has "A Small Umbrella in the Rain", which has to be one of the most charming, adorable Final Love Duets in all of musical theatre. It just perfectly encapsulates the whole of Jo and Bhaer's relationship.
  • Come from Away kicks things off with the thundering Setting Introduction Song "Welcome to the Rock".
  • Chess has the ten-minute extravaganza known as "Endgame". The first two minutes feature a choir that sounds like it arrived from the depths of Hell, with everything after that point growing even more intense from there.
  • Westeros: An American Musical: When a play's songs are all parodies of songs from Hamilton, which has its own set of entries for the trope, it has a head start in having good music. The music is also frequently quite fitting for whichever part of the story is being told, which can make the new lyrics memorable in their own right.
  • The Scarlet Sails, composed by Maksim Dunayevsky (of d'Artagnan And Three Musketeers fame).
  • Being a Jukebox Musical, The Last Breakfast Club has an entire score filled with epic 80s songs.
    • "Don't You Forget About Me" is a fun callback to the film's iconic usage of the song, and the loud synth track is exciting every time.
    • "Danger Zone" is best known for its use in Top Gun. The adrenaline-fueled lyrics and guitar riffs are awesome, but its also wonderful in a meta sense. The characters singing, Andrew and Bender, have belligerent sexual tension buried deep beneath their performative masculinity, much like the homoerotic subtext throughout Top Gun.
    • Marty McFly sings "Johnny B Goode" to The Breakfast Club.
    • "Hazy Shade of Winter" contains an awesome electric guitar track, gorgeous harmonies, and poetic lyrics. Here, the protagonists sing it while getting high.
    • John Bender serenades a joint with "Sweet Child of Mine" by Guns N Roses.
  • Andrew Lloyd Webber's Fractured Fairy Tale version of Cinderella, as you would expect from ALW, has some fantastic songs:
    • "I Know I Have A Heart" is a soaring, powerful, classically-ALW power ballad with some absolutely gut-wrenching lyrics.
    • "Only You, Lonely You" is a wistful, plaintive, heartwarming love song destined to be sung by every wide-eyed Tenor Boy at every high school theatre audition. Bonus points for being just about the only song in the whole show without a single element of tongue-in-cheek lampshade hanging.
  • The Prom, though a flop on Broadway, got a new lease on life via its Netflix adaptation and 2021-22 national tour to re-showcase its amazing musical score:
  • Long before she became known for singing for animated princesses, a girl named Liz Callaway earned a Tony nomination at just twenty-three years old for her role as Lizzie in a musical called Baby. The showstopping one-act closer was called "The Story Goes On", and it brought the house down.

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