I am of the opinion that finales are the hardest part of a show to write, especially musical finales. Though, I think that’s partially because writing endings to anything is difficult for me. Nonetheless, if your finale isn’t completely dynamic or doesn’t blow your audience away, the show is going to fall a bit short. When people are leaving the theatre, you want them to be thinking about how well everything tied together, or the final song that brought you to tears, or why you shot up from your seat to give a standing ovation as soon as curtain call started.
There are many writers and composers who can write a great finale (I’m looking at you, Stephen Sondheim…I still get chills when I hear, “The slotted spoon can catch the potato.”). There are final songs that are so iconic, everybody knows them, such as “One” from A Chorus Line (I know that finale is technically a reprise, but who doesn’t know that’s how the freaking show ends?) And honestly, I’m sobbing by the end of most shows. However, I want that finale to really hit me. I want it to totally destroy me and bring up all sorts of emotions and maybe rethink some things about my life.
One thing that I can’t deny is being a child of the rock musical. Of course I grew up listening to the classics, as I think most musical theatre loving peoples of my generation did. I think, for the first part of my life, that was really all there is. And then I found RENT when I was 12 or 13, and it changed my life. Trust me, there is a post on RENT coming at some point, but this is just the build up for now. I found RENT, and I fell in love with the modern musical.
Jonathan Larson was a genius, as far as I’m concerned. And something he totally killed at was the RENT finale. From Maureen’s first, “Mark, Roger, anyone, help!”, even though I know exactly what’s coming, I’m feeling this ending. I wish I could remember how I felt the first time, but I have a feeling it evoked the same emotions in me that it still evokes twenty years later. I go on a roller coaster ride from that moment until the very last, “No day but today!” And I fucking love it.
When I finally came across tick, tick…BOOM!, I realized that the RENT finale wasn’t a fluke. The end of Larson’s first show was just as dynamic, just as emotional. The lyrics and music that are his legacy are forever carried by words like, “No day but today!” and “Fear or love, baby, don’t say the answer, actions speak louder than words!”
Jonathan Larson was a master at finales. I think he worked on a different level than many other composers. No matter how many times I’ve seen RENT (three times live!) or watched it, or watched tick, tick…BOOM!, I am a blubbering mess by the final notes of the show. Even listening to them gets me teary. Now, I did admit to sobbing by the end of most shows, but these I feel in my very heart, my very being. Larson is one of the few composers that I feel nails this on a higher level.
The other writer I can really think of that does this to me is Lin-Manuel Miranda. Miranda took the idea of the rock musical and just ran with it. I couldn’t even listen to the opening of In The Heights without getting teary eyed for years. It’s unbelievable that that’s what he brought with his first musical, and I haven’t even reached the part about finales yet. Just like with Jonathan Larson, Lin-Manuel Miranda gets me teary eyed just listening to the finale of soundtracks. The first time I listened to the Hamilton finale, I was on the train, crying my eyes out. I’ve definitely realized there’s no problem being a sensitive soul in public. But evoking that sort of emotion just listening to a soundtrack? That’s something special.
We’re lucky that Miranda will (supposedly) continue to write. The jump from In The Heights to Hamilton shows amazing growth and skill. There’s a little less than a decade between them. But I definitely consider him a master of finales. And let me tell you, when I saw Hamilton, I totally lost all composure. I honestly couldn’t even tell you if my eyes were open. Eliza’s last cry was too much, in the most amazing way possible.
Miranda also writes on a higher level. Just like with Larson, he captures that basic human emotion and ramps it up to the point where poor souls like me just can’t get their shit together. I want to feel everything for these characters. I want to love them (or hate them!), and I want to be smacked in the face and punched in the gut by that finale.
So my point? There are some damn good finales out there. There are amazing writers and composers that do absolutely amazing work. I mean, I have song lyrics from “The Song of Purple Summer” from Spring Awakening tattooed on my side. But unpopular opinion or not, I think Jonathan Larson and Lin-Manuel Miranda will always kill it in a way most others can’t. And I’m sure we’ll see more writers in the future doing this as well. That’s the growth of musical theatre, and as a musical theatre fanatic, I absolutely cannot wait.
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