Top 10 Best Opening Numbers in Classic Musicals

“Kiss Me, Kate”

This Cole Porter musical premiered on Broadway in 1948, and its opening number became an indelible showbiz anthem. “Another Op’nin’, Another Show” is a song with a persistent rhythm. The number as it’s usually staged is pretty meta. Props, the backs of sets, costume racks, and all the seams of the production are exposed to the audience. What the song really does is illustrate all the excitement, possibility, hijinks, and stress that goes into producing a show. One of the reasons it’s stuck around is that this infectious opening is a high energy celebration of theater and showbiz itself.

“Pippin”

As “Pippin” opens, the Leading Player of a performance troupe entices us like a carnival barker. Soon, an entire number full of magic tricks and illusions unfolds from the darkness of the stage. With their painted faces and slinky movements, they’re not just welcoming you into the story. They’re drawing you in. “Magic to Do” is a great ensemble number that dazzles and mystifies in equal measure. As fun and polished as it is, it starts to feel like a spell. But beware, the words of the troupe take on a more sinister meaning as the show goes on and their true intentions become clearer.

“A Chorus Line”

Once the longest-running show on Broadway, this equal parts funny and sad story of several dancers in a casting call appropriately opens with both pizazz and panic. “I Hope I Get It” isn’t just the name of the song. It’s what the entire show is about. The first song is an explosion of desperation and excitement as several dancers are excused, whittling down the ensemble to the core few who will actually become characters in the show. It’s a song that’s as hopeful as it is depressing - or perhaps vice versa. But instantly, it introduces the stakes of the show for every single character.

“Hair”

Bringing counterculture and the hippie movement, as well as a rock-based sound, to the Broadway stage, “Hair” opens with a song that would eventually land in the pop charts. “Aquarius” became widely popular after it was covered by the group The 5th Dimension. In the context of the story, it’s an anthem for a new age. The hippie tribe at the center of the show sings it to herald the Age of Aquarius, an astrological era of spiritual and political revolution. Mysterious and ethereal, it sets the stage for the philosophical and metaphysical themes of the story and announces that “Hair” is no ordinary Broadway musical.

“Fiddler on the Roof”

There’s a lot you need to know about Anatevka before you can invest in this story about the clashing of tradition and modern ways. Luckily, the incredibly catchy “Tradition” is there to spell it all out. As the protagonist Tevye tells us, the people of this Jewish shtetl keep their traditions to keep their lives in balance. Sung in unison, the ensemble lists out the tenets of their shared values. Marriages are arranged, the men are the breadwinners, and the women are the homemakers. This is what keeps them together. Of course, if it were as simple as that, “Fiddler on the Roof” would be over before it begins. But the opening firmly establishes the context for what comes after.

“Oklahoma!”

“Oh, What a Beautiful Mornin’” was the world’s introduction to the duo of Rodgers and Hammerstein. The romantic and soaring sound of this classic is the perfect opener for “Oklahoma!” Sensitive cowboy Curly McLain’s entire worldview is communicated in this one number. As Curly sings about the meadow and the trees, you can’t help but smile at his wide-eyed wonder for the pastoral beauty around him. “Oklahoma!” made history with its attention to story and characters over fantastic spectacles and songs held together by the barest of plots. Songs like this are a perfect example of that.

“Cabaret”

With his ghostly white face, the boisterous but vaguely threatening Master of Ceremonies welcomes us to the Kit Kat Klub. A lover of decadence and double entendres, the Emcee is an unforgettable presence. Given that “Cabaret” takes place in 1930s Berlin, “Willkommen” serves as a primer for the show’s poignant juxtaposition of the hedonism of the nightclub and the growing fascist menace. There are no troubles inside the Kit Kat Klub. Outside is a different story. Later revivals of the show added more explicitly creepy elements to the song, but it’s hard to beat the simplicity and the eerie implications of the original.

“The Sound of Music”

While her fellow nuns at the abbey are busy singing psalms like they’re supposed to, Maria’s marching to the beat of a different drummer. Her first number, the title song, has become a standard. Bold, lilting, and breathtaking, “The Sound of Music” achieves many things at once. It’s beautiful to listen to, first off. Second, it introduces you to the sweeping sound of the entire score. Third, like many of Rodgers and Hammerstein’s other openers, it puts you firmly in the protagonist’s perspective. First sung on the Broadway stage by musical legend Mary Martin, the soaring ballad would become synonymous with the star who played the role on screen, Julie Andrews.

“Chicago”

It’s hard to imagine now that the original Bob Fosse-directed musical was overshadowed by other hits of the era. But since its 1975 Broadway premiere, “Chicago” has found an audience for its tongue-in-cheek humor and 1920s pastiche. “All That Jazz” is homicidal jazz singer Velma Kelly’s first number. The song, like the show itself, is a liberal mix of glitzy showmanship and seedy sex and violence. Verses of the song are sometimes interrupted, or rather, punctuated by the scene of Roxie Hart and her lover’s fight, culminating in Roxie shooting him dead. It’s as toe-tapping a murder scene as you’ll ever see.

Before we unveil our top pick, here are a few honorable mentions.

Anna the Governess Sings to Her Son As They Move to Siam

This Pretty Opening Number Became a Hit on the Pop Charts

This Song Was Added Out-of-Town & May Have Saved the Show

A Shrieking Greek Chorus of Londoners Opens This Horror Comedy

It May Be a Biblical Musical But It Absolutely Shreds

“West Side Story”

In this modernized “Romeo and Juliet” story, the dancing is equally as important as the singing. In 1950s New York, two rival gangs meet up to snap, twirl, and show off their dance skills. Of course, it’s all representational. Instead of all-out battle, their turf war is reinterpreted as an extended ballet sequence on the stage. It’s playful and elegant while still conveying the level of animosity and genuine tension between the Jets and the Sharks. This elegant and stylish choreography is one of the factors that has made “West Side Story” an enduring classic.