It's 1959. You're sitting in the soft blue cocoon of the Broadway Theatre, a $7.20 ticket to Gypsy clutched in your hand, as Ethel Merman turns out, seemingly looking straight into your soul. As the orchestra swells, that unmistakable voice rushes over you like a tidal wave. "Here she is, boys! Here she is, world!"
"Rose's Turn," the penultimate song in Stephen Sondheim and Jule Styne's musical Gypsy, is considered one of the greatest 11 o'clock numbers of all time. Vocally demanding and dramatically rich, the song was the apex of the evening. The showstopper was a phenomenal star turn for leading lady Merman, playing directly to her strengths as an artist with a bombastic voice. It brought the evening to a thrilling swell before the brief finale.
11 o'clock numbers are named for the time they would have occurred on stage, back when Broadway shows began later in the evening than they do today. This soul-stirring penultimate number is considered a key part of a musical's structure, with the finale song often serving as a bow wrapping up the plot, which usually would be all but aligned by the end of the 11 o'clock number.
The term is nebulous, and is often used by fans to describe the feeling a song imparts rather than bestowing the title after formulaic analysis. However, such a song usually has at least three of the following characteristics:
- A show-stopping showcase for the star.
- The second-to-last sequence in the show.
- A moment of great dramatic realization or revelation.
- The energetic summit of the evening to which the entire show had been leading.
- A song that could, with minor adjustments, be performed out of context by recording and cabaret artists.
While solo star 11 o'clock numbers are often the most enduring in the public consciousness (in part due to the second life many of these songs have due to characteristic 5, which keep them alive long after specific productions close), vividly energetic or emotional group numbers also qualify. Songs like "Brotherhood of Man" from How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying undeniably bring down the house when properly performed.
Some songs commonly touted as 11 o'clock numbers are technically disqualified from the moniker due to their position in the show. "Wishing You Were Somehow Here Again" from The Phantom of the Opera, a dramatically dazzling star turn of a song for the actress playing Christine Daaé, may have points 1, 3, and 5 squared away, but it is positioned squarely in the middle of Act 2—with much of the show's action and plot yet to unfold. A show can moderately fudge how far an 11 o'clock number is from the finale, but you cannot fudge the dramatic position of the song as the apex.
While you are unlikely to find yourself in a Broadway house at 11 PM these days, due to earlier curtain times, the form hasn't disappeared in the 21st century: modern penultimate masterpieces include "I'm Here" from The Color Purple and "Gimme Gimme" from Thoroughly Modern Millie. As musicals continue to evolve, intricate reprises now occasionally occupy the traditional position of the 11 o'clock number, such as the powerful reprise of "Wait For Me" in Hadestown, which expands and elaborates on the Act 1 ending number of the musical to give it new dramatic relevance.
As is true of almost all musical theatre tropes, 11 o'clock numbers may be common, but they aren't strictly necessary. Some immensely successful shows make dramatic choices to reinvent or entirely eschew the format: Wicked, now entering its 20th year selling out Broadway, has the tender friendship duet "For Good" in the spot an 11 o'clock number would traditionally occupy. The flashier, dramatic realization number "No Good Deed" occurs earlier in Act 2. In musicals that opt to vere from the 11 o'clock number format, the dramatic height of the plot is often portrayed through a book scene.
Perhaps what is most important about 11 o'clock numbers are the way they make an audience feel. The emotional payoff of such richly dramatic or energetic numbers serves as the glowing memory in an audience member's mind when they leave the theatre. You may not be able to remember a scene word for word, or the exact melody of a song note for note. But if an 11 o'clock number is doing its job right, you will remember how it made you feel, long after the curtain has fallen.
Take a listen to some of Playbill's favorite 11 o'clock numbers below
