In musical theater, an 11 o’clock number is a big song near the end of the show that stands out and energizes the proceedings before the finale. The play as a whole may be middling and uninspired, but then, right before the curtain comes down, in its last few moments, the musical unveils a song that–bam!–blows the audience right out of their seats with its power and beauty. You leave the theater forgetting everything else but that one great musical moment: the 11 o’clock number.

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