->''"The overture is about to start,\\
You cross your fingers and hold your heart,\\
It's curtain time and away we go!\\
Another op'nin',\\
Just another op'nin' of another show."''
-->-- '''Chorus''', ''Theatre/KissMeKate'', "Another Op'nin, Another Show"

Many a musical doesn't make the audience wait to hear the ensemble sing. So, it'll start the very first scene (possibly after a short prologue) with a CrowdSong. Often includes solo verses to help introduce the characters.

See also the OpeningBallet.
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!!Examples:

[[foldercontrol]]

[[folder:Films -- Animation]]
* In a rare example of Creator/{{Disney}} subverting stuff, many of Disney's opening numbers are not [[CrowdSong Crowd Songs]]. [[WesternAnimation/{{The Lion King|1994}} "Circle of Life"]] (with a large ensemble standing around being interesting looking), [[WesternAnimation/TheHunchbackOfNotreDameDisney "The Bells of Notre Dame"]], and [[WesternAnimation/{{Aladdin}} "Arabian Nights"]] are all sung by one person. However, [[WesternAnimation/BeautyAndTheBeast "Belle"]], [[WesternAnimation/{{The Little Mermaid|1989}} "Fathoms Below"]], and both [[WesternAnimation/{{Pocahontas}} "The Virginia Company" and "Steady as the Beating Drum"]] do fall under this.
** Most of the older Disney movies started with a choral song being sung over the opening credits.
* [[WesternAnimation/{{Frozen|2013}} "Frozen Heart"]], sung by a group of ice harvesters.
** Technically, "Vuelie" was also this, as it was sung straight from the beginning - right when the Disney castle animation appears.
* "After Today" from ''WesternAnimation/AGoofyMovie''
* ''WesternAnimation/TheNightmareBeforeChristmas'' has "This is Halloween."
* ''WesternAnimation/ThePrinceOfEgypt'': "Deliver Us" is performed mostly from the perspective of the Hebrew slaves as a group, but there are a few solo moments provided by Yocheved and Miriam.
* "I Wanna Be A Boy" from the film version of ''WesternAnimation/TeachersPet''
* ''WesternAnimation/StevenUniverseTheMovie'' opens with "The Tale of Steven", in which the Diamonds sing Steven's praises as the hero who brought peace to Homeworld. It's a deliberate homage to Disney's use of this trope.
-->''Steven, everyone believes in\\
(Everyone believes in Steven)\\
All across the universe\\
Ever compassionate\\
Can you imagine it?\\
Even with us at our worst''
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Films -- Live-Action]]
* "We Saw The Sea" from the movie ''Film/FollowTheFleet''.
* The film version of ''Theatre/{{Rent}}'' opens with "Seasons of Love'; the stage opening is just one guy singing. In a sense, this also applies to certain versions of the play where everyone sings it before the second act.
* ''Film/{{Newsies}}'' begins with "Carrying the Banner", as does the [[Theatre/{{Newsies}} stage adaptation.]]
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Music]]
* Non-theatre example: Almost all of Music/JohannSebastianBach's {{cantata}}s start with an opening chorus, though a few aversions do exist. Usually cantatas that do not start with a chorus instead start with a Sinfonia movement (a completely instrumental movement).
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Theatre]]
* Almost all of the Creator/GilbertAndSullivan operas have an Opening Chorus:
** "Throughout the Night, the Constellations" from ''Theatre/{{Thespis}}''.
** "Hark, the hour of ten is sounding" from ''Theatre/TrialByJury''.
** "Ring forth, ye bells" from ''Theatre/TheSorcerer''.
** "We sail the ocean blue" from ''Theatre/HMSPinafore''.
** "Pour, oh, pour the pirate sherry" from ''Theatre/ThePiratesOfPenzance''.
** "Twenty love-sick maidens we" from ''Theatre/{{Patience}}''.
** "Tripping hither, tripping thither" from ''Theatre/{{Iolanthe}}''.
** "Search throughout the panorama" from ''Theatre/PrincessIda''.
** "If you want to know who we are" from ''Theatre/TheMikado''.
** "Fair is Rose" from ''Theatre/{{Ruddigore}}''.
** "List and learn" from ''Theatre/TheGondoliers''.
** "In lazy languor" from ''[[Theatre/UtopiaLimited Utopia, Limited]]''.
** "Won't it be a pretty wedding?" from ''Theatre/TheGrandDuke''.
** Sole exception: ''Theatre/TheYeomenOfTheGuard'', which begins with Phoebe's song, "When maiden loves." Shortly after that, though, we get "Tower warders, under orders" with the full ensemble.
* "Wintergreen For President" from ''Theatre/OfTheeISing''.
* "Cotton Blossom" from ''Show Boat'', notable for having its opening lines {{Bowdlerise}}d.
** [[strike:Original]] lines: "Colored folks work on [[FunetikAksent de]] Mississippi / Colored folks work while de white folks play". (The ''original'' original lines didn't use the words "colored folks.")
** Bowdlerised lines: "Here we all work on the Mississippi / Here we all work while the rich folks play".
* "Opening Night" from ''The Producers'' is a more recent example.
* "The Ballad of Sweeney Todd" from Music/StephenSondheim's ''Theatre/SweeneyToddTheDemonBarberOfFleetStreet''.
** The movie adaptation omits this.
* Spoofed in ''Theatre/{{Spamalot}}'', in which the chorus mishears the Historian's introduction and thus the show opens with a musical number about Finland (instead of England) until they're corrected.
* "Bells Are Ringing" from ''Theatre/BellsAreRinging''.
* "Call On Dolly" from ''Theatre/HelloDolly!''.
* "Westphalia" in some versions of ''Candide''.
* ''Theatre/CesareIlCreatoreCheHaDistrutto'' opens with a scene from when Cesare was an infant, with the chorus singing about the illegitimate child, the proof of sin. [[UsefulNotes/PopeAlexanderVI Cesare's father]] sings about their family and the position he aims for, and the chorus echoes him. The straightforward, traditional kingly sound to the music [[LyricalDissonance contrasts]] with the cardinal acknowledging his illegitimate children and saying the church is just another kingdom. Then, time skips to 1491, the teenaged Cesare enters, and introduces himself with a rock-styled solo that contrasts in every way.
* The Sondheim musical ''Theatre/MerrilyWeRollAlong'' originally started (and ended) with "The Hills Of Tomorrow." This OpeningChorus and the following scene were removed in revisions, making the title song the OpeningChorus.
* "I Hope I Get It" from ''Theatre/AChorusLine'', though preceded by a somewhat extended dance sequence.
* "No One Mourns the Wicked" both [[BookEnds opens and closes]] the musical ''Theatre/{{Wicked}}.''
** And the same for "Science Fiction\Double Feature" in both The Rocky Horror Show and ''Film/TheRockyHorrorPictureShow''.
* Half-subverted in ''Theatre/AvenueQ'', where the opening song is a recording by (presumably) the original cast, played alongside an opening video. It parodies ''Series/SesameStreet,'' what else can we say.
* "Overture/Work Song" from ''Theatre/LesMiserables'', although it's only for the male chorus.
* "Tradition" from ''Fiddler On The Roof'', preceded by a minute of narration.
* "Merano" from ''Theatre/{{Chess}}'', at least on the concept album and in most British productions.
* "Fletcher's American Chocolate Choral Society" from ''Strike Up The Band''.
* "The Old Red Hills of Home" from ''Theatre/{{Parade|1998}}''
* "The Heat is on in Saigon" from ''Theatre/MissSaigon''.
* The titular song of ''Literature/{{Ragtime}}''.
* The wordless hum of the chorus in the "Overture" to ''Theatre/BloodBrothers''.
* "Madame Guillotine" in ''Theatre/TheScarletPimpernel''.
* "All That Jazz" from ''Theatre/{{Chicago}}''.
* "Another Op'nin, Another Show" from ''Theatre/KissMeKate''.
** Although there's a fairly lengthy scene preceding it.
* "Joseph Taylor, Junior" from Creator/RodgersAndHammerstein's ''Allegro''.
* "Tower of Babble" from ''{{Theatre/Godspell}}''.
* "Mrs. Sally Adams" from ''Call Me Madam'', in which Irving Berlin quotes from his own song "God Bless America." (Preceded by a short prologue scene.)
* Subversion: "An Opening For A Princess" ''doesn't'' open ''Theatre/OnceUponAMattress'', despite its title and full ensemble participation; it's even the second song in the show, since the prologue already has "Many Moons Ago."
* A semi-aversion in ''Theatre/ThoroughlyModernMillie'': The show starts of with Millie singing "Not for the Life of Me", a full song and a separate track on the CD, as a solo, but it segues directly into the choral title number. Interestingly, even though the tracks are listed separately on the original cast recording, if you listen to only the song "Thoroughly Modern Millie", you will still hear Millie sing the last note of "Not for the Life of Me".
* ''Theatre/LittleShopOfHorrors'' uses this trope with the prologue variation.
* "Aquarius" in ''Theatre/{{Hair}}''
* "Ohmigod You Guys" in ''Theatre/LegallyBlondeTheMusical''
* "21 Jumbo Street" from ''Theatre/DougLive''
* "High On A Hill" from ''Theatre/TheDesertSong''. Hammerstein himself apologized for not writing good lyrics.
* In ''Theatre/KnickerbockerHoliday'', "Clickety-Clack" is a typical opening chorus sung by Dutch Maidens washing the steps, though it's actually the second song in the show, the first being part of the long OpeningMonologue.
* ''Theatre/{{Hamilton}}'' starts with "Alexander Hamilton," a song describing the first 19 or so years of Hamilton's life from his birth to his travel to America, told verse by verse by each of the other actors save the ones playing Angelica and Peggy/Maria. It ends with each actor briefly - and dramatically - stating their relation to Hamilton (deliberately written so that their statement applies equally to both characters for the actors who play more than one).
* "Today is the Day" from ''Theatre/{{Finale}}''.
* "Carrying the Banner" from ''Theatre/{{Newsies}}''.
* In "Prologue/The Day I Got Expelled" from ''The Lightning Thief'', the musical adaptation of the first book in the Theatre/PercyJacksonAndTheOlympians series, the demigods bemoan their godly parent.
* In the 2017 Broadway retool of ''Theatre/CharlieAndTheChocolateFactory'' "The Candy Man" (a lift from the 1971 film adaptation of the source novel, ''Film/WillyWonkaAndTheChocolateFactory'') is the opening number. Mr. Wonka himself sings the first verses as a solo, but after the bridge the ensemble joins in just because.
* ''Theatre/WesterosAnAmericanMusical'': "King Robert Baratheon" has several characters take turns at telling the audience the story of how Robert became King.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Web Video]]
* "In the Haven" from [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cU9MduXvaXQ Episode One]] of ''WebAnimation/OfWeaselsAndChickens''.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Western Animation]]
* The third ''WesternAnimation/AnAmericanTail'' movie started out with one as well, "We Live in Manhattan".
* "Kids Just Being Kids" from ''WesternAnimation/TheFairlyOddparents: School's Out! The Musical''
[[/folder]]
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