What's your favorite musical theater cliche, trope, or convention?- Page 2

[byebyebaby12]

Posted: 6/27/10 at 12:41pm

The one "ethnic" ensemble member.

[CockeyedOptimist2]

Posted: 6/28/10 at 12:29am

I agree about the Act I closers. At least immediately following a show, my favorite number is rarely anything but the Act I closer.

[Alex Kulak2]

Posted: 10/16/16 at 10:37am

High-energy Act II openers, especially if they're a dance number.

 

My two favorite examples are "What is Urinetown" from Urinetown, and "Red, White, and True" from Big Fish

[TheGingerBreadMan]

Posted: 10/16/16 at 10:55am

I love Act I finales that blend the major songs of the act all into one big epic full-cast number, i.e. One Day More from Les Mis or Man Up from The Book of Mormon. 

 

I also love dark reprises and counterpoint duets. Patter songs are fun, but not in excess. 

[Someone in a Tree2]

Posted: 10/16/16 at 11:19am

Maybe my favorite trope is the post-trauma putting-on-a-brave-face number, which is a close relative to the laughing-through-my-tears number. 

THE PARTY'S OVER

SEND IN THE CLOWNS

I AM I, DON QUIXOTE reprise

practically every song Kander and Ebb ever wrote

and of course EVERYTHING'S COMIN' UP ROSES

 

[pupscotch]

Posted: 10/16/16 at 12:18pm

I love the counterpoint duet and dark reprise, but my favorite is also probably the Act 1 finale all-skate.

[IronMan]

Posted: 10/16/16 at 8:03pm

This thread is hysterical!  Mine are:

-Ending a big group song by shouting the title of the song/show.  This is so cliched and cheesy it isn't done much anymore... the last time I recall was the 'neon' GREASE revival. 

 

-Ending a big group song, holding the pose for applause, then they break "laughing and scratching." 

[Dysquith13]

Posted: 10/17/16 at 5:34pm

TheGingerBreadMan said: "I love Act I finales that blend the major songs of the act all into one big epic full-cast number, i.e. One Day More from Les Mis or Man Up from The Book of Mormon."

Agree 100%. These numbers never get old - Non Stop from Hamilton is another amazing addition.

 

 

[poisonivy2]

Posted: 10/17/16 at 8:41pm

This is more a theater trope than a musical theater trope but I love it when a distant, difficult or person finally expresses a moment of tenderness and all of a sudden Everyone Understands All. I thought I was immune to this particular trope until I saw Fun Home and bawled all the way through the curtain calls.

I also love the Sad Reprise of a Once-Happy Song.

[BroadwayConcierge]

Posted: 10/17/16 at 8:53pm

I'll echo what many have said in this thread and say punch-to-the-gut Act I finales. "Defying Gravity," "One Day More," and "Non-Stop" come to mind.

[JennH]

Posted: 10/18/16 at 8:47am

Ohhhhhh this is fun!! 

I appreciate a good many, but my number one fave is what the Japanese call tsundere. The "boy and girl meet, hate each other and refuse to budge about it....but involuntarily come to realize the other isn't as bad as they thought and realize they're each others perfect match and right for no one else" ala Pride and Prejudice, Beauty and the Beast, all that good stuff :) 

My second fave is "boy and girl meet and like each other and fall harder than they thought, but due to many abounding circumstances can't bring themselves to say it aloud...at all" ala Once. It was actually Once that made me realize what plot devices move my soul. 

And of course these two tropes usually work in conjunction with each other, but here and there they don't. 

[henrikegerman]

Posted: 10/18/16 at 10:30am

The kind of entr-acte that begins by encoring a great musical-theatrical moment from the first act and stirs the audience's imagination of how that moment might relate to what it is about to see in the second.

Updated On: 10/18/16 at 10:30 AM

[John Adams]

Posted: 10/18/16 at 11:52am

The Overture, with Gypsy and Candide being among my favorites, and The Beautiful Game being among the bottom listers.

[yellibean2]

Posted: 10/18/16 at 2:33pm

The diva 11 o'clock number and dark/sad reprise almost always move me, no matter how many variations of them I've seen.

Also not a trope exclusive to musical theatre, but I love the coming of age and coming out story. A Chorus Line may not have been the first to use this trope, but they certainly brought it into the mainstream. Falsettos was pretty subversive in avoiding this trope, but I have to admit that it still felt just as revolutionary in Fun Home, all these years later.

[Anthony Fremont]

Posted: 10/18/16 at 3:59pm

"OK, because you sang your argument, I now agree with you."

[sing_dance_love]

Posted: 10/18/16 at 5:57pm

Dream Ballets are by far my favorite.

I also love musicalized arguments- "Heavy" and "It's All Over" from Dreamgirls, "Your Fault" from Into the Woods, and "The Blame" from Titanic come to mind. The drama of it all! 

And pretty much every moment of shows like 42nd Street. The chorus girl that has the right stuff, the Busby Berkeley production numbers, the brassy character roles, and the Audition numbers. UGH, and any time "backstage" is shown behind a scrim or with creative staging. I eat that stuff UP.

[luvcaroline]

Posted: 10/18/16 at 6:10pm

Someone on the first page mentioned "I Want" songs, which I love too.  The best ones tell you a lot about the character and give a hint of what is to come. "Something's Coming," "The Wizard and I," and "Corner of the Sky" are some of my favorites. 

[Charley Kringas Inc]

Posted: 10/20/16 at 2:13am

The bitchy party numbers (Rich and Happy, Backstage Babble)

The cruel, menacing, or satirical upbeat songs (God That's Good, Auto da Fe, The Money Kept Rolling In)

The "welcome to the big exciting world of ____" numbers (Let's Have Lunch, Someone Woke Up)

[chewy5000]

Posted: 10/20/16 at 6:48am

The final bars of an overture where they reprise a phrase or two of the hit tune over the top of a hitherto unheard accompaniment - "The Boys From Syracuse" contains a classic example.

[darquegk]

Posted: 10/20/16 at 11:06am

I love the full-length overture to "The Producers." Has there been a great overture since then? When the "I Wanna Be a Producer" melody plays at quadruple time as a "travel music" like motif, before emerging in its usual tempo as a suddenly recognizable theme, that's arranging gold to me.

[Mr. Nowack]

Posted: 10/21/16 at 6:20pm

I'm a sucker for "anticipation" songs. Perhaps not as common but they get me PUMPED.

The "Quintet" from WEST SIDE STORY is perhaps the best example. On record I also really enjoy ones like "What A Night This is Going To Be" from BAKER STREET or "A Night We'll Never Forget" from CARRIE though I've never seen the shows. "A Weekend in the Country" especially the latter bits is also a well done example, and "Prima Donna" from PHANTOM.