Gratuitous English/Theatre
Examples of Gratuitous English in Theatre include:
- The "Alabama Song" (which, of course, was Covered Up by The Doors) and "Benares Song" in Aufstieg und Fall der Stadt Mahagonny (The Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny). Bertolt Brecht's use of English is rather awkward in the latter: "There is no boy with whom to shake hands. Where is the telephone? Is here no telephone?" In the former, the Shotacon implications of the line "show me the way to the next little boy" were doubtless unintentional.
- Madama Butterfly throws off a few Gratuitous English phrases, most notably Pinkerton's toast to "America for ever!"
- In Cabaret, many of the phrases in the opening number "Willkommen" are sung in Gratuitous German, then in Gratuitous French, then in Gratuitous English.
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