Irrelevant Act Opener: Difference between revisions
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Generally, the song is about love, food, drinking... you know, happy stuff, although there are exceptions. This type of song is very common in musicals, although it's starting to become a bit of a [[Discredited Trope]]. Typically, its purpose is to give the audience a chance to re-adjust their reality filters back into "it is totally normal for everyone to be singing" mode by presenting a scene where it actually ''would'' be normal for the cast to be singing; the fact that the lyrics are irrelevant to the plot also gives the people late back from the bathrooms and refreshment stands a few extra minutes to get to their seats without missing anything important. It also gives the main cast a few more minutes to prepare while the chorus entertains the audience. |
Generally, the song is about love, food, drinking... you know, happy stuff, although there are exceptions. This type of song is very common in musicals, although it's starting to become a bit of a [[Discredited Trope]]. Typically, its purpose is to give the audience a chance to re-adjust their reality filters back into "it is totally normal for everyone to be singing" mode by presenting a scene where it actually ''would'' be normal for the cast to be singing; the fact that the lyrics are irrelevant to the plot also gives the people late back from the bathrooms and refreshment stands a few extra minutes to get to their seats without missing anything important. It also gives the main cast a few more minutes to prepare while the chorus entertains the audience. |
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{{examples |
{{examples}} |
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* ''[[The Music Man (Theatre)|The Music Man]]'': The act II opener "It's You" isn't particularly relevant, and neither is the following song, "Shipoopi." The ''dance'' to "Shipoopi," where Harold shows Marian how to dance the latest one-step, is quite significant. Both numbers were moved to later scenes in the 1962 movie version. |
* ''[[The Music Man (Theatre)|The Music Man]]'': The act II opener "It's You" isn't particularly relevant, and neither is the following song, "Shipoopi." The ''dance'' to "Shipoopi," where Harold shows Marian how to dance the latest one-step, is quite significant. Both numbers were moved to later scenes in the 1962 movie version. |
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