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* MaybeMagicMaybeMundane: In some versions, especially the original 1992 version, Death may only exist in Elisabeth's and Rudolf's minds (or in Lucheni's, since he's the narrator), or he may be a real supernatural being that stalks Elisabeth. In other productions Death's existence is much less ambiguous.
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* MaybeMagicMaybeMundane: In some versions, especially the original 1992 version, Death may only exist in Elisabeth's Elisabeth and Rudolf's minds (or in Lucheni's, since he's the narrator), or he may be a real supernatural being that stalks Elisabeth. In other productions Death's existence is much less ambiguous.
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For the rest:
* [[Elisabeth/ElisabethTropesAToL A to L]]
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Tropes that have appeared in ''Theatre/{{Elisabeth}}''.
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* ManipulativeBastard: Death manipulates everybody all so he can win Elisabeth's love.
* MassiveMultiplayerEnsembleNumber: "Alle tanzten mit dem Tod" ("Everyone has Danced with Death") has the whole gigantic cast on stage and singing.
* MaybeMagicMaybeMundane: In some versions, especially the original 1992 version, Death may only exist in Elisabeth's and Rudolf's minds (or in Lucheni's, since he's the narrator), or he may be a real supernatural being that stalks Elisabeth. In other productions Death's existence is much less ambiguous.
* MayflyDecemberRomance: Could be considered such because Death is ageless.
* MediumAwareness: Tsukishiro Kanato (2018, Takarazuka)'s Lucheni asks the audience if they've noticed a camera today, says he too has noticed a camera, and then [[BreakingTheFourthWall asks the cameraperson to come closer and make sure he looks handsome.]]
* MelancholyMusicalNumber:
** "Wenn ich dein Spiegel wär": Rudolf sadly musing about his (lack of a) relationship with his mother, even though they are so similar.
** "Totenklage/Rudolf, wo bist du?": Sisi [[spoiler:mourning her son and regretting that her refusal to help him was his DespairEventHorizon.]] The Takarazuka productions follow this up with a reprise of Ai to Shi no Rondo, which is Death being upset about his unreciprocated feelings and that Sisi tried to use him as an escape from her grief.
** "Boote in der Nacht": Franz and Sisi arriving at the conclusion that they're not [[spoiler:meant to be.]]
* MindControlEyes:
** Rudolf's expression during "Yami ga hirogaru" in the 2016 Toho production flickers rapidly between unnatural blankness and evident distress. Every time Death's hand gets near his face/head, his eyes briefly unfocus. It shows up again in Mayerling.
** Same thing with Sisi during "Ai to Shi no Rondo", too.
* MindControl:
** Most obvious with Shirota Yuu and Furukawa Yuta's portrayal of Death and Rudolf. Yuu's Death seems to be able to control humans telepathically/telekinetically, but can reinforce the control through touch (as mentioned in MindControlEyes above).
** In the same production, Sisi (Hanafusa Mari) slowly grows out of vulnerability to Death's power:
*** Young Sisi in the realm of Death is easily controlled, dancing along with the Angels, falling unconscious when Death waves a hand in front of her face.
*** She's visibly fighting him (looking terrified and in pain, clutching at her head) in "Saigo no Dansu" ("Der letzte Tanz") but flickers in and out of it at some points.
*** She doesn't seem to be affected at all in the first act's version of "Yami ga hirogaru" ("Die Schatten werden länger"), only grieving for [[spoiler: baby Sophie]]. Notable for Death getting up close to her, grabbing her wrist, and whispering into her ear (she flinches at this).
*** "Watashi ga odoru toki" ("Wenn ich tanzen will") sees Sisi triumphant, out of Death's reach for almost the entirety of the song. She easily breaks out of his physical contact, and maintains a victorious smile throughout. She even {{Troll}}s him by pretending to take his hand when he offers it, and then actually pulling away before they touch.
* AMinorKidroduction: Elisabeth is 14 when we first see her; Rudolf is about six the first time and then reappears at about eleven before we finally see him as a young man. (It varies from production to production whether or not the same child actor plays him as a small child and again as a preteen. Takarazuka cuts the younger Rudolf altogether, only showing preteen Rudolf during Mama, wo bist du - albeit [[DawsonCasting played by an adult actress.]])
* MoodWhiplash: "Nichts ist schwer" ("Nothing is Hard"), a tender love song between teenage Sisi and Franz Joseph, is immediately followed by the OminousPipeOrgan of "Alle Fragen sind gestellt" ("All Questions Have Been Asked"), which doubles as SoundtrackDissonance since it's the accompaniment to their ''wedding'' (and thus the first {{foreshadowing}} that things will not end well). The original production made the whiplash even harder by having the lovers suddenly collapse like puppets with cut strings as soon as "Nichts ist schwer" ended.
* MommasBoy: Oh, Franz Joseph. Sophie, in her misguided way, [[KnightTemplarParent wants the best for him.]] It's too bad Sisi and Rudolf got caught in the crossfire. Franz stands up to her twice: once in "Ich gehör nur mir (Reprise)" when he overrides the Queen Mother to give Sisi final say on how her children are raised, and [[CallingTheOldManOut called his mother out]] in "Streit Mütter und Sohn/Mama, ich bin ausser mir" for her maltreatment of Sisi and her attempts to break his marriage in the name of throne and country. [[spoiler: It's too little, too late for his wife and son.]]
* MoreThanMindControl: Death seems to have this type of influence over Rudolf. They first meet while little Rudolf is sadly calling to his mother, and their first exchange translates to
-->'''Death:''' She can't hear you. Don't call to her.
--> '''Rudolf:''' Who are you?
-->'''Death:''' I am a friend. When you need me, I'll come to you. (Moves as though to leave)
--> '''Rudolf:''' Stay!
--> '''Death:''' I'll stay close.
** And little Rudolf's proud statement of "Yesterday I killed a cat!" seems to imply that he realizes that his new friend is Death incarnate, but trusts him. And Rudolf still completely trusts Death when he shows up again 18 YEARS LATER. Death then makes his More Than Mind Control even stronger with "Die Schatten werden langer."
** In most productions, the choreography of "Die Schatten werden langer" includes Death physically grabbing Rudolf and manipulating his actions, usually not very gently. In at least one production, Death pulls Rudolf closer without even touching him, apparently through some form of telekinesis. Aside from dodging the lethal kisses Death attempts to give him, Rudolf doesn't resist this manipulation. In the Takarazuka version, Rudolf actively reaches for Death's hand or otherwise deliberately puts himself in a position that makes the direct physical manipulation possible. Multiple times.
*** A dance move prevalent in many productions is Death dragging Rudolf forward, Rudolf fighting back, but his feet keep inching towards Death.
* MusicalisInterruptus: Happens in the Takarazuka productions during a reprise of "Ich gehör nur mir" when Lucheni takes a picture of the Empress.
* MyBelovedSmother: Sophie.
* MyGodWhatHaveIDone: ''Rudolf, where are you? Can you hear me calling?''
* NapoleonDelusion: Elisabeth visits an insane asylum and meets a patient who believes that she herself is the empress. [[GildedCage Elisabeth envies the woman's happiness in her role.]]
* NiceJobBreakingItHero:
** The Takarazuka version paints Sisi's refusal to intercede on Rudolf's behalf as stemming from her disappointment that he's asking her to solve a (political) issue [[note]]which was something Franz Joseph did and part of the reason their marriage deteriorated[[/note]], with her telling him that he's an adult now and should deal with his own issues. Sounds like a reasonable thing for a mother to say, but [[spoiler:it was the final straw that drove Rudolf to suicide.]]
** Sisi's attempt to take back her independence and spend time with her daughters (who had been taken away from her by [[EvilMatriarch Sophie]]) backfired, leading to Gisela's illness and little Sophie's death.
* NoFourthWall: For Lucheni, at least.
* ObnoxiousInLaws: Sophie. She starts out complaining that Elisabeth isn't suited to Franz Joseph (and to be fair, [[JerkassHasAPoint she's right]]) and ends up sending Franz Joseph to a brothel just to weaken Elisabeth's influence.
* ObsessionSong: Death, three times, all of the aggressive type.
** "Die Schatten werden länger", act 1. "You need me. Yes, you need me."
** He actually gets physically aggressive with Sisi during [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RZmmVNEfNA8 "Der letzte Tanz"]] and "Wenn ich tanzen will": dancing violently, throwing her around, kneeling between her legs and leaning in very close to her face, grabbing her by the wrists/hands and then the back of the head... All of this is done while he reiterates that no one loves/understands her as he does, she is free only through him, and she will want him/be his eventually.
** "Ai to Shi no Rondo", added for the [[FourIsDeath Japanese production]] and eventually made its way back to the German production as "Rondo - Schwarzer Prinz", has Death saying that he will pursue Elisabeth until he wins her love.
* OhCrap: The Toho production has a lot of these moments.
** The arresting police officers panicking when they realized they nearly threw the ''Crown Prince'' in jail.
** Rudolf, pushed to the floor (either shoved by Inoue Yoshio's Death, or flicked by Shirota Yuu's Death), makes a horrified face and frantically backs away when Death gets in his personal space.
** Rudolf seems to come to his senses from Death's MindControl in ''Mayerling'' and tries to make a break for it as what he is about to do sinks in. [[spoiler: Death hauls him back telekinetically, and Rudolf - quite possibly no longer of his own volition - frantically ''begs'' Death for the gun.]]
** In a funny moment, Lucheni made this face when he got caught in the middle of Sophie and Max's argument in "Sie passt nicht".
* OnlyTheLeadsGetAHappyEnding: The Creator/TakarazukaRevue production gives this to the leads [[spoiler:(Death and Sisi). They are TogetherInDeath (well, when one's love interest/StalkerWithACrush ''is'' Death...), and the show ends with Death showing Sisi the underworld that she will (implicitly) be queen of, and he having gotten the girl. How do the other major characters fare? Franz Joseph outlives his wife (who he loved unconditionally, but she eventually ceased to return his affection) by decades. Sophie dies without much fanfare. The Hungarian revolutionaries are arrested. Rudolf has been DrivenToSuicide.]]
* OutlivingOnesOffspring: Elisabeth and Franz Joseph live to witness [[spoiler:the death of their infant daughter]] and, later, [[spoiler:Rudolf's suicide.]]
** A peasant mother comes to beg Franz Joseph to spare the life of her revolutionary son, who has been sentenced to death for treason. Her efforts fail.
** Sophie's second oldest son, Emperor Maximilian I of Mexico, is shown at the end being executed by Mexican revolutionaries.
* TheOphelia: Sisi visits mental hospitals in her spare time. At one of them, a patient named Windisch proceeds to loudly claim that [[NapoleonDelusion she is the true Empress Elisabeth]] and Sisi is an impostor who should be locked up. Productions often have Windisch's long hair braided like the empress' famous hair, with flowers to imitate the star-shaped hair decorations in the famous Winterhalter portrait, if not recreating a mad version of said portrait altogether. In the 2018 Creator/TakarazukaRevue production, Windisch carries a tattered white fan that the black-clad Empress exchanges for her black one. Elisabeth envies Windisch and wishes she could openly be TheOphelia.
* ParentalAbandonment: Elisabeth is actively prevented from having a hand in raising her son Rudolf; upon realizing this, she stops trying to have one. As an aging woman, she finally realizes her father, Max, whom she idolized, was emotionally (and frequently physically) absent from her life and never gave her the emotional support she craved from him.
* PaperThinDisguise:
** Death's doctor costume. Some actors don't even wear a hat, making it even more obvious. Justified, though, since he's Death, and so presumably has some way to prevent Elisabeth recognising him. Averted with Shirota Yuu, who actually pitches his voice lower, growls, and has a cane, a limp, and his back to the audience.
** His disguise as Mary Vetsera during the Mayerling Waltz is also quite obvious in some productions.
* PepTalkSong: Oddly enough, "Die Schatten werden länger (Reprise)" has Death encouraging Rudolf to take action and rebel against his father. The Takarazuka and Toho productions have "Verschwörung" follow it, which has the straighter example of the revolutionaries giving Rudolf another pep talk to the same end.
* PetTheDog: Takarazuka has Sisi embracing Miss Windisch (the woman at the asylum). Manaki Reika (2018 production)'s Sisi exchanged her fine black fan for the woman's tattered one.
* PerspectiveFlip: Takarazuka's main draw being the male roles, they needed to make Death the main character, so Levay collaborated with Takarazuka to compose the song Ai To Shi No Rondo/Kein Kommen Ohne Geh'n which humanized Death and placed his emotional journey at the center of the story. Strangely, the Hungarian version with a far more inhuman Death used the song as well.
* PietaPlagiarism: Death usually holds Elisabeth this way at the very end.
* PleaseKillMeIfItSatisfiesYou:
** [[spoiler:Rudolf running after the angels and/or begging Death for the gun in some productions. He obliges.]]
** [[spoiler:Sisi finally giving in and begging Death to MercyKill her after Rudolf's death. He does not oblige this time - he straight up turns her away in disgust after he hears her begging in the German productions. The Japanese production has him going in for the KissOfDeath first, before realizing she's just using him to get out of her grief.]]
* PleaseSpareHimMyLiege: A mother tries to save her son - whose only offense was, according to her, yelling "Freedom" - from execution by pleading Franz Joseph for his mercy. If it weren't for Sophie, it would've worked.
* PoorCommunicationKills:
** Franz Joseph's inability to communicate/mediate between his mother and wife causes much consternation. It arguably causes the death of [[spoiler:little Sophie, because if there hadn't been such a rift between Sophie the elder and Sisi, the Empress might not have insisted on her daughters accompanying her to Hungary.]]
** [[spoiler:Sisi's unwillingness/inability to understand Rudolf's desperate situation is the last straw that drives him to suicide.]] The Japanese productions have her explicitly misjudge the situation as only political, and one Rudolf can get out of on his own because he's an adult capable of handling things maturely - making her more sympathetic than [[spoiler: merely turning him away because she has cut her bonds with the Emperor]].
* PoseOfSupplication: In the Takarazuka version, Rudolf kneels and clings to Death ''a lot'', in both Die Schatten and Mayerling. In the original German production, Rudolf also kneels and buries his face in Death's lap/thigh.
** In one live performance of Die Schatten werden länger at Musical Meets Opera, because there was no carriage, der Tod (Mark Seibert) stood while Rudolf (Anton Zetterholm) clung bodily to one leg.
* PostKissCatatonia: There's an example that overlaps with the KissOfDeath in the Toho production with Shirota Yuu as Death and Furukawa Yuta as Rudolf. Inverted in that Rudolf is the one that initiates the kiss, and also the one who's left staring blankly as Death walks away. [[spoiler: He then shoots himself.]]
* ThePowerOfLove: Invoked by Franz Joseph during ''Boote in der Nacht'' when he visits Sisi during one of her wanderings and tries to get her to return home by saying that love can heal anything, to which Sisi says that they weren't [[spoiler:meant to be.]]
* PsychicAssistedSuicide: Depending on the production, the Mayerling Waltz can either look like cold-blooded murder, DrivenToSuicide, or this.
* PsychoticSmirk: Except for one lapse in self control, Mark Seibert's Death wore this constantly on his face during Der letzte Tanz, whether he's violently dancing with Sisi, invading her personal space, or just generally gloating. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RZmmVNEfNA8 Enjoy.]]
* PunchAWall: During ''Der letzte Tanz'', as his seduction is continually rebuffed by a frightened Elisabeth, Mark Seibert's Death storms off, punches or kicks a wall, and yells in frustration between verses before resuming his smooth sultry act. This was captured on the 2012 cast recording.
* QueerRomance: Regardless of Death's ulterior motive or attitude towards Rudolf, there is still a seduction scene/subplot.
* QuizzicalTilt: Shirota Yu's Death is fond of this, as his take on the character is an inhuman being intrigued by humans.
* RaysFromHeaven: During the ending as performed by Pia Douwes and Uwe Kröger, these rays shine down on Elisabeth and Death when he comes for her after her assassination. This shows how, in death, she has the freedom she had always longed for. She has hope, she can go up to the sky.
* RebelliousPrincess: Elisabeth fits this trope like a glove fits a hand. Considering the way her story ends, could be a {{deconstruction}}.
* TheRevolutionWillNotBeCivilized: This trope gradually creeps up over the course of the show -- the common people are shown progressing from being innocent trampled victims of the upper class to the scapegoating predecessors of ThoseWackyNazis in their growing distaste for the old order.
* RewatchBonus: The musical reuses melodies in a completely different context. The most notable example is the music played at Elisabeth's wedding in act one, which towards the end of act two is played again at [[spoiler: Rudolf's]] suicide. Also at Elisabeth's wedding, the tune of the song her guests sing is given new lyrics and reused in act two as her husband cheats on her. Watching the show more than once turns the wedding music into especially grim {{Foreshadowing}}.
* RomanticFalseLead: Elisabeth's elder sister Helene, for all of about five minutes. Given that the musical isn't named after her, we know in advance how this'll end. Though Helene exits the stage with sadness at her wasted efforts, in real life she actually found a much happier marriage than that of Elisabeth and Franz Joseph.
* RoyalInbreeding: Franz Joseph is set up with two of his first cousins and ends up marrying one (Elisabeth).
* RoyallyScrewedUp: During "An Deck der sinkenden Welt" ("On the Deck of the Sinking World"), Lucheni lists all of Elisabeth's family members who've gone crazy or died of unnatural causes.
** Then there's the main characters: Elisabeth, who ends up [[BreakTheCutie well and truly broken]] by the end; [[MommasBoy Franz Joseph]]; [[EvilMatriarch Sophie]]; and Rudolf, who is possibly the only character ''more'' miserable than Elisabeth. And then there's Death, who is royalty of some sort (Lucheni calls him "His Majesty", and the Japanese versions call him "Lord of the Underworld") and is [[StalkerWithACrush certainly]] [[BlueAndOrangeMorality very]] [[{{Yandere}} screwed-up]].
* RuleOfSymbolism: The Vienna stagings run heavily on this, every which way, from the necklace Franz Joseph gives Elisabeth to seal their engagement looking like a heavy gold noose to the fact that Rudolf's ghost appears as his child-self still weeping for his mother to comfort him after all this time.
** The 2005 Vienna revival is very fond of puppet symbolism/imagery. Lucheni is the puppeteer and the dead the puppets in the prologue, Death is the puppeteer to Elisabeth and Rudolf in "Wenn ich tanzen will" and "Die Schatten werden länger" respectively, and there is a moment in "Am Deck der sinkenden Welt," when Death briefly plays puppetmaster to Lucheni after throwing him the file, and Lucheni falls limply to the ground when Death breaks his hold.
* SanitySlippageSong: Subverted, in that "Nichts, Nichts, Gar Nichts" ("Nothing, Nothing, Nothing At All") is the song in which Elisabeth makes a conscious decision NOT to go mad, however tempting the prospect.
* ScrewTheRulesIHaveConnections:
** Toho Rudolf got out of being arrested by revealing his identity. "Rudolf..." [reluctantly] "Habsburg." Cue the arresting officers going OhCrap at the fact that they were about to throw ''the Crown Prince'' in jail.
** In the Takarazuka production, the guards recognize Rudolf without prompting, but only after they've grabbed him and pointed rifles at him.
* ShirtlessScene:
** In the Hungarian production, a dancer - possibly Mary Vetsera's stand-in - rips Rudolf's shirt off. It's hanging at his waist when he [[spoiler: receives the kiss of Death.]]
** The Todesengels in the Toho productions are shirtless in almost all of their appearances in Act 2. In the same productions, Death is ''technically'' never shirtless, but his shirts don't leave a lot to the imagination either.
* ShoutOut:
** Tamaki Ryou's Death (Takarazuka, 2018) is [[Theatre/{{Hamlet}} examining a skull]] as his angels bring Elisabeth to the underworld. Might double as ActorAllusion, as Tama had played Laertes in Zuka's adaptation of Hamlet.
** Death and Sisi's conversation at the end of "Elisabeth, mach auf" sounds like an expanded version of Schubert's ''lied'' "Der Tod und das Mädchen" (Death and the Maiden) with Death speaking first. It's also emphasized in the staging, with Sisi wearing white (for RuleOfSymbolism as she is technically no longer a maiden, and this song marks one of her turning points in CharacterDevelopment), and Death in black reaching out for her.
* SopranoAndGravel: Máté Kamarás' raspy voice (although still tenor) creates this contrast in "Wenn ich tanzen will".
* SoundtrackDissonance: Elisabeth and Franz Joseph's wedding scene is performed as a morbid funeral march.
* SparedByTheAdaptation: Presumably happens to Elisabeth's daughter Sophie in the Takarazuka versions. Her illness and death are never mentioned, but she never appears again.
* SubvertedRhymeEveryOccasion: "Sie möchte, dass Franz Joseph sich mit Helene... trifft."
* SungThroughMusical: The only spoken lines are when Lucheni provides exposition for the audience, Liechtenstein talking to "Doctor Seeburger", and a few words by Franz Joseph at the beginning of "Boote in der Nacht". Takarazuka and Toho have more spoken lines, though.
* SwingLowSweetHarriet: For the Elisabeth in Concert productions, the titular character [[spoiler: falls off a swing (pushed by Death) instead of a tightrope.]]
* TakeThat: "Kitsch" has these lines: "But what she really was like/ is something that you'll never learn from any book or movie" - the movies meant are, of course, the ''Sissi'' trilogy with Romy Schneider.
* TakeThatAudience:
** In the song "Kitsch", Lucheni mocks the audience for expecting a pretty fairy tale about the lovely empress and her handsome husband. Note that the audiences of the original production went in expecting exactly that.
** Uwe Kröger, the original Death, went into his audition thinking it was an adaptation of the 1950s "Sissi" films and hoping to be cast as Franz Joseph, so the show kind of surprised ''everyone'' with its DarkerAndEdgier approach.
* TimeShiftedActor:
** Rudolf is double-cast as a child and adult. The two selves show up side by side in the opening number.
** Usually averted with Sisi even though the show covers her life from teen years to old age. The 2022 Elisabeth in Concert is the first production to double-cast Abla Alaoui and Maya Hakvoort as teenage and adult Sisi. In the middle of "Ich gehör nur mir", young Sisi tries to climb the set but is swarmed by attendants. Adult Sisi then emerges from the crowd.
* TimeSkip: Several of them. Justified, as the show covers Elisabeth's life from age 14 to her death at 61.
* TogetherInDeath: Or ''with'' Death in this case.
* TrailersAlwaysSpoil: [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pazuQ--rYls This trailer]] blatantly shows the Mayerling Waltz. (Sisi's death doesn't count, because Lucheni says "I killed her because she wanted to die," some several seconds into the video.) It's not much of a spoiler for German/Austrian audiences, or people familiar with that era, because both [[spoiler: the Empress' ImpaledWithExtremePrejudice and the Crown Prince's MurderSuicide]] is well-known. Outside of that, though, viewers caught unaware (especially those who have issues with viewing gun violence and suicide) are in for a potential shock. The trailer narrator even says, [[{{LampshadeHanging}} "It's more than a show, it's history."]]
* TroubledFetalPosition:
** The Takarazuka choreography for ''Yami ga hirogaru'' has Death breaking Rudolf out of this.
** A distressed Sisi starts ''Ich gehör nur mir'' in this.
* TroublingUnchildlikeBehavior: Oh, Rudolf. "Yesterday I killed a cat!" The blow is softened because he clarifies it with "I can be hard and evil like the world is, but sometimes I would rather be soft." - implying that he may not have ''wanted'' to do it, or taken any joy in it.
* TrueLovesKiss: Also serves as the KissOfDeath in this case.
* TheDeadCanDance: Shown in the awesome "Prologue".
* TheUnfairSex: Averted, in that it's hard to blame Franz Joseph for seeking out a prostitute's affections when Elisabeth ignores him as much as she does.
* UnrequitedLoveSwitcheroo: When the young Elisabeth wakes up in the arms of Death after her fall, she implores "her dark prince" not to leave her, saying she felt good in his arms. He leaves, but comes back to gloat at her wedding that he'll win her in the end, when she's no longer interested. While mourning, Elisabeth calls out to him (mostly out of desperation), but he won't have her anymore. In the end, though, it works out... in a way.
* VeryLooselyBasedOnATrueStory: All over the place, with some plot points being based on mere hearsay. It's partially justified by the fact that Lucheni is an UnreliableNarrator, with a vested interest in driving the Judge (and the audience, by extension) against Sisi.
** Sophie was more of a KnightTemplarParent in real life than the EvilMatriarch of the show. She also initially got along with Sisi, instead of disapproving of her from day one.
** Franz Joseph never secretly cheated on Sisi, or gave her an STD. She actually encouraged and endorsed his relationship with Katharina Schratt. ''Rudolf'' was the one rumored to have syphilis - which he might have passed onto his wife, Stéphanie.
** The meeting at Bad Ischl was not a LoveAtFirstSight incident on Sisi's part. She was inconsolable at the death of a Count Richard S., who she had fallen in love with. Ludovika took her to Bad Ischl in hopes of pulling her out of sorrow. (Franz Joseph, however, ''did'' instantly become infatuated with her, which she was initially oblivious about.)
** The show cut out Rudolf's more unsavory actions. He had an obsession with death and violence that escalated as he aged [[note]]aside from aristocratic hunting, he also sought out dying people to see the light leave their eyes, and went to graveyards and funerals. In his feeble defense, he was encouraged to take an interest in bloodshed because his father wanted him to be a soldier.[[/note]], utilized a spy ring (incidentally, run by Madame Wolf), had multiple lovers [[note]]and even brought one to his wedding[[/note]], and, as a 30-year-old, coerced the 17-year-old Mary Vetsera into [[spoiler:MurderSuicide]]. [[note]]Vetsera was a last resort. Prior to her, he had asked Stéphanie and another lover, Mizzi (or Mitzi) Caspar, to die with him. They both refused.[[/note]]
*** That being said, he did write firebrand articles anonymously, but stopped short of participating in a public demonstration (as the Toho and Takarazuka versions have it). The question of his disinheriting was never brought up, either. [[note]]There has been accounts, however, of Franz Joseph and Rudolf quarreling before Mayerling, with some stating that it was over Mary Vetsera.[[/note]] While he was a hunter and naturalist, he also did not kill any cat (that we know of.) [[https://sternenkaiserinblog.files.wordpress.com/2018/01/kronprinzrudolf_vonoesterreichnaturaufnahme.jpg Here's Rudolf as a young boy, with a cat.]]
** Sisi did become cynical and depressed, but she continued having flirtations with men, in a "look but don't touch" way, never letting them get emotionally close to her.
** The show portrays Sisi leaving Franz Joseph shortly after the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of 1867, but in reality they still lived together as a married couple for quite some time; in fact, Sisi gave birth to their last child Marie Valerie during that time period. Sisi didn't become estranged from her husband until after Rudolf's death in 1889, but even then she would still spend some of her time living in Vienna with her family.
** The Creator/TakarazukaRevue added the supernatural element of Death taking the knife that Sisi tried to kill herself with in "Watashi dake ni" (Ich gehör nur mir), showing it to her later on, and [[spoiler:handing it to Lucheni to use as her murder weapon. It also painted her death as her being DrivenToSuicide to reunite with Death and finally be free of her suffering.]] In real life (and other productions), Lucheni [[spoiler:stabbed her with a file, and everyone (including Sisi) were unaware of the fact until she fainted and her outer clothing was undone, revealing the wound.]]
* VillainOpeningScene: It's hard to tell who's the real villain, but the prologue starts with Lucheni on trial for assassinating Elisabeth and ends with Death singing about his [[StalkerWithACrush love for Elisabeth]].
* VillainSong: Almost every song could be seen as this, depending on your point of view, but the most obvious examples are "Der letzte Tanz", "Kitsch", "Hass", and "Die Schatten werden länger".
* VillainRecruitmentSong: "Die Schatten werden länger". Especially overt in productions that have Rudolf's rebellion subplot, because Death is present at every point of Rudolf's involvement with the Hungarians, pulling the strings - Rudolf is essentially working for Death after "Die Schatten".
* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: Gisela, Elisabeth's second child, is mentioned in "Die ersten vier Jahre" and "Elisabeth, mach auf mein Engel", then disappears from the story.
* WhatIsThisThingYouCallLove: Death falls in love with Sisi, spends a song mulling it over [[note]]the solo "Ai to Shi no Rondo"/"The Rondo of Love and Death", created for the Takarazuka Revue production, and made its way back into the German as the duet "Rondo/Schwarzer Prinz (Black Prince)"[[/note]], and decides that [[spoiler:loving her means [[StalkerWithACrush pursuing her wherever she goes]] and persuading her to die [[TogetherInDeath so she could be with him.]]]]
* WhatNowEnding: The very last shot of the Toho DVD is Death, having [[spoiler:kissed Sisi]], looking at the camera with a [[MyGodWhatHaveIDone stunned, lost expression.]] Cut to black.
* WhiteShirtOfDeath: Although there's no blood, after [[spoiler: she's been stabbed]], Sisi takes off her black mourning coat, revealing the white dress she wore as a teenage girl and runs to embrace Death.
* WouldHurtAChild: Death kills Elisabeth's daughter Sophie, and in the Toho productions he aims a gun at young Rudolf. Furukawa Yuta's Death offers the gun to the boy, holding it by the barrel, to foreshadow the Mayerling Waltz.
* YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness: [[spoiler:Some Deaths go for this in Mayerling. Furukawa Yuta's Death is quite sad about Rudolf's failure to be much of a challenge, but it doesn't stop him from slapping Kyomoto Taiga's Rudolf or failing to reciprocate the kiss from Miura Ryosuke's Rudolf. Even the one he seemed to hate least, Tatsunari Kimura's Rudolf, only got Death looking at him as he shot himself ("seeing him off") as a "reward".]]
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* ManipulativeBastard: Death manipulates everybody all so he can win Elisabeth's love.
* MassiveMultiplayerEnsembleNumber: "Alle tanzten mit dem Tod" ("Everyone has Danced with Death") has the whole gigantic cast on stage and singing.
* MaybeMagicMaybeMundane: In some versions, especially the original 1992 version, Death may only exist in Elisabeth's and Rudolf's minds (or in Lucheni's, since he's the narrator), or he may be a real supernatural being that stalks Elisabeth. In other productions Death's existence is much less ambiguous.
* MayflyDecemberRomance: Could be considered such because Death is ageless.
* MediumAwareness: Tsukishiro Kanato (2018, Takarazuka)'s Lucheni asks the audience if they've noticed a camera today, says he too has noticed a camera, and then [[BreakingTheFourthWall asks the cameraperson to come closer and make sure he looks handsome.]]
* MelancholyMusicalNumber:
** "Wenn ich dein Spiegel wär": Rudolf sadly musing about his (lack of a) relationship with his mother, even though they are so similar.
** "Totenklage/Rudolf, wo bist du?": Sisi [[spoiler:mourning her son and regretting that her refusal to help him was his DespairEventHorizon.]] The Takarazuka productions follow this up with a reprise of Ai to Shi no Rondo, which is Death being upset about his unreciprocated feelings and that Sisi tried to use him as an escape from her grief.
** "Boote in der Nacht": Franz and Sisi arriving at the conclusion that they're not [[spoiler:meant to be.]]
* MindControlEyes:
** Rudolf's expression during "Yami ga hirogaru" in the 2016 Toho production flickers rapidly between unnatural blankness and evident distress. Every time Death's hand gets near his face/head, his eyes briefly unfocus. It shows up again in Mayerling.
** Same thing with Sisi during "Ai to Shi no Rondo", too.
* MindControl:
** Most obvious with Shirota Yuu and Furukawa Yuta's portrayal of Death and Rudolf. Yuu's Death seems to be able to control humans telepathically/telekinetically, but can reinforce the control through touch (as mentioned in MindControlEyes above).
** In the same production, Sisi (Hanafusa Mari) slowly grows out of vulnerability to Death's power:
*** Young Sisi in the realm of Death is easily controlled, dancing along with the Angels, falling unconscious when Death waves a hand in front of her face.
*** She's visibly fighting him (looking terrified and in pain, clutching at her head) in "Saigo no Dansu" ("Der letzte Tanz") but flickers in and out of it at some points.
*** She doesn't seem to be affected at all in the first act's version of "Yami ga hirogaru" ("Die Schatten werden länger"), only grieving for [[spoiler: baby Sophie]]. Notable for Death getting up close to her, grabbing her wrist, and whispering into her ear (she flinches at this).
*** "Watashi ga odoru toki" ("Wenn ich tanzen will") sees Sisi triumphant, out of Death's reach for almost the entirety of the song. She easily breaks out of his physical contact, and maintains a victorious smile throughout. She even {{Troll}}s him by pretending to take his hand when he offers it, and then actually pulling away before they touch.
* AMinorKidroduction: Elisabeth is 14 when we first see her; Rudolf is about six the first time and then reappears at about eleven before we finally see him as a young man. (It varies from production to production whether or not the same child actor plays him as a small child and again as a preteen. Takarazuka cuts the younger Rudolf altogether, only showing preteen Rudolf during Mama, wo bist du - albeit [[DawsonCasting played by an adult actress.]])
* MoodWhiplash: "Nichts ist schwer" ("Nothing is Hard"), a tender love song between teenage Sisi and Franz Joseph, is immediately followed by the OminousPipeOrgan of "Alle Fragen sind gestellt" ("All Questions Have Been Asked"), which doubles as SoundtrackDissonance since it's the accompaniment to their ''wedding'' (and thus the first {{foreshadowing}} that things will not end well). The original production made the whiplash even harder by having the lovers suddenly collapse like puppets with cut strings as soon as "Nichts ist schwer" ended.
* MommasBoy: Oh, Franz Joseph. Sophie, in her misguided way, [[KnightTemplarParent wants the best for him.]] It's too bad Sisi and Rudolf got caught in the crossfire. Franz stands up to her twice: once in "Ich gehör nur mir (Reprise)" when he overrides the Queen Mother to give Sisi final say on how her children are raised, and [[CallingTheOldManOut called his mother out]] in "Streit Mütter und Sohn/Mama, ich bin ausser mir" for her maltreatment of Sisi and her attempts to break his marriage in the name of throne and country. [[spoiler: It's too little, too late for his wife and son.]]
* MoreThanMindControl: Death seems to have this type of influence over Rudolf. They first meet while little Rudolf is sadly calling to his mother, and their first exchange translates to
-->'''Death:''' She can't hear you. Don't call to her.
--> '''Rudolf:''' Who are you?
-->'''Death:''' I am a friend. When you need me, I'll come to you. (Moves as though to leave)
--> '''Rudolf:''' Stay!
--> '''Death:''' I'll stay close.
** And little Rudolf's proud statement of "Yesterday I killed a cat!" seems to imply that he realizes that his new friend is Death incarnate, but trusts him. And Rudolf still completely trusts Death when he shows up again 18 YEARS LATER. Death then makes his More Than Mind Control even stronger with "Die Schatten werden langer."
** In most productions, the choreography of "Die Schatten werden langer" includes Death physically grabbing Rudolf and manipulating his actions, usually not very gently. In at least one production, Death pulls Rudolf closer without even touching him, apparently through some form of telekinesis. Aside from dodging the lethal kisses Death attempts to give him, Rudolf doesn't resist this manipulation. In the Takarazuka version, Rudolf actively reaches for Death's hand or otherwise deliberately puts himself in a position that makes the direct physical manipulation possible. Multiple times.
*** A dance move prevalent in many productions is Death dragging Rudolf forward, Rudolf fighting back, but his feet keep inching towards Death.
* MusicalisInterruptus: Happens in the Takarazuka productions during a reprise of "Ich gehör nur mir" when Lucheni takes a picture of the Empress.
* MyBelovedSmother: Sophie.
* MyGodWhatHaveIDone: ''Rudolf, where are you? Can you hear me calling?''
* NapoleonDelusion: Elisabeth visits an insane asylum and meets a patient who believes that she herself is the empress. [[GildedCage Elisabeth envies the woman's happiness in her role.]]
* NiceJobBreakingItHero:
** The Takarazuka version paints Sisi's refusal to intercede on Rudolf's behalf as stemming from her disappointment that he's asking her to solve a (political) issue [[note]]which was something Franz Joseph did and part of the reason their marriage deteriorated[[/note]], with her telling him that he's an adult now and should deal with his own issues. Sounds like a reasonable thing for a mother to say, but [[spoiler:it was the final straw that drove Rudolf to suicide.]]
** Sisi's attempt to take back her independence and spend time with her daughters (who had been taken away from her by [[EvilMatriarch Sophie]]) backfired, leading to Gisela's illness and little Sophie's death.
* NoFourthWall: For Lucheni, at least.
* ObnoxiousInLaws: Sophie. She starts out complaining that Elisabeth isn't suited to Franz Joseph (and to be fair, [[JerkassHasAPoint she's right]]) and ends up sending Franz Joseph to a brothel just to weaken Elisabeth's influence.
* ObsessionSong: Death, three times, all of the aggressive type.
** "Die Schatten werden länger", act 1. "You need me. Yes, you need me."
** He actually gets physically aggressive with Sisi during [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RZmmVNEfNA8 "Der letzte Tanz"]] and "Wenn ich tanzen will": dancing violently, throwing her around, kneeling between her legs and leaning in very close to her face, grabbing her by the wrists/hands and then the back of the head... All of this is done while he reiterates that no one loves/understands her as he does, she is free only through him, and she will want him/be his eventually.
** "Ai to Shi no Rondo", added for the [[FourIsDeath Japanese production]] and eventually made its way back to the German production as "Rondo - Schwarzer Prinz", has Death saying that he will pursue Elisabeth until he wins her love.
* OhCrap: The Toho production has a lot of these moments.
** The arresting police officers panicking when they realized they nearly threw the ''Crown Prince'' in jail.
** Rudolf, pushed to the floor (either shoved by Inoue Yoshio's Death, or flicked by Shirota Yuu's Death), makes a horrified face and frantically backs away when Death gets in his personal space.
** Rudolf seems to come to his senses from Death's MindControl in ''Mayerling'' and tries to make a break for it as what he is about to do sinks in. [[spoiler: Death hauls him back telekinetically, and Rudolf - quite possibly no longer of his own volition - frantically ''begs'' Death for the gun.]]
** In a funny moment, Lucheni made this face when he got caught in the middle of Sophie and Max's argument in "Sie passt nicht".
* OnlyTheLeadsGetAHappyEnding: The Creator/TakarazukaRevue production gives this to the leads [[spoiler:(Death and Sisi). They are TogetherInDeath (well, when one's love interest/StalkerWithACrush ''is'' Death...), and the show ends with Death showing Sisi the underworld that she will (implicitly) be queen of, and he having gotten the girl. How do the other major characters fare? Franz Joseph outlives his wife (who he loved unconditionally, but she eventually ceased to return his affection) by decades. Sophie dies without much fanfare. The Hungarian revolutionaries are arrested. Rudolf has been DrivenToSuicide.]]
* OutlivingOnesOffspring: Elisabeth and Franz Joseph live to witness [[spoiler:the death of their infant daughter]] and, later, [[spoiler:Rudolf's suicide.]]
** A peasant mother comes to beg Franz Joseph to spare the life of her revolutionary son, who has been sentenced to death for treason. Her efforts fail.
** Sophie's second oldest son, Emperor Maximilian I of Mexico, is shown at the end being executed by Mexican revolutionaries.
* TheOphelia: Sisi visits mental hospitals in her spare time. At one of them, a patient named Windisch proceeds to loudly claim that [[NapoleonDelusion she is the true Empress Elisabeth]] and Sisi is an impostor who should be locked up. Productions often have Windisch's long hair braided like the empress' famous hair, with flowers to imitate the star-shaped hair decorations in the famous Winterhalter portrait, if not recreating a mad version of said portrait altogether. In the 2018 Creator/TakarazukaRevue production, Windisch carries a tattered white fan that the black-clad Empress exchanges for her black one. Elisabeth envies Windisch and wishes she could openly be TheOphelia.
* ParentalAbandonment: Elisabeth is actively prevented from having a hand in raising her son Rudolf; upon realizing this, she stops trying to have one. As an aging woman, she finally realizes her father, Max, whom she idolized, was emotionally (and frequently physically) absent from her life and never gave her the emotional support she craved from him.
* PaperThinDisguise:
** Death's doctor costume. Some actors don't even wear a hat, making it even more obvious. Justified, though, since he's Death, and so presumably has some way to prevent Elisabeth recognising him. Averted with Shirota Yuu, who actually pitches his voice lower, growls, and has a cane, a limp, and his back to the audience.
** His disguise as Mary Vetsera during the Mayerling Waltz is also quite obvious in some productions.
* PepTalkSong: Oddly enough, "Die Schatten werden länger (Reprise)" has Death encouraging Rudolf to take action and rebel against his father. The Takarazuka and Toho productions have "Verschwörung" follow it, which has the straighter example of the revolutionaries giving Rudolf another pep talk to the same end.
* PetTheDog: Takarazuka has Sisi embracing Miss Windisch (the woman at the asylum). Manaki Reika (2018 production)'s Sisi exchanged her fine black fan for the woman's tattered one.
* PerspectiveFlip: Takarazuka's main draw being the male roles, they needed to make Death the main character, so Levay collaborated with Takarazuka to compose the song Ai To Shi No Rondo/Kein Kommen Ohne Geh'n which humanized Death and placed his emotional journey at the center of the story. Strangely, the Hungarian version with a far more inhuman Death used the song as well.
* PietaPlagiarism: Death usually holds Elisabeth this way at the very end.
* PleaseKillMeIfItSatisfiesYou:
** [[spoiler:Rudolf running after the angels and/or begging Death for the gun in some productions. He obliges.]]
** [[spoiler:Sisi finally giving in and begging Death to MercyKill her after Rudolf's death. He does not oblige this time - he straight up turns her away in disgust after he hears her begging in the German productions. The Japanese production has him going in for the KissOfDeath first, before realizing she's just using him to get out of her grief.]]
* PleaseSpareHimMyLiege: A mother tries to save her son - whose only offense was, according to her, yelling "Freedom" - from execution by pleading Franz Joseph for his mercy. If it weren't for Sophie, it would've worked.
* PoorCommunicationKills:
** Franz Joseph's inability to communicate/mediate between his mother and wife causes much consternation. It arguably causes the death of [[spoiler:little Sophie, because if there hadn't been such a rift between Sophie the elder and Sisi, the Empress might not have insisted on her daughters accompanying her to Hungary.]]
** [[spoiler:Sisi's unwillingness/inability to understand Rudolf's desperate situation is the last straw that drives him to suicide.]] The Japanese productions have her explicitly misjudge the situation as only political, and one Rudolf can get out of on his own because he's an adult capable of handling things maturely - making her more sympathetic than [[spoiler: merely turning him away because she has cut her bonds with the Emperor]].
* PoseOfSupplication: In the Takarazuka version, Rudolf kneels and clings to Death ''a lot'', in both Die Schatten and Mayerling. In the original German production, Rudolf also kneels and buries his face in Death's lap/thigh.
** In one live performance of Die Schatten werden länger at Musical Meets Opera, because there was no carriage, der Tod (Mark Seibert) stood while Rudolf (Anton Zetterholm) clung bodily to one leg.
* PostKissCatatonia: There's an example that overlaps with the KissOfDeath in the Toho production with Shirota Yuu as Death and Furukawa Yuta as Rudolf. Inverted in that Rudolf is the one that initiates the kiss, and also the one who's left staring blankly as Death walks away. [[spoiler: He then shoots himself.]]
* ThePowerOfLove: Invoked by Franz Joseph during ''Boote in der Nacht'' when he visits Sisi during one of her wanderings and tries to get her to return home by saying that love can heal anything, to which Sisi says that they weren't [[spoiler:meant to be.]]
* PsychicAssistedSuicide: Depending on the production, the Mayerling Waltz can either look like cold-blooded murder, DrivenToSuicide, or this.
* PsychoticSmirk: Except for one lapse in self control, Mark Seibert's Death wore this constantly on his face during Der letzte Tanz, whether he's violently dancing with Sisi, invading her personal space, or just generally gloating. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RZmmVNEfNA8 Enjoy.]]
* PunchAWall: During ''Der letzte Tanz'', as his seduction is continually rebuffed by a frightened Elisabeth, Mark Seibert's Death storms off, punches or kicks a wall, and yells in frustration between verses before resuming his smooth sultry act. This was captured on the 2012 cast recording.
* QueerRomance: Regardless of Death's ulterior motive or attitude towards Rudolf, there is still a seduction scene/subplot.
* QuizzicalTilt: Shirota Yu's Death is fond of this, as his take on the character is an inhuman being intrigued by humans.
* RaysFromHeaven: During the ending as performed by Pia Douwes and Uwe Kröger, these rays shine down on Elisabeth and Death when he comes for her after her assassination. This shows how, in death, she has the freedom she had always longed for. She has hope, she can go up to the sky.
* RebelliousPrincess: Elisabeth fits this trope like a glove fits a hand. Considering the way her story ends, could be a {{deconstruction}}.
* TheRevolutionWillNotBeCivilized: This trope gradually creeps up over the course of the show -- the common people are shown progressing from being innocent trampled victims of the upper class to the scapegoating predecessors of ThoseWackyNazis in their growing distaste for the old order.
* RewatchBonus: The musical reuses melodies in a completely different context. The most notable example is the music played at Elisabeth's wedding in act one, which towards the end of act two is played again at [[spoiler: Rudolf's]] suicide. Also at Elisabeth's wedding, the tune of the song her guests sing is given new lyrics and reused in act two as her husband cheats on her. Watching the show more than once turns the wedding music into especially grim {{Foreshadowing}}.
* RomanticFalseLead: Elisabeth's elder sister Helene, for all of about five minutes. Given that the musical isn't named after her, we know in advance how this'll end. Though Helene exits the stage with sadness at her wasted efforts, in real life she actually found a much happier marriage than that of Elisabeth and Franz Joseph.
* RoyalInbreeding: Franz Joseph is set up with two of his first cousins and ends up marrying one (Elisabeth).
* RoyallyScrewedUp: During "An Deck der sinkenden Welt" ("On the Deck of the Sinking World"), Lucheni lists all of Elisabeth's family members who've gone crazy or died of unnatural causes.
** Then there's the main characters: Elisabeth, who ends up [[BreakTheCutie well and truly broken]] by the end; [[MommasBoy Franz Joseph]]; [[EvilMatriarch Sophie]]; and Rudolf, who is possibly the only character ''more'' miserable than Elisabeth. And then there's Death, who is royalty of some sort (Lucheni calls him "His Majesty", and the Japanese versions call him "Lord of the Underworld") and is [[StalkerWithACrush certainly]] [[BlueAndOrangeMorality very]] [[{{Yandere}} screwed-up]].
* RuleOfSymbolism: The Vienna stagings run heavily on this, every which way, from the necklace Franz Joseph gives Elisabeth to seal their engagement looking like a heavy gold noose to the fact that Rudolf's ghost appears as his child-self still weeping for his mother to comfort him after all this time.
** The 2005 Vienna revival is very fond of puppet symbolism/imagery. Lucheni is the puppeteer and the dead the puppets in the prologue, Death is the puppeteer to Elisabeth and Rudolf in "Wenn ich tanzen will" and "Die Schatten werden länger" respectively, and there is a moment in "Am Deck der sinkenden Welt," when Death briefly plays puppetmaster to Lucheni after throwing him the file, and Lucheni falls limply to the ground when Death breaks his hold.
* SanitySlippageSong: Subverted, in that "Nichts, Nichts, Gar Nichts" ("Nothing, Nothing, Nothing At All") is the song in which Elisabeth makes a conscious decision NOT to go mad, however tempting the prospect.
* ScrewTheRulesIHaveConnections:
** Toho Rudolf got out of being arrested by revealing his identity. "Rudolf..." [reluctantly] "Habsburg." Cue the arresting officers going OhCrap at the fact that they were about to throw ''the Crown Prince'' in jail.
** In the Takarazuka production, the guards recognize Rudolf without prompting, but only after they've grabbed him and pointed rifles at him.
* ShirtlessScene:
** In the Hungarian production, a dancer - possibly Mary Vetsera's stand-in - rips Rudolf's shirt off. It's hanging at his waist when he [[spoiler: receives the kiss of Death.]]
** The Todesengels in the Toho productions are shirtless in almost all of their appearances in Act 2. In the same productions, Death is ''technically'' never shirtless, but his shirts don't leave a lot to the imagination either.
* ShoutOut:
** Tamaki Ryou's Death (Takarazuka, 2018) is [[Theatre/{{Hamlet}} examining a skull]] as his angels bring Elisabeth to the underworld. Might double as ActorAllusion, as Tama had played Laertes in Zuka's adaptation of Hamlet.
** Death and Sisi's conversation at the end of "Elisabeth, mach auf" sounds like an expanded version of Schubert's ''lied'' "Der Tod und das Mädchen" (Death and the Maiden) with Death speaking first. It's also emphasized in the staging, with Sisi wearing white (for RuleOfSymbolism as she is technically no longer a maiden, and this song marks one of her turning points in CharacterDevelopment), and Death in black reaching out for her.
* SopranoAndGravel: Máté Kamarás' raspy voice (although still tenor) creates this contrast in "Wenn ich tanzen will".
* SoundtrackDissonance: Elisabeth and Franz Joseph's wedding scene is performed as a morbid funeral march.
* SparedByTheAdaptation: Presumably happens to Elisabeth's daughter Sophie in the Takarazuka versions. Her illness and death are never mentioned, but she never appears again.
* SubvertedRhymeEveryOccasion: "Sie möchte, dass Franz Joseph sich mit Helene... trifft."
* SungThroughMusical: The only spoken lines are when Lucheni provides exposition for the audience, Liechtenstein talking to "Doctor Seeburger", and a few words by Franz Joseph at the beginning of "Boote in der Nacht". Takarazuka and Toho have more spoken lines, though.
* SwingLowSweetHarriet: For the Elisabeth in Concert productions, the titular character [[spoiler: falls off a swing (pushed by Death) instead of a tightrope.]]
* TakeThat: "Kitsch" has these lines: "But what she really was like/ is something that you'll never learn from any book or movie" - the movies meant are, of course, the ''Sissi'' trilogy with Romy Schneider.
* TakeThatAudience:
** In the song "Kitsch", Lucheni mocks the audience for expecting a pretty fairy tale about the lovely empress and her handsome husband. Note that the audiences of the original production went in expecting exactly that.
** Uwe Kröger, the original Death, went into his audition thinking it was an adaptation of the 1950s "Sissi" films and hoping to be cast as Franz Joseph, so the show kind of surprised ''everyone'' with its DarkerAndEdgier approach.
* TimeShiftedActor:
** Rudolf is double-cast as a child and adult. The two selves show up side by side in the opening number.
** Usually averted with Sisi even though the show covers her life from teen years to old age. The 2022 Elisabeth in Concert is the first production to double-cast Abla Alaoui and Maya Hakvoort as teenage and adult Sisi. In the middle of "Ich gehör nur mir", young Sisi tries to climb the set but is swarmed by attendants. Adult Sisi then emerges from the crowd.
* TimeSkip: Several of them. Justified, as the show covers Elisabeth's life from age 14 to her death at 61.
* TogetherInDeath: Or ''with'' Death in this case.
* TrailersAlwaysSpoil: [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pazuQ--rYls This trailer]] blatantly shows the Mayerling Waltz. (Sisi's death doesn't count, because Lucheni says "I killed her because she wanted to die," some several seconds into the video.) It's not much of a spoiler for German/Austrian audiences, or people familiar with that era, because both [[spoiler: the Empress' ImpaledWithExtremePrejudice and the Crown Prince's MurderSuicide]] is well-known. Outside of that, though, viewers caught unaware (especially those who have issues with viewing gun violence and suicide) are in for a potential shock. The trailer narrator even says, [[{{LampshadeHanging}} "It's more than a show, it's history."]]
* TroubledFetalPosition:
** The Takarazuka choreography for ''Yami ga hirogaru'' has Death breaking Rudolf out of this.
** A distressed Sisi starts ''Ich gehör nur mir'' in this.
* TroublingUnchildlikeBehavior: Oh, Rudolf. "Yesterday I killed a cat!" The blow is softened because he clarifies it with "I can be hard and evil like the world is, but sometimes I would rather be soft." - implying that he may not have ''wanted'' to do it, or taken any joy in it.
* TrueLovesKiss: Also serves as the KissOfDeath in this case.
* TheDeadCanDance: Shown in the awesome "Prologue".
* TheUnfairSex: Averted, in that it's hard to blame Franz Joseph for seeking out a prostitute's affections when Elisabeth ignores him as much as she does.
* UnrequitedLoveSwitcheroo: When the young Elisabeth wakes up in the arms of Death after her fall, she implores "her dark prince" not to leave her, saying she felt good in his arms. He leaves, but comes back to gloat at her wedding that he'll win her in the end, when she's no longer interested. While mourning, Elisabeth calls out to him (mostly out of desperation), but he won't have her anymore. In the end, though, it works out... in a way.
* VeryLooselyBasedOnATrueStory: All over the place, with some plot points being based on mere hearsay. It's partially justified by the fact that Lucheni is an UnreliableNarrator, with a vested interest in driving the Judge (and the audience, by extension) against Sisi.
** Sophie was more of a KnightTemplarParent in real life than the EvilMatriarch of the show. She also initially got along with Sisi, instead of disapproving of her from day one.
** Franz Joseph never secretly cheated on Sisi, or gave her an STD. She actually encouraged and endorsed his relationship with Katharina Schratt. ''Rudolf'' was the one rumored to have syphilis - which he might have passed onto his wife, Stéphanie.
** The meeting at Bad Ischl was not a LoveAtFirstSight incident on Sisi's part. She was inconsolable at the death of a Count Richard S., who she had fallen in love with. Ludovika took her to Bad Ischl in hopes of pulling her out of sorrow. (Franz Joseph, however, ''did'' instantly become infatuated with her, which she was initially oblivious about.)
** The show cut out Rudolf's more unsavory actions. He had an obsession with death and violence that escalated as he aged [[note]]aside from aristocratic hunting, he also sought out dying people to see the light leave their eyes, and went to graveyards and funerals. In his feeble defense, he was encouraged to take an interest in bloodshed because his father wanted him to be a soldier.[[/note]], utilized a spy ring (incidentally, run by Madame Wolf), had multiple lovers [[note]]and even brought one to his wedding[[/note]], and, as a 30-year-old, coerced the 17-year-old Mary Vetsera into [[spoiler:MurderSuicide]]. [[note]]Vetsera was a last resort. Prior to her, he had asked Stéphanie and another lover, Mizzi (or Mitzi) Caspar, to die with him. They both refused.[[/note]]
*** That being said, he did write firebrand articles anonymously, but stopped short of participating in a public demonstration (as the Toho and Takarazuka versions have it). The question of his disinheriting was never brought up, either. [[note]]There has been accounts, however, of Franz Joseph and Rudolf quarreling before Mayerling, with some stating that it was over Mary Vetsera.[[/note]] While he was a hunter and naturalist, he also did not kill any cat (that we know of.) [[https://sternenkaiserinblog.files.wordpress.com/2018/01/kronprinzrudolf_vonoesterreichnaturaufnahme.jpg Here's Rudolf as a young boy, with a cat.]]
** Sisi did become cynical and depressed, but she continued having flirtations with men, in a "look but don't touch" way, never letting them get emotionally close to her.
** The show portrays Sisi leaving Franz Joseph shortly after the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of 1867, but in reality they still lived together as a married couple for quite some time; in fact, Sisi gave birth to their last child Marie Valerie during that time period. Sisi didn't become estranged from her husband until after Rudolf's death in 1889, but even then she would still spend some of her time living in Vienna with her family.
** The Creator/TakarazukaRevue added the supernatural element of Death taking the knife that Sisi tried to kill herself with in "Watashi dake ni" (Ich gehör nur mir), showing it to her later on, and [[spoiler:handing it to Lucheni to use as her murder weapon. It also painted her death as her being DrivenToSuicide to reunite with Death and finally be free of her suffering.]] In real life (and other productions), Lucheni [[spoiler:stabbed her with a file, and everyone (including Sisi) were unaware of the fact until she fainted and her outer clothing was undone, revealing the wound.]]
* VillainOpeningScene: It's hard to tell who's the real villain, but the prologue starts with Lucheni on trial for assassinating Elisabeth and ends with Death singing about his [[StalkerWithACrush love for Elisabeth]].
* VillainSong: Almost every song could be seen as this, depending on your point of view, but the most obvious examples are "Der letzte Tanz", "Kitsch", "Hass", and "Die Schatten werden länger".
* VillainRecruitmentSong: "Die Schatten werden länger". Especially overt in productions that have Rudolf's rebellion subplot, because Death is present at every point of Rudolf's involvement with the Hungarians, pulling the strings - Rudolf is essentially working for Death after "Die Schatten".
* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: Gisela, Elisabeth's second child, is mentioned in "Die ersten vier Jahre" and "Elisabeth, mach auf mein Engel", then disappears from the story.
* WhatIsThisThingYouCallLove: Death falls in love with Sisi, spends a song mulling it over [[note]]the solo "Ai to Shi no Rondo"/"The Rondo of Love and Death", created for the Takarazuka Revue production, and made its way back into the German as the duet "Rondo/Schwarzer Prinz (Black Prince)"[[/note]], and decides that [[spoiler:loving her means [[StalkerWithACrush pursuing her wherever she goes]] and persuading her to die [[TogetherInDeath so she could be with him.]]]]
* WhatNowEnding: The very last shot of the Toho DVD is Death, having [[spoiler:kissed Sisi]], looking at the camera with a [[MyGodWhatHaveIDone stunned, lost expression.]] Cut to black.
* WhiteShirtOfDeath: Although there's no blood, after [[spoiler: she's been stabbed]], Sisi takes off her black mourning coat, revealing the white dress she wore as a teenage girl and runs to embrace Death.
* WouldHurtAChild: Death kills Elisabeth's daughter Sophie, and in the Toho productions he aims a gun at young Rudolf. Furukawa Yuta's Death offers the gun to the boy, holding it by the barrel, to foreshadow the Mayerling Waltz.
* YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness: [[spoiler:Some Deaths go for this in Mayerling. Furukawa Yuta's Death is quite sad about Rudolf's failure to be much of a challenge, but it doesn't stop him from slapping Kyomoto Taiga's Rudolf or failing to reciprocate the kiss from Miura Ryosuke's Rudolf. Even the one he seemed to hate least, Tatsunari Kimura's Rudolf, only got Death looking at him as he shot himself ("seeing him off") as a "reward".]]
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