History Main / OneSongWonder

A OneSongWonder is a minor (sometimes ''very minor'') character in a musical or an opera who only gets one song, but that one song is really, really memorable. When the musical is discussed, he's the one who makes people say, "And what about that one guy who sang..." Sometimes this is a result of AdaptationDistillation that removes the character's part from other songs (or removes the other songs entirely).

Not to be confused with OneHitWonder.

Compare OneSceneWonder, the non-musical version of this trope.
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!!Examples:

[[AC:{{Film}}]]
* Ron Holgate as Richard Henry Lee in ''{{Seventeen Seventy Six}}'', who carries some great big wonderful slabs of [[LargeHam roast pork]] while he's singing "The Lees of Old Virginia."
* Eddy the Ex-Delivery Boy from ''TheRockyHorrorPictureShow''. He shows up, sings one of the most memorable songs in the movie, and is promptly murdered with a pickaxe.
** He actually does sing a verse in another, later song (titled Eddie, in fact), but this verse is a voiceover intended to represent other characters reading a letter he wrote.
* Amos Hart, singing "Mr. Cellophane" from ''{{Chicago}}''. John C. Reilly's performance of ''this one song'' earned him a Best Supporting Actor nomination.
** Likewise, Queen Latifah's one song in the same film. Her character was bigger than Reilly's, however.
* EltonJohn's Pinball Wizard and Tina Turner's Gypsy Acid Queen, from ''{{Tommy}}''.
* The Don in the "Il Muto" scene in ''PhantomOfTheOpera''
* Julie Brown in ''EarthGirlsAreEasy'' ("Cause I'm a Blonde")
* The dentist in LittleShopOfHorrors. Could be considered a subversion, as in the stage musical it was adapted from, the dentist actually sung in two other songs (The same ACTOR also sung in a multitude of other songs, AndYouWereThere-style).

[[AC:LiveActionTV]]
* David Fury as "The Mustard Man" in the ''BuffyTheVampireSlayer'' MusicalEpisode, "Once More With Feeling".
-->''"They got... the mustard... out!"''

[[AC:{{Theater}}]]
* "Miss Marmelstein" from ''I Can Get It For You Wholesale''. This minor piece helped kickstart the career of Barbra Streisand.
* King Herod from ''JesusChristSuperstar''.
* The Foreign Woman, from Gian-Carlo Menotti's "The Consul." To be fair, she is onstage for more than the one aria she sings, but that aria is her only real point of significance.
* The Steersman from Wagner's "The Flying Dutchman" might qualify.
* Nimue, from ''Camelot'', who sings "Follow Me."
* Steve, from ''Paint Your Wagon'', who sings "They Call The Wind Maria."
* The Young Confederate Soldier from Parade
* The girl who sings "Somewhere" in ''WestSideStory''.
* Gigi from ''MissSaigon''
* The Street Singer from ''The Threepenny Opera'', who sings "Mack the Knife."
* The Proprietor from ''Assassins''. He sings "Everybody's Got the Right" at the beginning of the show. Though he does show up at various points, as a background character, an announcer, or even the President of the United States. And in some productions, he does sing part of "Another National Anthem."
* Parpignol from ''LaBoheme'', who sings about two lines.
* The lover from ''{{Evita}}'', who sings "Another Suitcase in Another Hall" and is quickly dismissed.
** The song is sung by Evita in the film version.
* Pirelli in ''SweeneyTodd''.
* ''KissMeKate'': ThoseTwoBadGuys who sing "Brush Up Your Shakespeare."
* [[SmallRoleBigImpact Joe]] in ''Show Boat''. It helps that he has one of the best Broadway songs ''ever written'', "Ol' Man River."
* The Piragua guy in ''InTheHeights''.
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A OneSongWonder is a minor (sometimes ''very minor'') character in a musical or an opera who only gets one song, but that one song is really, really memorable. When the musical is discussed, he's the one who makes people say, "And what about that one guy who sang..."

* Julie Brown in ''EarthGirlsAreEasy'' ("Cause I'm a Blonde")

* Joe in ''ShowBoat''. It helps that he has one of the best Broadway songs ''ever written'', "Ol' Man River."

* ''KissMeKate'': ThoseTwoBadGuys who sing "Brush Up Your Shakespeare."

* "Miss Marmelstein" from "I Can Get It For You Wholesale." This minor piece kickstarted the career of Barbra Streisand.

A OneSongWonder is a minor (sometimes ''very minor'') character in a musical or an opera who only get one song, but that one song is really, really memorable. When the musical is discussed, they're the ones who people say, "And what about that one guy who sang..."

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* David Fury as "The Mustard Man" in the ''BuffyTheVampireSlayer'' MusicalEpisode, "Once More With Feeling".

* Parpignol from La Boheme, who sings about two lines.