History ShownTheirWork / Theatre

* ''Theatre/{{Company}}'': In the song "Another Hundred People", Kathy takes Robert to a quiet little park she likes in the middle of the busy East 50's section of Manhattan. This is an actual park, [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paley_Park Paley Park]] by name, complete with the waterfall and renown for being a serene getaway in the middle of the bustling city. It may or may not be a coincidence that the park has quite the vibrant history as the former site of a ritzy night club. Giving up an exciting past for a quieter life is [[FridgeBrilliance a recurring theme for many of the characters]].

* ''Theatre/{{Company}}'': In the song "Another Hundred People", Kathy takes Robert to a quiet little park she likes in the middle of the busy East 50's section of Manhattan. This is an actual park, [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paley_Park Paley Park]] by name, complete with the waterfall and renown for being a serene getaway in the middle of the bustling city. It may or may not be a coincidence that the park has quite the vibrant history as the former site of a ritzy night club; giving up an exciting past for a quieter life is [[FridgeBrilliance a recurring theme for many of the characters]].

* ''Theatre/{{Company}}'': In the song "Another Hundred People", Kathy takes Robert to a quiet little park she likes in the middle of the busy East 50's section of Manhattan. [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paley_Park Paley Park]] is the park in question, complete with the waterfall and renown for being a serene getaway in the middle of the bustling city. It may or may not be a coincidence that the park has quite the vibrant history as the former site of a ritzy night club; giving up an exciting past for a more quiet life is [[FridgeBrilliance a recurring theme for many of the characters]].

* ''Theatre/{{Company}}'': In the song "Another Hundred People", Kathy takes Robert to a quiet little park she likes in the middle of the busy East 50's section of Manhattan. This is a real park in the city, known as [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paley_Park Paley Park]], known for providing a serene refuge from the busy city. It may or may not be a coincidence that the park has quite the vibrant history as the former site of a ritzy night club; giving up an exciting past for a quiet life is [[FridgeBrilliance a recurring theme for many of the characters]].

* ''Theatre/{{Company}}'': In the song "Another Hundred People", Kathy takes Robert to a quiet little park she likes in the middle of the busy East 50's section of Manhattan. It actually exists in real life, [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paley_Park Paley Park]], and has quite the vibrant history as the former site of a ritzy night club. That may or may not be a coincidence, as giving up an exciting past for a quiet life is [[FridgeBrilliance a recurring theme for many of the characters]].

* ''Theatre/{{Company}}'': In the song "Another Hundred People", Kathy takes Robert to a quiet little park she likes in the middle of the busy East 50's section of Manhattan. It actually exists in real life, [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paley_Park Paley Park]], and has quite the vibrant history as the former site of a ritzy night club. That may or may not be a coincidence; giving up an exciting past for a quiet life is [[FridgeBrilliance a recurring theme for many of the characters]].

* ''Theatre/{{Company}}'': In the song "Another Hundred People", Kathy takes Robert to a quiet little park she likes in the middle of the busy East 50's section of Manhattan. It actually exists in real life, [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paley_Park Paley Park]], and has quite the vibrant history as the former site of an upscale night club. Giving up an exciting past for a quiet life is [[FridgeBrilliance a recurring theme for many of the characters]].

* The original concept album of ''Theatre/{{Chess}}'' has an interminable song called "The Story of Chess", in which lyricist Tim Rice shoved way too much ancillary information about the origins of the game. It's generally cut from the staged versions. Later versions had information more inconspiculously worked into the background lyrics in "You and I/The Story of Chess", "Endgame", and "The American and Florence".
* Part of the reason Oscar Hammerstein II wrote "A Real Nice Clambake" for the second act opening of ''Theatre/{{Carousel}}'' was to demonstrate his research into authentic New England cuisine. (Hammerstein, however, didn't do his research on "June Is Bustin' Out All Over," and so had to HandWave why the sheep were mating in the spring rather than their usual late autumn/early winter season.)

** In ''Theatre/TheYeomenOfTheGuard'', which is set early in the reign of UsefulNotes/HenryVIII (c.1520), Gilbert correctly puts Yeomen of the Guard on duty at the Tower of London instead of Yeomen Warders (the former guarded the Tower from 1509-1548, when the latter formed to take over those duties). He also received critical praise for the accuracy of his set design, which included a building (the Cold Harbour Tower) that had been destroyed long before the 19th Century. And yet, again for RuleOfCool, the chorus of Yeomen were dressed in the Elizabethan uniforms audiences were familiar with.

* Music/StephenSondheim quotes a great deal of the characters' writing in ''Theatre/{{Assassins}}''. Most famously, Guiteau's half of "Ballad of Guiteau" (the "I am going to the Lordy") is almost completely lifted from an actual poem written by Guiteau himself that he recited on the gallows before he was executed.
* In the stage adaptation of ''Theatre/{{Anastasia}}'', despite the inaccuracies (of the premise itself), the musical does go to lengths to display accuracy in several aspects:

* Creator/StephenSondheim quotes a great deal of the characters' writing in ''Theatre/{{Assassins}}''. Most famously, Guiteau's half of "Ballad of Guiteau" (the "I am going to the Lordy") is almost completely lifted from an actual poem written by Guiteau himself that he recited on the gallows before he was executed.

* In the stage adaptation of ''Theatre/{{Anastasia}}'', despite the inaccuracies (of the premise itself), the musicaldoes go to lengths to display accuracy in several aspects:

* The original concept album of ''Chess'' has an interminable song called "The Story of Chess", in which lyricist Tim Rice shoved way too much ancillary information about the origins of the game. It's generally cut from the staged versions. Later versions had information more inconspiculously worked into the background lyrics in "You and I/The Story of Chess", "Endgame", and "The American and Florence".
* Part of the reason Oscar Hammerstein II wrote "A Real Nice Clambake" for the second act opening of ''Carousel'' was to demonstrate his research into authentic New England cuisine. (Hammerstein, however, didn't do his research on "June Is Bustin' Out All Over," and so had to HandWave why the sheep were mating in the spring rather than their usual late autumn/early winter season.)

** In ''Theatre/TheYeomenOfTheGuard'', which is set early in the reign of HenryVIII (c.1520), Gilbert correctly puts Yeomen of the Guard on duty at the Tower of London instead of Yeomen Warders (the former guarded the Tower from 1509-1548, when the latter formed to take over those duties). He also received critical praise for the accuracy of his set design, which included a building (the Cold Harbour Tower) that had been destroyed long before the 19th Century. And yet, again for RuleOfCool, the chorus of Yeomen were dressed in the Elizabethan uniforms audiences were familiar with.

* StephenSondheim quotes a great deal of the characters' writing in ''Theatre/{{Assassins}}''. Most famously, Guiteau's half of "Ballad of Guiteau" (the "I am going to the Lordy") is almost completely lifted from an actual poem written by Guiteau himself that he recited on the gallows before he was executed.

* ''[[SeventeenSeventySix 1776]]'' does this concerning the Continental Congress and figures in early American History. For example, the RunningGag of JohnAdams being "obnoxious and disliked" by everyone in Congress comes from his own description of how other people viewed him, the New Jersey delegation was actually missing from Congress for a while, and New York never voted on anything. Many of the more memorable lines are straight historical quotes, or very slight paraphrases of them. Given the attention to historical accuracy that perfuses the thing, the few obvious strays from history that ''are'' made are that much more puzzling -- Caesar Rodney and John Dickinson in particular are portrayed quite inaccurately. You could chalk them up to dramatic license, but given the actual drama that hardly seems necessary. [[note]]John Adams' quote about the slavery issue causing war "a hundred years hence" was real... [[RealityIsUnrealistic too real for the musical.]][[/note]]

* All those obscure and no-so-obscure quotes and references in ''Theatre/TheHistoryBoys''? Accurate, and what's more, each of them in some way contributes to the philosophical argument of the play without most of them ever being explained to the audience. The original stage cast effectively took an intensive literature and philosophy class during the initial rehearsal period to make sure they understood all the references and could deliver them so as to have the right impact.

* Creator/GilbertAndSullivan employed a curious mix of this and ArtisticLicense. For instance, Gilbert's set designs for ''Theatre/HMSPinafore'' were so thoroughly researched and meticulously detailed that senior naval officers complimented his accuracy, and the sailors' uniforms were made by the same tailors in Portsmouth who made the real uniforms for the Royal Navy. Yet wooden, sail-driven warships like the ''Pinafore'' was meant to be were obsolete by the time the Navy adopted uniforms for the sailors; Gilbert just knew that a uniformed chorus [[RuleOfCool looked better]].
** Similarly, in ''Theatre/TheYeomenOfTheGuard'', which is set early in the reign of HenryVIII (c.1520), Gilbert correctly puts Yeomen of the Guard on duty at the Tower of London instead of Yeomen Warders (the former guarded the Tower from 1509-1548, when the latter formed to take over those duties). He also received critical praise for the accuracy of his set design, which included a building (the Cold Harbour Tower) that had been destroyed long before the 19th Century. And yet, again for RuleOfCool, the chorus of Yeomen were dressed in the Elizabethan uniforms audiences were familiar with.

* The original concept album of ''Chess'' has an interminable song called "The Story of Chess", in which lyricist Tim Rice shoved way too much ancillary information about the origins of the game. It's generally cut from the staged versions.
** Later versions had information more inconspiculously worked into the background lyrics in "You and I/The Story of Chess", "Endgame", and "The American and Florence".

** Is that why I kept getting hungry whenever my high school's cast rehearsed that song? Because seriously, everything sounded ''delicious''.

** To be fair, the extent of Caesar Rodney's cancer was so horrific that there's no way they could have pulled it off in a musical. (It had basically eaten through half his face.)

* GilbertAndSullivan employed a curious mix of this and ArtisticLicense. For instance, Gilbert's set designs for ''Theatre/HMSPinafore'' were so thoroughly researched and meticulously detailed that senior naval officers complimented his accuracy, and the sailors' uniforms were made by the same tailors in Portsmouth who made the real uniforms for the Royal Navy. Yet wooden, sail-driven warships like the ''Pinafore'' was meant to be were obsolete by the time the Navy adopted uniforms for the sailors; Gilbert just knew that a uniformed chorus [[RuleOfCool looked better]].
** Similarly, in ''TheYeomenOfTheGuard'', which is set early in the reign of HenryVIII (c.1520), Gilbert correctly puts Yeomen of the Guard on duty at the Tower of London instead of Yeomen Warders (the former guarded the Tower from 1509-1548, when the latter formed to take over those duties). He also received critical praise for the accuracy of his set design, which included a building (the Cold Harbour Tower) that had been destroyed long before the 19th Century. And yet, again for RuleOfCool, the chorus of Yeomen were dressed in the Elizabethan uniforms audiences were familiar with.
** Most of ''TheMikado'' foregoes accuracy in favor of RuleOfFunny, but Gilbert did hire a Japanese tea-girl to teach the "little maids from school" how to comport themselves like young Asian ladies.
* StephenSondheim quotes a great deal of the characters' writing in ''Theatre/{{Assassins}}''. Most famously, Guiteau's half of "Ballad of Guiteau" (the "I am going to the Lordy") is almost completely lifted from an actual poem written by Guiteau himself that he recited on the gallows before he was executed.

** To be fair, the extent of Caesar Rodney's cancerwas so horrfic that there's no wy they could have pulled it off in a musical. (It had basically eaten through half his face.)

* ''[[SeventeenSeventySix 1776]]'' does this concerning the Continental Congress and figures in early American History. For example, the RunningGag of JohnAdams being "obnoxious and disliked" by everyone in Congress comes from his own description of how other people viewed him, the New Jersey delegation was actually missing from Congress for a while, and New York never voted on anything. Many of the more memorable lines are straight historical quotes, or very slight paraphrases of them. Given the attention to historical accuracy that perfuses the thing, the few obvious strays from history that ''are'' made are that much more puzzling -- Caesar Rodney and John Dickinson in particular are portrayed quite inaccurately. You could chalk them up to dramatic license, but given the actual drama that hardly seems necessary. [[hottip:*:John Adams' quote about the slavery issue causing war "a hundred years hence" was real... [[RealityIsUnrealistic too real for the musical.]]

* StephenSondheim quotes a great deal of the characters' writing in ''Theatre/{{Assassins}}''. Most famously, Guiteau's half of " The Battle of Guiteau" (the "I am going to the Lordy") is almost completely lifted from an actual poem written by Guiteau himself that he recited on the gallows before he was executed.

* StephenSondheim quotes a great deal of the characters' writing in [[Theatre/Assassins Assassins.]] Most famously, Guiteau's half of " The Battle of Guiteau" (the "I am going to the Lordy") is almost completely lifted from an actual poem written by Guiteau himself that he recited on the gallows before he was executed.

** To be fair, the extent of Caesar Romney's cancerwas so horrfic that there's no wy they could have pulled it off in a musical. (It had basically eaten through half his face.)

** Most of ''TheMikado'' foregoes accuracy in favor of RuleOfFunny, but Gilbert did hire a Japanese tea-girl to teach the "little maids from school" how to comport themselves like young Asian ladies.

* Part of the reason Oscar Hammerstein II wrote "A Real Nice Clambake" for the second act opening of ''Carousel'' was to demonstrate his research into authentic New England cuisine. (Hammerstein, however, DidNotDoTheResearch on "June Is Bustin' Out All Over," and so had to HandWave why the sheep were mating in the spring rather than their usual late autumn/early winter season.)

* ''[[SeventeenSeventySix 1776]]'' does this concerning the Continental Congress and figures in early American History. For example, the RunningGag of JohnAdams being "obnoxious and disliked" by everyone in Congress comes from his own description of how other people viewed him, the New Jersey delegation was actually missing from Congress for a while, and New York never voted on anything. Many of the more memorable lines are straight historical quotes, or very slight paraphrases of them. Given the attention to historical accuracy that perfuses the thing, the few obvious strays from history that ''are'' made are that much more puzzling -- Caesar Rodney and John Dickinson in particular are portrayed quite inaccurately. You could chalk them up to dramatic license, but given the actual drama that hardly seems necessary. [[hottip:*:John Adams' quote about the slavery issue causing war "a hundred years hence" was real... [[RealityIsUnrealistic too real for the musical]].]]

** Similarly, in ''TheYeomenOfTheGuard'', which is set early in the reign of HenryVIII (c.1520), Gilbert correctly puts Yeomen of the Guard on duty at the Tower of London instead of Yeomen Warders (the former guarded the Tower from 1509-1548, when the latter formed to take over those duties). He also received critical praise for the accuracy of his set design, which included a building (the Cold Harbour Tower) that had been destroyed long before the 19th Century. And yet, again for RuleOfCool, the chorus of Yeomen were dressed in the Elizabethan uniforms audiences were familiar with.

* All those obscure and no-so-obscure quotes and references in ''TheHistoryBoys''? Accurate, and what's more, each of them in some way contributes to the philosophical argument of the play without most of them ever being explained to the audience. The original stage cast effectively took an intensive literature and philosophy class during the initial rehearsal period to make sure they understood all the references and could deliver them so as to have the right impact.