Line #49 Leitmotif/Theatre


1	This is where musical theatre SHINES, by the way. If you had a dollar for every leitmotif in MT, you'd be diabolically rich. If you took a shot for every leitmotif, you would be dead within 3 minutes.
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5	* OlderThanRadio: Music/RichardWagner's operas, particularly ''Theatre/RingOfTheNibelung'', are packed full of leitmotifs which represent each character or plot element. In fact, Wagner is regarded by many as the original creator of the Leitmotiv technique in composition, and though this is not absolutely accurate, he was certainly its popularizer and its most devoted and thorough practitioner.
6	* Wagner's use of {{Leitmotif}} was likely suggested by the practice of Carl Maria von Weber, whose ''Theatre/DerFreischuetz'' Wagner adored. The figure featuring a diminished seventh and [[HeartbeatSoundtrack ominous timpani thuds]] that introduces the devil Samiel in that work is one of the most famous uses of {{Leitmotif}} in Early Romantic music.
7	* ''Theatre/AlbertHerring'' has a few of these:
8	** The First of May motif, first heard as part of Lady Billows's opening address, then as a horn call at the start of the second act and played on bells for Albert's coronation.
9	** Albert's OverprotectiveMother has a nervous staccato 6/8 theme.
10	** Sid's whistling at Nancy is a motif played on the violin more times than actually whistled by Sid.
11	* The opera ''Theatre/BorisGodunov'' has a noble-sounding motif for Dimitri, the slain Tsarevich, which is appropriated by his impostor, the Pretender. Another motif represents Boris's guilty conscience, though it only appeared once as the opera was originally composed.
12	* In Bernstein's ''Candide'', Cunegonde's theme first appears as the melody of "Candide's Lament" (originally a CutSong but included in most later productions). The theme is subsequently transformed into the "Paris Waltz," an instrumental valse brilliante which is echoed at the climax of "You Were Dead, You Know." The first act finale has the theme sung in counterpoint with the melody of "My Love," and the theme plays a decisive role in the finale ultimo, "Make My Garden Grow."
13	* ''Theatre/CesareIlCreatoreCheHaDistrutto'':
14	** Cesare's IWantSong in the beginning shares its idealistic motif with "Renaissance", sung in act 2 by Lorenzo de'Medici. Cesare's song then goes on to say that the CorruptChurch is nothing like what he wished it would be in that idealistic stanza, but Lorenzo's song doesn't acknowledge the underside of his regime. It's followed by the DarkReprise of the factory song, as the fire is started there to sabotage the Medici.
15	** The half-spoken, half sung scene between Cesare and Giovanni has a motif that is echoed in Giovanni's graduation scene towards the end of the act, where Cesare interrogates him, playing devil's advocate, on some of the same points.
16	** Giovanni's graduation scene also echoes the lines sung by Creator/DanteAlighieri in the scene from ''Paradiso'' that is shown in the first act. According to Yujiro Kazama (Giovanni in the original cast), this is because Giovanni is looking up to Dante as an important Florentine from history, and wanting to proudly represent his city as he takes his first steps into the political world.
17	** Several lines are repeated several times, including Cesare's lovely comment about that weird guy named Angel, and Dante's vision of thrones in heaven, one of which is reserved for Heinrich VII... or for Cesare.
18	* ''Theatre/CharlieAndTheChocolateFactory'' has some fun with this: "A Little Me" is the final big production number in Act Two, but a chiming arrangement of its melody is used as an instrumental leitmotif in the Act One scenes at the junkyard.
19	* The Russians in ''{{Theatre/Chess}}'' (excluding Anatoly) have one. It's first heard as the creeping oboe from the beginning of "U.S. Versus U.S.S.R.", and it returns with a vengeance for [[VillainSong "Soviet Machine"]].
20	** Several other characters have them too.
21	*** Frederick Trumper (The American) has the melody playing during the "What A Scene, What A Joy" part of "Merano", which returns for "Florence Quits" and "The Deal (No Deal)".
22	*** Anatoly and Florence share "You And I".
23	*** Florence has "Nobody's Side", which she sings quite a few times throughout the musical...
24	*** To some extent, it can't be argued that "Chess" is Anatoly's Leitmotif. It is played during his game against Freddie in Act 1, and it is played again in Act 2, during the climactic game between Anatoly and Viigand, except here it's called "Endgame".
25	*** The ''reporters'' have their own leitmotif, which is played in the tracks called (fittingly) "Press Conference #1" (when the press corps interviews the world champion, Freddie, before the game in Merano, Italy), "Press Conference #2" (when they interview Anatoly after right after his defection to the United States after defeating Freddie) and "Freddie And Anatoly" (when Freddie, now working for the TV-company, interviews Anatoly before the game in Bangkok, during which he also takes the time to piss off Anatoly).
26	* ''Theatre/TheUnsinkableMollyBrown'' has "Molly's Spinach Music," which consists of the theme of "I Ain't Down Yet" played on a muted trumpet "symbolic of rolling up her sleeves and reaching for the spinach can" (as the script puts it).
27	* Theatre/{{Elisabeth}}:
28	** The same melody, Totentanz (Dance of the Dead) plays as Sisi's wedding dance and [[spoiler: during Rudolf's suicidal dance with the Death Angels. They are the two characters that die onstage.]]
29	** Sisi herself gets three leitmotifs.
30	*** "Elisabeth..." sung by Death and Franz Joseph when they're coaxing or begging her.
31	*** "Elisabeth, Elisabeth!", from the chorus of the dead.
32	*** The first/last few lines of "Ich gehör nur mir". It returns in "Ich will dir nur sagen",[[note]]also titled "Ich gehör nur mir (Reprise)"[[/note]], "Wenn ich dein Spiegel wär", and "Der Schleier fällt".
33	** Rudolf has the melody of "Mama, wo bist du?" which returns in "Totenklage"/"Rudolf, wo bist du?"
34	* Almost every song in ''Theatre/{{Evita}}'' is a leitmotif of the singer:
35	** For Eva herself, her songs are almost all based on the tune of "Don't Cry for Me Argentina", "I'd be surprisingly good for you", or "A New Argentina".
36	** For Peron, it's most often "Dice are rolling"
37	** The aristocracy and the army both have their own themes, first heard in "Peron's latest Flame", which are later repeated whenever they speak.
38	** But the most chilling example is her dressers/cosmeticians. They first sing their theme in "Rainbow High", and then repeat it in "Lament"- only the latter scenario has them repeating the tune (and most of the lyrics), but said while preparing and preserving her corpse.
39	* Stravinsky's music for the ballet ''Theatre/TheFirebird'' is heavily leitmotif-laden. There are identifiable themes for the Firebird, the villain, the hero, the princess, and the villain's monster guardians.
40	* ComicBook/FunHome's musical adaption has a very subtle leitmotif for the 3 versions of it's main character Allison. At the beginning of every scene or song that has or involves Allison begins with a certain melody played on either a piano, violin or clarinet.
41	* ''Theatre/{{Hamilton}}'' has a ''huge'' number of small leitmotifs, to the extent that practically every song either reprises or is reprised by some other song in at least a line or two. Most of the major ones are:
42	** The opening sequence "How does a bastard, orphan, son of a whore and a Scotsman..." is reprised in ''A Winter's Ball'', ''Guns and Ships'', ''What'd I Miss'', ''The Adams Administration'' and then [[DarkReprise darkly]] in ''Your Obedient Servant'', always serving as Burr narrating about either Hamilton himself or something or someone associated with him.
43	** The line "Alexander Hamilton" is repeated with the same riff in ''Alexander Hamilton'', ''Satisfied'', and ''What'd I Miss'', each time ignoring the preceding melody, to demonstrate Hamilton's self-confidence and individuality (notably, while the line is spoken in ''Aaron Burr, Sir'' it does not use the same riff, because Hamilton is still a bit too young and uncertain of himself here). He's also associated with the line "Why do you write like you're running out of time?" - ''Non-Stop'' includes it and many variations and ''Best of Wives, Best of Women'' repeats it; while ''Who Lives, Who Dies, Who Tells Your Story'' doesn't include the full line, is does have a repeated refrain of simply the word "Time" which is clearly meant to link back to the previous lines as one of Hamilton's major themes. Finally, there's "I'm not throwing away my shot" which first occurs in ''My Shot'', is reprised again in ''Right Hand Man'' and ''Non-Stop'', and ultimately reoccurs as a [[DualMeaningChorus literal statement]] in ''The World Was Wide Enough''.
44	** Eliza is associated with a number of recurring melodies: she starts off with "Look around, look around, at how lucky we are to be alive right now!" from ''The Schuyler Sisters'' which is reprised in ''Take a Break'', with different words in ''Schuyler Defeated'' ("Further down, further down..." - the song is also a general reprise of ''The Schuyler Sisters''), by Hamilton towards her in both ''Non-Stop'' and ''It's Quiet Uptown'', and most notably in ''That Would Be Enough'', where that titular line becomes another associated riff which is also repeated in ''Non-Stop'', ''It's Quiet Uptown'', and ''Best of Wives, Best of Women''. She also gets "Helpless" to represent her feelings for Hamilton, which comes from ''Helpless'' and is repeated by her in ''Non-Stop'', and then is also repeated by Maria when Hamilton has his affair in ''Say No To This''. Finally, in ''That Would Be Enough'' she states the line "Let me be a part of the narrative," which [[DarkReprise becomes]] "I'm erasing myself from the narrative" in ''Burn'', [[TriumphantReprise and then]] "I put myself back in the narrative" in ''Who Lives, Who Dies, Who Tells Your Story?''
45	** Angelica has "I/he/you will never be satisfied" from ''Satisfied'', reprised in ''Non-Stop'', and then [[DarkReprise darkly]] in ''The Reynolds Pamphlet''.
46	** Burr is associated with the line "Talk less, smile more" from ''Aaron Burr, Sir'' reprised by Alexander in ''The Room Where It Happened'' ("I guess I'll finally have to listen to you...") and then by himself again in ''The Election of 1800''. He's also associated with the line "Wait for it", always sung by back-up singers, which begins in ''Wait For It'' and is reprised in ''Non-Stop'' and ''The Room Where It Happened'', and then with mostly different words ("I'm the one who paid for it" instead of "I'm willing to wait for it") in ''The World Was Wide Enough. Interestingly, the line is also repeated in ''Hurricane'', but seemingly only to contrast Burr's approach to Hamilton's, as this is very much Hamilton's song.
47	** Washington is associated with the riff "History has its eyes on you", beginning in the song of the same name, and then reprised in ''Non-Stop'' and ''One Last Time''. However, as the line was originally spoken to Hamilton, the line is also associated with him even when Washington isn't around, most notably in ''Hurricane''.
48	** Jefferson is associated mainly with riffs from ''Washington on Your Side'', one of the latest songs to have reprises - the opening section is reprised by himself again in ''The Election of 1800'', and the final coda of the song is reprised by Hamilton when he endorses Jefferson later in the same song. There's also a short riff from the song in ''What'd I Miss?'', though it's not obvious unless you're listening closely.
49	** Phillip is associated with the line "Blow us all away" from ''Dear Theodosia'', reprised in - of course! - ''Blow Us All Away''. He also reprises Hamilton's [[IAmGreatSong "I Am Great!" segment]] from ''My Shot'' to demonstrate his similarity to him - and, perhaps, [[spoiler:that he was equally doomed to die in a duel, as ''My Shot'' also contains the verse associated with Hamilton's death - "I imagine death so much it feels more like a memory..." which is repeated more triumphantly in ''The Battle of Yorktown'' and then darkly in ''The World Was Wide Enough''.]]
50	** King George III gets ''You'll Be Back'', which is reprised in shorter form but otherwise pretty much identically in melody by ''What Comes Next?'' and ''I Know Him'', each of which also all begin with the line "They say..." and include the line "Oceans rise, empires fall..."
51	** There's also the duel theme - ''The Ten Duel Commandments'' is reprised in its entirety, with only mostly different lyrics, in the first part of ''The World Was Wide Enough''; also, the last part involving the chorus counting to nine (to verbalise the 'take ten paces then fire' rule) also appears in ''Blow Us All Away''. However, that last one is kind of special, because Phillip is also associated with counting to nine in another way - ''Take a Break'' has him playing piano and practicing French counting with his mother. [[spoiler:In ''Blow Us All Away'', however, the counting doesn't quite reach nine - and neither does Phillip when he and Eliza tearfully reprise their counting practice in ''Stay Alive (Reprise)'' as he dies.]]
52	** ''The Story of Tonight'' also stands for both death and the relationship between the revolutionary crew, particularly Laurens and Hamilton - it's reprised cheerily in ''The Story of Tonight (Reprise)'', demonstrating their friendship, but when much more sadly in ''Tomorrow There'll Be More of Us'' (a musical-only song cut from the soundtrack showing [[spoiler:Hamilton finding out about Laurens' death]]), and then the single line "Raise a glass to freedom...", Laurens' first line from ''The Story of Tonight'', is Hamilton's final line in the entire show in ''The World Was Wide Enough''.
53	* You might not expect to find Wagnerian {{Leitmotif}}s in a fairy-tale opera for children. But Humperdinck's ''Hänsel und Gretel'' has quite a few.
54	* Rapunzel shares a {{Leitmotif}} with the magic beans in Music/StephenSondheim's ''Theatre/IntoTheWoods''. The witch took Rapunzel as payment for the magic beans, so her story is tied to them in that way.
55	* Jekyll, in Frank Wildhorn's ''Theatre/JekyllAndHyde'' musical, has a dark piano and violin theme that plays when he sings in group songs, from the dramatic Board of Governers to the light-hearted Engagement Party.
56	* ''Music/JesusChristSuperstar'':
57	** The tune of the title song, which is ([[ElevenOClockNumber near]]) the finale, shows up rather ominously at the end of the overture. The pharisees discussing what to do about Jesus hear the crowd singing it. Later, in "The Last Supper" at the beginning of act 2, Judas sings the "Every time I look at you, I don't understand/ How you let the things you did get so out of hand/ You'd have managed better if you'd had it planned--" part, after a heart-wrenching argument, and cuts off there with an anguished scream.
58	** The 7:8 time tune sung by the vendors Jesus expels from the temple is echoed by the lepers, then by the paparazzi hounding Jesus after his arrest.
59	** "Judas' Death" contains [[DarkReprise echoes]] of "I Don't Know How To Love Him" (earlier sung by Mary Magdalene, and in this context, implying Judas' love and understanding of Jesus is a lot closer than anyone else's), and Judas' opening song, "Heaven On Their Minds" -- the first words of the play are "My mind is clearer now", as Judas decides that he can't follow Jesus anymore, because his old friend is leading them to ruin, and they are echoed here as "My mind is in darkness now" as he realizes that he was manipulated into that decision).
60	* ''Theatre/LesMiserables'' has a ton of them. The Thenardiers' songs are almost entirely repeats of the melodies of "The Waltz of Treachery" and "Master of the House", and then "One Day More" is Valjean's main theme ("Who Am I?") combined with transposed versions of "I Dreamed a Dream", "Master of the House", and Javert's little leitmotif that's featured in "Fantine's Arrest" and "The Robbery" put into a major key. Oh, and not to mention "Look Down" is repeated 3 times in the show, and the song "Turning" is "Lovely Ladies" at a slower tempo.
61	** The tritones used when someone is in trouble, like in "Lovely Ladies", "Rue Plumet" and "Castle on a Cloud"
62	** For that matter, "Empty Chairs at Empty Tables" - Marius's song of mourning for his lost comrades - is the same piece of music that the Bishop of Digne sings in Act 1 when showing generosity to Valjean. Since true leitmotifs are meant to be associated with a specific character, mood or idea, it's uncertain to what extent the repetition of music in ''Theatre/LesMiserables'' is actually leitmotif in action or just practical frugality on the part of the composer.
63	** Not to mention "What Have I Done" and "Javert's Suicide" have the exact same tune too (except that a few lines in the latter are an octave lower), even some of the lines are the same or similar. Just, you know, the ''outcome'' is different.
64	** "Who Am I?", Fantine's part of "Fantine's Arrest", "Come to Me (Fantine's Death)", and "The Finale" all have certain parts of "On My Own". Fantine also has a leitmotif in the latter three.
65	** The Original French Album has a reprise of "Red and Black", but slower.
66	** The best example is probably what might be called the main theme of the musical. The theme is used over and over again, in "The Convicts," "The Runaway Cart," "The Confrontation," "The Beggars," and many others. It is overwhelmingly the theme of strife - the song plays over any scene of struggle or suffering - and as such, could be considered to define the musical.
67	** Don't forget "Do You Hear The People Sing?" It first plays when the students decide they're going to fight back. It returns at the end for a TriumphantReprise.
68	* In ''Theatre/{{Matilda}}'', "Naughty" is this for the title character. The [[ShowWithinAShow Story Within a Story]] has leitmotifs for the Escapologist and Acrobat, and later, their daughter. The last of these is reprised WithLyrics in "My House", where we find out that the daughter was actually Miss Honey.
69	* Composer Michael John [=LaChiusa=] makes frequent use of motifs, especially in ''[[Theatre/LaRonde Hello Again]]'' (with characters echoing sentiments expressed by others), and in ''Marie Christine'' (in which an eerie tritone set to the word "beautiful" and "arrogance" is frequently repeated.)
70	* ''Theatre/PercyJacksonAndTheOlympians'' has a telltale guitar riff linked to the titular character's arc. In "The Last Day of Summer", it's also revealed to be [[spoiler:Luke's]] leitmotif as he sings about his true intentions and desires, which have been masked throughout the show by way of his only singing during songs begun or dominated by other characters. The composer, Rob Rokicki, described this as him throwing the theme in Percy's face, showing how similar their worldviews are, but also illustrating the critical differences in how they handle life's injustice.
71	* ''Theatre/ThePhantomOfTheOpera'': In addition to the Phantom's distinctive chromatic chords, the phrases "He's there, the Phantom of the Opera" and "I am your Angel of Music" (which refer to opposing aspects of his personality) share the same melody.
72	* In ''Theatre/PokemonLive'', [=MechaMew2=] gets a short techno theme whenever it appears.
73	* Theatre/TheTwentyFifthAnnualPutnamCountySpellingBee uses the tune of "The First Goodbye" when someone's eliminated. Outside of the standard tune, "Prayer of the Comfort Counselor" uses it to celebrate the final guest speller, while the reprise of "Woe Is Me" shows how heartbroken the eliminated contestant is.
74	* ''Theatre/{{RENT}}'':
75	** There's a little musical theme that is played every time Collins come onstage, and it's a good part of the melody/background music in his song "Santa Fe." Also repeated when singing about [[spoiler:the dead]] Angel later.
76	** Roger's version of "Musetta's Waltz", which is [[spoiler: composed for Mimi and played when she is thought to be dead.]]
77	** The melody from "I Should Tell You", that shows up numerous times before and after the song itself, related to secrets and (mostly) Roger's uncertainty.
78	* In ''Show Boat'', non-singers Captain Andy and Parthy have characteristic themes, though Andy's is sung by the chorus a couple of times. Though Magnolia is a singing character, she also has an instrumental motif first heard when she plays it awkwardly on a piano.
79	* Sondheim employs leitmotif in most of his major scores, but the technique is most evident in its truest sense in his ''Theatre/SweeneyToddTheDemonBarberOfFleetStreet''; melodies, accompaniment figures, rhythmic patterns and chords are introduced, fragmented, developed, reprised and interwoven throughout the entire score, each of them representing a different character, mood or aspect of the story. Perhaps the most awesome example is also the most spoiler-y: [[spoiler: The Beggar Woman's Jig motif ("How'd you like to fish me squiff, dear?") is actually the minuet waltz heard at the Judge's ball in the song "Poor Thing" when the Judge prepares to rape Lucy, Sweeney's wife, which clues us in to the fact that the Beggar Woman is actually Lucy. Likewise, the Beggar Woman's "Alms, Alms" motif - based upon a falling second - is derived directly from the "Eleison" motif used to represent Sweeney's keening for his lost wife ("And my Lucy lies in ashes"). The two motifs pointedly merge together in the underscore at the very end of the play, when Sweeney finally makes the connection too late.]]
80	* ''Theatre/{{Wicked}}'' has two major recurring motifs:
81	** the Overture (aka Elphaba's theme), the very first notes of the musical (see also the beginning of "As Long As You're Mine") which is based on an earlier composition by Schwartz from ''The Survival of St. Joan''.
82	** "Unlimited" -- "The Wizard and I", where it's just a wild fantasy the young Elphaba has about her glorious potential future; "Defying Gravity", where she tries to ask Glinda to be unlimited with her, and is rejected; "Wonderful" brings up the "Celebration throughout Oz that's all to do with you" bit of DramaticIrony; and finally, in "For Good", she accepts her humanity and it becomes "I'm limited". "And just look at you, [[BrokenAesop you can do all I couldn't do]]..." Glinda, the one who never tried to defy gravity.
83	** A lesser motif, also heard during the overture, is associated with the flying monkeys.
84	* Music/ArthurSullivan has the 'Tower theme' in ''Theatre/TheYeomenOfTheGuard'' and the Lord Chancellor's distinctive entrance music in ''Theatre/{{Iolanthe}}''.

Context Leitmotif / Theatre