Line #6 Main/HeyLetsPutOnAShow


1	->''"We've gotta have a great show, with a million laughs... and color... and a lot of lights to make it sparkle! And songs - wonderful songs! And after we get the people in that hall, we've gotta start em in laughing right away! Oh, can't you just see it... ?"''
2	-->-- '''[[Creator/JudyGarland Patsy Barton]]''', ''Film/BabesInArms''
3
4	So the OrphanageOfLove [[SavingTheOrphanage is in trouble]]. Big, costly trouble. How are those orphans going to raise all that money? It's simple: put on a show! We'll use the modest singing talents of the secretary corps, and we can put a stage in that old barn out back, and surely it won't be too hard to rig up a spotlight or two...
5
6	This trope was made popular by Judy Garland and Mickey Rooney in the 1930s, but saving the unfortunate through musical theater is a surprisingly resilient Stock Plot. Nothing like a show to bring out TheCastShowoff and showcase their lesser-known talents. It can even work when there's no orphanage to save, as ''Series/{{Taxi}}'' demonstrated by giving a whole show, in which the main cast performed song and dance numbers.
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8	This trope causes ''no end'' of frustration for those who actually do work in theater, especially when they have to explain just how long it takes and how much it costs to "just put on a show."
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10	Often overlaps with ThatRemindsMeOfASong, in that said show may involve an excuse for musical numbers that aren't tied to the plot or character development. Subtrope of ShowWithinAShow. Often overlaps with SavingTheOrphanage.
11
12	Compare CharityWorkplaceCalendar.
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14	----
15	!!Examples:
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17	[[foldercontrol]]
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19	[[folder:Anime & Manga]]
20	* Ciel and crew from ''Manga/BlackButler'' hire some actors to put on a play for a bunch of orphans (for publicity rather than money, they already have plenty of that). When the actors get delayed, guess who has to fill in the cast...
21	* In ''Manga/MonsterMusume'', Miia and Rachnera help [[PunnyName Ils Nineta]] the ninetailed fox put on a super sentai show to help draw visitors to the shrine where she works. Rachnee uses her webs to provide Ils with some WireFu and new clothes [[TransformationSequence when she transforms]], while Miia ends up playing the villain, much to her resentment.
22	* ''Franchise/LoveLive'' tends to use this trope, since most series are about [[SavingTheOrphanage saving the characters' school from closing down]].
23	** In ''Anime/LoveLive'', the storied (read: old) Otonokizaka High School is unable to compete with newer, fancier schools for prospective students. To prevent their school from being shut down, Honoka and her friends form a School Idol group to attract new students to their school.
24	** In the sequel, ''Anime/LoveLiveSunshine'', Chika is inspired to do the same thing to save her failing school. [[spoiler: It ends up failing, as there simply aren't enough prospective students in their rural sea-side village]].
25	* ''Anime/ActionHeroineCheerFruits'' has this as the show's basic premise. Set in a Japanese town with a failing economy, the StudentCouncilPresident (who's also the mayor's niece) joins with a group of her classmates to put on {{Hero Stage Show}}s and become the town's mascots; their goal is to revive the town's dying tourist trade within six months and save it from being absorbed by a nearby city.
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28	[[folder:Comic Books]]
29	* In the ''ComicBook/SupermansPalJimmyOlsen'' story "The Boy Olympics", [[NiceGuy Jimmy]] is bothered by how it will affect the staff if a rival newspaper folds and comes up with the idea of a show to raise money.
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32	[[folder:Fan Works]]
33	* In the ''Anime/YuGiOh'' fanfiction ''Fanfic/DecksFallEveryoneDies'', the characters put on a show that is meant to convince people to start dueling again. This is because [[WorldGoneMad life has gone downhill]] after the fall of dueling and the rise of dice games.
34	[[/folder]]
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36	[[folder:Films -- Animation]]
37	* In ''WesternAnimation/Madagascar3EuropesMostWanted'', it's a case of "Let's put on a ''better'' show" to save the circus and boy, do they ''ever''!
38	* ''WesternAnimation/CatsDontDance'' does this with its finale number "Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now", a BatmanGambit pulled off by Danny in an attempt to finally show that animals can be just as awesome as humans on stage and they show it with flair... and a little help with [[BigBad Darla Dimple's]] FantasticRacism.
39	* ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyEquestriaGirlsLegendOfEverfree'': The movie concludes with the campers deciding to invite the camp's alumni to a gala in the Crystal Cave, including a concert by the Rainbooms. They use it as a fundraiser to pay for Camp Everfree's debts to Filthy Rich.
40	* ''WesternAnimation/RockosModernLifeStaticCling'': After Conglom-O's stocks plummet due to an error in calculation, Rocko suggests to bring back ''[[ShowWithinAShow The Fatheads]]'' in order to raise enough money via merchandise to bring the company back to its former glory. However, when Mr. Dupette brings in the Chameleon Brothers to make [[RebootSnark a cheap and crappy CGI special]], Rocko and his friends set out to find the show's original creator [[OnlyTheCreatorDoesItRight to do it right.]]
41	* In ''WesternAnimation/{{Sing}}'', Buster Moon the koala puts together a singing competition to save his theater, which is in disrepair and about to be foreclosed on.
42	[[/folder]]
43
44	[[folder:Films -- Live-Action]]
45	* ''Film/BabesInArms'', with Creator/JudyGarland and Creator/MickeyRooney, of course. And it's hardly the only one they did. In fact, one of the ''That's Entertainment!'' films did a FullyAutomaticClipShow where Rooney's characters from his films suggested they put on a show.
46	* In ''Film/FollowTheFleet,'' "Bake" and Sherry put on a benefit show so that Sherry's sister Connie can pay off the renovations to her father's ship (and so that nice old Captain Hickey, who guaranteed the loan, won't lose his job). Slightly more realistic than some versions of this trope, in that they arranged to borrow sets and costumes from a professional theatrical agency.
47	* In ''[[Film/BeingHands being Hands]]'', Lilith acknowledges the camera recording her, and changes characters while starting a verbal RolePlayingGame. This sets the main plot in motion.
48	* ''Film/TheBluesBrothers'' put on a show to get money to save the Catholic orphanage. However, they were already a successful and good band before the orphanage needed saving, were forced to blackmail their manager to actually get a gig on such short notice, and let's not even get into how much trouble PuttingTheBandBackTogether was...
49	* [[YouCanLeaveYourHatOn A form of...er...show]] is the one that forms the end of ''Film/TheFullMonty''...
50	* Creator/KevinSmith deals with this trope [[SarcasmMode with his typical taste and refinement]] in ''Film/ZackAndMiriMakeAPorno''.
51	* In ''Film/Hamlet2'' the eponymous play is put on to save the drama class from budget cuts.
52	* In ''Film/BeKindRewind'', two video store clerks make short parody movies, first to cover up for their destruction of the store's tapes, but then in an effort to save the store from demolition. Eventually the whole neighborhood joins in on making one final video.
53	%%* The main plot of the ''Series/HannahMontana'' movie.
54	* ''Film/TheYoungOnes1961'', the [[Music/CliffRichard Cliff Richard]] movie, had exactly this plot, except they were trying to save a youth club.
55	* ''Film/WhiteChristmas'' is like this, but for their old Army commander's ski lodge.
56	* This forms the basis for both ''Film/ItsAVeryMerryMuppetChristmasMovie'' and ''Film/TheMuppets2011''. Sure, they had two TV shows about putting on a show, but in these films they're doing it to save the theater.
57	* Film/TheLittleRascals did it all the time.
58	* ''Film/ShakespeareInLove'' at some points seems to invoke this trope as a WholePlotReference to the above-mentioned Mickey Rooney / Creator/JudyGarland musicals. Notably in one scene where Shakespeare's production of ''Theatre/RomeoAndJuliet'' seems doomed (the Master of the Revels orders the Rose Theater closed for casting a woman in the lead role), and a surprise benefactor saves the play (Richard Burbage offers the use of his Curtain Theater) for the stated reason that TheShowMustGoOn.
59	* The title band from ''Film/TheCountryBears'' reunites to save their old theater from demolition.
60	* In ''Film/CurseOfTheHeadlessHorseman'', the hippies decide that the best way to save the dude ranch is for them to put on shows for the tourists. [[InformedAbility As none of them possess anything that could be described as 'talent']], it is hard to see exactly how this is going to help the dude ranch.
61	* ''Film/OneHundredMenAndAGirl'': Patsy decides that if she can get John R. Frost to sponsor a concert and Leopold Stokowski to conduct it, she can get work for her unemployed trombone-playing father and all the other starving musicians in his social circle. The rest of the movie is Patsy crisscrossing the city at high speed pestering both frost and Stokowski to back her plan.
62	* The celebrity impersonators decide to put on a show in ''Film/MisterLonely''. It's not a very good show, and all of three people come to see it. [[spoiler:The failure of the show tips Marilyn over the DespairEventHorizon, [[DrivenToSuicide and she subsequently hangs herself]].]]
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65	[[folder:Literature]]
66	%%* The ''[[Literature/AnneOfGreenGables Anne of Avonlea]]'' miniseries.
67	* Played with in the ''Literature/HiveSeries''. Before the first book starts, St. Sebastian's orphanage is falling apart, putting it at risk of being shut down due to no longer being safe. Otto makes up a fake television reality series called ''Please, Think of the Children'' and convinces local contractors to lend a hand in fixing the orphanage for free, with the promise of them making it on television. Obviously, they don't.
68	* Many of the more recent entries in ''Literature/GuinnessWorldRecords'', especially ones involving large groups of people, are specifically organized as events to raise money for charity or awareness for special causes.
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71	[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
72	* Parodied in the ''Series/{{Scrubs}}'' episode "My Life in Four Cameras", in which JD treats a former writer of the sitcom ''Series/{{Cheers}}'' and [[ImagineSpot imagines]] what life would be like as a sitcom. One subplot had Dr. Cox try to keep Dr. Kelso from firing NiceGuy Kenny, the newest employee, since the hospital couldn't afford to keep him. There turns out to be a talent show [[ContrivedCoincidence and the prize money is the exact amount of money needed]]. Kenny ([[CastTheExpert played by Clay Aiken]]) is a talented singer and wins the talent show. In the real world, [[SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome Kenny just got fired.]]
73	* ''Series/TheBradyBunch'' did this more than once, including the episode in which the family stages "Snow White and the Seven Dwarves" in the backyard to raise money for a gift for a teacher. They basically did this in TheMovie too.
74	* Seems to be the only thing the people of [[Series/HartOfDixie Bluebell, Alabama]] can think of when the town needs funds.
75	* In ''Series/{{One Day at a Time\|1975}}'' the cast saved their building and in following seasons put on a show as a charitable gesture meant to entertain the people at the local Senior Citizens' center every New Year's Eve.
76	* This was a popular trope in the Land of Norman Lear. ''Series/GoodTimes'' and ''Series/{{Maude}}'' did similar charity amateur-hour episodes.
77	* ''Series/AreYouBeingServed'' did this quite a few times, usually for Mr. Grace's birthday. In later seasons they seemed to happen more often, seemingly as an excuse to get Mrs Slocombe and Mr Humphries into ridiculous outfits and flamboyant dresses, even if it made no sense in context of the show.
78	* ''Series/TheDrewCareyShow'' did an episode that parodied ''Film/TheFullMonty'' where the boys decide to put on a strip show in order to raise money to replace a pedigree dog they accidentally had neutered.
79	* From 1994--2001, ''Series/GeneralHospital'' presented the Nurses Ball, a talent show featuring the staff of the hospital and the cast of the show, a fundraiser for AIDS research.
80	* ''Series/ParksAndRecreation'' had the Pawnee-Eagleton Merger Concert. Like most of the Parks and Rec department's big projects, it was meant to bring the community together and raise money, and it was a big success.
81	* ''Series/QuePasaUSA'': Teenage daughter Carmen puts on "Noche Cubana", a talent show centered on Cuban-American culture. The show features her friend Violeta doing a dramatic piece with an English-speaking partner, her other friend Sharon as a last minute substitute for an ill cha-cha dancer. Her mother Juana gets stage fright and runs off the stage in tears. The final act is siblings Carmen and Joe playing the song they wrote with lyrics in English and Spanish about their heritage.
82	* ''Series/SchittsCreek'' has Moira Rose directing a community theatre production of ''Theatre/{{Cabaret}}'', a storyline which takes up much of Season 5 and allows cast members Creator/NoahReid and Creator/EmilyHampshire to show off their musical theatre talents.
83	* ''Series/{{Amen}}'' put on at least two separate talent shows and in the series finale, hosted a telethon to raise money to save the church.
84	[[/folder]]
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86	[[folder:Music]]
87	* Benefit shows in general would fit under this trope. Specifically, not as much the planned "global relief" concerts such as Live Aid or Farm Aid, but the usually smaller shows bands perform to get fast money for something (jailed/sued/evicted/etc friends needing bail/lawyers, the relatives of a late bandmate need money or a show done in memory of a late bandmate, someone sick needing money for medical bills, someone's gear got stolen or trashed, etc...).
88	* An InUniverse example comes in Music/AesopRock and Music/RobSonic's ''Bestiary'', their second album as Hail Mary Mallon. Interspersed between songs are dialogue blurbs telling of a bowling alley whose closure is imminent, and Aesop and Rob's efforts to hold a fundraiser concert [[SavingTheOrphanage to keep the alley from going belly-up for good]]. In the end, [[spoiler:it turns out that the bowling alley had ''already'' been closed since ''1995''[[note]]Nineteen years before the album's release[[/note]], and the two had garnered $211 for unwittingly false purposes. [[AllForNothing Whoops]].]]
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91	[[folder:Tabletop Games]]
92	* One of the possible plot examples given in ''TabletopGame/AdeptusEvangelion'' is to put on a show, either a dance contest or an advert ...
93	[[/folder]]
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95	[[folder:Theater]]
96	* ''Theatre/BabesInArms''. Note that, although it shares this trope with the Judy Garland and Mickey Rooney movie it inspired, it's got a completely different score, plot and set of characters.
97	* In ''Theatre/{{Nunsense}}'' (1985), the Little Sisters of Hoboken, having fallen on hard times, put on a show to pay for a series of funerals. [[spoiler: Most of the congregation fell victim to a tainted vichyssoise, and due to a lack of funds several of the bodies are still in the freezer.]]
98	* The plot of ''Theatre/MobyDickTheMusical'' revolves around the students of St. Godley's Academy for Young Ladies coming up with ideas to earn enough money to save the school from closing. They end up putting on a musical adaptation of ''Literature/MobyDick'', written by one of the students. Chaos ensues.
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101	[[folder:Web Original]]
102	* Parodied heavily in an article at ''Website/TheOnion'', in which a ragtag bunch of kids band together to save their clubhouse by putting on an incredibly dark, sexual, [[TrueArtIsAngsty angsty]] and [[TrueArtIsIncomprehensible incomprehensible]] avant-garde art play, including a "whore" squatting out filthy young and pre-teen boys nude with body-painted penises.
103	[[/folder]]
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105	[[folder:Webcomics]]
106	* The Battle for Barthis story arc in ''Webcomic/DominicDeegan'' is mostly about putting on a concert to raise money for the ruined town.
107	[[/folder]]
108
109	[[folder:Western Animation]]
110	* In the ''WesternAnimation/SouthPark'' episode "Chef Aid," the boys enlist several of Chef's famous musician friends to put on a concert and help raise money to [[ItMakesSenseInContext cover his legal fees and hire Johnny Cochrane]]. They fail, but Cochrane is moved by their efforts and takes on the case ''pro bono''.
111	* ''WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}}'' has an episode centered on this trope (trying to save Earth from the TV-addicted Omicronians); Fry even used the trope name directly. In a variation, the purpose of the show isn't to raise money, but to convince the Omicronians to spare the Earth by giving them a satisfactory finale to a sitcom.
112	* Done in ''WesternAnimation/SpongeBobSquarePants'', but they aren't trying to save anything. Mr. Krabs just wants to earn even more money.
113	* ''WesternAnimation/TheBrakShow'': Brak and his family put on a presentation of "Psychoklahoma" to save Señor Science from the disastrous results of his latest science experiment. By the time they get the money together, he's managed to save himself. This is Señor Science's SOP; every episode of his show-within-a-show ends with him desperately needing funds from the audience if he is ever to survive. Just send cash, check, or money order to...
114	* ''WesternAnimation/TangledTheSeries'' has Rapunzel's friends put on a talent show when magic rocks start [[WhatDoTheyFearEpisode showing people their worst fears]].
115	* In the ''WesternAnimation/{{Trollhunters}}'' episode "The Glory of Merlin", the adults all pretend to put on a play - essentially playing a goofy dramatization of a Trollhunters adventure (with Dictatious and Strickler in his true form framed as elaborate costumes) - in hopes of keeping Detective Scott from suspecting the truth.
116	[[/folder]]

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