History BookEnds / Theatre

* ''Theatre/DearEvanHansen'': The first and last lines begin with the [[TitleDrop play's name itself]], as the eponymous character writes a letter to himself, in the hopes of making himself better. In his first letter, he writes that it will be an amazing day, because he'll be himself, before descending into a tangent regarding his social anxiety. At the end, his letter assures him that his day will be good, as he has finally learned, and accepted, being himself.

* In ''Theatre/{{Parade}}'', the finale reprises "The Old Red Hills of Home". In the intro, a young man sings about going off to fight in the American Civil War, and in the finale, a young man sings about going off to fight in the "Great War", showing nothing has changed for the next generation.

* ''Theatre/{{Rent}}'' begins and ends with Mark and Roger in their apartment, the former narrating as the latter tunes his guitar, right before Collins comes home after some time away. TheFilmOfThePlay shows this by having him call from a payphone outside asking for the key. Mark even lampshades this by yelling, "Don't get your ass kicked this time!" as he tosses it from the balcony (Collins was mugged in the beginning). An alternate ending included on the movie's DVD shows that it was originally going to have BookEnds: the movie begins with the lead characters singing "Seasons of Love" on a bare stage, and the alternate ending depicts them singing "Finale B" on the same stage. However, even though that opening still appears in the final film, the ending was replaced because the director felt that seeing [[spoiler: Angel return]] would ruin the emotional impact of [[spoiler: his death about 15 minutes earlier]].

* ''Theatre/SweeneyToddTheDemonBarberOfFleetStreet'' has a Book Ends trope, both beginning and ending with the "The Ballad of Sweeney Todd".

* This is a staple of Theater of the Absurd , especially Eugene Ionesco.

* ''Theatre/{{Rent}}'' begins and ends with Mark and Roger in their apartment, the former narrating as the latter tunes his guitar, right before Collins comes home after some time away. TheMovie shows this by having him call from a payphone outside asking for the key. Mark even lampshades this by yelling, "Don't get your ass kicked this time!" as he tosses it from the balcony (Collins was mugged in the beginning). An alternate ending included on the movie's DVD shows that it was originally going to have BookEnds: the movie begins with the lead characters singing "Seasons of Love" on a bare stage, and the alternate ending depicts them singing "Finale B" on the same stage. However, even though that opening still appears in the final film, the ending was replaced because the director felt that seeing [[spoiler: Angel return]] would ruin the emotional impact of [[spoiler: his death about 15 minutes earlier]].

* ''God (A Play)'' by Creator/WoodyAllen ends with a closed loop - the dialog is the same as the beginning, it is suggested that the play could go on forever (like ''The Song that Doesn't End'').
* ''Theatre/{{Wicked}}'' begins and ends with mostly the same scene ("Good news! She's dead!"), but the tone is very different.
* ''Theatre/SundayInTheParkWithGeorge'' begins with an artist musing about the blank piece of paper on which he is about to start sketching: "White. A blank page, or canvas." A hundred years later, his great-grandson sets out to create a new piece of art, and ends the musical with the exact same words.
* The first and last words in ''Theatre/IntoTheWoods'' are "I wish", sung on the exact same notes. The play opens with the Narrator saying, "Once upon a time, in a far-off land..." And the last words spoken (not sung) is the Baker saying those same words [[spoiler: to his own son.]]

* In ''Theatre/{{Parade}}'', the finale reprises "The Old Red Hills of Home". In the intro, a young man sings about going off to fight in the American Civil War, and in the finale, a young man sings about going off to fight in the "Great War", showing nothing has changed for the next generation.
* "Dites Moi" points out what has changed since it was first sung in ''Theatre/SouthPacific''.
* ''No Strings'' begins with "The Sweetest Sounds" to show that the OfficialCouple has not met up yet, and ends with the same song after they've agreed to break up and forget that they ever met.
* ''Theatre/{{Rent}}'' begins and ends with Mark and Roger in their apartment, the former narrating as the latter tunes his guitar, right before Collins comes home after some time away. TheMovie shows this by having him call from a payphone outside asking for the key. Mark even lampshades this by yelling, "Don't get your ass kicked this time!" as he tosses it from the balconey (Collins was mugged in the beginning). An alternate ending included on the movie's DVD shows that it was originally going to have BookEnds: the movie begins with the lead characters singing "Seasons of Love" on a bare stage, and the alternate ending depicts them singing "Finale B" on the same stage. However, even though that opening still appears in the final film, the ending was replaced because the director felt that seeing [[spoiler: Angel return]] would ruin the emotional impact of [[spoiler: his death about 15 minutes earlier]].
* ''Theatre/SweeneyToddTheDemonBarberOfFleetStreet'' has a Book Ends trope, both beginning and ending with the "The Ballad of Sweeney Todd".
* ''Theatre/TheSkinOfOurTeeth'' ends with [[spoiler: Sabina starting her first scene of the play over again. She stops midway through to tell the audience [[WhatDoYouMeanItsNotSymbolic the end hasn't been written yet.]] The play ends.]]
* The overture to Mozart's ''Theatre/DonGiovanni'' begins with a short, somber song fragment that is actually rather boring. The end repeats this song, but with the Don, Leoporello, and [[spoiler: the Commander]] all singing, in such a way that sounds much more awesome.

* ''Theatre/TheSolidGoldCadillac'' begins with a meeting of the board of directors of the General Products Corporation, and ends with another General Products board meeting, except that [=McKeever=] and Mrs. Partridge have replaced the {{Corrupt Corporate Executive}}s. A little old lady tries to ask a question, but Mrs. Partridge says, "Oh, no! That's how I got ''my'' start!" and bangs the gavel to conclude the meeting and the play.
* ''Theatre/{{Oklahoma}}'' begins and ends with "Oh, what a Beautiful Morning."
* The musical revival of ''Vanities'' introduced a fourth act, set at least 10 years after the previous (which makes it 20+ years after the first act), with the women reuniting in the town they grew up in. "Looking Good", one of the closing songs, reprises the title of "Hey There Beautiful", the opening number of the Theatre Works version. The characters also remove their makeup at the beginning of the final act/scene, mirroring the opening scene. The off-Broadway version of "Looking Good" also adds a reprise of the [[{{Scatting}} scat-singing]] intro of "Setting Your Sights".
* [[http://www.acttheatre.org/ ACT's]] seasonal play of ''Literature/AChristmasCarol'' begins and ends with the company singing "God Rest You Merry Gentlemen".
* The play "Porches" begins and ends with the song "On My Porch". Set in the working class railroad city of Altoona, Pennsylvania during its heyday, it chronicles the lives of people in four different houses. The happy sounding "On My Porch" is a bit [[MoodWhiplash jarring]] at the end and a bit bittersweet after the death of one main character, a SlapSlapKiss romance forms, and a boy you keep seeing finds his long lost mother. The message changes from "it's a nice day to watch it from my porch" to "our lives may change but we still have our sense of community", even though the lyrics remain exactly the same and the only difference with the song at the end is that the main character who dies is not participating in the song.
* ''Theatre/{{Thirteen}}'' has Evan start and begin with pretty much the same line, but much more optimistic at the end.
* ''Theatre/{{Amaluna}}'' begins and ends with a magic ceremony, set to the song "Come Together". The first celebrates Miranda's transition to womanhood, while the last consummates the marriage of Miranda and Romeo.

* The first and last scenes of ''Theatre/TheMoonIsBlue'' have Don and Patty meeting on the observation deck of the Empire State Building, introducing themselves in the first scene, proposing marriage in the last.
* ''The Tender Land'' begins and ends with Beth dancing by herself.

* ''Theatre/{{Cabaret}}'' has a reprise of "Willkommen" in its closing scene, with the M.C. doing the same spiel. The difference is more Nazis.

* Similarly, ''Theatre/AvenueQ'' begins with Princeton singing "What Do You Do with a B.A. in English?" as he looks for a place to live, finding an apartment on Avenue Q. At the end, another recent college grad enters, singing the same song and looking for a place to live, bringing him to Avenue Q. [[spoiler:This makes Princeton realize his purpose.]]
* At the end of ''Theatre/ALittleNightMusic'', with the LoveDodecahedron finally sorted out, all the couples dance to the same waltz featured in the OpeningBallet. When the music dies away, the final chord is played on the piano by the GreekChorus's Mr. Lindquist, who also played the very first note of the overture.
* The musical version of ''Theatre/{{Aida|JohnRice}}'' begins in a modern-day Egyptian museum with various people milling about (including the two leads.) The bulk of the story then takes place in Ancient Egypt. Near the end of the show, Aida and Radames are imprisoned in a tomb together and they promise to find each other again. The scene then changes back to the museum and their reincarnations meet.

* ''Theatre/{{Footloose}}'' both begins and ends with the song ''Footloose'', albeit with modified lyrics in [[TriumphantReprise the reprise]]. In the beginning, it's sung by a group of students (in the original version, it's Ren and his friends, while in the revival, it's Rusty, Wendy Jo, and Urleen) complaining about how they can't cut loose and have fun. The reprise is mostly the same, but instead celebrating how they can finally cut loose and have fun, having convinced Reverend Moore to repeal the ban on dancing and let them hold a dance.
* ''Theatre/TheDrowsyChaperone'' has the show's narrator, the Man in the Chair giving a monologue about theater at both the beginning and end of the show. The opening monologue is the Man in the Chair explaining why he hates theater (but secretly loves it), while the closing monologue is a very similar speech about why he loves theater so much.
** Also, the shows begin and end with darkness. In the beginning, the entire stage is in darkness, as the Man in the Chair hasn't yet turned on the light and addresses the audience in total darkness. Near the end, the Man in the Chair's power goes out just before the final note of the finale, plunging the entire theater into darkness.
* ''Theatre/{{Anastasia}}'' begins and ends with Anastasia and the Dowager Empress parting ways and uncertain when they will see each other again.

* ''Theatre/DearEvanHansen'': The first and last lines begin with the [[TitleDrop play's name itself]], as the eponymous character writes a letter to himself, in the hopes of making himself better. In his first letter, he writes that it will be an amazing day, because he'll be himself, before descending into a tangent regarding his social anxiety. At the end, his letter assures him that his day will be good, as he has finally learned, and accepted, being himself.
* ''Theatre/LaBoheme'': Act I opens with Marcello and Rodolfo chatting together in their garret, then having fun with Colline and Schaunard when they arrive, and ends with Rodolfo and Mimí meeting and falling in love. Act IV opens with Marcello and Rodolfo chatting together in their garret, then having fun with Colline and Schaunard when they arrive, and ends with [[spoiler: Mimí dying and Rodolfo grieving over her body.]]
* ''Theatre/AVeryPotterMusical'':
** It begins with the musical number "Gotta Get Back to Hogwarts". Fast forward to the end of the sequel, when [[Creator/DarrenCriss Harry]] finishes a moving speech and the whole cast breaks into song. Guess what they sing?
** ''Theatre/AVeryPotterSeniorYear'' uses a slower, more sentimental version of the song for its final scene

* The Lachiusa adaptation of ''Literature/TheWildParty'' begins and ends with the number "Queenie Was A Blonde".

* The musical based off ''Literature/TheWildParty'' begins and ends with the number "Queenie Was A Blonde".