History ShownTheirWork / Theatre

* Music/StephenSondheim quotes a great deal of the characters' writing in ''Theatre/{{Assassins}}''.
** Most famously, The beginning of "The Ballad of Guiteau" is almost completely lifted from an actual poem written by Guiteau himself that he recited on the gallows before he was executed. Said ballad also noted that Guiteau believed God chose him to assassinate President Garfield, and he drew a crowd to his trial, something the real Guiteau also faced from his behavior.
** In the final scene featuring Lee Harvey Oswald, John Wilkes Booth summarizes Oswald's history up to November 22, 1963, including a mention of his defection to the Soviet Union and back to the United States after that.
** When Zangara made his attempt on Franklin D. Roosevelt's life, a band was playing marching music composed by John Philip Sousa during the latter's visit to Miami. "How I Saved Roosevelt" weaves in several Sousa marches into its composition. Also, Zangara did initially want to kill Herbert Hoover in Washington, but changed his mind when he learnt that FDR was visiting Miami.
** In the "Ballad of Booth", John Wilkes Booth's last words are that "the country is not what it was", which are taken from his final diary entry.
** "The Ballad of Czolgosz" gets ''very'' detailed about Czolgosz's attempt on President William [=McKinley=]'s life and everything that happened that day. Czolgosz's backstory is correct, the layout of the Pan-American Exposition in Buffalo is accurately explained, and Czolgosz actually wrapped a handkerchief around his gun (which the Proprietor correctly described as an .32 Iver Johnson revolver with a rubber handle and owls stamped on the sides). Bonus points for the ballad revolving around "working your way to the head of the line" which references Czolgosz joining the line to shake hands with [=McKinley=] for the kill.
** All of Ronald Reagan's jokes about getting shot by John Hinckley are his real life remarks about the attempted assassination which he survived, except for the "there you go again" line, which was used as a jab against presidential candidate Jimmy Carter during debates with him.
** Guiteau gets angry when Sarah Jane Moore rejects his advances. This reflects his real-life DomesticAbuse to his wife.

** "The Ballad of Czolgosz" gets ''very'' detailed about Czolgosz's attempt on President William [=McKinley=]'s life and everything that happened that day. Czolgosz's backstory is correct, the layout of the Pan-American Exposition in Buffalo is accurately explained, and Czolgosz actually wrapped a handkerchief around his gun (which the Proprietor correctly described as an .32 Iver Johnson revolver with a rubber handle with owls stamped on the sides). Bonus points for the ballad revolving around "working your way to the head of the line" which references Czolgosz standing in line for the kill.

** "The Ballad of Czolgosz" gets ''very'' detailed about Czolgosz's attempt on President William [=McKinley=]'s life and everything that happened that day. Czolgosz's backstory is correct, the layout of the Pan-American Exposition in Buffalo is accurately explained, and Czolgosz actually wrapped a handkerchief around his gun (which was earlier described by the Proprietor as an .32 Iver Johnson revolver with a rubber handle, owls stamped on the sides). Bonus points for the ballad revolving around "working your way to the head of the line" which references Czolgosz standing in line for the kill.

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

** Russian speakers often noted that the animated film got the nickname for "Anastasia" wrong; it would be "Nastya", not "Anya." Perhaps in response to this, the musical deliberately uses the correct informal "Dima" for affectionate references to Dmitry.

* ''Theatre/{{Hamilton}}'' is based on a real life biography of the titular Founding Father, so it works to be historically accurate whenever it can be. It doesn't always [[ArtisticLicenseHistory/{{Hamilton}} succeed]], but there are plenty of {{Genius Bonus}}es that can be confirmed with a quick google search and it's very clear that Lin-Manuel Miranda did plenty of research himself.
* All those obscure and not-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.

* 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 inconspicuously 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. [[note]] 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. [[/note]]

* All those obscure and not-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:
** 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]].
** 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 [[note]] The former guarded the Tower from 1509-1548, when the latter formed to take over those duties [[/note]]. He also received critical praise for the accuracy of his set design, which included a 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 ''Theatre/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.
* Music/StephenSondheim quotes a great deal of the characters' writing in ''Theatre/{{Assassins}}''. Most famously, Guiteau's half of "Ballad of Guiteau" is almost completely lifted from an actual poem written by Guiteau himself that he recited on the gallows before he was executed.

* ''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 a 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]].