History TemptingFate / Theatre

** Also invoked by Max, who wants the show to fail and so wishes "good luck" to everyone he can. He even breaks a mirror and [[ThatPoorCat throws a black cat across the stage door path]] for good measure.

* In ''Theatre/LittleShopOfHorrors'', much ado is made about the fact that Audrey and Seymour are getting married tomorrow. There's even a CutSong called "We'll have tomorrow". They're both dead by the end of the day.

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* At the beginning of the musical ''Theatre/IfThen'', Elizabeth has to make a choice about which friend to go with.
-->'''Elizabeth''': Tell me, how can it make any difference? / How can it matter at all? / Why do I always make such an event / out of something so small?

-->'''Julius Caesar''': The Ides of March is come.\\
'''Soothsayer''': [[LampshadeHanging Ay, Caesar, but not gone.]]

* In ''Theatre/LittleShopOfHorrors'', much ado is made about the fact that Audrey and Seymour are getting married tomorrow. There's even a CutSong called "We'll have tomorrow". They're both dead by the end of the day.
* The ScreenToStageAdaptation of ''Film/TheProducers'' has a song about it being bad luck to say "good luck" on opening night. Therefore, everyone wishes Franz to "break a leg" as he dashes off to the show. It's just his luck that a moment later he literally breaks his leg.
** Also invoked by Max, who wants the show to fail and so wishes "good luck" to everyone he can. He even breaks a mirror and [[ThatPoorCat throws a black cat across the stage door path]] for good measure.

* The second act of ''Theatre/ThePhantomOfTheOpera'' opens with a MasqueradeBall where everyone is having a good time and several principal characters express relief that the Phantom has been unheard from for several months. Yeah, guess who crashes the party and ''immediately'' mocks them for [[DidYouActuallyBelieve thinking they were going to be rid of him that easily?]]

* In the Creator/LillianHellman version of ''Theatre/{{Candide}}'', after the auto-da-fé is over and Pangloss and the heretics have been executed, the Inquisitors announce to the people of Lisbon that they have been saved from the threat of an earthquake. The earthquake happens immediately after the Very, Very Old Inquisitor says, "The danger is over."
* The play ''Theatre/AuntieMame'' has a prologue in which Edwin Dennis (in voiceover) dictates his will, directing that, in the event of his death, Patrick, his only son and sole heir, be placed in the care of Mame Dennis, "that crazy sister of mine." The music becomes facetious as he adds, "Since I keep myself in splendid physical condition through daily workouts at the Chicago Athletic Club, I am confident that these provisions will not go into force or effect for many years." The music then suddenly becomes ominous, and the will is followed by a newspaper headline from the very next day: "BUSINESSMAN DROPS DEAD IN STEAMROOM OF CHICAGO ATHLETIC CLUB."
* At the beginning of the musical ''Theatre/IfThen'', Elizabeth has to make a choice about which friend to go with.
-->'''Elizabeth''': Tell me, how can it make any difference? / How can it matter at all? / Why do I always make such an event / out of something so small?
** And the rest of the musical covers two alternate timelines that show the outcomes of each decision. Needless to say, the outcomes are ''very'' different.
* In ''Theatre/PacificOvertures'', after the treaty with the Americans is concluded, the Treaty House is dismantled, and the Reciter proclaims that the barbarian threat to Japan had thereby been ended forever--"Ha!" Cue Commodore Perry's VictoryDance.

* ''Theatre/WesterosAnAmericanMusical'': Both "King Robert Baratheon" and "Hand-Holding" hold a big, shining beacon for fate. The former boasts about the mere fact that Robert is alive, while the latter has Ned and Robert sing of a future time in which both of them will be dead. Robert realizes this in "Hand-Holding" and goes out of his way to specify that they are imagining that time to be quite a few decades away. [[Literature/ASongOfIceAndFire The work the play is a parody of]] is notorious for its high death toll, and Robert and Ned are among the first to bite it in the original work.

* The play ''Literature/AuntieMame'' has a prologue in which Edwin Dennis (in voiceover) dictates his will, directing that, in the event of his death, Patrick, his only son and sole heir, be placed in the care of Mame Dennis, "that crazy sister of mine." The music becomes facetious as he adds, "Since I keep myself in splendid physical condition through daily workouts at the Chicago Athletic Club, I am confident that these provisions will not go into force or effect for many years." The music then suddenly becomes ominous, and the will is followed by a newspaper headline from the very next day: "BUSINESSMAN DROPS DEAD IN STEAMROOM OF CHICAGO ATHLETIC CLUB."

* ''Theatre/WesterosAnAmericanMusical'': Both "King Robert Baratheon" and "Hand-Holding" hold a big, shining beacon for fate. The former boasts about the mere fact that Robert is alive, while the latter has Ned and Robert sing of a future time in which both of them will be dead. Ned realizes this in "Hand-Holding" and goes out of his way to specify that they are imagining that time to be quite a few decades away. [[Literature/ASongOfIceAndFire The work the play is a parody of]] is notorious for its high death toll, and Robert and Ned are among the first to bite it in the original work.

* The second act of ''[[ThePhantomOfTheOpera Phantom of the Opera]]'' opens with a MasqueradeBall where everyone is having a good time and several principal characters express relief that the Phantom has been unheard from for several months. Yeah, guess who crashes the party and ''immediately'' mocks them for [[DidYouActuallyBelieve thinking they were going to be rid of him that easily?]]

* ''Theatre/PacificOvertures'', after the treaty with the Americans is concluded, the Treaty House is dismantled, and the Reciter proclaims that the barbarian threat to Japan had thereby been ended forever--"Ha!" Cue Commodore Perry's VictoryDance.

* In the Lillian Hellman version of ''Theatre/{{Candide}}'', after the auto-da-fé is over and Pangloss and the heretics have been executed, the Inquisitors announce to the people of Lisbon that they have been saved from the threat of an earthquake. The earthquake happens immediately after the Very, Very Old Inquisitor says, "The danger is over."

* The play ''Literature/AuntieMame'' has a prologue in which Edwin Dennis (in voiceover) dictates his will leaving his only son and sole heir in the care of Mame Dennis, "that crazy sister of mine." The music becomes facetious as he adds, "Since I keep myself in splendid physical condition through daily workouts at the Chicago Athletic Club, I am confident that these provisions will not go into force or effect for many years." The music then suddenly becomes ominous, and the will is followed by a newspaper headline from the very next day: "BUSINESSMAN DROPS DEAD IN STEAMROOM OF CHICAGO ATHLETIC CLUB."

* In the Lillian Hellman version of ''Theatre/{{Candide}}'', after the auto-da-fé is over and Pangloss and the heretics have been executed, the Inquisitors announce to the people of Lisbon that they have been saved from the threat of an earthquake. The earthquake happens as soon as the Very, Very Old Inquisitor says, "The danger is over."

* In the Lillian Hellman version of ''Theatre/{{Candide}}'', after the auto-da-fé is over and Pangloss and the heretics have been executed, the Inquisitors announce to the people of Lisbon that they have been saved from the threat of an earthquake. The earthquake happens as soon as they say, "The danger is over."

* [[Theatre/JuliusCaesar "The Ides of March is come."]]
** [[LampshadeHanging "Ay, Caesar, but not gone."]]

* The StageToScreenAdaptation of ''Film/TheProducers'' has a song about it being bad luck to say "good luck" on opening night. Therefore, everyone wishes Franz to "break a leg" as he dashes off to the show. It's just his luck that a moment later he literally breaks his leg.

* In ''AvenueQ'', the number "If You Were Gay" begins with Rod reading alone in his apartment, saying, "No roommate to bother me, how can it get any better than this?" Cue "Oh, hi Rod!" as the door slams.

* In ''LittleShopOfHorrors'', much ado is made about the fact that Audrey and Seymour are getting married tomorrow. There's even a CutSong called "We'll have tomorrow". They're both dead by the end of the day.

* In ''{{Little Shop of Horrors}}'', much ado is made about the fact that Audrey and Seymour are getting married tomorrow. There's even a CutSong called "We'll have tomorrow". They're both dead by the end of the day.
* The StageToScreenAdaptation of ''TheProducers'' has a song about it being bad luck to say "good luck" on opening night. Therefore, everyone wishes Franz to "break a leg" as he dashes off to the show. It's just his luck that a moment later he literally breaks his leg.

* [[JuliusCaesar "The Ides of March is come."]]

* In ''{{Chicago}}'': "And I said, 'You pop that gum one more time'... sigh... and he did. So I took the shotgun off the wall, and fired three warning shots. Into his head."