History Theatre / IfThen

* * ItBeganWithATwistOfFate: The timelines differ depending on a choice that Elizabeth makes... and the IncitingIncident is which friend to hang out with during a perfectly normal day.

* ForWantOfANail: Each storyline is different depending on the choices that Elizabeth makes. Some notable examples:
** Liz/Beth answering or ignoring her phone. Answering the phone, which Beth does, leads to her old college friend and colleague Stephen offering her a job in the commissioner's office. Not answering it leads to Stephen being forced to hire the deputy's "idiot" nephew instead, who does such a terrible job that at least one child is mentioned as having been killed in traffic due to a poorly thought out intersection.
** Lucas writing or not writing his book. [[spoiler:Heartbroken in the Beth storyline after Beth aborts their baby, he finishes the book and becomes TheLastDJ to community activists. In contrast, because he has David in the Liz storyline, he focuses more on their relationship and it's hinted that he may never finish the book.]]
** Kate and Anne [[spoiler:divorcing or staying together, depends on whether Liz/Beth finds out. Beth does find out, and having just had a NearDeathExperience, she convinces them to try to get past their issues and give their relationship a chance to heal. Liz is grieving over Josh's death, and struggling to take care of her children, and thus had no idea that they were divorcing]].
** Josh's third deployment. [[spoiler:Liz's pregnancies delayed this deployment, so when he finally ships out he's in the wrong place at the wrong time and gets killed. In the Beth storyline, he goes on his third deployment as scheduled and survives, so that he encounters Beth later in the park at the play's conclusion.]]

* MilestoneBirthdayAngst: Elizabeth is 38 at the start of the musical, and part of her angst is about how she's close to 40 years old and doesn't have enough time to revive her love life and career, as seen in the opening number "What If?":

* SplitTimelinesPlot: The story splits when Elizabeth decides to hang out with either Kate (the "Liz" timeline, where she focuses on romance and family) or Lucas (the "Beth" timeline, where she focuses on her career) at the park when she first moves to New York.

* ClusterFBomb: "What the Fuck?" repeats the titular phrase throughout the chorus when Elizabeth hits some obstacles and emotional complications in her life. A TheaterMania blog joked that the musical's release being so close in proximity to ''WesternAnimation/{{Frozen}}'' means that more than one young fan excited to see the voice of Elsa live probably heard the word for the first time.

* ClusterFBomb: "What the Fuck?" repeats the titular phrase throughout the chorus when Elizabeth hits some obstacles and emotional complications in her life. A TheaterMania blog joked that this musical's release being so close in proximity to ''WesternAnimation/Frozen'' means that more than one young fan excited to see the voice of Elsa live probably heard the word for the first time.

* DomesticAbuse: Elizabeth was abused by Orin during her marriage, which is one of various reasons that ultimately made her decide to leave him and move to make a fresh start at the start of the story.

* OnTheRebound: Elizabeth is fresh out of a bad, abusive marriage that is implied to have been unhappy for years. She winds up having a need for intimacy and being susceptible to falling into bed with people, it causes complications for her in both timelines.

* SpiritualSuccessor: To ''Theatre/{{Rent}}''. Aside from maintaining two members of the original cast and the New York-and-proud-of-it setting, the matters of artistic integrity, work and life balance, and passion (of romantic and vocational varieties) resound in both plays.

* ClusterFBomb: "What the Fuck?" repeats the titular phrase throughout the chorus when Elizabeth hits some obstacles and emotional complications in her life.

* JuniorCounterpart: Beth has a young assistant who reminds her a lot of herself. When the younger woman becomes pregnant and plans to leave her job and move away from New York as per the wishes of her partner, it uncomfortably reminds Beth of her younger self and trying to support her abusive husband Orin, to the detriment of her own life and career. She tries to discretely talk the younger woman into reconsidering, but ultimately has to accept it when her aide won't change her mind.

* BittersweetEnding: Both timelines end in a place of loss and hope; Liz [[spoiler:has been widowed but has her beloved children and is finally starting to do the work she first set out to do in college]] while Beth [[spoiler:is accomplished and acclaimed in her field while also being lonely and increasingly disillusioned with her job. However she has plans to change careers and finally meets Josh]].

That choice ends up dramatically changing the course of her life. The musical follows two timelines: one where Elizabeth chooses Kate, is called "Liz", meets her future husband Josh, and decides to focus on romance and family, while in the other she chooses Lucas, is called "Beth", and focuses on her career.

The two paths will simultaneously diverge wildly and also parallel each other in surprisingly close ways as time goes on.

* BeCarefulWhatYouWishFor: Happens to Lucas in a big way in the Beth timeline. He's held a torch for Elizabeth for years, and leaps at the chance to be closer to her when she moves back into town, perhaps hoping from the start that there was a chance of them rekindling their college romance. While they do wind up having a brief physical relationship, it blows up in their faces, and Lucas' behavior not only drives Beth away from him but also makes her decide to have an abortion, which cuts Lucas deeply because he has secretly longed to be a father. The whole thing almost destroys their friendship for good (probably not helped by the fact that when he wrote his book Lucas slammed her in it), and years pass before they can patch things up.

* BittersweetEnding: Both timelines end in a place of loss and hope; Liz [[spoiler:has been widowed but has her beloved children and is finally starting to do the work she first set out to do in college]] while Beth [[spoiler:is accomplished and acclaimed in her field while also being intensely lonely and increasingly disillusioned with her job. However she has plans to change careers and finally meets Josh]].

** Kate in the beginning assures Lucas that she is not just a good kindergarten teacher, she is a "fucking great kindergarten teacher". In the Beth storyline, when she receives Kindergarten Teacher of the Year Award, he says, "You are a fucking great kindergarten teacher!"

** Kate in both storylines when [[spoiler:Anne cheats on her.]] Her defeated, bitter tone when DrowningMySorrows can cause a gut punch for the audience.
* ButWeUsedACondom: [[spoiler:Josh]] is surprised to hear that [[spoiler:Liz]] is pregnant because they were "very safe." [[spoiler:Liz]] snarks, "We are, but apparently New York City Transit novelty condoms, not so much."
* CannotSpitItOut: Lucas, in regards to his desire to have children. Causes a [[spoiler:falling out with Beth when she has an abortion and doesn't tell him about it.]] In contrast, David in the Liz storyline [[spoiler:sees it and encourages him to consider adopting a child.]]
* CastingGag: Lucas and Elizabeth are on-and-off lovers and social advocates played by Anthony Rapp and Idina Menzel respectfully, a callback to their first role together in ''Theatre/{{RENT}}'' as the ex-lovers and social advocates Mark and Maureen. Note that ''RENT'' shares a director with ''If/Then.''
* CharacterDevelopment: Most dramatic with Elizabeth; Liz and Beth evolve into very different characters over the course of the show, due to the circumstances and choices they make.
* ChekhovsGun: An extremely subtle one: the play opens with Elizabeth speaking about first meeting Josh in the park, and mentions how it was at the end of his ''third'' tour of duty with the Army. However as Josh has two tours in the Liz timeline, [[spoiler:and dies when, after several delays, he goes out on his third]], and he doesn't approach her in the park during the Beth timeline, it seems like a flubbed line or a weird inconsistency until the very end of the musical, [[spoiler:when it turns out to have been Beth speaking, as in this timeline Josh survives his third tour and they meet in the park after he comes home again]].

** Liz/Beth answering or ignoring her phone. Answering the phone, which Beth does, leads to her old colleague Stephen offering her a job in the commissioner's office. Not answering it leads to Stephen being forced to hire the deputy's "idiot" nephew instead, who does such a terrible job that at least one child is mentioned as having been killed in traffic due to a poorly thought out intersection.

** Josh's third deployment. [[spoiler:Liz's pregnancies delayed this deployment, so when he finally ships out he gets killed. In the Beth storyline, he goes on his third deployment as scheduled and survives, so that he encounters Beth later in the park at the play's conclusion.]]

* ItsAllAboutMe: Liz confesses to being this when singing with Josh, but [[spoiler:Beth shows it more when she plants a ForcefulKiss on Stephen, ignoring the fact that he's married and his wife has witnessed their gestures.]]

* TheLastDJ: In the Beth timeline, Lucas has become this to community activists, as one young woman oh so thoughtfully says "You're proof we don't all have to sell out when we get old!"

* LoveTriangle: Lucas is still in love with Beth, who just sees him as a friend. Beth has romantic tension with her colleague Stephen and [[spoiler:kisses him]], but also ends up [[spoiler:sleeping with Lucas (and having an abortion due to an unexpected pregnancy)]].

* SplitTimelinesPlot: The story splits when Elizabeth decides to hang out with either Kate (the "Liz" timeline, where she focuses on romance and family) or Lucas (the "Beth" timeline, where she focuses on her career) at the park when she first moves to New York. The Liz timeline is told in Act I and the Beth timeline in Act II.

** During the last chorus of "What The Fuck?," Elizabeth lies in bed with a man. We can't see the man yet, and we can't tell if this is Liz or Beth. Then she sings, "I managed to involve [[spoiler:my best friend]]" and it's clear that Beth ended up sleeping with [[spoiler:Lucas]].

-->I hate that I hate you, I hate that I love you, I love you, I....love'''''d''''' you!

''If/Then'' is a 2014 Broadway musical written by Tom Kitt & Brian Yorkey, who also wrote ''Theatre/NextToNormal''. is a look at the life of Elizabeth (originally played by Creator/IdinaMenzel), who has recently moved back to New York following her divorce to start a new life. At the beginning of the show, Elizabeth is given a seemingly minor choice of which friend to go with; that choice ends up dramatically changing the course of her life. The musical follows two timelines: one where Elizabeth is "Liz" and focuses on romance and family, while in another she is "Beth" and focuses on her career.

* BittersweetEnding: Both timelines end in a place of loss and hope; Liz [[spoiler:has been widowed but has her beloved children and is finally starting doing the work she first set out to do in college]] while Beth [[spoiler:is accomplished and acclaimed in her field while also being intensely lonely and increasingly disillusioned with her job. However she has plans to change careers and finally meets Josh]].

** The show begins with Elizabeth reminiscing about meeting up with Lucas and Kate in the park and choosing which one to leave with. The show ends with Beth meeting up with Lucas and Kate in the park and [[spoiler: meeting Josh in circumstances very similar to his meeting with Liz]]. This is lampshaded in the first line of the song (and its reprise): "Here's how it starts, and here's how it ends..."

** Liz breaks down with AngerBornOfWorry when [[spoiler: Josh has to leave for his third deployment. She breaks down further on hearing of his death.]]
** Kate in both storylines when [[spoiler: Anne cheats on her.]] Her defeated, bitter tone when DrowningMySorrows can cause a gut punch for the audience.

* CannotSpitItOut: Lucas, in regards to his desire to have children. Causes a [[spoiler: falling out with Beth when she has an abortion and doesn't tell him about it.]] In contrast, David in the Liz storyline [[spoiler:sees it and encourages him to consider adopting a child.]]

* ChekhovsGun: An extremely subtle one: the play opens with Elizabeth speaking about first meeting Josh in the park, and mentions how it was at the end of his ''third'' tour of duty with the Army. However as Josh has two tours in the Liz timeline [[spoiler:and dies during the third]], and he doesn't approach her in the park scene at the start of the play during the Beth timeline, it seems like a flubbed line or a weird inconsistency until the very end of the musical, [[spoiler:when it turns out to have been Beth speaking, as she does eventually meet Josh in the park after his third tour]].
* ClusterFBomb: "What the Fuck?" repeats the titular phrase throughout the chorus when Elizabeth hits some difficult obstacles in her life.
* DeathSong: "The Moment Explodes" is about the feeling you get when you realize your life is on the line. [[spoiler: No one actually dies, though.]]
* DomesticAbuse: Elizabeth was abused by Orin in her past, which culminated in her leaving him at the start of the story.
* DrowningMySorrows: Kate downs neat whiskey at the bar in the Beth storyline after learning that [[spoiler: Anne cheated on her.]]

* ForWantOfANail: Each storyline is different depending on the choices that Beth makes. Some notable examples:
** Liz/Beth answering or ignoring her phone. Answering the phone, which Beth does, leads to her old colleague Stephen offering her a job in the commissioner's office. Not answering it leads to the deputy's nephew, an "idiot," receiving the job and doing such a terrible job that a child gets killed in traffic due to a poorly thought out intersection.
** Lucas writing or not writing his book. [[spoiler: Heartbroken in the Beth storyline after Beth aborts their baby, he finishes the book and becomes TheLastDJ to community activists. In contrast, because he has David in the Liz storyline, he focuses more on their relationship than on the book.]]
** Kate and Anne [[spoiler: divorcing or staying together, depending on if Liz/Beth finds out. Beth does find out, and having just had a NearDeathExperience, she convinces them to try to get past their issues and give their relationship a chance to heal. Liz is grieving over Josh's death, and had no idea that they were divorcing]].
** Josh's third deployment. [[spoiler: Liz's pregnancies delayed this deployment, so that when he finally ships out he gets killed. In the Beth storyline, he goes on his third deployment as scheduled and survives, so that he encounters Beth later in the park at the play's conclusion.]]

* ItsAllAboutMe: Liz confesses to being this when singing with Josh, but [[spoiler: Beth shows it more when she plants a ForcefulKiss on Stephen, ignoring the fact that he's married and his wife has witnessed their gestures.]]

* ManChild: Discussed about Lucas, when his boyfriend David implies he is one when they discuss [[spoiler: having children]].

* ManicPixieDreamGirl: Kate is a minor example as her main purpose is to spunkily encourage Elizabeth to pursue her dreams (romantic for Liz, career for Beth), though she becomes disillusioned in both storylines when [[spoiler: her girlfriend cheats on her]]. She encourages Beth to keep her job and her kindergartners nominate Beth as their hero.
%% ** Lucas tries to be one but fails at it because Reality Ensues.

* NoBisexuals: Discussed InUniverse. Liz tells Josh that she doesn't "believe in independents; it's like bisexuals, pick a side", and Kate is convinced that Lucas is gay, to the point of being shocked when Beth tells her [[spoiler: she's pregnant with Lucas's child]]. Ultimately subverted in that Lucas's bisexuality is embraced by the narrative; he is romantically involved with a woman in one timeline and with a man in the other, though the word "bisexual" is never explicitly used for him -- When Kate assumes Lucas is gay, Liz just explains that Lucas ExperimentedInCollege.

* AdultFear: How much impact will small choices make on your life?
** Liz/Beth's [[spoiler: pregnancy]] and how each AlternateSelf handles it.
*** Liz, who [[spoiler: keeps the baby and marries Josh, frets about blaming the child for her unfulfilled dreams and fearing that she will resent him. Josh reassures her that even if the resentment happens, she will still love their baby.]]
*** Beth [[spoiler: aborts the baby because she wants to focus on her career. This leads to a relationship ending because Lucas, the father, has wanted kids but never admits it.]]
** Josh [[spoiler: getting killed despite being a medical doctor in the army and a noncombatant, precisely because insurgents were targeting the military base where he was located.]]

A 2014 Broadway musical by Tom Kitt & Brian Yorkey of ''Theatre/NextToNormal'' fame, starring Creator/IdinaMenzel. "If/Then" is a look at the life of Elizabeth, who has recently moved back to New York following her divorce to start a new life. At the beginning of the show, Elizabeth is given a seemingly minor choice of which friend to go with; that choice ends up dramatically changing the course of her life. The musical follows two timelines: one where Elizabeth is "Liz" and focuses on romance and family, while in another she is "Beth" and focuses on her career.

** Liz/Beth answering or ignoring her phone. Answering the phone, which Beth does, leads to her old colleague Stephen offering her a job in the commissioner's office. Not answering it leads to the deputy's nephew, an "idiot," receiving the job and doing such a terrible job that a [[TearJerker child gets killed in traffic due to a poorly thought out intersection.]]

->"Some other me is homeless, some other me is queen\\

Some other me, how'd we end up here?"

%% ** Lucas tries to be one but fails at it because RealityEnsues.

A 2014 Broadway musical by [[Theatre/NextToNormal Tom Kitt & Brian Yorkey]], starring Creator/IdinaMenzel. "If/Then" is a look at the life of Elizabeth, who has recently moved back to New York following her divorce to start a new life. At the beginning of the show, Elizabeth is given a seemingly minor choice of which friend to go with; that choice ends up dramatically changing the course of her life. The musical follows two timelines: one where Elizabeth is "Liz" and focuses on romance and family, while in another she is "Beth" and focuses on her career.

** During the last chorus of "What The Fuck?," Elizabeth lies in bed with a man. We can't see the man yet, and we can't tell if this is Liz or Beth. Then she sings, "I managed to involve [[spoiler:my best friend]]" and it's clear that she ended up sleeping with [[spoiler:Lucas]].

* [[WhamEpisode Wham Song]]: "I Hate You" when [[spoiler: Josh is killed during his third deployment]].

* ActorAllusion: Creator/IdinaMenzel's character singing "some other me is homeless/some other me is queen" -- [[FridgeBrilliance referring to actual other hers]] in Menzel's characters from ''Theatre/{{Rent}}'' and ''WesternAnimation/Frozen2013''[=/=]''Film/{{Enchanted}}'' (but probably ''Frozen''). The next line "some other me has seen things..." might also be referring to her character in ''Theatre/{{Wicked}}''.

* SpiritualSuccessor: To ''Theatre/{{Rent}}''. Aside from the original cast and the New York-and-proud-of-it setting, the matters of artistic integrity, work and life balance, and passion (of romantic and vocational varieties) resound in both plays.

* AlternateSelf: [[AlternativeSelfNameChange Liz and Beth]]. Also [[DiscussedTrope discussed]] in "Some Other Me".
*

* BetaCouple: Kate and Anne; the "Liz" timeline also has Lucas and David.

* BookEnds: The show begins with Elizabeth reminiscing about meeting up with Lucas and Kate in the park and choosing which one to leave with. The show ends with Beth meeting up with Lucas and Kate in the park and [[spoiler: meeting Josh in circumstances very similar to his meeting with Liz]].

* DeathSong: "The Moment Explodes." [[spoiler: No one actually dies, though.]]
* DomesticAbuse: Elizabeth suffered this with Orin in her past, which culminated in her leaving him at the start of the story.
* DrowningMySorrows: Kate does this in the Beth storyline after learning that [[spoiler: Anne cheated on her.]]
* ElevenOClockNumber: "Always Starting Over"

* FriendsWithBenefits: Beth and Lucas briefly become this after Stephen turns down her advances. However Lucas quickly becomes clingy, jealous, and demanding in ways he swore he wouldn't be, and the arrangement doesn't last long.

* GriefSong: "Learn To Live Without".

* LoveTriangle: Beth, Lucas, and Stephen.

* ManicPixieDreamGirl: Kate is a minor example, though she becomes disillusioned in both storylines when [[spoiler: her girlfriend cheats on her]]. She encourages Beth to keep her job and her kindergartners nominate Beth as their hero.
** Lucas tries to be one but fails at it because RealityEnsues.
* MarriedToTheJob: Beth.
* TheMusical

* NoBisexuals: Talked about InUniverse. Liz tells Josh that she doesn't "believe in independents; it's like bisexuals, pick a side", and Kate is convinced that Lucas is gay, to the point of being shocked when Beth tells her [[spoiler: she's pregnant with Lucas's child]]. Ultimately subverted in that Lucas's bisexuality is embraced by the narrative; he is romantically involved with a woman in one timeline and with a man in the other.

* PrecisionFStrike: There's a song entitled "What The F**k" which utilizes this, although the line "What the fuck" gets repeated often enough [[ClusterFBomb it may start seeming like another trope]].

* [[WhamEpisode Wham Song]]: "I Hate You" when [[spoiler: Josh is killed during his third deployment]].
* YourCheatingHeart:
** In the Beth storyline, Stephen and Beth flirt, but [[spoiler: he eventually breaks it off when his wife gets suspicious and Beth kisses him.]]
** In both storylines [[spoiler: Anne cheats on Kate, the local GenkiGirl and Elizabeth's friend]]. Talk about LoveHurts.