Audio Play / Miss Helen's Weird West Cabaret

Miss Helen's Weird West Cabaret is an hour-long 2016 Concept Album by Paul Shapera, and the first in The Ballad Of Lost Hollow trilogy.

A Parody on those western films and also a (Played With) Show Within a Show, it takes place in a saloon in the fictional town of Lost Hollow, where Miss Helen's Once Pace From Disgraced Cabaret preforms shows with a Miss Kitty narrator that feature a Brains and Brawn duo of a sheriff and his alchemist deputy as they try to stop the 'dragon lady' villainess from her schemes to destroy Lost Hollow.

However, outside of the show, Han-Mi, who portrays the villainess, is not pleased with her role or the cabaret's shows, and frequently tries to change them and make them higher quality, much to the displeasure of the cabaret's narrator, Helen. But trouble starts when the cabaret members realize they can't remember what life is like off-stage, and eventually realize that the cabaret is basically a simulation.

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Tropes:

• Actually Pretty Funny: Helen privately admits to Hank that Han-Mi's idea about flying zombie babies is actually pretty awesome.
  Helen: Don't tell Han I said that, 'cause she'll never follow script again.
• Adventure Town: Lost Hollow seems to be this.
• Affectionate Nickname: The other cabaret members, namely Helen, calling Han-Mi 'Han'
• Alliterative Name: Helen, Han-Mi, Hank, and Henry. See Meaningful Name
• All-Knowing Singing Narrator: Helen's cabaret character. She also narrates certain sections of the album, although very little.
• Big Sister Instinct: It's never said whose older, but Helen has this for Shira, her long-lost sister.
  • She seems to have this for Han-Mi, her Hetero Sexual Life Partner, as well.
• Brains and Brawn: Henry's the brains to Hank's brawn.
• Brilliant, but Lazy: Han-Mi shows traits of being this. The only part that subverts it is that she's a Stepford Snarker so most of her laziness seems to be part of an act.
• Cannot Tell Fiction from Reality: With the exception of Han-Mi, the whole cabaret is a victim to this.
• Can't Have Sex, Ever: Henry, technically. His alter ego Hurl has lots of sex when he comes out, but Henry is never a conscious participant.
• Cast Full of Gay: Hank is the token straight in the Cabaret cast. Han Mi is explicitly shown to be bi, Helen as having had a past relationship with a woman, and Henry is shown to be gay in his titular song.
• Circus of Fear: Carnival of fear. Apparently, one lurks around Lost Hollow kidnapping people at sanity's break. It took Helen's mother and sister, which is why she started the cabaret in the first place and refuses to end it. Now, Han-Mi is starting to think she belongs there
• Cliffhanger: It's resolved in Lost Hollow Act 2, though.
• The Cynic: Han-Mi, but it's justified.
• Dark and Troubled Past: Hank and Helen both have one, but Helen's is worse as it may be real while Hank's was part of his fake memories which he believes to be true
• Deadpan Snarker: Han-Mi.
  Han-Mi: Ah yes, the tired dragon lady trope again. Come see Han-Mi, the lazy, racist caricature from a small-minded, ignorant ass hat of a writer.'''
• Decoy Protagonist: Despite Hank being The Hero of their cabaret and Helen being the narrator for whom the show is named, Han-Mi is the real protagonist of the trilogy. It starts here when she is the one who first notices that she doesn't remember anything outside the cabaret.
• Dragon Lady: Han-Mi's role in the cabaret shows, much to her annoyance.
• Eleven O'Clock Number: "The Beginning Of The End" is a classic example of this trope.
• Evil Genius: She's not evil, but Han-Mi is a Punch-Clock Villain genius
• Fake Memories: For the cabaret. Helen and Henry were both given false backstories designed to play off of their most deeply rooted traumas so that they would keep the show going. Hank's were invented out of whole cloth as he is actually an AI set to monitor them who ended up Becoming the Mask. Han-Mi is saved due to having no memories at all.
• Freudian Trio: Helen is The McCoy to Han-Mi's Spock and Henry and Hank's Kirk
• Friendship Song: Arguably all the songs where Helen and Han-Mi are singing are this; there's other stuff going on but it's really more focused on their friendship.
• Good All Along: Han-Mi. Being evil is part of her role in the show but not herself as a person, despite her not remembering life off-stage.
• Good Is Not Soft: Han-Mi lives by this, and Helen believes the opposite.
• Heartbroken Badass: Han-Mi for most of the album, being as she loves Hank and he thinks she's pure evil. She hides it well, though.
  • This is also Hank's role in the show. His backstory is that he fell in love with a werewolf girl when he was young, who died helping him fight a gang of bandits only to discover after killing their leader that said bandit leader was his father.
• Identity Amnesia: The whole cabaret. Henry and Hank both have fake memories, Helen has memories that may or may not be fake, and poor Han-Mi remembers nothing at all.
• I Just Want to Have Friends: Han-Mi truly isn't evil, just lonely.
• Informed Ability: Henry's intelligence. While he has the role of The Smart Guy in the cabaret shows, his true intelligence is never demonstrated.
• In-Series Nickname: The gang calls Han-Mi "Han".
• Jekyll & Hyde: Henry has an alter ego of pure id called Hurl that comes out whenever Henry gets sexually aroused.
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Depending on how you see it, Han-Mi could count as this.
• The Lancer: Han-Mi, to Helen's Leader.
• Long-Lost Relative: Helen's sister Shira
• Lyrical Dissonance: The peppy melody for the song 'Han-Mi' is very ironic considering that it's a borderline Heroic BSoD. The reason for this is that the idea is that Han-Mi was supposed to be singing a Villain Song but changed the theme.
• Lyric Swap: In 'Finale', their are several lyrics swaps from earlier songs in the album.
  • Most notably, Hank sings Han-Mi's lyrics from her song of the same name, but not quite. In Han-Mi's version:
  Han-Mi: How do I make it stop? Just make it halt. I think my mind's not well. Is it all my fault?
  • And in Hank's version:
  Hank: Just make it stop, just make it halt. I think my mind's not well.
  Han-Mi: Hank, it's not your fault.
• Meaningful Name: Word of God says the reason all the cabaret members names begin with 'h' is because 'h' is the eighth letter in the alphabet and a sideways eight makes the infinity symbol, to emphasize how the cast is forced to just do the cabaret shows again and again and are never able to stop.
• Not Evil, Just Misunderstood: Han-Mi, who has the role of the 'Queen of Crime' in the cabaret shows, is considered a villain by Hank even though she's just a normal person because he, like Henry, believes the performances are real life.
• Not Quite the Right Thing: Helen did believe keeping the cabaret running was the right thing to do, although she was incorrect.
• Only Sane Man: Han-Mi is usually a step ahead of the rest of the cast, being the only one to notice she has no memories off-stage, and to realise that the play may not be real at all.
• Opening Monologue: Helen gives one at the beginning of the album
• Politically Correct Villain: Han-Mi is a politically correct Punch-Clock Villain, who frequently tries to improve the politics of the shows' performances.
• Politically Incorrect Hero: Played With. Helen herself isn't politically incorrect, but the nature of the cabaret shows most certainly are, and she has no interest in changing this.
• Punch-Clock Villain: Han-Mi is only evil during the cabaret's performances. In reality, she's a nice (albeit cynical), woman who is actually friends with the protagonists.
• Red Oni, Blue Oni: Helen's the blue to Han-Mi's red.
• Rude Hero, Nice Sidekick: Averted. Han-Mi is the much snarkier lancer to Helen's leader. Best described by, where Helen's a Stepford Smiler, Han-Mi's a Stepford Snarker. See Straight Man and Wise Guy.
• Sanity Slippage: According to Helen's memories, which may or may not be accurate, her mother started hearing carnival music and preceded to go insane and disappear, and a few years later the same thing happened to Helen's sister. Now, it's happening to Han-Mi, much to Helen's horror.
• The Sheriff: Hank's cabaret character.
• Show Within a Show: A very Played With example. While it technically takes place during one of the cabaret's shows, the four characters do so much messing with the plot that its really more about them themselves—very little actually takes place as part of the show.
• Sudden Musical Ending: More of a Cliffhanger ending, but it still applies.
• Surrounded by Idiots: Not idiots, but Han-Mi is surrounded by people who think the cabaret is real
• Stepford Snarker: Han-Mi gives snarky comments and purposefully acts shallow and bratty in order to hide how miserable she is due to being trapped in the cabaret with no memories of the outside world. Doubles as a Stepford Smiler.
• Stepford Smiler: Both Han-Mi and Helen. Han-Mi acting snarky and mischievous to hide her fear of having no memories, and Helen smiles and pretends to love the cabaret when secretly she's only trying to hide from the carnival.
• Straight Man and Wise Guy: They are both female, but Helen's the Straight Man to Han-Mi's Wise Guy.
  • Also, Han-Mi is the Wise Guy to Hank's Straight Man once they become a couple
• Trapped in TV Land: Trapped in cabaret land.
• True Companions: The cabaret members by the end. Not so much in the beginning, though, except for Helen and Han-Mi.
• Unfortunate Implications: Han-Mi pointing these out (starting with her own role as the evil Asian Dragon Lady) is a Running Gag.
• Villainesses Want Heroes: Most of the Show Within a Show performances seem to end with the Queen of Crime kidnapping The Sheriff for this exact reason. This is later revealed to be an echo of her relationship with Helen when they were Gabriella Gadfly(Helen) and the villainous Jade(Han-Mi).
• Villain Protagonist: Sort of. Han-Mi is the main character, and she has the role of the villain in the cabaret's shows, but the point of the album is that ONLY the character she portrays is the villain, and she herself is a good-hearted person trying to do the right thing.
• Villain Song: In-Universe, Han-Mi's song 'Han-Mi' was supposed to be this, only she changed it so it's more of a Grief Song bordering on a Heroic BSoD.
• The Voice: At the end of the album.
• Wacky Guy: Han-Mi is a strange example since she doubles as the Only Sane Man, but she is the first to come up with crazy ideas
• Weird West: It's right there in the title. There are werewolf tribes, alchemists, and demon-spewing hellmouths, for starters.
• Welcoming Song: In-Universe. The first song in the album is Helen welcoming the audience to the cabaret.
• Well-Intentioned Extremist: Not as much as some other examples of this trope, but Helen shows traits of this.
  Helen: I don't like it when I don't know what to do!
• The Western: The whole album is a spoof on these
• What the Hell, Hero?: Han-Mi's reaction to Helen on a regular basis.
• World Gone Mad: How Han-Mi feels, and how the whole cabaret feels at the end.
• You Are Not Alone: Helen proves this to Han-Mi by stopping the cabaret in order to save her.
• You Leave Him Alone!: Helen threatens the voiceover with this at the end of the album.
  Helen: If you want my cast,then understand
  You'll pry them from my cold dead hands