Welcome to the Musicals Thread, the Avocado’s space for anything and everything related to musical theatre! Every month I’ll post a discussion prompt, but please feel free to comment on other topics, from new discoveries to old favorites. If you have ideas for future prompts or would like to write a feature for the thread, let me know!
(Lydia here, taking over posting duties from the thread’s esteemed founder, Grumproro! Thank you again for the vote of confidence and the opportunity, to which I hope I can “rise up”!)
Once more, with (a different) feeling!
Reprises are a handy way to call back to an earlier scene, to hold it up in comparison to the present moment and see how far the characters have come, for good or for ill. What themes have been constant throughout their lives? How have circumstances aligned to prompt the same words and melodies at various points in their journey – or is it someone new singing? What changes and what remains the same?
The reprise of “Stay Alive” from Hamilton is brutal. The titular request, once worried, is now desperate. As our protagonist has matured, a new generation has inherited his pride and suffers the consequences. There are echoes of “Take a Break”, as well – an earlier scene expressing the love between this family in a much lower-stakes context.
What’s your favorite reprise?