meanings of a few musical theatre symbols
feel free to add your own!
RAIN
A symbol of love. If the singer is unsheltered (either as depicted in the lyrics or as seen in the actual staging), this represents unrequited feelings. If the singer is sheltered, this represents returned love and affection. The tricky part is that some songs are decidedly in-between. (Often related: water)
“It’s Raining on Prom Night” (Grease), “On My Own” vs. “A Little Fall of Rain” (Les Misérables), “Singin’ in the Rain” (Singin’ in the Rain), “Small Umbrella in the Rain” (Little Women), “Soon It’s Gonna Rain” (The Fantasticks)
FILM
When musicals use film as a metaphor, it is often a representation of disconnect between a character’s inner desires and their lived reality.
“The Movie in My Mind” (Miss Saigon), “Didn’t I See This Movie?” (Next to Normal), Mark in RENT (“You pretend to create and observe / When you really detach from feeling alive”), “avid cinephile” Julia in Bandstand (particularly in “This is Life”)
(Honorable mention: “AFRICA IS NOTHING LIKE THE LION KING!”)
FIRE
A harbinger of high drama to come. Though metaphorical references to fire abound in all kinds of musical theatre songs–hopeful, destructive, romantic, or all of the above–literal instances of fire often occur halfway through Act II, just before the climactic moments of the show. Fire represents a destructive attempt at reinvention, at fixing the mistakes of the past by erasing what came before. In addition, the fire is usually caused by a character other than a protagonist, serving almost as a representation of the protagonist’s mental state and/or as a warning for them to stop their spiral before it consumes them.
“Burn” (Hamilton), “City on Fire” (Sweeney Todd), “The Smartphone Hour” (Rich Set a Fire) (Be More Chill), “Spooky Mormon Hell Dream” (The Book of Mormon), arguably the bomb in Heathers
SKY
If “sky” is used metaphorically–substitute the word “sky” with “acceptance and belonging” and you’ve got an infinitely worse song, but the sentiment is likely to stay the same. How near the singer sees themself to the sky represents how much they feel they are loved and/or valued socially. (Often related: flying, light.)
“Corner of the Sky” (Pippin), “For Forever” (Dear Evan Hansen), “Me and the Sky” (Come from Away), “Stars” vs. “Javert’s Soliloquy” (Les Miserablés)
reblogging this for later, but who knows? y’all might enjoy this !
