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Post by happytobehere on Dec 19, 2018 21:53:31 GMT
These are all some really interesting answers, and some that I can’t belive I forgot- thank you all for the contributions!
I’ve always liked non-linear storytelling in films & TV but it wasn’t something i’d come across in my (brief/new) experience with musical theatre, so I was just curious as to if it even could be done- but clearly it can!
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Post by danb on Dec 19, 2018 22:11:16 GMT
I’m not sure that we can call these examples ‘non-linear’ per se. It’s such a commonly used framing device to ‘start at the end’ and then tell us how we got there.
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Post by Deleted on Dec 19, 2018 22:18:01 GMT
Yeah, wouldn't call a musical with just one flashback/forward a non-linear musical.
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Post by crabtree on Dec 19, 2018 22:40:23 GMT
I'd throw in Scottsboro Boys, which has past, present and future, and Oklahoma! I guess, as the Dream Ballet is in essence a flash forward.
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Post by Deleted on Dec 20, 2018 2:15:46 GMT
Yeah, wouldn't call a musical with just one flashback/forward a non-linear musical. Once something is not linear, then it’s non-linear. Some may not be as complex as others mentioned but one instance still serves to break the linearity. Even the cursory one in Phantom colours what we see to an extent. |
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Post by Deleted on Dec 20, 2018 9:06:14 GMT
Yeah, just because they don't do anything interesting with their non-linear storyline doesn't mean it's linear. "Might as well be linear" isn't the same as "not non-linear". I would accept the argument that something with a particular sort of flashback scene or dream ballet might not count though. The Ballad Of Loco Chanel, for instance, is Hugo recounting his past; just because the action of the story is staged doesn't mean it's not basically Hugo in the present telling the story. And a dream ballet is... well, a dream. I can sit at my desk and think vivid thoughts about my possible futures without suddenly being classed as a time traveller.  |
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Post by olliebean on Dec 20, 2018 9:13:18 GMT
Does any musical feature a character singing a duet with an older/younger version of themself? I have a feeling I've seen that, but I can't remember what show it might have been in.
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Post by Deleted on Dec 20, 2018 9:23:23 GMT
Does any musical feature a character singing a duet with an older/younger version of themself? I have a feeling I've seen that, but I can't remember what show it might have been in. Who's Gonna Love Me, from Spend Spend Spend. |
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Post by Deleted on Dec 20, 2018 9:23:44 GMT
That happens in Follies, I think?
Also is there a dance routine in Billy Elliot with older / younger Billy?
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Post by olliebean on Dec 20, 2018 9:35:43 GMT
Does any musical feature a character singing a duet with an older/younger version of themself? I have a feeling I've seen that, but I can't remember what show it might have been in. Who's Gonna Love Me, from Spend Spend Spend. That's probably it - I did see the West End production of that, nearly 20 years ago now. |
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Post by Deleted on Dec 20, 2018 14:03:26 GMT
Yeah, just because they don't do anything interesting with their non-linear storyline doesn't mean it's linear. "Might as well be linear" isn't the same as "not non-linear". I would accept the argument that something with a particular sort of flashback scene or dream ballet might not count though. The Ballad Of Loco Chanel, for instance, is Hugo recounting his past; just because the action of the story is staged doesn't mean it's not basically Hugo in the present telling the story. And a dream ballet is... well, a dream. I can sit at my desk and think vivid thoughts about my possible futures without suddenly being classed as a time traveller. We're all time travellers, it's just that we only go in one direction and at one speed.....
I suppose there's a division between 'actual time' and 'imagined time', two different categories of non-linearity. The case of something like Man of La Mancha is interesting as regards storytelling, he is re-enacting a story of the past but the past seems to take over, as there is no logic in his fellow prisoners being able to recount his memories in such detail. It's 'imagined time' but maybe more than that.
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Post by Deleted on Dec 20, 2018 15:26:17 GMT
Yeah, wouldn't call a musical with just one flashback/forward a non-linear musical. Once something is not linear, then it’s non-linear. Some may not be as complex as others mentioned but one instance still serves to break the linearity. Even the cursory one in Phantom colours what we see to an extent. Yeah, I totally understand and agree with you but what I wanted to say (totally chose the wrong words) is that the OP wasn't probably referring to those kind of musicals when they started the thread and were probably looking for something more "extreme" than just one flashback. |
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Post by SamB (was badoerfan) on Dec 20, 2018 21:10:51 GMT
Fun Home is told in flashbacks, but not linearly in order.
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Post by westendcub on Dec 23, 2018 11:55:38 GMT
Does any musical feature a character singing a duet with an older/younger version of themself? I have a feeling I've seen that, but I can't remember what show it might have been in. This happens in the ‘The Band’ for ‘Back for Good’ with the older. & younger versions singing it to each other. |
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Post by joeinnewyork on Dec 24, 2018 3:39:15 GMT
"The Will Rogers Follies," which - if I remember right - returns several times to the framing device of Rogers's exchanges with Florenz Ziegfeld and to foreshadowing of his death.
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Post by Mark on Dec 24, 2018 4:35:01 GMT
Does any musical feature a character singing a duet with an older/younger version of themself? I have a feeling I've seen that, but I can't remember what show it might have been in. Shrek I Know It's Today |
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Post by carmella1 on Dec 24, 2018 6:00:05 GMT
This has to be the most boring thread on the Forum.
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