Phantom Of The Opera

Words: 490
Pages: 2

I believe that what E.Y. Harburg meant when he said, “A song is a scene,” is a song has many uses and can have a continuous set of actions like a scene has. A song can have many uses within a musical. One use is it can express a character’s emotions as “All I ask of You” from The Phantom of the Opera expressed the love between the two characters Raoul and Christine, and the reprise of the song expressed the anger and feelings of betrayal the Phantom was feeling. A song can also show a relationship between characters as the song “Piddle, Twiddle, Resolve” from 1776 revealed Adams does not get along with most of Congress as he believes they do nothing and have done nothing for a year. A song can also introduce characters and situations as the famous …show more content…
For example, you learn one has murdered her sister and husband, another reveals she murdered her boyfriend for cheating on her, and another reveals she is accused of murdering her boyfriend, but is actually innocent.

2. According to Stephen Sondheim in his article, “Theatre Lyrics,” the two most important things to remember when writing theatre lyrics are lyrics exist in time and lyrics go with music. It is important to remember that lyrics exist in time, because it will usually be heard only once and is taken in during the time it is said; whereas in poetry a reader can take his or her time in reading the poem and discovering the meaning. It is also important to remember that lyrics go with music, because Sondheim discussed in his article how