playbill vip

MUSIC THEORY MOMENTS!!!

I pumped up this score with loads of symbolism, not just in the lyrics, but in the theory of the music itself. 

- The intro and finale songs, "The Academy" and "Amen," begin and end the show with the same theme presented with opposite intent. Matt opens the show with a vocal fanfare declaring "Amen to the man I was," basically expressing his plan to 'stop' being gay. The audience hasn't met Matt yet and doesn't realize that Matt's message is actually one of internalized homophobia, but in Matt's mind he is starting anew and becoming what he thinks will keep him safe from abuse he's experienced in the past. The finale starts with Matt's father, Abner singing the same theme but this time "Amen to the man I was," is about Abner's efforts to cast off his homophobic personality traits and actions. He commits to be a better father to try to love his son wholistically as a new man. Matt joins in harmony affirming to love better aswell. The song shows that self discimination and self love may sometimes stem from the same place, or the same theme, but it is our choices and actions that determine if they are positive or negative. 

- Elliot and Matt are antithesis characters; their character arcs are opposites and their personality traits mirror each other though the pair use their respective traits for the opposite effect. This relationship between their choices and arcs are represented in their music. Matt starts fairly complicated. Though grounded in the key of F in "The Plague," his song is littered with tangents and protrusions from the home key, similiar to how he is strong and stubborn, yet contradictory to himself. As he learns to love himself his music mellows out and settles in F and F# throughout "Align" and "Divine" until by the end of Act 1 he is almost a completely different person jumping to the key of B (a tritone away from F where he usually sits vocally). Elliot on the other hand begins simple and grounded in the key of Eb in "Change My Heart." In the beginning of the story, Elliot is confident and respects himself, so much so that his music reflects that simple power in the rock ballad. As the story progresses and Elliot has more and more duets changing his perspective, his musical stability begins to unravel. His biggest solo "Remind Me" begins in Eb, then escapes to Gb, then to A, E, G and finally landing in Ab. The tonality of his music and mental wellbeing has become so unstable it parallels the complexity of Matt's solos from the beginning of the show. Furthermore, Elliot never resolves to the tonic, instead settles onto the third of the key completely alone on stage. Matt and his songs start complicated and broken and change as he learns to heal and love himself, while Elliot and his music starts confident and stable, and then breaks down as he begins to understand the complexity Matt had to deal with in the beginning.

- "Wall of Ice" begins in F#m and settles in Cm, creating a tritonal relationship between the two main keys. This "devil interval" as well as the dramatically shifting keys and tempos, and unsettling rise into Db then Eb in the outro are subtle ways to let the listener know this is the antagonist anthem. The song is complicated and unstable, and never actually resolves, just like Arthur's storyline. He is a complicated man who never learns to truly accept his family, yet tries to fight for them without realizing he's tearing them apart.