Reprises Are Awesome

Sometimes a song is so great we have to hear it again, but not at full length but rather a shorter version, a nice reminder of something we heard before but in a new light. And that is why reprises are amazing! Hearing familiar melodies to either show how a character has grown or remind the audience of their goal. Sometimes they are sung by the same character and sometimes different but they can be an important part of a musical none the less. First off for those who write the shows it allows them to use material that they have already created without writing a new song. It can reiterate themes and ideas without having to be completely new. It can reuse a melody that the audience could have thoroughly enjoyed before and remind them of the song from earlier thus tying everything together both in theme and in song.

From the audience point of view, a reprise can be a short little song in a scene where there would have been none. A brief break from the dialogue but a break none the less. It can advance plot and remind the audience that there are more songs to come. It can be used to close a scene without having to speak it out in dialogue and make a transition even more seamless. A song can be a nice way to wrap a scene up with a boy instead of just telling the audience, why tell when you can sing! 

They can call back to something from the previous act to really iterate a characters personality, ideals, or goals, all while not taking up too much time. Some of the best reprises can be worth a listen even when they are less then two minutes long. Whether a comedy uses it to hammer in a joke in a cleaver way or another show used it to remind you why the cast is where they are. It can be used an update without just outright saying it but making it fun and memorable. 

Another form is reusing the melody, ideas, and even lyrics but being a mostly different song. Something in act two that feels and sounds like something from act one but does not share the name. Many finales also often turn into reprises to use a song we loved to wrap up the show. Some shows turn the ending into a medley and we get a bunch of mini reprises bundled together as a send off for the show that we have been spending the evening with. 

Reprises are necessary because they have so many amazing uses. Some musicals do go without but plenty use them and we love these songs so much we love to see them again, even an act later and in a different way. In one form or another sometimes songs are so great they often deserve another look.