NY Public Library for the Performing Arts Curator Doug Reside on Telegraphing Rhymes

BroadwayWorld.com continues our exclusive content series, in collaboration with The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts, which delves into the library's unparalleled archives, and resources. Below, check out a piece by Doug Reside (Lewis and Dorothy Cullman Curator for the Billy Rose Theatre Division) on Telegraphing Rhymes:

Many lyric-writing guides suggest that one should avoid "telegraphing" rhymes--that is, it's considered bad form to let the audience predict the later rhyme upon hearing the first of the pair. While this is generally good advice, there are cases when master lyricists use telegraphed rhymes surprisingly effectively. I had the privilege of seeing Lin-Manuel Miranda's Hamilton twice during the run at the Public Theater, and was particularly impressed that Miranda managed to make the whining, mopey King George still intimidating and, somehow, almost sympathetic--particularly in his second act song in which he seems to envy George Washington for his freedom to give up the burden of power. There is a line in the song that says something like: "George Washington's [...] stepping away ... is that true? / I wasn't aware that was something a person could do" (forgive me, Mr. Miranda, for almost certainly getting the lyric wrong, but these things happen when there's no cast recording yet!). It struck me that both times I saw the show, the audience began to laugh before the punchline--they saw how the line was going to end and laughed before the lyrics got there. This is a telegraphed rhyme, but, somehow, seeing the rhyme coming in this case makes the joke funnier. Why?

It's common enough in musicals to telegraph a rhyme and then change it for comedic effect. Olaf, the snowman in Frozen sings, "Winter's a good time to stay in and cuddle, / But put me in summer and I'll be a...happy snowman!" Pumba in The Lion King laments his digestive difficulties singing, "I got downhearted / everytime that I..." but Timon cuts him off ("Not in front of the kids!"). Of course, most of the kids understood what the line should have been, and the erasure is funnier than the expected word would have been. But I can't think of another example when the audience can see the joke coming but enjoys it all the more when the line is actually spoken. Groff's delivery is masterful, but even apart from the performance, there's something about the moment in the song -- and the show -- that makes a predictable lyric exactly right.

Intentional telegraphing in more serious and poignant songs can also be effective. Take, for example, Ed Kleban's lyrics for "Nothing" in A Chorus Line. The song ends with Morales regretting that when her exceptionally unhelpful teacher Mr. Karp died, she cried because she "felt...nothing." The word "nothing" is repeated throughout the song and gives it structure, so the audience knows that it is the word that should end the song. Kleban even puts a pause before the word so the audience has a moment to guess it. Knowing it's coming, somehow, makes hearing it all the more wrenching. Kleban's lyrics show that telegraphing can actually be a powerful tool to create an emotional impact. We don't want the bad news to be delivered, but the lyrics inexorably make actual the feelings we knew were coming.

This is familiar enough in tragedy. Comedy, though, often depends on surprise and subverted expectations. I suspect that Miranda's lyric works because it is, though funny, somewhat tragic. King George has a moment where he realizes there might be another reality than the one he has accepted.

Still, the line evokes laughter. The joke also comes at one of the moments where the audience is given a break. King George's soliloquies are slower and somewhat less lyrically dense than the rest of piece. If audience members felt they were missing some of the lyrics that were flying by during the earlier scenes, they are now able to soak these ones up slowly. Seeing a telegraphed comic lyric coming may feel funnier because the brain can congratulate itself on catching this lyric even if so many previous ones flew by unabsorbed. There is a type of humor that plays on what seems to be a human tendency to enjoy getting the joke almost as much as enjoying the joke itself. Musicals like Something Rotten or parody shows like Forbidden Broadway depend largely on the enjoyment of catching cultural references. Perhaps the best use of telegraphed lyrics in comedy tickles the same funny bone--the enjoyment of knowing you caught the joke even before it was spoken.