they were terribly attracted to one another. That may have not been evident from certain seats or if you're not good at reading emotional cues. The thing is, making it more obvious is something the characters would never do, so it's hard to imagine how it might be made more apparent
It's a musical ... I can imagine them singing about their attraction. Not to each other, since they're so private, but alone, as a soliloquay. Happens all the time: "I'm Not That Girl" in Wicked, "If I Told You" in The Wedding Singer, "Satisfied" in Hamilton, etc. etc. If the lyricist is skillful there are songs where, even if that character can't even admit it to themself, the audience nonetheless realises a character's in love (e.g. "I Won't Say I'm in Love," "If I Loved You," etc.) But a show where the characters know what's going on, but the audience doesn't, really suggests something went slightly awry to me.
To take the Hamilton example, I was expecting Angelica and Hamilton to get together, but then "Helpless" happens and I thought "oops, misread that one," and that would have been it. Without "Satisfied" I'd never have known that Angelica did love Hamilton after all. And I'm grateful that Miranda wrote the song, rather than trusting the more perceptive members of the audience to assume the thing. |
