History Radar / Theatre

* The blocking for "Music of the Night" in ''Theatre/ThePhantomOfTheOpera'' contains a moment where Christine gets really close to the Phantom, then darts away suddenly. While this could easily be interpreted as a result of her shyness and uncertainty, at least one member of the creative team (choreographer Gillian Lynne, IIRC) has claimed Christine was startled by brushing against the Phantom's, er, non-musical organ.

** Septimus tells Lady Croom he was "alone with my thoughts" in the gazebo, implying he was [[ADateWithRosiePalms thinking of her, specifically.]]

** Mrs. Chater and Septimus have a "[[IsThatWhatTheyreCallingItNow perpindicular poke]]" in the gazebo which Mr. Noakes [[AccidentalPervert accidentally sees through his spyglass]], not to mention her ''other'' affair with Lord Byron.

* ''Theatre/AnythingGoes'' is the KING of this trope, especially the title song, which mentions orgies, strippers, jigolos, whores, prostitutes, [[UpToEleven OLD prostitutes]], molestation, nudist parties, divorce, and make-up sex.

** ''Wicked'' got away with an obvious lesbian romance by just slapping the word [[RomanticTwoGirlFriendship "friendship"]] on it. It also got away with [[BuryYourGays killing one of them]]. [[spoiler:Or not]]. Doesn't help when many of the cast members ([[WordOfGay and the Maguire himself]]) have said that if things had gone differently, Elphaba and Glinda would have fallen in love.

** Elphaba's mother Melena was DemotedToExtra and only appears in a few unnamed lines. In "No One Mourns The Wicked", we see the portion where she [[YourCheatingHeart cheats on her husband]] and [[SlippingAMickey is given an elixir]]. In the [[Literature/{{Wicked}} original book]], it's clear that Elphaba was a ChildByRape and her mother didn't even remember the encounter. The musical makes it more ambiguous if [[AdaptationalConsent the elixir drugged Melena or not]], but it's quite possible she was.

-->'''Iolanthe''': ''(to Strephon)'' When all is drear and dark/And all is drear and ark/If thou shouldst need an ark/I'll give thee one.

-->'''Lord Tolloller''': I heard the minx remark/She'd meet him after dark/Inside St. James's Park/And give him one!

* ''Theatre/{{Aida}}'': After bringing the captive Aida to his room, Radames removes his shirt, asking her "Do you know what's going to happen now?" Her fearful reaction indicates that she thinks he's about to force himself on her. Instead, he orders her to wash his back, something that essentially symbolizes exactly that.

* Probably the current king of this in American musical theater goes to the Broadway Production of ''Theatre/BillyElliot.'' At the 2009 Tony Awards, the [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dH77znuqzk0 selection they showed from the show]] (which was [[CrowningMomentOfAwesome amazing, by the way]]) featured several instances of Billy making an obscene hand gesture. To Americans, it looks like he's holding out the number two a lot with his hand - but it's the British equivalent of an extended middle finger. But because that same gesture is so meaningless to Americans, the censor let a ten-year-old boy flip the bird repeatedly on national TV in Prime Time. Pretty audacious.

** [[SomethingElseAlsoRises "Can't Keep It Down"]], the song about inappropriate boners at funerals, lusting after your cousin, and masturbating to your Playboy Calendar. It's a damn shame if it's cut - it's easily a CrowningMomentOfFunny.

-->'''Kendra''': My mom says that pretending that you like it prepares you for marriage.