History Theatre / RideTheCyclone

* PullThePlugOnTheTitle: Since the kids had their accident at a fair, some iterations of the musical put a big multiple-lightbulb "Cyclone" sign at the top of the scenario. The [[https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/ride_the_cyclone_glowing_title.jpg poster]] of the Arkansas presentation styles the title this way, with the C (and the L, to a lesser extent) covered in blood.

** Vergil the rat--who chews through Karnak's wires, causing Karnak to short-circuit and electrocute himself in the process--is named after the poet Creator/{{Virgil}}. Virgil famously appears as a guide through the afterlife in Creator/{{Dante Alighieri}}'s Literature/TheDivineComedy. Similarly, Virgil the rat "guides" Karnak to the afterlife (by killing him).

* AmusementParkOfDoom: Wonderville Traveling Fairground, unintentionally. The rides are in [[CrappyCarnival such a state of disrepair]] that a roller coaster car derails, propelling the teenagers to their deaths and kickstarting the plot.

--> '''Constance''': [[SarcasmMode Thanks.]]

--> '''Constance''': Thanks.

* MoodWhiplash:
** "The Uranium Suite" starts with the still-living kids performing a cheesy, cheery ode to their titular hometown, singing about how great it is (and that they'll [[IronicEcho "never leave this town at all"]]), before immediately flashing forward to their fatal ride on the Cyclone and the moment the cart derails, where they freely admit [[DyingTown the true state of Uranium]] and that they'll "[[DarkReprise never leave this town]] ''[[DarkReprise alive]]''" as they're hurtled to their violent, untimely deaths.
** Ocean, after her triumphant IAmGreatSong ends with her on top of a pyramid formed by the other kids, quickly gets taken down a peg when Karnak reveals the vote on who gets to come back must be decided unanimously ''by'' those same kids, who refuse to vote for her as a result of her putting them down in her song.
** Jane Doe's [[MelancholyMusicalNumber haunting, melancholic ballad]] about her loss of memory and identity comes immediately after Ricky's fantastical, glam-rock-opera inspired number about traversing the galaxy and saving a race of horny cat-people aliens with lots of sex:
---> '''Constance''': I am so happy right now, I can never come down!
---> '''Jane Doe''': ''My turn.''
---> '''Constance''': ''(muttered)'' Aw, man...

** Jane lost everything. Even her identity and memories were destroyed with her decapitation in the crash, and left her to be treated as a "freaky monster" by the other dead kids, since she can't even remember how to act naturally. Her song brings no catharsis, as she can't recall what she's enjoyed, suffered or learned, and Karnak can't "compensate" her as a result. [[spoiler:Ocean outright says that it's ''because'' Jane was left with nothing that she deserves to be resurrected, thus "winning" the Misery Poker game.]]

* {{Foreshadowing}}: Jane Doe's existence is hinted at early in the show: she appears in the opening "Dream of Life" (with the actress's head obscured/lowered to make her look headless) and her distinctive soprano is heard in the Uranium Suite - sometimes with Ricky looking around, puzzled, as if he's the only one to hear her.

So begins ''Ride the Cyclone,'' an uproarious, tragi-comic musical about living, dying and loving told from the point of view of half a dozen dead teens vying for a second chance at life. Those teenagers are:

* AcademicAlphaBitch: Ocean O'Connell Rosenberg has been choir president for nearly four years, student council president for two, and [[BookSmart gotten straight "A"'s since she was in kindergarten]]. She measures her self-worth in her achievements and holds all her "friends" in the choir to her impossibly high standards.

* BackFromTheDead: The Amazing Karnak can bring one of the six teenagers back to life, allowing them to survive the accident. He makes this the "grand prize" of the evening, forcing the kids to vote on who amongst themselves deserves another shot at life.

--> '''Ocean''': Oh no, comic books? [[note]]"''Franchise/{{Pokemon}}''" on the soundtrack album[[/note]] Franchise/SpiderMan?\\

* AnAesop: The show basically spells out by the end that viewing life as a competition is wrong and that life is valuable simply for having lived, no matter how short or unfulfilled it was.

* BoastfulRap: A {{Justified}} example--Mischa aspires to become a famous, wealthy rapper. His first song, "This Song is Awesome," parodies the style of 2000's HipHop.

* JerkassWithAHeartOfGold:

* ThrowingOffTheDisability: A {{Justified}} example--arriving in limbo, Ricky Potts discovers that the degenerative disease that robbed his body of the ability to walk and talk (and that would have eventually killed him) no longer affects his ghostly form. He no longer needs his crutches to move around, and he spends the rest of the musical dancing, singing, and playing the accordion.

* TheSocialDarwinist: Ocean gives off these vibes, and outright mentions Darwin in "What The World Needs", where she lists off why the other kids aren't as deserving of a second shot at life as she is. Mischa (the immigrant with an interest in rap) is "going to jail guaranteed", Noel (the gay kid) is "never going to breed", and Ricky (the disabled kid) will "never learn to read".

** Ocean bullies Constance into participating in the choir (which Ocean runs) and joining an improv theater group (which Ocean founded). She teases Constance about her weight, her lack of confidence, and her down-to-Earth ambitions. Ocean would argue she behaves the way she does because they're "best friends" and she's only looking out for Constance, deliberately pushing Constance out of her comfort zone so that she can develop confidence in herself (or at least a thicker skin). ''Certainly'' not because Constance is the only girl in their class who’s too polite to walk away from Ocean's pushy, self-centered personality, and too much of a doormat to call out her cruelty.
** This is also implied to be the reason Ocean got Ricky, who in life had lost the ability to sing or dance, into the choir.

* LeadBassist: The rat that's chewing through The Amazing Karnak's power cables is named Virgil, and he takes the role of [[FaceOfTheBand frontman]] for the four-piece band that provides musical backing for the show... as a bassist.

* TheSocialDarwinist: Ocean gives off these vibes, and outright mentions Darwin in "What The World Needs", where she lists off why the other kids aren't as worthy as her. Mischa (the immigrant with an interest in rap) is "going to jail guaranteed", Noel (the gay kid) is "never going to breed", and Ricky (the disabled kid) will "never learn to read".

* GirlbossFeminist: [[AcademicAlphaBitch Ocean O'Connell-Rosenberg]] spouts slogans about democracy, fairness, and political correctness while using her IAmGreatSong, a girl empowerment pop anthem, to put down all her fellow competitors -- including a handicapped boy and her ''best friend'' -- for the chance to be returned to life, arguing that because she is the only one who will have a successful life, she is the one worth saving. She is only told ''after'' the fact that [[LaserGuidedKarma the decision of who will be returned must be a unanimous vote amongst the people she just insulted]]. [[spoiler:Eventually subverted -- after a lot of BreakTheHaughty, her JerkassRealization causes her to realize she was wrong to only value success, voting to let Jane come back.]]

* GirlbossFeminist: [[AcademicAlphaBitch Ocean O'Connell-Rosenberg]] spouts slogans about democracy, fairness, and political correctness while using her IAmGreatSong, a girl empowerment pop anthem, to put down all her fellow competitors -- including a handicapped boy and her ''best friend'' -- for the chance to be returned to life, arguing that because she is the only one who will have a successful life, she is the one worth saving. [[note]] Ocean and the five other main characters were killed in a roller coaster accident at the top of the show, and the FortuneTeller machine has the power to bring only one of them back. [[/note]] She is only told ''after'' the fact that [[LaserGuidedKarma the decision of who will be returned must be a unanimous vote amongst the people she just insulted]]. [[spoiler:After a lot of BreakTheHaughty, she [[TookALevelInKindness takes a level in kindness]] by the end and realizes life is valued in experience rather than achievement, giving up her deciding vote to let the victim who lost her Earth memories go back, subverting the trope.]]

--> '''The Amazing Karnak''': The one who wants to win it the most shall redeem the loser in order to complete the whole.

* GoGetterGirl: Ocean O'Connell Rosenberg is a classic overachiever. She's been president of the choir for nearly four years and class president for two, and she plans to be the Prime Minister of Canada when she grows up.