Fridge Logic: After the big deal that is made of Georgia — an experienced, if rusty, professional performer who wrote the show — taking over Jessica's lead part in just 24 hours, how is it that Cioffi — an amateur actor who had only seen the show once — took over Bobby's title role in a fraction of that time?
Well, he helped re-write a difficult production number song and he solved the murder mystery, capturing the killer. Having him take over Bobby’s role might have been a way of thanking Cioffi for all his hard work in saving the show.
Harsher in Hindsight: "I Miss the Music" is already a very sad song, but it becomes even sadder when you realize that Aaron's original actor Jason Daniely lost his wife Marin Mazzie when she was only middle aged, and the character he played sang a song all about missing being with his wife. Ouch.
Just Here for Godzilla: The show received mixed notices, but most praised the lead character Frank Cioffi and David Hyde Pierce won a Tony for his work (particularly impressive in a year when Spring Awakening swept every other category).
Tear Jerker: "I Miss the Music." Especially during the brief interlude, after Georgia asks Aaron if she can finish the song without her, and he replies "I'm a one-man band."
The song is even sadder when you realize that this was one of the last shows that legendary duo Kander and Ebb worked on together, as the latter died during the making of it. Reality Subtext much?
Unintentionally Unsympathetic: Even though Carmen is revealed to be critical of Bambi only to give her daughter opportunities to succeed without being accused of nepotism, it's clear that Carmen's behavior really hurts Bambi and their relationship. One could accuse Carmen of going too far with some of her jabs, even though she doesn't mean them.
Values Dissonance: Having Bambi, who is generally played by a white blonde woman, play a Native American character called Princess Kickapoo in Robbin' Hood, while par for the course in 1959 (and even to some extent in 2007), would be frowned upon today on multiple levels. What keeps this from being Deliberate Values Dissonance is that the show doesn't comment on or lampshade the issue at all.
The 1983 Film
Complete Monster: Patti O'Connor is a comedian auditioning for the role of a mentally unstable woman in a film called Audra. In order to ensure she wins the role, she decides to murder the other five auditioning actresses. Patti starts by murdering Amanda Teuther, before killing Christie Burns and placing her head in Brooke Parsons toilet to scare her. She proceeds to murder Laurian Summers, and, after killing the director's assistant Matthew for no apparent reason, she pursues and kills Tara DeMillo. After finding out that the director has been murdered by Samantha Sherwood out of revenge for leaving her in an asylum, Patti murders her too. Willing to commit multiple murders to win a role, Patti is a good representation of how far people will go to get what they want.
Signature Scene: The ice skating sequence with Christie chased by a woman (later revealed to be Patti) in a grotesque hag mask and subsequently decapitated with a sickle is the one thing audiences tend to remember most about the film.
