What makes a musical amazing? Is it the characters? The song lyrics? The stage set? While all those things are important to a musical, there’s one thing that could make it something truly unique: the use of motifs.
A motif is when a specific component in a musical is repeated and has a deeper meaning than just being a background track. This component could be a specific instrument or set of notes repeated, to represent a character or feeling
One musical that’s doing an amazing job using motifs is EPIC: The Musical. EPIC is a musical that is loosely based on the Odyssey, currently being created by Jorge Rivera-Herrans. It’s gained a huge following on the internet, and for good reason. While it’s not finished yet, EPIC has been something unique for both the musical and Greek mythology community to enjoy. That uniqueness is in part a result of Rivera-Herrans’ use of motifs.
In EPIC, all the characters have motifs, and we can see these characters motifs develop as the story develops. For example, our main character Odysseus’s motif is the guitar, but to show Odysseus’s emotion, the type of guitar changes. When Odysseus is contemplating his mortality and having tender moments, you can hear an acoustic guitar in the background, reflecting how his soul is being laid bare. In his more ruthless and cunning moments, you can hear an electric guitar, showing that there’s now a sharp edge to the way he’s thinking.
This isn’t the only way motifs are used in EPIC. Motifs are also used to portray a certain mood. For example, in the background of the song The Horse and the Infant, you hear the same seven notes repeated on the viola. You then later hear those same seven notes singing the words Poseidon at the beginning of the song Ruthlessness by the ensemble. Those seven notes are the “danger is near” motif. That means that whenever you hear those seven notes in the same order, you become aware that something around is dangerous, despite it not always being apparent in any other way.
The thing that makes EPICs use of motifs even more unique is that EPIC doesn’t have a stage nor movie production. In EPIC there’s only the music, meaning that the motifs are even more impactful.
While motifs aren’t a new thing or even a necessary thing, EPIC uses them in a way that makes them extraordinary.
