Latin or African music usually isn't the first thing that comes to mind when thinking about musical theatre. But the tresillo rhythm, a staple pattern in both Cuban and Sub-Saharan African music traditions, is also commonly found in musical theatre.
For music nerds like myself, "tresillo" is "triplet" in Spanish, and in its most basic form is three notes where there would normally be two. According to Wikipedia this most commonly occurs as a dotted eighth note, a sixteenth, followed by an eighth rest and another eighth note in 2/4 time, although there are many variations.
Early musical theatre of the 1920s and 1930s actually had many subtle uses of the tresillo in vocal melodies. One of the most famous songs is Irving Berlin's Puttin' on the Ritz, from the musical of the same name and later reused in Mel Brook's Young Frankenstein. You can hear the rhythm in the main chorus line, "If you're blue and you don't know where to go to...", it's those very quick syncophated notes in an otherwise straightforward and legato line. I picked the 2007 Broadway version of the song since the faster pace better showcases the tresillo pattern and makes it easier to hear.
While use of the tresillo rhythm in musical theatre lessoned after the 1930s, the rhythmic pattern has seen a revival in recent years thanks to Lin-Manuel Miranda. Lin-Manuel Miranda not only uses the rhythm in his vocals, he also incorporates the rhythm into the instrumentation. And while his better known work Hamilton is riddled with examples including George Washington's part in the opening number, his most clear-cut use of the tresillo pattern is the first thing the audience hears in the opening number of my favorite musical: In the Heights. The exact rhythm played on the clave as the show starts is called the son clave, a more complicated habanera rhythm in which the tresillo is the first three notes. The tresillo pattern can also be heard in the opening rap by Usnavi in practically every other measure, from "probably never heard my name. Reports of my fame are greatly exaggerated." to "ever since my folks passed on I haven't gone back. Aw, damn! I gotta get on that."
Whether old or new, musical theatre incorporates the same basic rhythm in very different ways. While composers of the early 20th century were much more conservative in their use of the tresillo rhythm, modern composers are much more comfortable incorporating elements from other genres like the tresillo pattern.
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