proof-texting

Today at lunch, some students and I were talking about cultures, humor, sarcasm, irony, art and traditions, etc. One student mentioned that his mother had taken him this past summer to see the Royal Albert Hall because she had played violin there as a teenager. The hall led to a conversation about the 10th anniversary concert of Les Misérables performed in the Albert Hall. A student said that there was an all-star cast of performers considered to be the best ever to have sung each particular role. During the concert, the singers were in costume, but there was no action, only the songs were presented. Of course, this raised a stir among those around the table who were fans of Hugo, literature, or musical theatre. I mentioned that actually it seems quite an accomplishment to have a piece of work so popular and familiar as les miserables, that only the songs of the musical need be presented and the audience can experience them in context, filling in the story, experiencing the literary environment. Once this stage is reached, the actual telling of the story seems not to be needed, because everyone knows it and it is the basis on which the songs are sung.
So the story ceases to be told, the songs continue, and eventually, the songs, as popular as ever, exist without a story. The story is forgotten, connected to the present only by some out-of-context songs that provide curious clues to what the story might have been about, but of themselves, are unable to tell the whole story as it was meant to be heard and experienced. Without connection to a story, the songs become so independent that they really don’t even need to be heard together, but can be presented alone, out of order, bundled with other unrelated songs from other musicals, etc., and even be used to emphasize or enhance another story altogether. They no longer serve or are connected to their own, original tale.