Finale Lyrics
Finale
All:Hooray for Henry!
Henry!
"Cause when we're in trouble we know
That our friend Henry!
Henry!
Will be fighting for us in the form of Zorro!
Song Overview
Song: "Finale"
From: "Alas! Alack! Zorro's Back!" (stage musical melodrama)
A melodrama finale has one job: restore the world in public. Quiet resolutions belong to straight plays. Here, the ending wants a crowd, a reckoning, and a last round of musical punctuation that tells you the crooked order has been exposed and the town can breathe again. "Finale" is the moment the show cashes its checks: justice arrives as spectacle, and the audience gets permission to celebrate its own outrage.
Review and Highlights
Quick summary
- Function in the show: Wrap-up ensemble number that seals the rescue, the exposure, and the reset of the town.
- Where it lives: After the fiesta reversals, when the villains are finally pinned down in front of witnesses.
- Stage tone: Big, clear, audience-friendly melodrama - the kind that invites cheering on the last chord.
- What it spotlights: The hero persona, the town's relief, and Alice's shift from exploited worker to protected rightful beneficiary.
Finales in this style succeed when they are legible. The show has spent its time teaching the audience how to react: boo the bullies, laugh at the con, clap when the mask means something. By the time "Finale" arrives, the number is less about new information and more about public confirmation. The plot has relied on deception and impersonation, so the ending must feel like an unveiling, with the ensemble serving as jury and chorus at once.
Key Takeaways
- Ensemble clarity matters more than pretty blend - the crowd should understand what got fixed.
- Stage business should show social order flipping: who stands tall, who gets cornered, who is finally listened to.
- Keep the final tempo steady enough for applause timing and buttoned cues.
Creation History
"Alas! Alack! Zorro's Back!" is credited to playwright Tim Kelly, with music and lyrics by David Reiser, and is circulated for performance licensing by Pioneer Drama Service. Reference synopses describe a fast-moving rescue story that pivots through a fiesta sequence and ends with the hero exposing the villains and securing Alice's future.
Song Meaning and Annotations
Plot
Old New Mexico is controlled by Buck Badum, with Sheriff Toady as his enforcement and Conchita as his key accomplice until her allegiance shifts. Alice Sweepup is trapped in the hotel system. Henry arrives with Aunt Victoria and a deed meant to help Alice, and the villains try to block that outcome through impersonation and manipulation. The fiesta gathers the town, the con collapses, and the Zorro persona forces the corruption into full view so the town can take its collective side.
Song Meaning
"Finale" is the show saying, out loud, what the audience has been shouting in its head: power has been embarrassing itself all evening, and now it gets named. In this musical, justice is not a private settlement. It is communal theatre. The meaning sits in that communal release: the town recognizes the hero symbol, recognizes the lie, recognizes the person who has been treated as disposable, and then chooses to behave differently for the last two minutes.
Annotations
Reference synopses tie the ending to the fiesta, a betrayal inside the villain team, and a final rescue that resolves the deed and identity deception.
That structure explains why the closing number tends to feel like a roll call. The show has juggled masks and false labels, so the finale works as public labeling in the other direction: name the crooks, name the hero, and confirm Alice's position in the story without caveats.
Style and dramatic shape
The finale in a melodrama spoof often borrows from familiar musical DNA: a recap impulse, a rally impulse, and a final button. If the production embraces audience participation, this is where the staging can invite the room's energy without directly asking for it. The applause should feel earned, not begged for.
Technical Information (Quick Facts)
- Song: "Finale"
- Work: "Alas! Alack! Zorro's Back!"
- Artist: Stage character performance (varies by production)
- Composer: David Reiser
- Lyricist: David Reiser
- Book: Tim Kelly
- Release Date: 1995 (first produced for the musical)
- Genre: Musical; melodrama spoof
- Publisher: Pioneer Drama Service
- Language: English
- Instruments: Varies by production (often small pit or combo)
- Mood: Triumphant; relieved; celebratory
- Length: Varies by production and pacing
- Track #: Varies by script edition and production order
- Music style: Ensemble wrap-up with recap and button
- Poetic meter: Mixed meter with repeated stresses (chorus-friendly scansion)
Frequently Asked Questions
- What does the finale need to accomplish in this show?
- It must confirm, in public, that the deception has failed and that the town recognizes the new moral order: villains exposed, hero validated, Alice protected.
- Is it a solo or an ensemble number?
- Most productions treat it as ensemble-forward, with featured lines for key characters. The crowd energy is part of the storytelling.
- Why does a melodrama finale feel louder than a typical musical ending?
- Because the form is built on audience-facing signals. The ending is not a whisper, it is a verdict delivered at full volume.
- How does the fiesta connect to the finale?
- The fiesta gathers witnesses, and the finale collects the consequences. The party scene sets the exposure; the closing number seals it.
- What should a director emphasize in staging?
- Status change. Show who is in control now through spacing, height, and who gets to speak without being interrupted.
- Does audience participation matter at the end?
- In participatory stagings, it can. A finale can ride applause and reactions without stopping the rhythm, as long as cues remain clean.
- Is there a commercial recording to study?
- No widely documented commercial cast album is consistently cited for this title, so most work comes from the licensed script and local production tradition.
- What kind of acting tone fits the last moments?
- Direct and clean. Even if the show has played broadly, the ending should feel like certainty, not another layer of joking.
Additional Info
The show moves quickly, and that pace shapes the ending. A reference listing describes the piece as a short musical, which helps explain why the finale tends to work like a fast receipt: list what happened, confirm who won, and land the last chord before the energy cools. According to a Chicago theatre review of a notable production, the crowd-facing style encourages loud reactions, which makes the final minutes feel less like a curtain call and more like a civic holiday staged as entertainment.
Key Contributors
| Entity | Type | Relationship | Statement (S-V-O) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tim Kelly | Person | Playwright (book) | Tim Kelly wrote the book for "Alas! Alack! Zorro's Back!". |
| David Reiser | Person | Composer and lyricist | David Reiser composed the music and wrote the lyrics for the musical. |
| Pioneer Drama Service | Organization | Publisher / licensing | Pioneer Drama Service publishes and licenses the musical for productions. |
| Henry | Fictional character | Hero in disguise | Henry impersonates Zorro and uses public exposure to defeat the villains. |
| Zorro (stage persona) | Fictional persona | Symbol | Zorro functions as a public emblem that forces corruption into view. |
| Alice Sweepup | Fictional character | Target of rescue | Alice Sweepup is the oppressed worker the deed is meant to protect. |
| Buck Badum | Fictional character | Antagonist | Buck Badum loses control when his deception is exposed at the end. |
| Conchita | Fictional character | Accomplice, later betrayer | Conchita turns on Buck during the fiesta, enabling the final rescue. |
Sources
Sources: Doollee (Tim Kelly page and Dave Reiser page), Doollee plays list (A titles), Windy City Times theatre review (Quest Theatre Ensemble, 2009)