The blue piano is usually invoked in scenes of great passion Williams states in the opening stage directions that it "expresses the spirit of the life" of Elysian Fields. This contextualizing music is diegetic, as it exists within the narrative of the play-world as the entertainment at the Four Deuces, but because Williams closely prescribes when the blue piano should be audible it functions similarly to non-diegetic scoring. Williams indicates a "blue piano" in the stage directions, spilling over from a nearby saloon, that comes and goes throughout the entire play. In the play itself, music plays a significant role both as a mood setter and as a source of characterization. And yet, it is a work that has notably resisted musical adaptation. A Streetcar Named Desire is a deeply musical work, from the strands of melody that are intertwined with the stage directions to the heroine's poetic speeches that punctuate the dialog like arias.
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