show must go on, the

A set phrase meaning that whatever has been planned or scheduled must be carried out, regardless of the current circumstances, including any problems or disruption. Most often applied to show business, particularly the theater. Our Juliet just called to say she had to go to the hospital. The show must go on! I will play Juliet, as soon as I shave my beard. A: "Oh no! The birthday cake is ruined!" B: "The show must go on. Stick a candle in that doughnut."

The proceedings must continue, no matter what unfortunate event has occurred, as in The chairman died yesterday but the show must go on. This expression is a theatrical credo dating from the 1800s and was transferred to other situations in the first half of the 1900s.

The proceedings must continue, no matter what catastrophe has occurred. This term is a theatrical credo dating from the nineteenth century, although the idea is much older (Shakespeare used it in Henry IV, Part 1, 2.4: “Play out the play”). In the twentieth century it began to be transferred to other activities. Thus, E. Holding wrote: “The hotel business is like the theatre. No matter what happens, the show must go on” (Speak of the Devil, 1941).