Brought to you by Lauren (deathbylostboys the beloved) pointing out that Michael only has one line in the Act 1 finale despite being there the entire time and I just wanted to point out again that the vampires don’t really sing because they aren’t human so as Michael begins embracing the vampire he stops singing!!!
I mentioned it in my breakdown of why TLB is horror-comedy depending on if Michael or Sam is the narrator, but the reason we don’t get many Michael songs in the second half is because it’s from Sam’s POV. However, in addition to that, Michael is no longer “human,” thus the audience doesn’t get to see what he’s thinking or feeling.
I forget who— and I am going to search for it so I can properly link them— but one of the writers/script/music people said that the reason it works so well for the vampires to be a band is because they can’t sing about their actual motivations (hence why no Max song until the end when he reveals himself), so they get around that by being a band. The vampires CANNOT sing truthfully, so they either don’t sing (Max) or they’re in a band and that’s their work around.
So how does this apply to Michael? Well, Michael has lots of songs in Act 1 when he’s still human. We hear so much about his inner thoughts and feelings and he is so, so open with the audience. He is our narrator, and we know him through his songs.
And then he starts turning. And that’s when we start loosing him. “Secret Comes Out” is when Michael really starts turning, which is why we only get one line from him. He’s not human anymore, he’s doesn’t get so connect with the audience or sing anymore. So he gets one singular line— about becoming a monster and loosing himself— and then he’s gone. From himself and the audience.
And like @starvedforcontent mentioned in the tags of their reblog of the Horror Comedy breakdown, this explains why we get songs from Star as she grows closer to Michael and starts re-embracing her humanity. Michael is leaving his humanity behind him, so he pulls away from the audience. Star on the other hand, is embracing her humanity and starts connecting with the audience through songs (especially “War,” which is her first proper solo song, where we get to hear so much about how she feels and truly thinks).
TLDR; the vampires cannot sing because they physically cannot connect with the inherent humanity of expressing emotions like that, which is why as Michael turns, he stops singing. Michael pulls back from the audience because he’s no longer human, so we loose his perspective elf things and Sam becomes the narrator. As Michael reconnects with his humanity— eventually becoming human again— he starts singing again and we get his perspective back.
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