the show must go on
Perform despite everything
The show must go on expresses the principle that a performance or undertaking must continue despite difficulties, setbacks, or personal hardship.
Originating in theater, where performers carry on through illness or mishap, the phrase now applies broadly to any situation demanding perseverance: Her father died yesterday, but the show must go on—she's presenting to the board at nine.
- proverbTraditional saying expressing truth
- determinationFirmness of purpose
- stageRaised performance platform
- curtainFabric hung for privacy
- curtain callPost-show audience acknowledgment
opening night · live performance · idiom · improvisation · actor · grit · expression · audience · aphorism · trouper · break a leg · adaptability · motto · persistence · tenacity · press on · carry on · courage
the show must go onthrow in the towel
Concede defeat voluntarily
give up · quit · call it quits · abandon ship · walk away
the show must go onpull the plug
Discontinue or terminate something
show, must, shows, showed, showing, shown, showman, showmanship, musts