Cupstaged

**Cupstaged** is the third episode of Season 3 of The Cuphead Show!.

## Synopsis

Sally Stageplay is holding auditions for an exciting new space opera, but Cuphead, Mugman, and the Devil all want the same role: the lead.

## Plot

The episode starts with the Devil performing a stage show to his demons, who are all asleep with glasses on. As soon as the Devil finishes, Henchman is the only one clapping, and one of the demons get blasted by fire for picking on the Devil's performance. The Devil retires from acting on stage, to which the audience happily claps. The Devil teleports into his kitchen, and spots a poster on the wall for the local performance called "Cup Rogers versus The Meteor", with auditions open. As he says "Cup Rogers is the role", the scene cuts to Mugman finishing the sentence with "I was born to play". Cuphead reminds Mugman about his stage fright, which Mugman says he has a trick for.

Cuphead and Mugman are queueing outside an auditorium, which they enter with a crowd shortly after the doors open. They all sit down, and The Devil appears with Henchman in the very back. Sally Stageplay appears and walks on the stage with fake rabies, to the audience's surprise. She tells the audience about what she expects from the leading actor of Cup Rogers, which Cuphead appears to be interested by, wanting to be Cup Rogers alongside Mugman and The Devil. The audience goes backstage to recite their lines. Cuphead steals Mugman's script and runs into The Devil. Since Cuphead, The Devil and Mugman want to play Cup Rogers, they compete with each other.

Cuphead is the first to try and impress Sally by jumping off the top of a tall ladder into a glass of water, but The Devil uses magic to take it away from him, causing Cuphead to fall through the floor and be rejected. The Devil then tries and does magic while performing a dance, but slips on a trail of oil that Cuphead poured on the stage, ending up on top of Sally, which rejects him as well. It's Mugman's turn, and he is blindfolded as he recites a monologue, which Sally adores at first. Cuphead and The Devil work together to try and hurt Mugman, but the plan ends up backfiring and they all pile on top of each other, causing Sally to throw them all out into three different trash bins as rejects for the role of Cup Rogers.

Later, Sally Stageplay is performing all of the character roles in the final performance, while The Devil has to manage the props. Mugman is supposed to be managing the curtains, but unfortunately, due to his "backstage fright", Cuphead has to fill in for him instead.

## Cast of Episode

* Cuphead
* Mugman
* The Devil
* Sally Stageplay
* Telephone
* Bowlboy
* Imps
* Elephant (cameo)
* Saxophone (cameo)

## Trivia

* It is unknown why Sally Stageplay kicked Mugman out of the theatre too, even though he did nothing wrong.
* This episode could be based on the episode of the Beetlejuice cartoon, Stage Fright. Both the episodes contain multiple characters trying out for the same part in a play, and trying to mess each other up so the person they're competing against for the part doesn't get it. The episode also contains the Devil saying "It's Showtime!", one of Beetlejuice's most iconic lines, in a very Beetlejuice-like voice.