conceived, choreographed and directed by MICHAEL BENNET
book by JAMES KIRKWOOD and NICHOLAS DANTE
music by MARVIN HAMLISCH
lyrics by EDWARD KLEBAN
FOLLOWS ` And `
SHEILA (speaks)
Well, let`s face it. May family scene was not good.
(sings)
Daddy always thought that he married beneath him.
That`s what he said, that`s what he said.
When he proposed he informed my mother
he was probably her very last chance.
And though she was twenty-two, though she was twenty-two,
though she was twenty-two -
She married him.
Life with my Dad wasn`t ever a picnic.
More like a `Come as you are.`
When I was five I remember my mother
dug earrings out of the car.
I knew that they weren`t hers, but it wasn`t
something you`d want to discuss.
He wasn`t warm.
Well, not to her.
Well, not to us.
But ev`rything was beautiful at the ballet.
Graceful men lift lovely girls in white.
Yes, ev`rything was beautiful at the ballet.
Hey!
I was happy at the ballet.
(speaks)
That`s when I started class
(sings)
Up a steep and very narrow stairway.
SHEILA, BEBE
To the voice like a metronome.
Up a steep and very narrow stairway.
SHEILA
It wasn`t paradise,
BEBE
It wasn`t paradise,
SHEILA, BEBE
It wasn`t paradise,
SHEILA
But it was home.
BEBE
Mother always said I`d be very attractive
When I grew up, when I grew up.
`Different,` she said, `with a special something
and a very, very personal flair.`
And though I was eight or nine, though I was eight or nine,
Though I was eight or nine, I hated her.
(Now) `Different` is nice, but it sure isn`t pretty.
`Pretty` is what it`s about.
I never met anyone who was `different`
Who couldn`t figure that out.
So beautiful I`d never live to see.
But it was clear, if not to her,
Well, then to me that
BEBE, MAGGIE
Everyone is beautiful at the ballet
Ev`ry prince has got to have his swan.
Yes, ev`ryone is beautiful at the ballet.
MAGGIE
Hey!
BEBE
I was pretty
SHEILA
At the ballet.
MAGGIE, BEBE, SHEILA
Up a steep and very narrow stairway.
To the voice like a metronome.
Up a steep and very narrow stairway.
MAGGIE
It wasn`t paradise,
BEBE
It wasn`t paradise,
SHEILA
It wasn`t paradise,
TRIO
But it was home.
MAGGIE (speaks)
I don`t know what they were for or against really. except each other. I mean, I was born to save their marriage. But when my father came to pick my mother up at the hospital, he said, `well, I thought this was going to help out, but I guess it`s not.` Anyway, I did have a fantastic fantasy life. I used to dance around the living room with my hand up like this. My fantasy was that it was an Indian Chief and he`d say to me, `Maggie, do you wanna dance ` And I`d say, `Daddy, I would love to dance.`
(Other 2 girls sing `Do, do, do`)
BEBE
But it was clear
SHEILA
When he proposed
MAGGIE
That I was born to help their marriage and when
SHEILA
That`s what he said
BEBE
That`s what she said
MAGGIE
I used to dance around the living room
SHEILA
He wasn`t warm
BEBE
Not to her
MAGGIE
It was an Indian chief and he`d say: `Maggie, do you wanna dance `
And I`d say, `Daddy, I would love to `
Ev`rything was beautiful at the ballet.
Raise your arms and someone`s always there.
Yes, ev`rything was beautiful at the ballet,
At the ballet, at the ballet!!!