Marvin Hamlisch is dead at the age of 68. Sadness.

When I was young, I loved the ballet. I had problems with my feet that prohibited me from continuing as a dancer, and I would sing “At the Ballet” from A Chorus Line as my mourning song. It was a catchall song for all of my sadness, really, and sometimes I couldn’t even finish the song without crying. Even then, singing seemed to be the one of the only ways that this introvert bookworm could deal with difficult emotions. I would usually follow it up with “What I Did for Love” (but I never could sing that song without going a little flat).

A Chorus Line made a deep impression on me. For a while, it even superseded my love for Godspell and Jesus Christ Superstar and Evita.

Hamlisch was a “singular sensation.” RIP, dear.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lELym57MTRQ[/youtube]

“At the Ballet” from A Chorus Line, Music by Marvin Hamlisch, Lyrics by Edward Kleban

Sheila:
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 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
Everything was beautiful at the ballet.
Graceful men lift lovely girls in white.
Yes,
Everything was beautiful at ballet,
Hey!
I was happy… at the ballet.

(spoken) That’s when I started class.

(Bebe turns and begins to walk downstage)

Sheila:
Up a steep and very narrow stairway

Sheila and 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 and Bebe:
It wasn’t paradise….

Sheila:
But it was home.

(Sheila turns to face upstage, Bebe steps forward)

Bebe:
Mother always said I’d be very attractive
When I grew up, when I grew up.
“Diff’rent,” 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,
“Diff’rent” is nice, but it sure isn’t pretty.
“Pretty” is what it’s about.
I never met anyone who was “diff’rent”
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…

(Maggie turns and begins to walk downstage)

Bebe and Maggie:
That everyone is beautiful at the ballet.
Every prince has got to have his swan.
Yes,
Everyone is beautiful at the ballet.

Maggie:
Hey!

Bebe:
I was pretty

Sheila:
(turning to face front) At the ballet.

Sheila, Bebe, and Maggie:
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….

Sheila, Bebe, and Maggie:
But it was home.

(Lights dim on Sheila and Bebe leaving Maggie in the brightest light)

Maggie:
(Spoken) 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. But I guess it’s not.” Anyway, I did have a fantastic fantasy life. I used to dance around the living room with my arms 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.”

(Lights full on Sheila and Bebe. Other two girls sing back up “Do-do-doo’s” behind solo lines.)

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….

(“Do-do-doo’s” end)

Maggie:
It was an Indian chief and he’d say
“Maggie, do you wanna dance?”
And I said, “Daddy, I would love to”
Everything was beautiful at the ballet.
Raise your arms and someone’s always there.
Yes, everything was beautiful at the ballet,
At the ballet,
At the ballet!!

(Dance section)

Sheila, Bebe, and Maggie:
Yes everything was beautiful at the ballet.

Maggie:
Hey!

Bebe:
I was pretty

Sheila:
I was happy

Maggie:
“I would love to.…”

Sheila, Bebe, and Maggie:
At the ballet.