Caroline, 20 years old. Third year in the Dramatic Arts program at Brock University. If you take me to see a musical, I will be your best friend forever. Part-time Disney princess.Full time Stage Diva. "We are all of us stars, and we deserve to shine"...
You know what you want better than me, George⌠I donât know what you expect to find out there, except a larger audience for your two shows a day of suffering⌠I know Iâm not as smart as you. Maybe I canât analyse and theorise and speculate on why we behave as we do and react as we do and suffer guilt and love and hate. You read all those books, not me⌠But thereâs one thing I do know. I know how I feel. I know I can stand here watching you try to destroy everything Iâve ever wanted in my life, wanting to smash your face with my fists because you wonât even make the slightest effort to opt for happiness- and still know that I love you.
Thatâs always so clear to me. Itâs the one place I get all my strength from⌠You mean so much to me that I am willing to take all your abuse and insults and insensitivity- because thatâs what you need to do to prove Iâm not going to leave you. I canât promise Iâm not going to die, George. Thatâs asking too much. But if you want to test me, go ahead and test me. You want to leave, leave! But Iâm not the one whoâs going to walk away. I donât know if I can take it forever, but I can take it for tonight and I can take it next week. Next month I may be a little shaky⌠But Iâll tell you something, George. No matter what you say about me, I feel so good about myself- better than I felt when I ran from Cleveland and was frightened to death of New York. Better than I felt when Gus was coming home at two oâ clock in the morning just to change his clothes. Better than I felt when I thought there was no one in the world out there for me, and better than I felt the night before we got married and I thought that I wasnât good enough for you.
Well, I am! Iâm wonderful! Iâm nuts about me! And if youâre stupid enough to throw someone sensational like me aside, then you donât deserve as good as youâve got! I am sick and tired of running from places and people and relationships⌠And donât tell me what I want because Iâll tell you want I want. I want a home and I want a family- and I want a career, too. And I want a dog and I want a cat and I want three goldfish. I want everything! Thereâs no harm in wanting it, George, because thereâs not a chance in hell weâre going to get it all anyway. But if you donât want it youâve got even less chance than that⌠Everyoneâs out there looking for easy answers. And if you donât find it at home, hop into another bed and maybe youâll come up lucky. Maybe! Youâd be just as surprised as me at some of the âmaybeâsâ Iâve seen out there lately. Well, none of that for me, George. You want me, then fight for me, because Iâm fighting like hell for you. I think weâre both worth it.
I know you hate me. You have a right to. Not just because I was faithlessâbut because I was cruel. I donât want to excuse myselfâbut I didnât know what I was doing. I didnât realize I was hurting you. Yes. Iâve said that before. And youâve answered me that that excuse might hold for the first time, but not for the second and the third. Youâve convicted me of deliberate cruelty on that. And Iâve never had anything to say. I couldnât say anything, because the truth was ⌠too preposterous. It wasnât any use telling it before. But now I want you to know the real reason. Something Iâve never confessed to you. Yes. It is true that I was cruel to youâdeliberately. I did want to hurt you. And do you know why? I wanted to shatter that Olympian serenity of yours. You were too strong, too self-confident. You had the air of a being that nothing could hurt. You were like a god. You are still Olympian. And I still hate you for it. I wish I could make you suffer now. But I have lost my power to do that.
Letâs throw it back to a Little duet from Once from Elsie Fest staring Laura Osnes and Aaron Tveit⌠Falling SlowlyâŚ
***FOUR WEEKS FROM TONIGHT UNTIL THE WESTHAMPTON BEACH SHOW***
Countdown:
â¨Westhampton Beach, NY - 28 Days
â¨Company First Preview - 53 Days
â¨Company Opening Night - 56 Days
â¨Company Closing Night - 76 Days
â¨Kutztown, PA - 95 Days
Alan Menken: âAfter countless demos of underscore for this moment when the Beast âdiesâ in Belleâs arms, I recorded this piece with orchestra. It was possibly too intrusive.â
Even if the underscoring that Menken eventually settled on was more supportive of the action onscreen, this remains a gorgeous bit of music in its own right.