Ragtime – Scarlet Pimpernel Style
Okay, for this to work, you gotta bear with me a bit. Ragtime is a very large show, so I need to use two Marguerite’s and two Percy’s. Mother will always be referred to as Marguerite, and Sarah will always be referred to as Margot. Likewise, Father is Blakeney, and Tateh is Percy (well, I couldn’t very well stick Marguerite with someone like Le Comte de Tournay in the end, now could I?) Okay, so, I guess if you don’t like it, you don’t have to read, but I would think that it wouldn’t be such a big deal…..
CAST:
Coalhouse Walker, Jr. – Armand Chauvelin (Because we all knew that, someday, Chauvelin would snap and start blowing things up.)
Mother – Marguerite
Father – Blakeney
Sarah – Margot
Tateh – Percy
Younger Brother – Armand
Emma Goldman – Marie
Evelyn Nesbit – Louise (what is it with me and giving her such thankless parts? She doesn’t bug me, but maybe I have some underlying grudge against her?)
Booker T. Washington – Robspierre
Little Boy – Jack
Little Girl – Elizabeth (from my fic Ma Petite Cherie)
Harry Houdini – Tony
J.P Morgan – Prince of Wales
Henry Ford – King of France
Sarah’s Friend – Suzanne
Willie Conklin – St. Cyr (man, I just really beat the guy up, don’t I?)
Grandfather – St. Just (I guess only Madame St. Just died?)
Coalhouse Walker the Third - Fluerette
Scene opens. We see Jack standing alone. As he speaks, characters slowly enter.
JACK
In 1792 Blakeney built a house at the crest of the Broadview Avenue hill in New Rochelle, New York, and it seemed for some years thereafter that all the family's days would be warm and fair.
CHORUS
The skies were blue and hazy
Rarely a storm. Barely a chill.
WOMEN
La la la la la…..
CHORUS
The afternoons were lazy
Everyone warm. Everything still.
MEN
La la la la la
CHORUS
And there was distant music
Simple and somehow sublime
Giving the nation
A new syncopation
The people called it ragtime!
BLAKENEY
Blakeney was well off. Very well off. His considerable income was derived from the manufacturing of fireworks and bunting and other accoutrements of patriotism. Blakeney was also something of an amateur explorer.
MARGUERITE
The house on the hill in New Rochelle was Marguerite’s domain. She took pleasure in making it comfortable for the men of her family, and often told herself how fortunate she was to be so well protected and provided for by her husband.
ARMAND
Marguerite’s younger brother, Armand, worked at Blakeney’s fireworks factory. He was a genius at explosives. (Do not read Eldorado and imagine Armand with explosives…..not good.) But he was also a young man in search of something to believe in. His sister wondered when he would find it.
ST. JUST
Grandfather St. Just had been a professor of Greek and Latin. Now retired and living with his daughter and her family, he was thoroughly irritated by everything.
CHORUS
The days were gently tinted
Lavender pink, lemon and lime
MARGUERITE
Lady’s with parasols
ARMAND
Fellows with tennis balls
ST. JUST
There were logs (A.N.: um…it needed to rhyme…..)
And there were no frogs! (A.N.: Wait, but Marguerite and Armand….oh, skip it.)
FRENCH
And everything was ragtime!
Listen to that Ragtime!
CHAUVELIN
In France, men and women of the plebes forgot their troubles and danced and reveled to the music of Armand Chauvelin, Jr. This was a music that was theirs and no one else's.
MARGOT
One young woman thought Chauvelin played just for her. Her name was Margot.
FRENCH
Oooh….
ROBSPIERRE
Robspierre was the most famous Frenchman in the country! He counseled friendship between the classes and spoke of the promise of the future. He had no patience with Frenchmen who lived less than exemplary lives.
CHORUS
Ladies with parasols,
Fellows with tennis balls.
There were no Frenchmen
And there were no immigrants.
PERCY
In England, a man dreamed of a new life for his little girl. It would be a long journey, a terrible one. He would not lose her, as he had her mother. His name was Percy. He never spoke of his wife. The little girl was all he had now. Together, they would escape.
Tony, dressed in chains he’s escaping from, enters. Well, as best as anyone dressed in chains can…..
JACK
Lord Antony Dewhurst! Look, it’s Lord Dewhurst!
CHORUS
Ooh…ahh!
He frees himself from the chains to cheers, bowing
TONY
Lord Antony Dewhurst was one Englishman who made an art of escape. He was a headliner in the top vaudeville circuits. He made his mother proud! But for all his achievements, he knew he was only an illusionist. He wanted to believe there was more...
He sees Jack and smile’s, tussling his hair before walking off.
TONY
Hello, sonny!
JACK
Warn the duke!
Tony wheels
TONY
What did you say?
Too late; Tony’s being swamped by a crowd of admirers. (Really, who wouldn’t admire Tony? He’s, personally, my favorite Bounder.)
CHORUS
And there was distant music
Changing the tune, changing the time
Giving the nation
A new syncopation
La la la!
La la la la la
PRINCE
Certain men make a country great!
KING
They can’t help it!
PRINCE
At the apex of the American pyramid –
KING
That’s the tip top
PRINCE
like Pharaohs reincarnate stood the Prince of Wales –
KING
And the King of France! (A.N.: Who, for some reason, sells carts….I don’t get it either.)
PRINCE
All men are born equal
KING
But the cream rises to the top!
MARIE
Let me at those sons of bitches! These men are the demons who are sucking your very souls dry! I hate them!
PRINCE
Someone should arrest that woman!
MARIE
The radical anarchist Marie Grosholtz fought against the ravages of American capitalism as she watched her fellow immigrants' hopes turn to despair on the Lower East Side.
LOUISE
La la la la
La la la la la
Whee!
MARIE
But America was watching another drama
LOUISE
The young Mademoiselle Louise was the most beautiful woman in the country! (A.N.: I thought that was Marguerite…..) If she wore her hair in curls, every woman wore her hair in curls!
STANFORD WHITE
Her lover was the eminent architect, Stanford White (A.N.: I was too lazy to change the names…..), designer of the Pennsylvania Station on 33rd Street.
HARRY K. THAW
Her husband, the eccentric millionaire, Harry K. Thaw, was a violent man!
LOUISE
After her husband shot her lover, Louise became the biggest attraction in vaudeville since Tom Thumb!
CHORUS
La la la la la!
Bang!
La la la!
Bang!
La!
Bang!
MARIE
And although the newspapers called the shooting the Crime of the Century, Marie knew that it was only 1792
CHORUS
And there was still eight years to go!
And there was music playing,
Catching a nation in its prime
Beggar and millionaire
Everyone, everywhere!
Moving to the Ragtime!
And there was distant music
Skipping a beat, singing a dream
La la la la la
A strange, insistent music
Putting out heat, picking up steam
La la la la la
The sound of distant thunder
Suddenly starting to climb
It was the music of something beginning
An era exploding, a century spinning
In riches and rags, and in rhythm and rhyme
The people called it Ragtime...
Ragtime!
Ragtime!
Ragtime!
The first song ends, and we now join Marguerite, Jack, St. Just, and Armand as they bid Blakeney goodbye.
BLAKENEY
Everything will be fine, Marguerite. You'd think the world was coming to an end every time a man sailed off to the North Pole with Admiral Peary!
MARGUERITE
I shall miss you.
BLAKENEY
Of course you will, but it’s only a year. Nothing much happens in a year. The world will not spin off it’s axis. Nothing will change, Marguerite. We will miss each other, but the world will stay the same.
ST. JUST
I hope not. What this world needs is a good swift kick in the pants!
ARMAND
Look! Down there! On the pier! Mademoiselle Louise! She’s even more beautiful in real life than she is in the magazines! I’m going to try to speak with her.
Marguerite tries to hold her brother back, but he’s already racing off the ship and to the girl on the pier. She sighs, exasperated, and turns back to her husband. Jack tries to follow, but his mother succeeds in catching him.
JACK
Me too!
BLAKENEY
Jack, stay here.
JACK
I want to see her too!
BLAKENEY
You're the man of the house now. You have to keep an eye on Mother for both of us. Will you do that?
JACK
Yes, sir.
BLAKENEY
There’s my little soldier!
ST. JUST
I want to go now. My leg hurts. Everyone, say goodbye!
BLAKENEY
I’ll miss you, sir.
ST. JUST
Stay home, then.
Grandfather St. Just leaves with Jack in hand, but Marguerite lingers a little longer.
MARGUERITE
Come back soon and safe to us.
BLAKENEY
That is my intention.
MARGUERITE
And not too many polar bear skins.
BLAKENEY
I promise. Now, unless you want to be the only woman left on a ship full of men, you'd better get ashore.
He decides the joke isn’t funny, and he apologizes.
BLAKENEY
That was coarse. I’m sorry. Good bye. Stay well. God bless you. And remember to cancel our subscription to the Philharmonic. I left money for an emergency under the library rug. Don't smile. You can never have enough money. And you'll remember to bring in the dahlias? Goodbye. Say a prayer for us. God bless America. God bless each and every one of us.
They embrace and he kisses her. Reluctantly, she leaves the ship to join her family while it starts to sail off.
MARGUERITE
Goodbye my love
God bless you
And, I suppose, bless America too
You have places to discover
Oceans to conquer
You need to know I'll be there at the window
While you go your way
I accept that
But, what of the people
Who stay where they're put,
Planted like flowers with roots underfoot
I know some of those people
Have hearts that would rather go journeying
On the sea
Tell me
What of the people
Whose boundaries chafe
Who marry so bravely and end up so safe
Tell me how to be someone
Whose heart can explore while still staying here
Let this be the year
We both travel...
Goodbye, my love
Journey on.
On the ship, Blakeney is talking with the admiral.
BLAKENEY
It’s an honor to go on expedition with you, Admiral Peary. It’s men like you who have made this country great.
ADMIRAL PEARY
It’s men like you who will keep it great.
First Officer Henson enters.
HENSON
All sails set, Admiral.
PEARY
Thank you, Mr. Henson. This is my First Officer, Mr. Matthew Henson
BLAKENEY
Good evening.
HENSON
Welcome aboard.
BLAKENEY
What’s that in the distance? Such a ghostly glow.
PEARY
They’re called rag ships. Immigrants from every cesspool in western and eastern Europe. Most of them become very patriotic Americans. They’re your future customers. Good watch, Henson.
Blakeney sort of walks off by himself, still staring at the rag ship.
BLAKENEY
You're a brave man, whoever you are. Coming so far, expecting so much.
A salute to the man on the deck of that ship!
A salute to the immigrant stranger
Heaven knows why you'd make such a terrible trip
May your own god protect you from danger
Is it freedom or love that you pray for
In your guttural accent?
Too late, long gone
A salute to a fellow who hasn't a chance
Journey on.
On the rag ship, Percy is testing Elizabeth.
PERCY
If people ask, how old are you?
ELIZABETH
I don’t answer.
PERCY
Your name?
ELIZABETH
No name.
PERCY
Where your mother is?
ELIZABETH
Dead.
PERCY
“This is my father, he speaks for both of us.”
ELIZABETH
This is my father. He speaks for both of us.
Is that other ship going back home?
PERCY
No, no! America is our home now. America is our shtetl
BOTH
Amekhaye khelbn
ELIZABETH
Look, someone is waving. Where is he going?
PERCY
He’s a fool, on a fool’s journey!
To depart on a ship from a country like this
Why on earth would you want to be leaving?
Was it something you lost that you suddenly missed?
Are you angry, or possibly grieving?
Do you see in my face what you've lost, sir?
Are you moved by the death ship we sail upon?
Well, perhaps you're a man who's in search of his heart
Journey on.
BLAKENEY
Journey on.
PERCY AND BLAKENEY
Two ships passing
In the kinship
Of the darkness
BLAKENEY
One going from
PERCY
One coming to
BLAKENEY AND PERCY
America!
Two men meeting
At the moment
Of a journey
For a moment,
In the darkness
We're the same...
MARGUERITE
And what of the people
Who’s boundaries chafe?
Who marry so bravely
And end up so safe
I will be journeying
Here, my love
As you go
Journeying
On the sea
BLAKENEY
I salute you, my friend!
As you go journeying
On the sea
PERCY
May you find what you need
As you go journeying
On the sea
ALL THREE
We’re two ships passing
At a distance
Through the darkness
BLAKENEY
One going from
MARGUERITE AND PERCY
One coming to
ALL THREE
America!
Strangers sharing
The beginnings
Of a journey
BLAKENEY
I salute you!
PERCY
God be with you!
MARGUERITE
I will miss you!
ALL THREE
In the darkness
Of the dawn!
Journey on!
All those people exit, and now Armand is featured on the stage, in a courtroom with a judge, jury, and the defendant, Harry Thaw, waiting for Louise.
ARMAND
Marguerite’s younger brother was in love with Louise. Ever since that first glimpse of her on the pier, nothing else mattered. He was late for work. He forgot to shave. He dreamed of writing her name with fireworks in the sky. When she opened in a new review at Hammerstein's Olympia on West 44th Street, he took the day off and was first in line to buy a ticket!
Finally, Louise makes her entrance, carried by chorus girls.
JUDGE
And now, testifying for the defense, Mademoiselle Louise!
LOUISE
Hello gentlemen! Whee!
CHORUS GIRLS
La la la la
La la la la la
LOUISE
Whee!
CHORUS GIRLS
La la la la
La la la la la
LOUISE
Your Honor
I was once the lady friend of Stanford White
CHORUS GIRLS
He’s the famous architect
LOUISE
Yes, that’s right!
He put me on a velvet swing,
And made me wear, well,
Hardly anything!
Ruined at the age of fifteen,
Your honor!
Then I went and married Mr. Harry Thaw
CHORUS GIRLS
Eccentric millionaire!
LOUISE
Oh! Oh!
Harry’s a jealous man!
Bang! Bang!
That was the end of Stan!
Oh! Oh!
Your Honor,
Be fair!
My Harry went crazy,
I swear!
CHORUS GIRLS
La la
La la la
ALL
Now it's the Crime of the Century
Crime of the Century
Giving the world a thrill!
LOUISE
Harry's in trouble
And Stanny's in heaven
And Louise is in vaudeville
ALL
The Crime of the Century
Crime of the Century!
All for a youthful fling
Fortune, fame
And a ruined name
LOUISE
And now I'm the girl on the swing!
ARMAND
From his regular seat in the front row of the second balcony, Armand would lean far over the railing, hoping his goddess would notice him. One night he almost fell. Louise caught sight of him and smiled. Life was suddenly wonderful and full of delicious possibilities.
CHORUS GIRLS
Ooh! Ooh!
LOUISE
Harry must not be hung!
As the judge bangs the gavel, the chorus girls sing:
CHORUS GIRLS
Bang! Bang!
JUDGE
Let’s have that verdict sung!
CHORUS GIRLS
Boo! Hoo!
JURER
Your Honor we find
That Harry’s not guilty-
LOUISE
My Harry’s not guilty!
ALL
‘Cause Harry is out of his mind!
And it's the Crime of the Century
Crime of the Century
Making the world go "whee"!
Harry's in trouble
And Stanny's in heaven
LOUISE
And Louise gets publicity!
ALL
The Crime of the Century
Crime of the Century
Not such an awful thing –
LOUISE
Stanny’s killed
But my mother’s thrilled
‘Cause now I’m the girl on the-
ALL
Now she’s the girl on the-
LOUISE
Now I’m the girl-
ALL
On the swing!
Outside of the theatre, Louise is talking with a reporter when Armand manages the courage to come up and talk to her.
REPORTER
Daily Journal Mademoiselle! Is it true you haven't visited your husband in the asylum since the trial?
LOUISE
I don't know what you're talking about!
REPORTER
And you have nightmares about your lover's shot-off face?
ARMAND
Leave the lady alone.
LOUISE
Thank you. You! You're at the theatre every night. You've never missed a performance. You deserve a reward.
She kisses him
LOUISE
Is that what you wanted?
ARMAND
I love you, Miss Louise!
LOUISE
Would you repeat that for the press?
ARMAND
No, I really love you.
LOUISE
You love the Girl on the Swing. Well, now you can say she kissed you. But she could never love a man as poor or as thin or as nice as you. I'll blow you a kiss from the stage tomorrow night, if I haven't forgotten all about you.
She leaves, trailed by the reporter. Armand remains, broken hearted.
ARMAND
I was going to change the world for you.
Back in New Rochelle, Marguerite and Jack are working in the garden, listening to “Crime of the Century,” being played on the Victrola player. Armand enters in time to hear Jack and Marguerite singing to it. He feels as though it’s mocking him.
JACK
Crime of the Century
Crime of the Century
All for a youthful fling!
MARGUERITE
Fortune, fame
And a ruined name!
ARMAND
I never want to hear that song or her name again!
He rushes into the house, whizzing past St. Just as he passes through the garden.
ST. JUST
I guess he met her….
JACK
Is Mademoiselle Louise a Harlot of Babylon?
MARGUERITE
Where did you hear that?
JACK
I read it in one of Uncle’s magazines.
MARGUERITE
I don't want to you going in his room. I'm sure Mademoiselle Louise is a very nice person. She's just confused. She's strayed from the path
JACK
What path?
MARGUERITE
The right path. The one we all want to be on if only we could and if only it weren’t so difficult.
JACK
Not for women it’s not. Men are tested almost every day of their Christian lives!
MARGUERITE
Not everyone’s Christian, you know that.
JACK
They are in New Rochelle.
An airplane flies over head advertising a show for Lord Dewhurst.
JACK
Dewhurst! Dewhurst is coming! Can we go? I’ll do anything! Please?
MARGUERITE
We’ll see
She starts digging in the garden. Suddenly, Jack calls up to the plane.
JACK
Warn the duke!
MARGUERITE
Jack! Why did you say that?
JACK
I dunno.
MARGUERITE
What did you mean “Warn the duke?”
JACK
I dunno.
MARGUERITE
The things you children say! Read Father’s letter if you’re not going to tell me.
Jack digs the letter out of his pocket and unfolds it, reading aloud.
JACK
“Dear Mother: This letter will reach you via the supply ship Erik.”
Marguerite suddenly cuts Jack off, having found something in the dirt.
MARGUERITE
Get Kathleen!
JACK
What’s wrong?
MARGUERITE
Get Kathleen, I tell you! And call the doctor!
Jack races into the house and brings out the Irish maid Kathleen along with Armand. Marguerite is holding a small baby in her arms.
KATHLEEN
Oh, holy mother!
MARGUERITE
Get water, clean linens! Call the doctor!
Armand rushes back into the house to do as told.
KATHLEEN
Is it alive? Oh, please, God, let it be.
MARGUERITE
It’s alive! It’s a French child. A newborn baby girl!
KATHLEEN
It’s like Moses in the bulrushes!
MARGUERITE
It’s like nothing of the sort!
KATHLEEN
What’s to become of us?
MARGUERITE
For the last time, Kathleen: Make yourself useful!
Kathleen scurries back into the house to get the needed items while Jack just watches, amazed. Angry and terrified, Marguerite begins to think aloud, seemingly demanding answers of her husband.
MARGUERITE
What kind of woman would do such a thing?
Why in God's name is my husband not here?
I'm such a fool!
Why did I say he was free to go?
What am I to do?
Where are your instructions, my dear?
You left me lists
Everything in lists
Well, your little lists
Aren't very helpful, I fear!
Each day, the maids trudge up the hill
The hired help arrives
I never stopped to think
They might have lives beyond our lives...
ARMAND
They’re here!
The doctor, the sheriff, St. Just, and Margot enter.
SHERIFF
We found her in the cellar of a home on the next block. She's a washwoman there. Her name is Margot.
MARGUERITE
Are you the mother? Thank God I found her! What if I hadn’t been working in the garden today?
SHERIFF
Don’t waste your time, madame. She won’t say a word to anyone.
MARGUERITE
Where will you take her?
SHERIFF
To the charity ward. Eventually she will have to stand charges.
ARMAND
What charges?
SHERIFF
Well, attempted murder, I should think…..
MARGUERITE
What’s going to happen to the baby?
DOCTOR
They have places for unfortunates like this.
MARGUERITE
I will take responsibility for mother and child. Please take Miss Margot inside.
The doctor and sheriff leave, while St. Just, Kathleen, and Jack usher a confused Margot inside. Armand hangs back for a moment while his sister holds the baby.
ARMAND
Thank you.
He leaves, and she is left alone, trying to understand what she’s just done, still thinking of what Blakeney would have done instead.
MARGUERITE
What kind of woman would do what I've done --
Open the door to such chaos and pain!
You would have gently closed the door
And gently turned the key
And gently told me not to look
For fear what I might see
What kind of woman would that have made me?
Now the music segues to Ellis Island, where Percy and Elizabeth wait patiently with the other immigrants for freedom.
PERCY AND ELIZABETH
A shtetl iz Amerike
Amekhaye khlebn
ALL
Es rut oyf ir di shkinele
Merica, Merica, bel massolino di fior
Mir zoln azoy lebn
Mil khomes, biksn
Mentshn blut
A gubernator darf
Mennit,
A keyser orf
Kapores.
Amerike!
Amerike!
Amerike!
Amerike!
Amerike!
Bel massolino
Di fior
Merica,
Merica
Bel massolino
Di fior
Merica,
Merica
Bel massolino
Di fior.
Merica! Merica!
Merica!
Merica!
Merica!
Merica!
Merica!
Merica!
America!
Gran mesi,
Washington
Ki ba nou l'Amerik.
Gran mesi,
Washington
Gran mesi,
Washington
Ki ba nou
l'Amerik.
L'Amerik!
L'Amerik!
L'Amerik!
L'Amerik!
America!
PERCY
I promised you America,
And little one, we're there
ALL
America!
PERCY
Our feet are on the solid ground
And hope is in the air!
ALL
America!
PERCY
You’ll soon be eating apple pie
From off a china plate
Pretty dresses, pretty dolls,
Just wait!
For shinning in your Papa’s eye
And just beyond this gate –
ALL
America!
The gates are lifted, and the immigrants surge through to the bustling Lower East Side.
PERCY
Here in America, anyone at all can succeed.
ALL
America, here in America!
PERCY
Do what you do
And the world
Will come to you
Guaranteed!
ALL
America, we’re in America!
PERCY
I might be just a maker of Art
But here you could start
With less
And make a success!
He sets up his cart with Elizabeth and starts trying to sell silhouettes.
PERCY
Step right up and have a silhouette made by a real artist! With ordinary paper, a pair of scissors and some glue, I will give you a thing of such beauty! A life-like portrait of someone you love. Silhouettes of your favorite celebrity.
Mademoiselle Louise,
Hey look!
She’s on her vaudeville stage!
Antony Dewhurst!
He practically escapes
From the page!
Only a nickel,
Don’t walk away!
Some day
These will impress
When I’m a success!
Marie walks past the cart, and thinks it looks interesting. She peers closely, and sees a silhouette of the Prince of Wales, and addresses Percy scornfully.
MARIE
The Prince of Wales! You ought to be ashamed of yourself, comrade!
PERCY
Don't make a lecture, Ms. Grosholtz. I'm here to work, not make politics.
He puts her in position and begins to cut her silhouette. (Wouldn’t you think it should be the other way around, considering that Marie’s the artist?)
MARIE
Work is politics!
PERCY
You are barking up the wrong tree, Ms. Grosholtz. I am an artist. I work for no one. Trade unions are fine but they are not for me. Now be nice and don't move. This is a complimentary silhouette because I admire you anyway.
Marie begins to address him again, but he cuts her off.
PERCY
Sshh! That doesn't mean I have to listen to you. I was in your socialist frying pan over there; I'm not jumping into the same fire over here.
MARIE
What’s your name?
PERCY
They gave me a name I can't pronounce so you can call me Percy like everyone else.
MARIE
What about her mother?
PERCY
Dead. I said I work for no one. Not true. I work for my child.
He finishes the silhouette, and hands it to her.
PERCY
With my compliments, Ms. Grosholtz.
She is quite pleased with the silhouette.
MARIE
You can call me Marie. Mon Dieu! What a kisser!
She reaches into her pocket and hands him a few coins.
MARIE
Here.
PERCY
You're insulting me, Ms. Grosholtz!
MARIE
It’s not for you. It’s for the child.
PERCY
Thank you.
ALL
America! America!
PERCY
Look at the silhouettes,
Here in the tenements.
Bent over sewing, or dancing, or arguing.
Thousands of silhouettes,
Thousands of stories to tell.
Look at them, little one
Such opportunity!
Right on the corner of Orchard and Rivington
We'll make our silhouettes
Think how they'll sell
We'll join the parade
Of Americans all doing well!
High above the immigrants, the Prince of Wales appears. As he sings, the bridge gets lower and lower until he’s crushing the immigrants.
ALL
Success!
Success!
THE PRINCE OF WALES
I'm the Prince of Wales, my friends
The wealthiest man on this earth! (A.N.: I thought Percy was supposed to be the richest man in England?)
ALL
Success!
THE PRINCE OF WALES
You immigrants, look up to me
And you'll see what money is worth!
IMMIGRANTS
Success!
THE PRINCE OF WALES
One day your immigrant sweat
Might get you the whole U.S!
Tony magically appears and seems to be singing directly to Percy.
TONY
And if you’re trapped
And failure seems imminent
Think of Lord Dewhurst
That fabulous immigrant!
Break those chains
With all you possess.
ALL
This is America!
This is the land of success!
Success! The street returns to normal, and Percy is selling his silhouettes. Or, at least he would be if there were any customers. Marie is standing on the side lines, speaking, before stepping into the foreground to talk with Percy.
MARIE
The angry, fetid tenements of the Lower East Side were worse than anything Percy and his wife had suffered in England. The little girl was often sick now. Percy wrapped her in his prayer shawl. What priest would disapprove?
ALL
America!
MARIE
Are you a rich man yet, Percy?
PERCY
Don’t make fun.
MARIE
I'm not making fun. I think you are already rich in spirit and good of heart. It's just your pockets that are a little empty.
PERCY
Please, Ms. Grosholtz. I'm working. This is my busiest time. You're blocking the sidewalk.
MARIE
I’m sorry.
She steps out of the way. It doesn’t really make a difference, considering that there’s no one on the street. Finally, however, a man decides to walk up.
PERCY
Step right up! Without art, what is our existence but chaos?
MARIE
Percy, there’s a rally at Union Square tonight.
PERCY
I told you, Ms. Grosholtz, no politics. My daughter needs to eat!
MAN
How much?
PERCY
You see? Opportunity knocks, I answer!
MAN
I said, how much?
PERCY
Five cents but for you I'll make it three. You have a small head, I'll save on the paper
MAN
Not for a silhouette, you idiot Yid. How much for the little girl?
The man points at Elizabeth. Shocked, Percy takes a moment to digest this before violently attacking the man. A policeman rushes in and stops him.
POLICEMAN
Hey, easy, do you want to kill him?
PERCY
Yes! I want to reach inside and pull his heart out!
POLICEMAN
You people….
PERCY
I am not “You people.” I am Percy, and she is not for sale!
Marie shakes her head sadly and leaves while the policeman drags the man off. Percy holds Elizabeth close to him, shuddering at the thought of what just happened. Angrily, he begins to realize America isn’t what he was promised.
PERCY
Look at my daughter, God.
Why have you brought us here?
How can I feed her or clothe her
Protect her here?
Where's the America
We were supposed to get?
Was it a silhouette?!
Hey, mister!
Here in America
Anything you want, you can be!
Sucker, step up!
And I'll cut you out your own guarantee!
Come see the artist!
Big shot, oh yes!
Red, white and blue!
Hooray and God bless!
I'm a success!
I'm a success!
Success!
Success!!
A large silhouette of Tony appears, and he sings to Percy again.
TONY
If you're trapped
And failure seems imminent
Think of Lord Dewhurst
That fabulous immigrant
Break those chains with all you possess!
PERCY
I promised you America,
And little one….
We will find it!
The scene switches to “The Tempo Club,” a swanky night club in the French District. Inside, the chorus is listening to Chauvelin play the piano. However, he’s very out of it, and playing slow and sad.
ALL
His name was Armand Chauvelin
MERCIER
Was a native of Paris some years before.
WOMAN
When he heard the music of Scott Joplin
COPEAU
In Paris
WOMAN
Bought himself some piano lessons
Working as a stevedore.
MAN
Here was a music that truly inspired him
WOMEN
Dances required him
MEN
Club owners hired him!
ALL
The strivers of Paris respected and admired him
MERCIER
For turning Paris into art
CHAUVELIN
But Chauvelin had a broken heart….
The Good Lord looked down, saw me lonely and loveless, and thought to Himself: "Enough is enough. I'm putting Margot in Chauvelin’s life."
And he did.
This wasn't a woman. This was an angel, a gift of God. Chauvelin loved this woman, but not wisely and not too well. She left me without a word or trace. There was no pity for me.
SUZANNE
None what so ever, Chauvelin!
CHAUVELIN
Now she is haunting me
Just like a melody
The only song I seem to know
Margot, my life has changed
Margot, I miss you so
Margot, I did you wrong
Margot, where did you go?
And then this morning, the miracle happened. I found out where she is, and I'm going to do my damnedest to see she takes me back. Ladies and gentlemen, the Gettin' Ready Rag!
ALL
Gettin' Ready Rag...
Gettin' Ready Rag...
Gettin', Gettin', Gettin' Ready Rag
WOMEN
Anything it takes.
MEN
Anything you need.
ALL
You gotta find your girl, Chauvelin
And win her back!
ALL
Gettin' Ready Rag!
MEN
Ready as you'll ever get...
CHAUVELIN
Not yet!
WOMEN
Gotta win the girl, Chauvelin
CHAUVELIN
Think of what a better man she'll see
When the King of France puts me
At the wheel of a Model T! (A.N.: Obviously, not a car. It’s a cart. Right, I don’t know why a king would sell carts either…….)
Scene switches to the dealership, and the King of France is trying to convince Chauvelin to buy a cart.
KING OF FRANCE
See my people?
Well, here's my theory
Of what this country
Needs real fast.
Every worker a cog in motion
Well, that's the notion of the King of France!
One man tightens
And one man ratchets
And soon we all
Do one dance (A.N.: I think it’s too late to be doing this….)
Cart keeps moving in one direction
ENSEMBLE
A genuflection to the King of France
Hallelujah!
Praise the maker
Of the Model T!
KING OF FRANCE
Speed up the belt
Speed up the belt, Sam
ENSEMBLE
Hallelujah!
CHAUVELIN
Hell, I'll take her!
ENSEMBLE
Sure amazin'
How far some fellas can see!
KING OF FRANCE
Speed up the belt
Speed up the belt, Sam
Speed up the belt
Speed up the belt, Sam!
ENSEMBLE & KING
Speed up the, speed up the, speed up the, speed up the belt!
ENSEMBLE
Mass production
Will sweep the nation
A simple notion
The world's reward
KING OF FRANCE
Even people who ain't too clever
Can learn to tighten a nut forever
Attach one pedal
Or pull one lever!
ENSEMBLE
For the King of France!
Because I was running out of plausible things that rhymed with France (the last option I could think of was pants…..), I’ve been forced to crop that song. Moving on, Marguerite and Jack are at the trolley station, and so are Percy and Elizabeth. Percy has a rope tied to his wrist, the other end tied to Elizabeth, for safety’s sake.
MARGUERITE
You have to wear a tie for the same reason I'm wearing this very unflattering dress. We have to look businesslike if we're going to take care of Father's affairs while he's gone.
JACK
Father says a woman’s place is in the home.
MARGUERITE
Then your father should have stayed home, and your uncle should stop prowling around New York City, looking for God knows what.
JACK
I know what.
MARGUERITE
I hope not.
PERCY
Mister, please, where is this?
CONDUCTOR
You’re in New Rochelle
Percy shows him a handful of coins.
PERCY
How much farther can I get on this?
CONDUCTOR
That should see you and the little girl clear to Boston.
PERCY
What’s further than Boston?
CONDUCTOR
Nothing’s further than Boston. You can take the rope off her. This ain’t the city.
Percy keeps the rope on, still nervous, and Jack is staring, interested.
JACK
Mother!
MARGUERITE
I see! I see. He's afraid of losing her. Immigrants are terrified of losing their children. So are we, but just not so conspicuously. Don't stare. It's not polite to stare.
PERCY
He's a rude little boy. Ignore him. People of good breeding do not stare at other people. They acknowledge them politely with a bow. Like this.
He bows to Marguerite.
PERCY
Good day.
MARGUERITE
Good day, sir.
PERCY
She called me sir.
Without a doubt
We’re really out of New York City!
MARGUERITE
Fine weather, isn’t it?
PERCY
Isn’t it? Now that we’re out of the city, isn’t it?
BOTH
Nothing like the city….
ELIZABETH
He’s still staring!
PERCY
Never mind!
JACK
My father's at the North Pole,
With Admiral Peary and Eskimos!
Where is your mother?
ELIZABETH
Dead.
MARGUERITE
Jack…..
JACK
My name is Jack. We’re off to visit our fireworks factory.
What is your name?
ELIZABETH
No name.
JACK
That’s impossible!
Everyone has a name!
Even the little French baby
Who lives in our attic!
MARGUERITE
Sh! Do not be rude!
He talks.
PERCY
I see that.
MARGUERITE
He also stares.
You’d think he’d never met
Someone from New York City.
PERCY
That’s children, isn’t it?
MARGUERITE
Isn’t it?
BOTH
Always another surprise, isn’t it?
JACK
I never knew anyone who stayed
On a rope like a puppy dog.
What does it feel like?
ELIZABETH
Safe.
JACK
Safe?
ELIZABETH
Yes.
JACK
Everyone’s safe in New Rochelle.
ELIZABETH
Safe?
JACK
Yes.
CONDUCTOR
Boston Post Road trolley! Boston!
MARGUERITE
Well.
PERCY
Well.
Have a pleasant day, ma’am.
MARGUERITE
Have a pleasant trip, sir.
PERCY AND MARGUERITE
Nothing like the city….
CONDUCTOR
Mamaroneck! All aboard for Mamaroneck!
Percy and Elizabeth leave, and Jack looks thoughtful.
JACK
We know those people.
MARGUERITE
That’s ridiculous. They’re poor foreigners.
JACK
Then we’re going to know them.
MARGUERITE
Who put such thoughts in your head?
By the St. Cyr manor, St. Cyr and a few other aristos are sitting outside when Chauvelin drives up in his cart.
CHAUVELIN
Good day, gentlemen (A.N.: Chauvelin being decent around aristos? The mind boggles.) I’m looking for Broadview Avenue, in New Rochelle.
ST. CYR
This isn’t it. This is the St. Cyr house and this is a private road, bourgeois. Try turning around and going back where you came from.
CHAUVELIN
I see that I am not going to receive the courtesy of an answer from you gentlemen. Good day.
He drives off.
ARISTO
Did you see that, sir? That cocky, impudent, king of the road smirk?
ST. CYR
That, gentlemen, is a thing to be pitied: A plebian who doesn’t know he’s a plebian. If he’s smart he won’t pass this way again.
Back at the house on Broadview Avenue, Margot is singing Fluerette a lullaby, and trying to get her to sleep.
MARGOT
Ooh...
Daddy played piano
Played it very well
Music from those hands could
Catch you like a spell
He could make you love him
Make your heart run wild
You have your daddy's hands
You are your daddy's child
Ooh...
Daddy never knew that you were on your way
He had other ladies,
And other tunes to play
Maybe his affection
Was just only mild.
Only thing in my head--
You were your daddy's child
Couldn't hear no music
Couldn't see no light
Mama, she was frightened
Crazy from the fright
Tears without no comfort
Screams without no sound
Only darkness and pain
The anger and pain
The blood and the pain!
I buried my heard in the ground!
In the ground--
When I buried you in the ground
Daddy played piano
Bet he's playin' still
Mama can't forget him
Don't suppose I will
God wants no excuses
Here’s my only swirl: (A.N.: I couldn’t think of anything else that rhymed with child, so I’m switching it to girl, even if it doesn’t make sense….*cough*)
You had your daddy's hands
Forgive me.
You were your daddy's girl.
Marguerite enters the attic to see Margot, who is exhausted.
MARGUERITE
Margot, let me take the baby. You haven’t slept.
Marguerite walks back down stairs with Fluerette, and puts her in a cradle in the kitchen. She busies her self in there while Jack watches. Suddenly, a knock comes from the screen door; it’s Chauvelin.
MARGUERITE
Yes?
CHAUVELIN
I'm looking for a young woman whose name is Margot. She is said to reside in one of these houses
JACK
She’s here! She’s living in our attic.
CHAUVELIN
Will you tell her, please, that Monsieur Armand Chauvelin desires to speak with her?
MARGUERITE
Certainly. Wait there. Jack?
She exits and Jack lets Chauvelin in. He points to the cradle and says:
JACK
This is Margot’s baby, Fluerette. You wanna cookie?
In the attic, Marguerite is trying to convince Margot to go downstairs.
MARGUERITE
Margot, you have a caller. A M. Chauvelin. Will you come down to the kitchen?
MARGOT
No, madame. Send him away, please.
MARGUERITE
Well, that’s the most words you’ve spoken since you’ve been here…..
She gives up and goes back downstairs. In the kitchen, Chauvelin is holding Fluerette, and humming to her. Then, it suddenly dawns on him.
CHAUVELIN
Hmmm….
Margot’s….baby? (A.N.: He can be taught!)
Marguerite is surprised to see him holding Fluerette, and gives Jack a look of “Why did you let him do that?” Jack isn’t paying attention; he’s eating a cookie. Marguerite quickly takes Fluerette back and puts her in the cradle.
MARGUERITE
Margot is unable to see you. Good day.
Chauvelin bows and begins to leave, but then pauses.
CHAUVELIN
Thank you, madame. Tell her I’ll be back next Sunday!
St. Just enters and gives his bit of narration.
ST. JUST
Such was the coming of the Frenchman in the cart to Broadview Avenue.
ALL
Each Sunday he'd come driving
Curtains would part
Neighbors would peek
Marguerite lets Chauvelin in, but Margot still won’t come down stairs.
MARGUERITE
I’m sorry, monsieur, Margot still will not receive you.
CHAUVELIN
Will you see that she gets these flowers, madame?
ALL
And after weeks of Sundays
MARGUERITE
Sending him off seemed a crime!
Monsieur Chauvelin, it must be a long drive for you. Perhaps you would like a cup of tea before you go?
ALL
It was the music of something beginning!
She pours him a cup and he gratefully accepts it. Marguerite encourages him to tell her about himself, and he obliges.
CHAUVELIN
I am a professional pianist ma'am. I'm now with the Jim Europe Clef Club Orchestra. They're quite well known. It's important for a musician to find a place that is permanent, a job that requires no traveling. I am through traveling. I am through going on the road.
MARGUERITE
Won’t you play something for us, monsieur?
He tests the piano, which sounds awful.
CHAUVELIN
Hmm…this piano is badly in need of tuning.
MARGUERITE
Oh, yes, we are awful about that.
Chauvelin sits down, finally deciding what to play. He explains:
CHAUVELIN
This is called ragtime.
He begins to play beautifully, eerily, and everyone is transfixed.
ARMAND
Small, clear chords hung in the air like flowers. The melodies were like bouquets. There seemed to be no other possibilities for life than those delineated by his music.
ST. JUST
Ill tuned or not, the Aeolian had never made such sounds.
ALL
And months flew by in moments:
Hearing those melodies climb
Blakeney enters, looking rough and worn, wearing a beard.
BLAKENEY
I’m home! Marguerite! Monsieur St. Just!
Brigit, the maid, enters to see who it is, and is shocked to see him, thinking he’s a beggar.
BRIGIT
Who the hell are you?
BLAKENEY
Who in God’s name are you?
BRIDGIT
I'm Brigit! All right, that's enough, the back door for you, you brazen peddler.
BLAKENEY
This is my home! I live here.
Jack rushes in, recognizing his father. He leaps into his arms happily.
JACK
Father! Father!
BRIDGIT
Oh, Holy Mother, it’s the master!
She runs out, terribly embarrassed, as Marguerite enters, holding Fluerette in one arm and a ledger in another.
BLAKENEY
You were in short pants.
JACK
Short pants are for little boys!
MOTHER
Hello. I hope it’s you under all that, or I’m going to kiss a strange man.
Blakeney sets Jack down, and they kiss.
MARGUERITE
It's him! Welcome home. We've missed you terribly. Did you get all the way to the North Pole?
BLAKENEY
No. Only Admiral Peary and his first officer, Mr. Henson, did.
MARGUERITE
Well, they’re professionals.
BLAKENEY
I got to 72 degrees, 46 minutes. A respectable distance.
MARGUERITE
I should say!
BLAKENEY
My left heel kept freezing.
MARGUERITE
Well get you into a nice hot tub then. I look a fright. You weren't expected. You're just in time to help with the six-months audit. Business is wonderful. I adore going down there. I think you should pay me a salary.
BLAKENEY
What are you holding?
MARGUERITE
Margot’s child, Fluerette.
JACK
We found her in the garden.
BLAKENEY
Who is Margot? What is that music?
JACK
Chauvelin. He's courting Margot. That's their baby. He comes every Sunday
MARGUERITE
He’s hoping Margot will take pity on him and come down.
BLAKENEY
How long has this been going on?
MARGUERITE
I don’t remember
JACK
Five months. I’ve been counting. Chauvelin is teaching me how to play piano.
MARGUERITE
I think what we are witnessing is, in fact, a courtship of the most stubborn Christian kind.
BLAKENEY
Yes if you can call a courtship what has already produced a bastard child.
MARGUERITE
I find that an unkind remark!
BLAKENEY
I find your welcoming of such a situation unfathomable!
MARGUERITE
There was suffering and now there is penitence. It's very grand and I'm sorry for you that you don't see it. I did not expect you to come home a different man but I had hoped to find you a kinder one. I'll see about your tub.
She exits, followed by Jack, and Blakeney, confused, begins to sing.
BLAKENEY
Where have I been?
How did we change?
Caught in this strange
New music.
Say, was I away too long?
MARGUERITE
Just like that tune,
Simple and clear,
I’ve come to hear
BOTH
New music
MARGUERITE
Why,
Why can’t you hear the song?
ARMAND
His fingers stroke those keys
And every note says, "Please",
And every chord says, "Turn my way"
MARGUERITE AND BLAKENEY
I thought I knew what love was
But these lovers play
MARGUERITE, BLAKENEY, AND ARMAND
New music!
Haunting me, and somehow taunting me,
My love was never half as true
BLAKENEY
And I ask myself
Why can’t I sing it too?
CHORUS
His fingers stroke those keys
And every note says, “please,”
And every chord says, “Turn my way.”
I thought I knew what love was
But these lovers play
New music
Haunting me
And somehow taunting me
My love was never half as true
CHAUVELIN
Margot, my life has changed
Margot, you’ve got to see
Margot, we have a child
Margot, come down to me!
Margot stands at the top of the stairs, trying to decide if she’ll come down or not. The music is compelling her, and Chauvelin is singing to her.
MARGOT
You and your music
Singing deep in me
Making nice to me
Saying something so new
Changing everything
Meaning everything
Calling my heart to you
Play that melody
Your sweet melody
Calling my heart to you
CHAUVELIN
New music
All for you girl
You, Margot
You
Finally, she surprises everyone by rushing down the stairs into Chauvelin’s embrace. The rest of the family sings while Margot and Chauvelin hold each other and whisper to each other.
CHORUS
Just like that tune,
Simple and clear
I've come to hear new music
Breaking my heart
Op'ning a door
Changing the world!
New music!
I'll hear it forevermore!
Scene switches to a picnic in the countryside. Chauvelin is polishing the cart, and Margot, amused at his fastidiousness, is holding Fluerette.
MARGOT
You’ve been polishing that cart so hard there isn’t going to be anything left for us to ride home in!
CHAUVELIN
You laugh but you wait, you'll see. This is no ordinary cart, Margot. This cart is going to take us to a better day and a better time.
MARGOT
Who have you been talking to, Chauvelin?
CHAUVELIN
No one, but I’ve been reading the words of Robspierre. He’s a great man, Margot.
MARGOT
I think you’re a great man, Chauvelin.
CHAUVELIN
Not like that, Margot, not like that. Harvard University awarded him a degree. Imagine that. Imagine what Fluerette’s life could be?
I see her face.
I hear her heartbeat.
I look in those eyes.
How wise they seem.
Well, when she is old enough
I will show her America
And she will ride
On the wheels of a dream.
We’ll go to France
And see her people
Won’t they take to her
Like cats to cream?
MARGOT
Go to France
See my folks
They’ll take to her
Hmm….
CHAUVELIN
Then we’ll travel on from there
MARGOT
California, or who knows where!
BOTH
And we will ride
On the wheels of a dream!
CHAUVELIN
Yes, the wheels are turning for us, girl
And the times are starting to roll
Any man can get where he wants to
If he's got some fire in his soul
We'll see justice, Margot,
And plenty of men
Who will stand up and give us our due
Oh, Margot, it's more than promises
Margot, it must be true
A country that lets a man like me
Own a cart, raise a child, build a life with you...
With you...
MARGOT
With you
BOTH
Beyond that road,
Beyond this lifetime
That cart full of hope
Will always gleam
With the promise of happiness
And the freedom she'll live to know
She'll travel with head held high
Just as far as her heart can go
And she will ride --
Our child will ride --
On the wheels of a dream.
At Union Square, Marie has started a rally. On the side of the stage, we can see Percy and Elizabeth, who are working in a mill. They look terrible.
MARIE
I have just returned from Lawrence, Massachusetts. I met an old friend there, an artist, a poet with scissors and paper, but who now stands at a loom sixty-four hours a week. His fingers were bleeding. I almost did not recognize him. His pay is six dollars
PERCY
There is no heat. My daughter is shivering. There are worms in the scraps they feed us.
MARIE
He looked like his own daughter’s grandfather.
PERCY
I will not bow down to these mil owners. I will dine on their coffins. She will dance on their graves.
MARIE
This is not the America he came here for. None of us did. None of us!
Strikers rally around Marie. In Massachusetts, on the side of the stage, Percy is on strike too.
MARIE
But there is hope comrades. Eight weeks ago, these same workers - Italians, Poles, Belgians, Russian Jews - with one voice said "No!" to the mill owners and went on strike. They are starving, their children are dying but they are holding firm, and we must support them.
ARMAND
It was winter in New York
As the snow was falling down
And the workmen’s hall
Had not a seat to spare.
When a young man ducked inside
Just to warm himself was all
The night that Grosholtz spoke
At Union Square!
MARIE
What is happening in Lawrence is happening everywhere. Let us at last make this the land of opportunity for all people, not just the owners. The land of opportunity for Percy and his little girl. We cannot rest!
ARMAND
She was speaking loud and fast
Through a haze of noise and heat
And the smell of sweat and anger
Filled the air
The police were standing by
But the crowd was on it’s feet
The night that Grosholtz spoke
At Union Square!
Marie points at Armand, who is listening, enrapt, and the crowd turns to stare at him.
MARIE
You!
ARMAND
He thought he heard her say
MARIE
What brings you hear today?
CHORUS
Poor young rich boy!
MARIE
Masturbates for a vaudeville tart (A.N.: O.O Armand, you sick puppy!)
What a waste of a fiery heart!
ARMAND
He thought she said
CHORUS
Poor young bourgeois!
EMMA
There are things that you’ve never thought
Come to Marie and you’ll be taught!
ARMAND
His head was spinning
CHORUS
People feathered and tarred, my friend
Unions broken, and why for?
Children laboring, women still enslaved!
Leave your little backyard, my friend
There are causes to die for!
Strike!
ARMAND
In the gutters
Of the city
I have tried to find some meaning!
CHORUS
Strike!
ARMAND
In the arms of
Fallen women
In the thought of suicide! (A.N.: See, if he were still a teenager, this would be considered normal. Since he’s fully grown, he might want to consider anti-depressants.)
CHORUS
Strike!
ARMAND
Like a firework
Unexploded
Wanting life
But never knowing how
CHORUS
Strike!
ARMAND
Till now!
MARIE
My brother, life has meaning
I’ll show you how.
My brother,
You are with us now!
ARMAND
He was calling out her name
Shouting what, he did not know
And he found that he was standing on a chair
With a heart as clean and new
As the freshly fallen snow
The night that Grosholtz spoke...
MARIE
I’ve been waiting for you!
ARMAND
At Union Square!
We cut to Lawrence, Massachusetts, where Percy and the others are striking. The children are being organized and are about to be put in a train box car. Tateh is about to say goodbye to Elizabeth while talking with organizers.
WORKERS
Strike! Strike! Strike! Strike!
YOUNGER BROTHER
The strike in Lawrence became famous. The press called it the Children's Crusade. Public indignation grew. The mill owners were not slow in calling in the militia to protect their property.
VARIOUS ORGANIZERS
Take the bread. It’s not charity. Your employers want you weak.
WORKERS
Strike! Strike! Strike! Strike!
Percy
This is a wise plan. It's too dangerous here. These are your mittens. See? I put a string so you don't lose them. Your Papa thinks of everything.
Mrs. Whitstein will be on the train with you children. I'll come for you soon. Now hurry! You'll miss the train!
MRS. WHITSTEIN
Put the children on the train! Get them out of here!
The sobbing Elizabeth is pulled away from Percy as they embrace, and stuffed onto the train. Violence is suddenly everywhere, and Percy is being threatened.
PERCY
I hate you! God damn America!
He is smacked with a club by a policemen, and Elizabeth is screaming for him. He suddenly realizes that his daughter needs him and that it is a big mistake to send her away. Running, he hops on the train as it pulls away and cuddles the sniffling Elizabeth next to him.
ELIZABETH
Papa! Papa, Papa. Papa! Papa, Papa.
PERCY
Sh ! Don’t cry, don’t be afraid. We’re together now! Look, look what I made for you.
He pulls out a little flip book of a girl skating on ice.
PERCY
See the silhouettes.
It's a little book of silhouettes
When you flip the pages, they move.
Look how nice!
This is you on skates
Turning pretty figure-eights
On the smooth, cool ice...
We are gliding, gliding on a pond.
Close your eyes. Close your eyes.
We are gliding, gliding far beyond
Close your eyes. Close your eyes.
Feel the wind as you pirouette...
Are you happy yet?
Are you happy yet?
Your Mama would tell you:
"Imagine you're fearless.
Imagine you're fearless
And soon, you won't fear!"
When I am afraid
I imagine your Mama
She skates just ahead
Can you see her?
She's here!
And we're gliding, gliding far away
Pirouettes, figure-eights, silver skates...
Just down the track
Glide with me, little one
Glide with your Papa
We'll never look back!
The conductor is doing his rounds when he sees the flipbook.
CONDUCTOR
Philadelphia! Last stop, Philadelphia! All clear.
Hey, my kid would like that. How much?
PERCY
It’s not for sale….One dollar?
CONDUCTOR
It’s a deal! So, what do you call it?
PERCY
I…I…
CONDUCTOR
It's gotta have a name. I'm not paying this much for something without a name.
PERCY
They move! I call them…Percy’s…mov…ie books!
The conductor pays him and exits.
PERCY
Your father is a smart man! With this money, we'll get a clean bed and a hot bath, and tomorrow we will make more of these and we will sell them for two dollars. Percy’s movie book! Everyone will want them. They just don't know that yet!
We are gliding, gliding
Far away
Pirouettes
Figure eights!
Silver skates!
Just down the track!
Glide with me, little one.
Glide with your Tateh.
We’ll never look back.
Back in New Rochelle, Chauvelin is taking Margot back home while Robspierre is sort of narrating.
ROBSPIERRE
And I say to you, gentlemen, that any race or nation that has ever gotten up on its feet has done so through perseverance and strength!
The cart is stopped suddenly by a gang of aristos led by St. Cyr.
CHAUVELIN
Margot. Go down the road and wait.
MARGOT
I won’t leave you.
CHAUVELIN
Do it, Margot.
MARGOT
Stubborn, righteous man.
Taking Fluerette, she hurries away from the cart and off stage.
CHAUVELIN
I would like to pass.
ST. CYR
Gladly. That’ll be twenty five dollars. This is a toll road.
CHAUVELIN
p>Since when?
ST. CYR
Since some high-faulting' bourgeois and his whore and his whore's baby thought they could drive that goddamn cart of theirs any place they pleased, that's since when.
Chauvelin gets out of the cart, snarling.
ST. CYR
You running away, bourgeois?
CHAUVELIN
I am going to find a policeman. If anyone touches my cart before I return, he will answer to Chauvelin.
ST. CYR
And you tell him the Marquis de St. Cyr sends his regards!
ROBSPIERRE
We must exhibit patience.
The aristos descend upon destroying the cart.
ROBSPIERRE
Forbearance. Self-control. And dwell above hatred and acts of cruelty.
Chauvelin comes back on stage to narrate.
CHAUVELIN
Chauvelin found a policeman but he refused to help. When he returned to his cart, it was spattered with mud. There was a twenty-inch tear in the custom pantasote top. The wheels had been slashed and all the windows broken. Deposited on the seat was a mound of fresh human excrement.
ST. CYR
Come on, boys. Let’s roll her into the pond and see if she floats!
Margot, instead, attempts to drag the furious Chauvelin away from the scene.
MARGOT
Come on, Chauvelin. It doesn’t matter.
CHAUVELIN
We’ll see justice, Margot
And plenty of men
Who will stand up
And give us our due.
Chauvelin and his supporters are trying to get a little of their own back with the town hall bureaucrats.
FIRST BUREAUCRAT
Well, you can sign another complaint, Monsieur Chauvelin, but volunteer firemen are not municipal employees, and therefore do not come under the jurisdiction of the city. I'm sorry.
SECOND BUREAUCRAT
I’m still tracing your first complaint, M. Chauvelin. Are you sure you filed it with this office? Oh, let me look again!
CHAUVELIN
Justice, Margot
This is America!
Marguerite and Blakeney desperately try and comfort them and help them see reason.
MARGUERITE
I’m ashamed that our community is represented in his mind by that bunch of tufts!
BLAKENEY
Let me talk to my lawyer.
CHAUVELIN
That’s all it will be! Talk, talk.
The law's the law.
The law's been broken
Why should I turn the other cheek?
What about justice!
FRENCH CHORUS
The bureaucrats and bunglers
The attorneys who smiled
BRITISH ATTORNEY
My advice: Recover your car and forget the whole matter.
FRENCH
The clerks and the officials
And the forms that were filed.
The clerk is burying them in paper work
CLERK
This to get a date on the court calendar. This for change of venue.
FRENCH
So many roads to justice
Around the bend
FRENCH LAWYER
I want justice for our people! So bad, I can taste it. But I won’t waste my time on a mere case of vandalism when I have real injustices to take to the courts!
FRENCH
And every road
A new dead end!
CHAUVELIN
I will not move
From where I'm standing
Till what's mine is restored to me
I'm not some fool
I'm not their bourgeois!
I will have what's fairly owed me!
And till then, I will not marry...
Margot is close to tears and Marguerite is desperately attempting to comfort her.
MARGUERITE
We understand Monsieur Chauvelin’s outrage! We share it, all decent people do.
MARGOT
He said “Wheels are turning for us, girl.”
MARGUERITE
But I'm sure there's some way to settle this affair without calling off the wedding.
MARGOT
He said “Times are starting to roll.”
MARGUERITE
To be this close to the happiness you both deserve and to have it come to this.
MARGOT
Well, I know he'll get where he wants to
'Cause he's got that fire in his soul
Said, "There's justice, Margot,
And plenty of men who will stand up and give us our due."
Well, you'll have your due, Chauvelin,
Yes, you'll have your due.
Margot is trying to work her way through a bunch of people at a rally. The Republican vice-presidential candidate is campaigning and posing with the Prince of Wales.
YOUNGER BROTHER
The Republican vice-presidential candidate was to be in the city that evening to attend a rally. The Secret Service was at the ready. The recent assassination of President McKinley had been a lesson well learned. Guns were going off everywhere.
MARGOT
I'll tell him...
President, I am coming to you
On behalf of Armand Chauvelin
He don't know I'm here...
He's much too proud!
And I ain't much of a talker
But President, he needs your help, sir
You're the only one
'Cause Chauvelin, he won't marry me
Till this thing is done
And President, we got a !
She rushes through the police barricade with arms outstretched. She is then tackled and pummeled to death.
MARGOT
President! President!!
PRINCE OF WALES
She’s got a gun! I saw a gun!
Enter Chauvelin, who rushes to Margot’s now lifeless body. (Oh my God, this has to be the creepiest sound I’ve ever heard. Congrats to Brian Stokes Mitchell. Brrrr….)
CHAUVELIN
Noooooooooo!!!!!!!!!
Mourners enter, bearing up Margot’s corpse and leading it off stage. They then re-gather for a ceremony, where Suzanne is singing. Chauvelin, Marguerite, Blakeney, Percy, Armand, and Marie remain in the background.
SUZANNE
There's a day of hope
May I live to see,
When our hearts are happy
And our souls are free
Let the new day dawn
Oh, Lord, I pray
We'll never get to heaven
Till we reach that day
MOURNERS
There’s a day of peace
A day of pride
SUZANNE
A day of pride
MOURNERS
A day of justice
We have been denied!
SUZANNE
It’s been denied…
MOURNERS
Where a man can live
And a child can play
We’ll never get to heaven
Till we reach that day
Chauvelin comes to the foreground, radiating shock turning into anger.
CHAUVELIN
What they did to her
What they took from her
She had life in her
Lord, she had my baby!
Look what they left of her
Left of her, left of my girl!
MARIE
She was nothing to them
She was a woman
CHAUVELIN
My girl….
MARGUERITE AND MARIE
Nothing and no one to them
MARGUERITE, CHAUVELIN, AND MARIE
So they beat her and beat her and beat her and-!
MOURNERS
A day of peace
A day of pride
A day of justice
We have been denied
Let the new day dawn
Oh Lord….
CHAUVELIN
There was blood on the ground!
CHAUVELIN, MARGUERITE, MARIE
She was only a girl….
CHAUVELIN, MARGUERITE, MARIE, ARMAND, AND BLAKENEY
It will happen again!
ABOVE PLUS IMMIGRANTS AND FRENCHMEN
It will happen again and again and again !
PERCY
Why does no body care?
ARMAND AND MARIE
There is blood in the air!
WOMEN
We have voices and souls!
CHAUVLEIN, MARGUERITE, ARMAND, AND MARIE
What is wrong with this country?
IMMIGRANTS
She was somebody’s child!
FRENCH MEN
There are Frenchmen out there
IMMIGRANTS, FRENCH, WOMEN, AND MARIE
There are people out there!
ALL
Give the people
A day of peace
A day of pride
A day of justice
We have been denied
Let the new day dawn
Oh, Lord, I pray...
We'll never get to heaven
Till we reach that day
End Act I.
After the Entr’acte, we open Act II with Jack somewhat peacefully dreaming about his idol, Lord Antony Dewhurst, who, coincidentally, has not gotten a lot of screen time in the first act…..
JACK
Antony Dewhurst
Master escapist
Master of getting free
TONY
Holding his breath
He dances with death
As daring as he can be
Enter the master
Safe from disaster
Making the people gay!
Jack’s dream has become a nightmare, and we watch as St. Cyr and his buddies shut Tony in a suspended box. They throw a time bomb in, and once it explodes, they rush off. The door to the box swings open, revealing the emptiness inside. There is brief pandemonium onstage when we suddenly see Tony in a box seat in the audience. He takes a bow, and walks off. Jack wakes up and rushes to his mother’s bedroom.
JACK
Mother, mother!
MARGUERITE
Jack, what is it? What are you doing out of bed? Shh…. You just had a nightmare.
JACK
Something terrible is going to happen. An explosion! People are going to die…(A.N.: Creepy little kid, isn’t he?)
The scene segues to Chauvelin, who is standing mutely at Margot’s grave. He eventually begins to walk away, singing.
CHAUVELIN
Say goodbye to music.
Say goodbye to light.
Anything I care for,
Take it from my sight.
Let me see no future
Let me hear no sound
Only darkness and pain
The anger and pain
The blood and the pain
They buried my heart in the ground....
In the ground...
When they buried you in the ground.
I see your face...
And we will ride
On the wheels of a new dream, Margot,
A new time, Margot,
Now, I'll play them the music
Of something beginning
An era exploding
A century spinning--
My law and my justice
In rhythm and rhyme!
Listen to that Ragtime!
He exits with a crazy look in his eyes. Enter newsboys and several frightened citizens of New Rochelle and New York.
NEWSBOY #1
Extra! Arsonist destroys Emerald Isles home of St. Cyr!
NEWSBOY #2
French gunman shoots three dead!
Extra! Terror stalks New Rochelle! Murders demands revealed!
One--that my cart be returned to me in its original condition.
Two--that the aristocratic excrescence known as Le Marquis de St. Cyr,
the one who instigated this crime, be turned over to me for my justice.
Nothing less, nothing more
CHORUS
Somewhere in the city
There's a madman waiting
Standing in the shadows
With a gun in his hands
A man of cover
Who is calmly stating:
Chauvelin demands!
Chauvelin demands!
NEW ROCHELLE MEN AND WOMEN
He demands!
FRENCH MEN AND WOMEN
He demands!
Chauvelin demands!
NEW ROCHELLE MEN
Who is he to demand?
FRENCH MEN AND WOMEN
He demands!
NEW ROCHELLE MEN, WOMEN, AND NEWSBOYS
He demands!
NEWSBOYS
Killer Frenchmen demands!
FRENCH MEN AND WOMEN
About time a Frenchmen demanded!
ALL
He calls St. Cyr the fop excrescence
JACK
What’s excrescence?
Jack, Blakeney, Marguerite, St. Just, and Suzanne are all gathered nervously, shuddering at the headlines. Blakeney wearily points Jack towards his bedroom.
BLAKENEY
Jack, go to your room….
MOTHER
Three firemen were killed. One of them was Mrs. Gallagher's nephew.
Six more were badly injured when the boiler exploded.
JACK
And one of them will be dead by tonight. It was Chauvelin, wasn’t it?
BLAKENEY
I said go to your room!
Marguerite calmly and patiently tries to explain things to her son when Blakeney’s patience seems to fail him.
MARGUERITE
Jack-
ST. JUST
I told you we hadn’t heard the last of that Frenchmen!
FRENCH MEN, CHAUVELIN’S MEN, AND YOUNGER BROTHER
It’s an eye for an eye
Call it justice friend!
FRENCH WOMEN AND SUZANNE
People's lives for a cart ain't justice
An eye for an eye, that ain't!
He just wants St. Cyr!
ST. CYR
(Nervously)Only St. Cyr….
He even misspelled my name.
Wouldn't you know it!
With an “S”!
He can't take a joke, now can he
Sensitive, ain't he?
Does he think only bourgeois get shit?
We aristos had to get used to it!
ARISTOS
You stupid, worthless piece of filth! Look what you’ve got us into!
ST. CYR
You're gonna protect me, ain't ya?
Hide me, ain't ya?
ARISTO
Get out of town, St. Cyr. Get out before they kill us all!
CHAUVELIN’S MEN
What they did to you,
What they took from you,
We are one with you.
Now the world will know
There are Frenchmen out there
To make them listen!
We're all Chauvelin!
REPORTER #1
Do you have a statement for us, Monsieur Robspierre?
REPORTER #2
What do you think of these French renegades, M. Robspierre?
Enter the mob of reporters trailing a harried Robspierre.
ROBSPIERRE
For the sum of my life
I have lived in hope
We might all be Christian brothers
I have worked to persuade every aristo
That he need not fear the plebs.
I deplore M. Chauvelin’s actions, and the irreparable harm he has done to my people. And I wish that I might tell him face to face.
FRENCH WOMEN
Not one of ours
Not one of ours
We’ve never heard of him
Never heard of him
We don’t want any trouble
We don’t want any trouble
Not one of ours
Not one of ours
Don’t know anything!
And I wouldn’t tell those peckerwoods even if I did!
CHORUS
No one knows what he looks like
No one knows where he is
No one knows how to
Stop him...
Somewhere in the city
There's a madman waiting
Standing in the shadows
With a gun in his hand
A man of covers
Who is calmly stating
Chauvelin demands
Somewhere in the city
Chauvelin!
ST. CYR AND CHORUS
Somewhere in the city
Waiting in the dark
Stop him!
Somewhere in the city
Standing in the shadows
CHAUVELIN AND HIS MEN
We’ll play them the music
Of something beginning
An era exploding
A century spinning!
CHORUS
Chauvelin!
CHAUVELIN AND HIS MEN
Listen to that Ragtime!
The city is in a panic. Not only them, but the Blakeney family is on nerves end. Marguerite is nervously cradling the abandoned Fleurette while Blakeney brandishes a pistol. Jack watches anxiously. Armand seems highly disappointed with Blakeney.
BLAKENEY
We are suffering a tragedy that should not have been ours. What in God's name possessed you? You took that woman in without sufficient thought. And she brought Chauvelin into our lives. You have victimized us all with your foolish female sentimentality.
ARMAND
Are you going to find him out so you can shoot him?
BLAKENEY
I am protecting my home. If Monsieur Chauvelin makes any mistake of coming to my door I shall deal with him.
Little Fleurette begins to cry, agitating Blakeney all the more. Enter Suzanne, also looking the worse for wear.
ARMAND
Why should he come here? We didn’t desecrate his car.
BLAKENEY
I went to the police. I told them this murdering madman was a guest in my home. I told them we are keeping his bastard child. I told them everything I knew. They were very grateful.
ARMAND
I did not hear such a eulogy at Sarah's funeral. I did not hear you say then that death and destruction of property were inexcusable.
BLAKENEY
(Begging of Marguerite, who gives him a look that means she is utterly powerless) Must I endure this?
ARMAND
You are a complacent man with no thought of history. You have traveled everywhere and learned nothing. I despise you!
In a huff, he exits, slamming the door behind him. The family cringes for a moment, but Blakeney tries to shake it off.
BLAKENEY
He’ll be back.
MARGUERITE
I don’t think so.
JACK
Why is uncle angry? Why is everyone so angry?
MARGUERITE
Ask your father.
JACK
It’s because of Chauvelin, isn’t it?
MARGUERITE
Why don’t you explain this to your son? He’s confused. You never talk to him.
There is a silence where Blakeney puts his hands on Jack’s shoulders, trying to sum up the courage and words. He ultimately fails.
BLAKENEY
How would you like to see a game of baseball tomorrow?
JACK
I think I would like that very much, sir.
BLAKENEY
I've been neglecting you. The Giants are at the Polo Grounds. Mother, I'm taking the boy to see a game of baseball.
Marguerite is intensely disappointed with the results.
MARGUERITE
You fool.
BLAKENEY
You’ll like baseball. It’s a civilized pastime.
Scene shifts to Blakeney and Jack getting seats at a baseball game. They stick out like sore thumbs with the rabble like crowd in attendance.
BLAKENEY
In a world gone mad,
There is comfort to be had
In the game Father played at school
Men of class,
Competing on the grass
Where sportsmanship
And fellowship
And courtesy are the rule.
UMPIRE
Play ball!
FANS
Ain’t this the kind of weather
For smacking leather
For playing baseball
The kind o' weather makes a man
Hit like hell!
Let’s go, you sons of bitches
Let’s see some pitches
Let’s play some baseball
The Kraut is strikin' out again!
Schmidt, ya smell!
The Giants haven’t got a prayer
Ah, you’re underwear
Up your alley!
Go back to where your mother once came
Hit that ball
Run, you bastard!
Hit that ball!
Kill the Kraut!
What a game!
FAN
Hey, Schnabel! Take your head out of your ass! (To Jack) I guess that’s telling him, huh?
JACK
(proudly imitating) He, Schnabel, take your head out of your-
Blakeney quickly clamps his hand over Jacks mouth, stunned.
BLAKENEY
At Harvard,
We were gentlemen
Men were gentlemen
FANS
So’s yer sister!
BLAKENEY
We’d call each other mister, and-
FANS
Doyle, ya suck!
BLAKENEY
(covering Jack’s ears) Don’t listen.
Our games were very quiet,
We’d never riot, we’d-
FANS
Eat that baseball!
BLAKENEY
The worst we ever said would be
FANS
Run, ya schmuck!
BLAKENEY
Now here’s the noisy rabble
This foreign babble
Who let this happen?
There’s hardly one American name!
FANS
Yah, Herzog!
Hit that ball!
Stupid Polack!
Hit that ball!
Kill the Kike!
What a game!
It's Braves and Giants, Two to two.
The pitcher's name is Hub Purdue
Jack Murray's now
Up at bat….
We hear the crack of a bat and see a ball traveling towards the fans. Instinctively, Jack reaches up and catches it, being patted and praised by the other fans.
FANS
My God!
Would somebody look at that!
Ain’t this the kinda weather
To get together and
Bash his teeth in!
The kind of weather makes a man
Hit like hell!
A fine, upliftin' atmosphere
Bring yer children here.
Teach them baseball.
The game all true Americans
Do damn well!
It's like the Constitution
The institution
Of dear ol' baseball
Where every man is treated the same!
Kill that Mick!
Run, you Polack
Strike the Kike
Kill the Kraut!
What a…
What a….
What a….
JACK
Up yer alley!
BLAKENEY
Jack!
FANS
Game!
Yeah!
Pan to New York, where it seems a good portion of the city is ablaze! Chauvelin and his men are burning down fire houses. St. Cyr flees the city in terror.
CHAUVELIN
Until my demands are met, I will continue to burn down firehouses.
I will destroy the entire city if need be. Let the rules of war prevail.
Armand Chauvelin, Jr., president of the provisional American government.
Switch scene to the Blakeney residence, where a reporter is anxiously trying to bargain with an irate Blakeney.
REPORTER
Can I get one picture?
BLAKENEY
You’re trampling the dahlias!
He slams the door on the reporter, stomping into the living room only to find a Welfare official reading the riot act to Marguerite.
BLAKENEY
Everyday now I come home to a zoo!
WELFARE OFFICIAL
Will you explain to your wife that the child is illegitimate?
MARGUERITE
She is not illegitimate!
WELFACE OFFICIAL
- and must be given over one of the excellent facilities that care for these unwanted infants?
MARGUERITE
And she is not unwanted!
She flashes Blakeney a pleading look, and he snares the official by the shoulder, roughly forcing him out the door.
BLAKENEY
That’s it. Get out of my house!
As he does this, more reporters and photographers try to come in.
BLAKENEY
All of you, get off my property!
He slams the door, but Marguerite soon discovers his mood towards her and Fleurette is anything but charitable.
BLAKENEY
That’s it. M Chauvelin is one thing, but the welfare of his child is not our concern. There are limits even to the most limitless compassion. We’ve done enough for his child.
MARGUERITE
No one will ever do enough for this child.
Black scene, and reopen with Louise on the side.
LOUISE
Wee!
Let’s run away to Atlantic City
Let’s feel the wind in our hair…
BLAKENEY
Atlantic City is only a temporary answer, Marguerite, but I can't think of a better one. They can't take the child away from you if we're in residence down there
and it's close enough to come and go as business dictates.
LOUISE
Sharing a grand and romantic city.
Tony enters and stands beside her.
TONY
Sea and salty air…
BLAKENEY
Besides, the change of air will do everyone good. Did you pack my razor?
MARGUERITE
Yes.
BLAKENEY
I hope you reserved us a parlor car.
MARGUERITE
I did.
LOUISE
Train’s gonna take us to the sunniest hide away.
TONY
Troubles will slide away
LOUISE AND TONY
Just a ride away….
BLAKENEY
It was clear to Blakeney that the crisis was driving the spirit from their lives. He had always secretly believed that as a family they were touched by an extra light. He felt it going now.
Marguerite, I-
There’s a honking sound, and Marguerite leads Jack towards the approaching cab.
MARGUERITE
There’s the cab!
BLAKENEY
Where have I been?
How did we change?
Caught in this strange
New music
Say
Was I away too long?
Say
When did they change our song?
We now watch colorful and resplendent couples walk the boardwalks, a stark contrast to the dark and frightening city we have just left.
CHORUS
Let's run away to Atlantic City
Let's feel the win in our hair
Sharing a grand and romantic city
Sea and salty air
Train's gonna take us
To the sunniest hideaway
Troubles will slide away.
WOMEN
Just a ride away
ALL
So let’s run away to Atlantic City
No one will find us there!
Down on the sand
There’s a ragtime band
With a brand new ragtime tune
And up in the sky
There's a grand New Jersey moon!
Let's go there soon...
Jack watches quietly as Louise and Tony take center stage, staring in vaudeville.
LOUISE
Whee!!!
I was once the lady friend of Stanford White
Made me a celebrity overnight!
Well, overnight things change I guess.
I'm in New Jersey--wearing even less!
Ladies, there's a lesson in my tawdry tale
Beware the path you choose
Oh! Oh! Justice is never fair.
Bang! Bang! There goes your millionaire
Boo hoo! No money, no ring
And you could end up on a swing
And it's a crime...
TONY
Antony Dewhurst
Master escapist
Buried and chained and tied.
Reaching for danger
Darker and stranger
Now that his mama's died.
Conquering fear
In hopes he will hear
A voice form the other side...
LOUISE
Oh justice can be so unfair
Bang, there goes your millionaire
Wee!....
TONY
Come see Antony’s daring display!
LOUISE
Come see Miss Louise do four shows a day!
BOTH
Thrilling the crowd and making them say
Let’s run away
Let’s run away
Away
Away…
ALL
My honey
Why should we stay in the frantic city
Laden with worry and care?
Oh, let's run away to Atlantic City
No one will find us
LOUISE
No one will find us!
ALL
No one will find us there!
Enter Sir Percy Blakeney, Baronet, whom we recognize as Percy, and Elizabeth, who has grown exquisitely beautiful. Percy and crew are filming the scene, and he applauds once it’s finished.
PERCY
Cut! That was wonderful, Lord Tony. It is a dream come true to work with an artist of your magnitude. Thank you!
TONY
Thank you yourself, Sir Percy.
PERCY
And it will be even more wonderful once Mademoiselle Louise stops looking at the camera.
LOUISE
I am not an actress (A.N.: Uh…o.O?)
PERCY
I am reeling with this revelation!
LOUISE
I am a personality!
PERCY
Take five, ladies and gentlemen, while your director has a nervous breakdown.
JESSUP
Sir Percy, here’s the schedule for tomorrow. And your leading lady is unhappy with her lines.
PERCY
Tell our leading lady no one is going to hear her lines! This is a silent movie! Actors! Where is Mary Pickford when I need her?
Marguerite has finally found Jack, who has been watching this whole scene. She walks past Percy without really noticing him and takes Jacks hand. She’s about to walk off again when she accidentally catches Percy’s eye.
PERCY
Good day.
MARGUERITE
Good day, sir.
Now follow Blakeney, who is watching Percy (Weird….) who has stopped Marguerite entirely in her tracks. He’s taken a little silver, square viewer from around his neck and is staring at Marguerite through it. Blakeney does not look too happy, and Jack comes bounding over.
JACK
Father-
BLAKENEY
I see.
JACK
What is he doing?
BLAKENEY
It's damn impertinent, whatever it is.
Percy waves a rather nervous and surprised Marguerite off.
PERCY
A million humble and abject apologies, sir. The lady had such a pensive expression, I merely wished to capture it for a few moments. The name is Sir Percy Blakeney, Baronet. I am make moving pictures, sir, and this glass rectangle is a tool of the trade. I am always conjuring up new adventures, new faces, new thrills for my audience. If the lady were an actress, I would offer her a contract on the spot.
Blakeney is so obviously foaming at the mouth.
BLAKENEY
My wife does not work.
PERCY
I meant it as a compliment, sir, no offense.
Marguerite, apparently, likes him, however, and smoothes the situation over.
MARGUERITE
I took it as such, sir. No offense.
PERCY
I can see that my famous name has not preceded me. Have you seen "His First Mistake"? No? "A Daughter's Innocence"? No? Don't embarrass. They are my first two picture plays. One reelers. I made them for five hundred dollars and each has brought ten thousand dollars in receipts. Yes, it is true! But here, this is not impossible.
Anyone can get lucky in America. I remind myself of this every day.
The first nickel I ever earned
I keep in a little silver frame
It's how I gave my company a name,
Reminding me how very far I came!
I was a maker of the silhouettes
Who made a small improvement--
A little book of silhouettes
That simulated movement!
Well, people seemed to like it
Soon the money's going clink!
And I'm Buffalo Nickel Photoplay, Inc.!
I got from silhouettes to photos
I invent a small projector
And soon, I'm making movies
And they're calling me director!
An industry is dawning
And I'm standing on the brink--
Mister Buffalo Nickel Photoplay, Inc.!
Life shines from the shadow screen,
Comical, yet infinitely true
People love to see what people do
Here where everyone is someone new!
Such tales from the shadow screen!
Little men who never get the breaks
Fighting on till something fin'lly takes--
What a lovely movie it all makes!
Well, business is booming
I'm happy to say
I just made a contract
To film for Pathe;
A series of chapters
Which end in suspense
Each week, see what's next
For another five cents!
And I am waking every morning
Filled with such anticipation!
I frame the sea
I frame the sky
And this is my vacation!
I shake your hand
I kiss your hand
I buy you all a drink!
And maybe if you chance to see
A movie that was made by me
Remember when my name goes by
(That's B-L-A-K-E-N-E-Y)
The baron, now American
Who happened once to think
Of silhouette and flicker book
And movies as they're meant to look
And Buffalo Nickel...
Buffalo Nickel Photoplay, Inc.!
Action!
Percy and Elizabeth exit to continue filming and a crowd rushes on to be filmed. Marguerite and Blakeney quickly exit, and Jack is about to, but he catches site of Tony, who is also exiting.
JACK
Lord Dewhurst, sir, may I have your autograph, please?
TONY
Not now, kiddy, I’m catching a train. Here!
He pulls a silver dollar from behind Jack’s ear and hands it to him.
TONY
Treat yourself to a ride on the roller coaster. I'll send you a postcard from Sarajevo.
Jack is about to let him go, but blinks, remembering something.
JACK
Warn the duke!
TONY
What did you say?
JACK
Warn the duke!
Jack rushes off, confounding Tony.
TONY
What duke? I don’t know any dukes!
He pauses for a moment before trying to chase after Jack.
TONY
I’ve seen you somewhere before…Who are you? Come back!
He gives up an exits. Enter Percy and his secretary, followed by Elizabeth and Jack, who take to playing on the beach.
PERCY
So, the young woman, forced into a marriage she does not want, decides to elope with the butcher she loves. Nonsense! People don't spend good money to see young women elope with butchers.
Enter Marguerite.
MARGUERITE
Good morning, Sir Percy. I see our children are playing again. I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to interrupt.
PERCY
Please, I need interruption. Always working, always working. It’s a curse.
A ragtime band marches across the boardwalk and Elizabeth and Jack follow.
PERCY
I know this music. It is called rag. I like it. It makes me want to turn a cartwheel. But not today. What’s wrong?
MARGUERITE
I am thinking of someone I miss very badly. No, two men. My brother and a French man who played that kind of music on our piano in New Rochelle. We never know when our feelings will creep up on us and go "boo!" and startle us, do we?
PERCY
(Looking at her thoughtfully) No, never.
MARGUERITE
Well…
PERCY’S SECRETARY
Sir Percy, you promised the studio-
PERCY
No rest for the wicked! I leave you this question, madame: Would a woman leave her husband for a butcher?
MARGUERITE
If he were a kind butcher, a thoughtful man who wondered what she thought about, she would.
PERCY
That's the title I've been searching for. "The Thoughtful Butcher". I am forever in your debt.
MARGUERITE
Well…Look, down there, on the beach, the children are playing.
PERCY
Not too fast! (To Marguerite) She doesn’t hear me. No, she hears me, but she doesn’t listen.
MARGUERITE
All children are like that.
PERCY
What is their hurry?
MARGUERITE
I’m glad ours have become such friends.
How they play
Finding treasure in the sand
They're forever hand in hand,
Our children.
PERCY
How they laugh
She has never laughed like this
MARGUERITE
Every waking moment
Bliss
BOTH
Our children
PERCY
See them running down the beach
Children run so fast...
MARGUERITE
Toward the future
PERCY
From the past
MARGUERITE
How they dance
Unembarrassed and alone
BOTH
Hearing music of their own
Our children
PERCY
One so fair
MARGUERITE
And the other lithe and dark
BOTH
Solemn joy and sudden spark
Our children
See them running down the beach
Children run so fast
Toward the future
From the past
There they stand,
Making footprints in the sand
And forever, hand in hand
Our children.
Two small lives,
Silhouetted by the blue
One like me
And one like you
Our children.
Our children.
MARGUERITE
Well.
PERCY
You say that often. “Well.”
MARGUERITE
It’s because I don’t know what to say, Sir Percy.
PERCY
(chuckling) I'm not a baronet, of course. I'm a poor immigrant who points a camera so that his child can dress as beautifully as a princess. I want to drive from her memory every tenement stench and filthy immigrant street. I will buy her light and sun and clean wind of the ocean for the rest of her life. Now you know me. Now you understand. I am no baronet. I am Percy.
MARGUERITE
Now I know even less what to say.
PERCY
Now it is my turn. Well.
MARGUERITE
Thank you for your confidence. (She places a hand over her heart) I shall keep it here.
She calls Jack and exits, and Percy smiles, following her with his eyes.
Switch scene to the swanky, if slightly worse for wear, French Nightclub “The Tempo Club.” French men and women are watching Armand warily as he tries to find Chauvelin.
FRENCH MEN
Mmmm….
FRENCh WOMEN
Mmmm….
FRENCH MAN
Here he comes again. We should have kicked his ass the first time he came looking for Chauvelin.
FRENCH WOMAN
They must think we’re fools.
ARMAND
Good evening, I would still like very much to speak to M. Chauvelin.
FRENCH MAN
This is still the French District, and this is still a private thoroughfare, bourgeois. (A.N.: He’s French, what’s their deal?)
ARMAND
I told you: I shall come here every evening until he is satisfied that it is safe to receive me.
FRENCH MAN
And that’ll be never.
ARMAND
But he knows me, I’m his friend!
FRENCH WOMAN
Try that pestilence pond where they sank his car.
ARMAND
I’ve been there.
FRENCH WOMAN
Then try the cemetery where he buried his Margot like a queen.
ARMAND
I’ve been there, too.
FRENCH WOMAN
Then try the gates of justice where they’re deaf to his misery and anger.
Dissatisfied, Armand gives up and stalks off, only to be stopped by one of Chauvelin’s men.
MERCIER
Spare a dime?
Armand hands him one.
MERCIER
You seem to have a lot of change there. Could you manage a quarter?
He obliges.
MERCIER
How about a silver dollar?
Armand hands him that, too, and Mercier stalks off. Impulsively, Armand follows.
We now switch scene to a slightly faded image of “The Tempo Club,” in it’s former hay day with Chauvelin at the piano, flirting outrageously with a very alive Margot. The audience will note that this is a flashback that Chauvelin so obviously dwells on so many times.
CHAUVELIN
What’s your name?
MARGOT
Margot.
CHAUVELIN
I’m Chauvelin.
MARGOT
I know.
CHAUVELIN
There was no music in my heart tonight.
Melodies kept refusin' to flow
One look at you, now every note feels right
Comin' out all sweet and slow.
MARGOT
You tell stories
Like your hands play tunes
CHAUVELIN
Sweetest tune I know
Is Margot Blue Eyes
Don't be shy, now
Margot Blue Eyes
Oughta take a chance
The stars are silver notes
Across that sky now
Margot Blue Eyes.
Come, let's dance.
MARGOT
I’ve never heard no music
Quite like yours
Where’d you learn how
To play it that way?
Was I smart I’d walk right
Out those doors.
CHAUVELIN
Then I got to make you stay.
BOTH
Nothin' for it but a Ragtime tune
On that piano...
Margot Blue Eyes
Don't be shy now
Margot Blue Eyes
Oughta take a chance
The stars are silver notes
Across that sky now
Margot Blue Eyes
Come, let's dance.
He leaves the piano and the rest of the band continues on. They momentarily dance before pausing, enrapt.
BOTH
Silver notes
Across that sky now
Margot Blue Eyes
Come let’s….
MARGOT
Dance….
The music segues, and the lights dim even more. Margot exits, and the scene shifts to Chauvelin’s hide out where he’s sitting pensively alone in the dark. Someone starts to whistle, and he angrily cuts him off.
CHAUVELIN
I said no music.
COPEAU
He’s here.
CHAUVELIN
Bring him in.
Mercier leads Armand inside.
CHAUVELIN
What is it you want?
ARMAND
I…I want…I know that if…
Enter Marie, and the light comes up on her.
MARIE
He wanted to say:
I am here because I have to be.
He wanted to say:
I am here for what is right.
Every day I wake up knowing
What you've lost and what is owing
I would shed this skin if I could
To stand with you and fight.
He wanted to say:
ARMAND
I am not who I appear to be.
MARIE
He wanted to say
ARMAND
Do not blame me for my past!
BOTH
We have different lives and faces
But our hearts have common places
This was deep inside me
And you helped me find it at last
MARIE
Two men meeting
For a moment
In the darkness
CHAUVELIN
One turning from
ARMAND
One waking to
ALL
America!
Two men finding
For a moment
In the darkness
CHAUVELIN AND ARMAND
They’re the same
MARIE
They’re the same!
CHAUVELIN’S MEN
He wanted to say
CHAUVLEIN
How I envy you your innocence
MARIE AND CHAUVELIN’S MEN
He wanted to say
ARMAND
By your side I could be brave
If there's such a thing as justice
Let me help you find your justice
This I do for you and for Sarah
Who lies in her grave...
MARIE AND CHAUVELIN’S MEN
But all he said was-
ARMAND
I know how to blow things up (A.N.: *head-desk*)
MARIE AND CHAUVELIN’S MEN
Two men meeting
For a moment
In the darkness.
For a moment
In the darkness.
We hear an explosion, and the lights go black. We switch back to the beach house in Atlantic City. Marguerite is sitting on the porch with Fleurette, Jack, and Suzanne, and Blakeney tromps up the steps, looking harried. Robspierre narrates.
ROBSPIERRE
Chauvelin’s strategy of vengeance seemed to some the final proof of his insanity. Only a madman would shift the focus of his rage from St. Cyr, a common bigot, to the Prince of Wales, the most uncommon and powerful man of his time.
MARGUERITE
You missed the storm. I thought it was going to up and blow us away! What’s wrong?
BLAKENEY
I’ve been called back to New York City. It seems that M. Chauvelin has taken over the Morgan Library and is threatening to blow it up with themselves along with it.
MARGUERITE
What does that have to do with you?
BLAKENEY
Because I know him, they think I might be helpful as a negotiator or hostage.
MARGUERITE
Then you must go.
BLAKENEY
Of course I must. I’ve reserved a place on the next Cannonball.
MARGUERITE
Are you afraid?
BLAKENEY
A little.
MARGUERITE
Would you like me to come with you?
BLAKENEY
There’s no need. M. Chauvelin has gone too far this time. They’ll put an end to it. He’ll get what he deserves.
MARGUERITE
And what is that?
BLAKENEY
I'm sure I don't know anymore! And must you always be holding that damn child of his? Every time I look at you! It's become an appendage
She hands the baby to Suzanne, who bustles inside.
MARGUERITE
I’ll be right along.
JACK
Goodbye, Father.
BLAKENEY
Goodbye.
Jack is ushered inside, and Blakeney quickly apologizes to Marguerite.
BLAKENEY
I'm sorry. It's not you I'm angry with, Marguerite. When I return and this affair is forgotten, we will find a suitable place for the child and everything will be like it was.
MARGUERITE
Things can never be the same again.
BLAKENEY
I meant before, when we were happy.
MARGUERITE
I will not give that child up to anyone but M. Chauvelin.
Blakeney tenderly kisses her.
BLAKENEY
I love you.
MARGUERITE
Be safe.
BLAKENEY
Everything will be fine, Marguerite.
MARGUERITE
There was a time
Our happiness seemed never-ending
I was so sure
That where we were heading was right
Life was a road
So certain and straight and unbending
Our little road
With never a cross road in sight
Back in the days
When we spoke in civilized voices
Women in white
And sturdy young men at the oar
Back in the days
When I let you make all my choices...
We can never go back to before
There was a time
My feet were so solidly planted
You'd sail away
While I turned my back to the sea
I was content,
A princess asleep and enchanted
If I had dreams
Then I let you dream them for me
Back in the days
When everything seemed so much clearer
Women in white
Who knew what their lives held in store
Where are they now,
Those women who stared from the mirror?
We can never go back to before.
There are people out there
Unafraid of revealing
That they might have a feeling
Or they might have been wrong
There are people out there
Unafraid to feel sorrow
Unafraid of tomorrow
Unafraid to be weak..
Unafraid to be strong!
There was a time
When you were the person in motion
I was your wife,
It never occurred to want more
You were my sky
My moon and my stars and my ocean
We can never go back to before
We can never go back to before
They hold hands as the scene cuts to black. Reopen in New York, where we see a vigil of French women outside the Morgan Library along with D.A. Charles S. Whitman. Trying to impress him of the gravity of the situation is the Prince of Wales, and a wretched looking St. Cyr restoring Chauvelin’s cart.
FRENCH WOMEN
A day of peace.
A day of pride.
A day of justice.
We have been denied.
Let the new day dawn,
Oh, Lord, I pray!
WHITMAN
M. Chauvelin. This is This is District Attorney Charles S. Whitman. Do you hear me? I have Le Marquis de St. Cyr with me. He is restoring your cart. Will you come out, sir?
ST. CYR
Are you going to let me be a martyr?
WHITMAN
Monsieur St. Cyr will receive due process. You both will!
PRINCE OF WALES
How much longer are you going to stand for this? Give him his cart and then hang the savage!
WHITMAN
I’m doing my best, Your Highness!
ST. CYR
This is a conspiracy of plebian lovers, that’s all it is!
Enter Blakeney.
BLAKENEY
Sir, if I might suggest-
WHITMAN
(Rounding on him, terrified) Who the hell are you?
BLAKENEY
(Nervous and surprised) You sent for me. I know Mr. Walker and I believe there's one man he'll listen to. M. Robspierre.
Focus switches to Robspierre, who enters, and the vigil of French women start their keening afresh.
ROBSPIERRE
For the sum of my life
I have lived in hope
We might all be Christian brothers.
FRENCH WOMEN
Day of peace
ROBSPIERRE
I have worked to persuade
Every aristo
That he need not fear the plebs
FRENCH WOMEN
Day of pride
ROBSPIERRE
What has your selfish recklessness
Cost us,
FRENCH WOMEN
Justice!
ROBSPIERRE
We who work so hard to still
The aristo’s hate
FRENCH WOMEN
Justice!
ROBSPIERRE
Look what you've done
Robspierre boldly enters the library, and focus shifts back to the people waiting anxiously outside. Through the following, the French Women are still humming eerily.
WHITMAN
You are surrounded by militia! They are cutting off your water even as I speak.
PRINCE OF WALES
Four Shakespeare folios. A Guttenberg bible on vellum. The treasure’s of civilization are at stake. You’ve got to do something!
ST. CYR
Aristocrats ought to be grateful for what I did.
MARIE
I deplore the taking of human life, nut I applaud M. Chauvelin’s capture of the Morgan library. His actions speak for all oppressed people. It is the cry of revolution.
FRENCH WOMEN
Justice!
Lights come up on the inside of the library, where Robspierre is angrily interrogating Chauvelin, who seems to hold little interest.
ROBSPIERRE
With guns and dynamite, you are destroying everything I have fought for, sir!
CHAUVELIN
Despite the respect I have for you, Monsieur Robspierre, you have come in vain.
ROBSPIERRE
Had you been ignorant of the tragic struggle of our people, I could have pitied you this adventure. But you’re a trained musician! An educated man.
CHAUVELIN
It is true, sir. But I hope that I might suggest to you the solemn calculation of my mind.
We are both men who insist on the truth of our manhood, and the respect it demands!
Lights dim on library and go up on the outside.
BLAKENEY AND THE MEN
Hours passing by and
Not a sign from Chauvelin!
Hours passing by,
The situation hopeless!
Hours passing by...Hours passing by...
WOMEN
Hours passing by and
Not a sign from Chauvelin!
Hours passing by,
The situation hopeless!
Hours passing by...Hours passing by...
Lights go up on library again. Chauvelin and his men are obviously exhausted, and Chauvelin settles into a chair, feet on the table, lighting up a cigarette, hat over his eyes.
ROBSPIERRE
You situation is hopeless. And you will be responsible for the death of these young men.
MERCIER
Don’t listen to him, Chauvelin!
COPEAU
They’re using him to get to you
BIBOT
We’re not giving up!
ROBSPIERRE
And you dare to teach your lessons
To these wild, unthinking youths.
Yet your own child, you abandon
To be raised on aristo truths.
Have you gone wild?
Think of your child!
A low blow, but one that obviously works, as he shoves his hat back up, the cigarette falls from his lips, and he sits entirely straight, eyes slightly dilated. At the corner of the stage we can see Margot humming.
MARGOT
Hmm….
ROBSPIERRE
Is this the legacy you would bestow upon her? Are these the shoulders you would have her stand upon? Let her be the daughter of a man who had the courage to tell the truth in a court of law. Make your case, and if the verdict is death, go to it proudly, knowing that you have been heard. The truth is all. If you do this, you will have the thanks and respect of every decent man and of all those children of our race whose way is hard and whose journey is long.
Think of your child….
He guiltily reflects for a moment and the lights fade on Margot. Cautiously, he allows it.
CHAUVELIN
I will need a hostage, and safe passage for my men.
ROBSPIERRE
It is done.
ARMAND
You can’t change your demands…You are betraying us! You said we would all go free, or we all would die!
CHAUVELIN
And the promise of a fair trial!
ARMAND
No!
ROBSPIERRE
I am they’re mediator, sir. Not they’re fool. (A.N.: Well…..)
CHAUVELIN
Then they will see me come out with my hands raised, and no further harm will come to any man from Armand Chauvelin, Jr.
ROBSPIERRE
God bless you, sir.
They shake hands while the men watch, astounded. Robspierre exits, leaving Chauvelin with his none too happy followers.
MERCIER
You said we’d fight to the finish!
COPEAU
Yeah, you can go out there, man. We’re not.
BIBOT
We’re ready to die as Chauvelin.
ARMAND
Push the plunger, blow it all up!
CHAUVELIN
I will not trade your precious lives for anything in this world.
MERCIER
Is your god damn Model T your justice, then?
CHAUVELIN
Is your execution yours?
We can hear Blakeney’s voice from outside the library.
BLAKENEY
M. Chauvelin? Monsieur Armand Chauvelin, Jr. It is I, sir, the hostage you demanded.
Armand blinks, surprised, and quickly unbolts the door to admit Blakeney.
BLAKENEY
Your cart is ready, M. Chauvelin. I think you will be quite satisfied.
Blakeney stares at his brother-in-law, astounded.
BLAKENEY
You!
ARMAND
Yes.
BLAKENEY
I myself require nothing from you. But don't you feel your sister deserves an explanation?
ARMAND
You may tell my sister that she will always be in my thoughts. (With difficulty) Tell her that I always respected and admired her.
CHAVUELIN
(To his men) Are you ready?
MERCIER
We're not going. You've lost, Chauvelin. We've all lost.
CHAUVELIN
I don’t believe that.
Go out and tell our story
Let it echo far and wide
Make them hear you
Make them hear you
How justice was our battle
And how justice was denied
Make them hear you
Make them hear you
And say to those who blame us
For the way we chose to fight
That sometimes there are battles
Which are more than black or white
And I could not put down my sword
When justice was my right
Make them hear you.
Go out and tell our story
To your daughters and your sons
Make them hear you
Make them hear you
And tell them, in our struggle
We were not the only ones
Make them hear you
Make them hear you
Your sword can be a sermon
Or the power of the pen
Teach every child to raise his voice
And then, my brothers, then
Will justice be demanded
By ten million righteous men
Make them hear you
When they hear you,
I'll be near you
Again.
The men embrace Chauvelin and move to the door. Blakeney follows, but is stopped by Chauvelin.
BLAKENEY
Am I not to go with them?
CHAUVELIN
Here is our hostage.
He puts Blakeney’s hat on Armand’s head, replacing him as the hostage. He closes the door behind his men, and sits down with Blakeney.
CHAUVELIN
Tell me about my daughter.
BLAKENEY
What do you want to know?
CHAUVELIN
Is she walking? Has she said any words yet? Anything you can think of.
We hear a car sputter and drive off. Silence.
CHAUVELIN
Are they going to kill me?
BLAKENEY
(Nervously) Of course not. They're decent men. I would not have come here if I did not believe that.
WHITMAN
M. Chauvelin, your men have gone. Will you come out now?
Getting up, Chauvelin straightens him impeccable black dress, shaking Blakeney’s hand.
CHAUVELIN
Thank you for the kindness to my family.
BLAKENEY
Your welcome. She’s a fine girl.
Chauvelin opens the door, stepping out into the glaring lights. We hear a volley of fire.
BLAKENEY
Noooooooo!
The scene fades to black and reopens with Jack standing in the same spot as before during the prologue.
CHORUS
Ooohh….
JACK
The era of Ragtime had run out, as if history were no more than a tune on a player piano. But we did not know that then.
ARMAND
After Armand Chauvelin’s death, Armand drove south to Mexico where he joined the great peasant revolutionist, Emiliano Zapata.
CHORUS
La la la la la la
MARIE
The signs of the coming World War were everywhere. The anarchist Emma Goldman was arrested again, of course, but this time she would be deported, as well.
CHORUS
Ooh…ooh…
ROBSPIERRE
Robspierre Tuskegee Institute became, in time, the capital of French America. When he died, flags were flown at half-mast. President and Mrs. Wilson attended his funeral.
CHORUS
La la la la la
ST. JUST
St. Just resided now in a cemetery. At last, peace and quiet.
LOUISE
The passionate and beautiful Mademoiselle Louise would lose her looks and fall into obscurity. Whee!
TONY
Lord Antony Dewhurst was hanging high above Times Square when the Archduke Franz Ferdenand was assassinated in Serajvo.
JACK
Warn the duke!
TONY
A little boy’s words suddenly rang clear to the great illusionist. It would be the one genuine mystical experience of his life. But it was too late! The world was already at war!
BLAKENEY
When the Lusitania was torpedoed by a U-boat off the Southwest coast of Ireland, twelve hundred men, women and children lost their lives, and among them, Blakeney. (A.N.: Which is really too bad. I dunno, Father gets a really bad wrap, but I, for one, really like him. No one can’t say he wasn’t a man dedicated to his family. I think he truly did love Mother. I actually like him better over Tateh. Yeah, yeah, I know…..)
MARGUERITE
Marguerite wore black for a year. At the end of that time, Percy proposed, and she accepted. She adored him.
JACK
They moved to California.
ELIZABETH
And were now a family.
JACK
They felt blessed.
MARGUERITE
Fleurette!
Enter Fleurette, who has grown large enough to play with the other children.
PERCY
He was sure it would make a wonderful movie--a dream of what this country could be.
He would be first in line to see it.
Percy embraces Marguerite, and to the side of the stage we see Margot and Chauvelin likewise.
CHAUVELIN
