And [ Top ] (Special thanks to Marco for this one)
RICHIE
And What if I’m next?
What if I’m next?
What am I gonna do
I haven't got a clue
I gotta think of something
What does he want
What does he want
Stories from the past
I better find one fast
DON, MAGGIE, GREG, BEBE, RICHIE, VAL, PAUL
What should I say What can I tell him
BOBBY As I got older I kept getting stranger and stranger, I to go down to this Busy intersection near my house rush hour and direct traffic. I just wanted To see if anybody'd notice me. That's when I started breaking people's houses -- oh, I didn't steal anything --just re-arrange their furniture. And
VAL
And Orphan at three
Orphan at three
Mother and dad both gone
Raised by a sweet ex-con
Tied up and raped at seven
Seriously Seriously
Nothing too obscene
I'd better keep it clean
DON, CONNIE, MIKE, SHEILA, RICHIE, VAL, DIANA
What should I say? What can I tell him?
BOBBY You wanna hear about school? I went to P.S. Shit. See, I was the kind of kid that was always getting slammed into lockers and stuff like that. Not only by students -- by the teachers too. Oh and I hated sports, hated sports. And sports were very big. I mean, it was jock city, but I didn't make one team. See I couldn't catch a ball if it had elmer's glue on it. And didn't my father have to be this big ex-football hero, he was so humiliated, he didn't know what to tell his friends. So he told 'em all I had polio. On father's day I'd to limp for him, and
JUDY
And God, I’m a wreck
God, I’m a wreck
I don't know where to start
I'm gonna fall apart
Where are my childhood memories?
Who were the boys
What were my toys
Gone beyond recall!
And why am I so tall
What should I say
VAL, RICHIE, MAGGIE, CONNIE, JUDY, DIANA
What can I tell him?
JUDY
And
CONNIE
And
RICHIE
And
VAL
And
BOBBY (out of pantomime) And mother kept saying: "If you don't stop burning brother's toys, we're going to have to send you away." And I was always thinking up these spectacular ways how to kill myself. But then I realized -- to commit suicide in buffalo is redundant!
When he proposed he informed my mother He was probably her very last chance.
And though she was twenty-two, Though she was twenty-two,
Though she was twenty-two... She married him.
Life with my dad wasn't ever a picnic More like a "Come as you are."
When I was five I remember my mother Dug earrings out of the car
I knew they weren't hers But it wasn't something you'd wanna discuss
He wasn't warm, well, not to her ... well, not to us
But ev'rything was beautiful at the ballet. Graceful men lift lovely girls in white. Yes, ev'rything was beautiful at ballet, Hey! I was happy at the ballet.
That's why I started ballet class
SHEILA & BEBE
Up a steep and very narrow stairway To the voice like a metronome
Up a steep and very narrow stairway It wasn't paradise, it wasn't paradise,
It wasn't paradise, but it was home.
BEBE
Mother always said I'd be very attractive
When I grew up, when I grew up
"Diff'rent," she said, "With a special something
And a very, very personal flair."
And though I was eight or nine, Though I was eight or nine,
Though I was eight or nine, I hated her.
Now, "diff'rent" is nice, but it sure isn't pretty. "Pretty" is what it's about.
I never met anyone who was "diff'rent" Who couldn't figure that out.
So beautiful I'd never lived to see.
But it was clear, if not to her, Well then to me!
BEBE & MAGGIE
That ev'ryone is beautiful at the ballet. Ev'ry prince has got to have his swan. Yes, ev'ryone is beautiful at the ballet, Hey! I was pretty
SHEILA
At the ballet
SHEILA BEBE & MAGGIE
Up a steep and very narrow stairway To the voice like a metronome
Up a steep and very narrow stairway It wasn't paradise, it wasn't paradise,
It wasn't paradise, but it was home.
MAGGIE
I don't know what they were for or against, really! Except each other!
I mean, I was born to save their marriage
But when my father came to pick My mother up at the hospital
He said: "Well, I thought this was going to help But I guess it's not."
Anyway, I did have a fantastic fantasy life I used to dance around the living room With my arms up like this My fantasy was that it was an Indian chief And he'd say to me, "Maggie, do you wanna dance? And I'd say, "Daddy, I would love to dance!"
SHEILA, BEBE & MAGGIE
Doo-doo-doo-doo-doo-doo Doo-doo-doo-doo-doo-doo
But it was clear when he proposed
That I was born to help their marriage and when
That's what he said, That's what she said,
I used to dance around the living room
He wasn't warm, not to her
MAGGIE
It was an Indian chief and he said
"Maggie, do you wanna dance?" And I said, "Daddy, I would love to." Ev'rything was beautiful at the ballet. Raise your arms and someone's always there
Yes, ev'rything was beautiful at the ballet At the ballet... At the ballet...
*This is the "Montage" as it appears in most music books. This is only the first verse of the song "Hello Twelve, Hello Thirteen, Hello Love" that is on the CD.For the full Montage, which is a twenty minute song in A Chorus Line that can not be found in full on any recording, click here.
ALL
Hello, Twelve Hello, Thirteen Hello, Love
Changes, Oh! Down below, up above.
Time to doubt To break out It's a mess. (It's a mess.)
Time to grow, time to go Adolesce (Adolesce.)
Too young to take over Too old to ignore
Gee, I'm almost ready But what for?
There's a lot I am not certain of
Hello, Twelve Hello, Thirteen Hello, Love
Goodbye, Twelve Goodbye, Thirteen Goodbye, Love
All down below up above
Time to grow, time to go La la la
Goodbye, Twelve Goodbye, Thirteen Hello, Love
There's a lot I am not certain of Hello, Twelve Hello, Thirteen Hello, Love Goodbye, Twelve Goodbye, Thirteen Goodbye, Fourteen Goodbye, Fifteen Goodbye, Sixteen Goodbye, Seventeen Hello, love...
Don't do it! Don't do it! And now life really begins... Don't do it! Don't do it! And now life really begins...
*The song nothing is part of the "Montage" this is Nothing as it appears on the CD. For the for the full Montage, click here.
DIANA
I'm so excited because I'm gonna go to the High School of Performing Arts, I mean I was dying to be a serious actress. Anyway, it's our first day acting class and we're in the auditorium and the teacher, Mr. Karp, puts us upon the stage with our legs around everybody, one in back of the other, and he says: "Okay, we're gonna do improvisations...Now, you're on a bobsled and it's snowing out and it's cold... Okay, go!"
Ev'ryday for a week we would try to feel the motion,
Feel the motion down the hill.
Ev'ry day for a week we would try to hear the wind rush
Hear the wind rush, feel the chill
And I dug right down to the bottom of my soul To see what I had inside.
Yes, I dug right down to the bottom of my soul And I tried, I tried!
And everybody goin' "Woosh... woosh ... I feel the snow, I feel the cold,
I feel the air..." And Mr. Karp turns to me and he says: "Okay, Morales, what did you feel?"
And I said... "Nothing, I'm feeling nothing,"
And he says "Nothing could get a girl transferred."
They all felt something, but I felt nothing
Except the feelin' that this bullshit was absurd!
But I said to myself, "Hey, it's only the first week. Maybe it's genetic, They don't have bobsleds in San Juan!"
Second week, more advanced, And we had to be a table, Be a sportscar, Ice-cream cone.
Mister Karp, he would say, "Very good, except Morales.
Try, Morales, all alone."
And I dug right down to the bottom of my soul To see how an ice cream felt... Yes, I dug right down to the bottom of my soul And I tried to melt!
The kids yelled, "Nothing!" They called me "Nothing"
And Karp allowed it, which really makes me burn.
They were so helpful, they called me "Hopeless",
Until I really didn't know where else to turn.
And Karp kept saying, "Morales, I think you should transfer to Girl's High, You'll never be an actress, Never!" Jesus Christ!
Went to church, praying, Santa Maria, Send me guidance,
Send me guidance on my knees.
Went to church praying, Santa Maria, Help me feel it,
Help me feel it pretty please.
And a voice from down at the bottom of my soul
Came up to the top of my head
And a voice from down at the bottom of my soul, Here is what it said:
This man is nothing! This course is nothing!
If you want something go find another class.
And when you find one You'll be an actress.
And I assure you that's what fin'lly came to pass.
Six months later I heard that Karp had died.
And I dug right down to the bottom of my soul And cried...
...But after a while I caught on...I mean, I saw what they were hiring! I also swiped my dance card once after an audition, and on a scale of one to ten, they gave me for dance: TEN, for looks : THREE! Why?
Dance Ten, Looks Three And I'm still on unemployment,
Dancing for my own enjoyment. That ain't it, kid! That ain't it, kid!
Dance Ten, Looks Three Is like to die!
Left the the'ter and called the doctor For my appointment to buy...
Tits and ass Bought myself a fancy pair Tightened up the derriere
Did the nose with it All that goes with it
Tits and ass! Had the bingo-bongos done.
Suddenly I'm getting Nash'nal tours!
Tits and ass won't get you jobs, Unless they're yours!
Didn't cost a fortune neither. Didn't hurt my sex life either!
Flat and sassy I would get the strays and losers,
Beggars really can't be choosers. That ain't it, kid! That ain't it, kid!
Fix the chassis, "How do you do!"
Life turned into an endless medley of "Gee, it had to be you."Why?
Tits and ass Where the cupboard once was bare
Now you knock and someone's there
You have got 'em, hey! Top to bottom, hey!
It's a gas! Just a dash of silicone. Shake your new maracas and your fine!
Tits and ass can change your life, They sure changed mine!
Have it all done! Honey, take my word. Grab a cab, c'mon
See the wizard on Park and Seventy-Third
For tits and ass. Orchestra and balcony. What they want is what cha see. Keep the best of you, Do all the rest of you.
Pits or class, I have never seen it fail, Debutante or chorus girl or wife.
Tits and ass, yes, tits and ass Have changed my life!
The Tap Combination [ Top ](Special thanks to Marco for this one)
LARRY (To the GROUP)
Okay, the tap combination, A five, six, seven, eight ...
SHEILA
God, when it's over do I need a drink!
MIKE
He's got to know what he wants by now.
BEBE}
Oh Jesus, have I got a headache.
MAGGIE
I'm not sure if I can smile much longer.
JUDY
I should have been a singer "AAAAHH! " well.
BOBBY
If George Hamilton can be a movie star then I could be a movie star
ALAN
What am I doing in show business?
LARRY
Okay, everybody stage right, please. I'm going to put you into couples now according to size. Let me see, I'll start with the tall people ... Ah ... Okay, give me Don, Judy, Bobby and Kristine. Oh no, girls work on the other side of the boys, Sheila and Bebe, standby. Boys work upstage a bit, A five, six, seven, eight ...