At The Ballet

(album: Encore: Movie Partners Sing Broadway - 2016)

[Daisy Ridley / Bebe:]
I really need this job.

[Barbra Streisand / Sheila:]
Not more than I do. Believe me. Hi, I'm Shelia. What's your name?

[Bebe:]
Bebe. And this is Maggie.

[Sheila:]
Hi, Maggie.

[Anne Hathaway / Maggie:]
Hi.

[Sheila:]
Hi.

[Maggie:]
Gosh, there's a lot of people here.

[Sheila:]
Yeah, it's a cattle call.

[Bebe:]
But you'll get the job for sure, Maggie. You're so pretty.

[Maggie:]
Haha! Oh believe me looks are overrated. Just a different set of problems.

[Auditioner:]
Okay ladies. Line up. We'll start with you. You. Number 24.

[Sheila:]
My name is Sheila. What do you wanna know?

[Auditioner:]
Why don't you tell me why you're in this business?

[Sheila:]
I wanted to be a ballet dancer. What else? The light, by the way, is a very funny color. Do you have anything softer?

[Auditioner:]
Don't-don't worry about the lights.

[Sheila:]
It's very harsh.

[Auditioner:]
So tell me, do you always come on like this?

[Sheila:]
No. Sometimes I'm aggressive.

[Auditioner:]
Just-just bring it down.

[Sheila:]
Bring what down?

[Auditioner:]
Your attitude, miss.

[Sheila:]
It's Sheila.

[Auditioner:]
Okay, Sheila. Why don't you tell me about your parents.

[Sheila:]
My parents?

[Auditioner:]
Yeah.

[Sheila:]
Well, my mother was a ballerina until my father made her quit.

[Auditioner:]
Really?

[Sheila:]
Really.

[Auditioner:]
Tell me more.

[Sheila:]
Tell you more?

Daddy always thought that he married beneath him
That's what he said, that's what he said
When he proposed he informed my mother
He was probably her very last chance

And though she was twenty-two
Though she was twenty-two
Though she was twenty-two
She married him

Life with my dad wasn't ever a picnic
More like a "come as you are."
When I was five I remember my mother
Dug earrings out of the car
I knew they weren't hers, but it wasn't
Something you'd want to discuss

He wasn't warm
Well, not to her
Well, not to us
Come to think of it

But
Everything was beautiful at the ballet
Graceful men lift lovely girls in white
Yes
Everything was beautiful at ballet
Hey!
I was happy at the ballet

That's when I started class

[Together:]
Up a steep and very narrow stairway
To the voice like a metronome
Up a steep and very narrow stairway

[Sheila:]
It wasn't paradise

[Bebe:]
It wasn't paradise

[Maggie:]
It wasn't paradise

[Together:]
But it was home

[Auditioner:]
Okay Number Eighteen.

[Bebe:]
I'm BB, sir.

[Auditioner:]
And what's your story?

[Bebe:]
I don't know what you mean.

[Auditioner:]
Okay. On the subject of mothers what about yours?

[Bebe:]
My mother?

[Auditioner:]
Yes, yours.

[Bebe:]
She lied to me.

[Auditioner:]
She lied to you?

[Bebe:]
Mother always said I'd be very attractive
When I grew up, when I grew up
"Diff'rent," she said, "With a special something
And a very, very personal flair."

And though I was eight or nine
Though I was eight or nine
Though I was eight or nine
I hated her

Now
"Diff'rent" is nice, but it sure isn't pretty
"Pretty" is what it's about
I never met anyone who was "diff'rent"
Who couldn't figure that out

So beautiful I'd never live to see
But it was clear

If not to her
Well then to me

[Together:]
That everyone is beautiful at the ballet
Every prince has got to have his swan

[Sheila:]
Yes

[Together:]
Everyone is beautiful at the ballet

Hey!

[Bebe:]
I was pretty

At the ballet

[Together:]
Up a steep and very narrow stairway
To the voice like a metronome
Up a steep and very narrow stairway

[Bebe:]
It wasn't paradise

[Sheila:]
It wasn't paradise

[Maggie:]
It wasn't paradise

[Together:]
But it was home

[Auditioner:]
Alright, Number Six.

[Maggie:]
Number Six that's me, Maggie. Can I tell you about my parents?
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."

But it was clear

When he proposed

That I was born to help their marriage and when

[Sheila:]
That's what he said

[Bebe:]
That's what she said

[Maggie:]
I used to dance around the living room

[Sheila:]
He wasn't warm

[Bebe:]
Not to her

("Do-do-doo's")

[Maggie:]
It was an Indian chief and he'd say
"Maggie, do you wanna dance?"
And I said, "Daddy, I would love to"

[Sheila:]
Everything was beautiful at the ballet
Raise your arms and someone's always there
Everything was beautiful at the ballet

[Bebe:]
At the ballet

[Together:]
At the ballet!

Yes everything was beautiful at the ballet

Hey!

[Bebe:]
I was pretty

[Sheila:]
I was happy

[Maggie:]
"I would love to."

[Together:]
At the ballet

[Sheila:]
God, I hope I get this job.

[Maggie:]
Yeah? Me, too.

[Bebe:]
What about me?

[Auditioner:]
Okay ladies. We will let you know. Next.