At the Ballet

I really need this job
Not more than I do, believe me
Hi, I'm Sheila
What's your name?
Phoebe, and this is Maggie
Hi, Maggie
Hi, hi
Gosh, there's a lot of people here
Yeah, it's a cattle call
But you'll get the job for sure, Maggie, you're so pretty
Believe me, looks are overrated
It's just a different set of problems

Okay, ladies, line up
We'll start with you
You, number 24
My name is Sheila, what do you wanna know?
Why don't you tell me why you're in this business?
I wanted to be a ballet dancer, what else?
The light, by the way, is a very funny color
Do you have anything softer?
Don't worry about the light
It's very harsh

So tell me
What?
Do you always come on like this?
No, sometimes I'm aggressive
Will you just, just bring it down?
Bring what down?
Your attitude, miss
It's Sheila
Okay, Sheila, why don't you tell me about your parents?
My parents?
Yeah
Well, my mother was a ballerina until my father made her quit
Really?
Really
Tell me more
Tell you more?
Mm-hmm

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 the ballet
I was happy
At the ballet

And that's when I started class

Up the 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

Okay, number 18
I'm Bebe, sir
And what's your story?
I don't know what you mean
Okay, on the subject of mothers, what about yours?
My mother?
Yes, yours
She lied to me
She lied to you?

Mother always said I'd be very attractive
When I grew up, when I grew up
"Different," 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, "different" is nice, but it sure isn't pretty
"Pretty" is what it's about
I never met anyone who was "different"
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

That everyone is beautiful at the ballet
Every prince has got to have his swan
Yes, everyone is beautiful at the ballet
I was pretty
At the ballet

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

All right, number 6
Number 6? That's me, Maggie
Can I tell you about my parents?
Go ahead

Ah, 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
"I thought this was going to help, but I guess 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, 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
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
It was an Indian chief and he said
"Maggie, do you want to dance?"
And I said, "Daddy, I would love to"

Everything was beautiful at the ballet
Raise your arms and someone's always there
Everything was beautiful at the ballet
At the ballet
At the ballet

Yes, everything was beautiful at the ballet
Hey
I was pretty
I was happy
"I would love to"
At the ballet