~*~Song List~*~
1. Overture
2. Not Since Chaplin
3. Guido's Song (All that I Want)
4. My Husband Makes Movies
5. A Call From the Vatican
6. Only With You
7. The Script
8. Folies Bergère
9. Nine
10. Ti Voglio Bene/Be Italian
11. The Bells of St. Sebastian
12. A Man Like You/Unusual Way
13. Contini Submits
14. The Grand Canal
15. Amor
16. Only You
17. Every Girl in Venice
18. Simple
19. Be On Your Own
20. Getting Tall
21. I Can't Make This Movie
22. Reprises~*~*~*~*~
[Note: Since I don't know Italian or French very well, I've been unable to transcribe lines in those languages except for a few bits, which I've attempted to translate. I've mainly guessed at the meaning of the Italian phrases, and if I've gotten them wrong, please don't hesitate to correct me!
And many many thanks to Benoît Racine of Toronto for help with the French!
--RoZ]
~*~*~*~*~
~*~The Lyrics~*~ACT I
(Dimly lit stage. A small boy appears briefly, then scurries away. Guido Contini, a handsome, trimly built man of 40, sits at a table in deep concentration. His wife Luisa, an attractive, simply dressed woman, stands off talking to him, but he does not seem to hear her.)
Luisa: (speaking) It was a teacher of mine from school, a priest. I haven't seen him in years. Anyway, he was amazed to hear that I was married to you. He said, "What's it like being married to Guido Contini?" Guido, are you listening to me?....Guido, I have to tell you this is just not my idea of a successful marriage.
Guido: What?
Luisa: You told me we are going to spend the evening talking, I don't think you heard one word I said all night.
Guido: Luisa, that is not true. I 've heard everything you have said. Everything!
Luisa: What I miss most, I think, is honesty.
Guido: Luisa, darling, believe me, I think you are the most honest woman I've ever met.
Luisa: Thank you. Guido, how would you like a divorce?
Guido: What?
Luisa: Because if you don't change your ways I am going to leave you.
Guido: Luisa, this is not a good moment in my life.
Luisa: Nor in mine.
Guido: No no no. See, it happens that I have at this moment a great many things on my mind.
Luisa: I can imagine!
Guido: Luisa, listen, I've got an idea. What if we go away together, someplace quiet, where I can clear my mind and live like a monk.
Sound file--"What?"
Sound file--"Nonono"
1. Overture(A bevy of beautiful women appears on a spiral staircase, singing wordlessly and seductively. Guido seems transfixed.)
2. Not Since Chaplin
[Spoken dialogue]
Our Lady of the Spa: Here in Venice, at Fontana di Luna, Europe’s most exclusive spa, regeneration awaits you!
Guido: A spa! that’s where we’ll go--Fontana di Luna!
Our Lady of the Spa: At Fontana di Luna, there are waters fed by springs coming from somewhere deep, deep down, springs of purity and health, springs renowned for amazing restorative powers....
Luisa: It looks a bit like a convent school I once attended.
Guido: Looks like my old parochial school.
Reporter: Guarda, it’s Guido Contini!
Guido: OH MY GOD!!! Reporters!!!
Sound file--"Oh my God!!!"
Reporters: Guido Contini is here at the spa!!!
[Singing]
Reporters and spa visitors:
Not since Charlie Chaplin has there ever been
A film director like this--Guido Contini!
Everything he does gets world attention
Whether it’s a hit or a miss--Guido Contini!
Guido: (speaking) This is not what I wanted! (to Luisa) There’s something I forgot to tell you....
Reporters: What are you doing here, Guido? Is it true that your next project is in trouble? We understand that your producer is suing you for breach of contract!
Guido: Please, one at a time! No one is suing me, and what makes anyone think my next project is in trouble??? It’s gonna be wonderful! Win a lot of prizes!
Reporters and spa visitors: (singing)
He writes the Script!
He writes the score!
He’s the director!
And even more
He’s a consummate actor!
Guido: Thank you, that’s very kind of you....
Reporters and spa visitors:
No task too big!
No task too small
He sketches costumes!
Ant that’s not all
He writes the subtitles!!
[Spoken dialogue]
Luisa: What next project??
Guido: I was going to tell you this evening....
Reporter: So what is your new film about, Guido?
Guido: I do not discuss a script until I have finished writing it.
Reporter: Your producer claims you haven’t even started it.
Guido: That’s ridiculous, where is she now?
Reporters: In Paris, trying to find you! Does your wife know you’re traveling with this woman?
Guido: This IS my wife!
(Carla, a slinky blonde in a skimpy beaded dress, heavy makeup and high heels, carrying a valise, waves to Guido)
Carla: Guido, woohoo!!!
Guido: Carla??
Carla: (squeals)
Guido: Carla, oh my God, what are you doing here in Venice???
Carla: I had to see you right away! I am staying at the Albergo Caldo, numero cinque-cinque.....
Guido: Cinque-cinque....
Carla: I have to see you right away! I have the most wonderful news to tell you! I’ll be waiting! (squeal)
Luisa: Guido, was that Carla?
Guido: Carla? No no no, my love, that’s all over with....
(Claudia, a beautiful and mysterious young woman, appears on the catwalk above.)
Claudia: Guido...
Guido: Claudia, I’ve been trying to reach you! I need you for my film!
Hotel clerk: Signor Contini, telephone! Line 7--it’s from Paris.
Guido: Claudia?
Liliane's voice: No, Liliane le Fleur, your producer! Remember me?
Guido: Oh yes.
Liliane: I’ve been trying to reach you. I still have not seen the script, and what are you doing in Venice?
Guido: Ahhh...scouting locations!
Liliane: I see. This must mean the film is being shot in Venice. Thanks for telling me. I’ll see you tomorrow.
Guido: (sarcastically) Wonderful! She’s coming here--now what do I do?? I’ll go to Paris....
Clerk: Signor Contini, telephone! Line 5. It’s the Hollywood reporter.
Guido: Oh!!! Luisa, please help me! If you don’t mind, no more questions! I’ll hold a press conference tomorrow.
Sound file--"This IS my wife!"
~*~*~*~*~
3. Guido's Song (All That I Want)
Guido:
I would like to be here
I would like to be there
I would like to be everywhere at once
although I know that's a contradiction in terms
and it's a problem
especially when my body is clearing 40
and my mind is nearing 10....
I can hardly stay up
and I can't get to sleep
and I want to wake up tomorrow morning
at the bottom of some heap
but why take it so seriously?
after all there is nothing at stake here, only me....
I want to be young
and I want to be old
I would like to be wise before my time
and yet be foolish and brash and bold
I would like the universe to get down on its knees
and say, "Guido, whatever you please,
it's ok, even if it's impossible,
we'll arrange it!"
that's all that I want!
I am lusting for more,
should I settle for less?
I ask you, what's a good thing for
if not for taking it to excess?
One limitation I dearly regret
that there's only one of me
I've never met!
I would like to have another me
to travel along with myself
I would even like to be able
to sing a duet with myself!
I would like to be here
(Sing along with myself in a song)
To be there
(Walking down a lane now, everywhere)
Everywhere
(Everywhere. That’s a contradiction in terms.)
I’d like to be here.
(With a counter--)
Here (Melody in the)
Here (top of the morning to you, Guido)
Guido (Guido)
Guido (Guido)
Guido (Me)
Me (Me)!!!
I want to be Proust or the Marquis de Sade
I would like to be Christ, Muhammed, Buddha
but not have to believe in God
and you know I mean it with all of my heart....
It's the end if something important doesn't start,
I want to be young
but I have to be old!
What I want is a tale of sound and fury
that some idiot went and told
I would like the universe to get down on its knees
and say, "Guido, whatever you please,
it's ok, even if it's ridiculous,
we'll arrange it!"
So arrange it!!!!
That's all that I want!!!
You see what I mean?
ALL:
Arrange it!
Guido:
That’s all that I want!
ALL:
Contini, Contini, Contini, Contini!
Contini, Contini, Contini, Contini!
Guido:
Guido!
~*~*~*~*~
4. My Husband Makes Movies
(A female reporter is interviewing Luisa)
Luisa:
My husband makes movies
to make them, he lives a kind of dream
in which his actions aren't always what they seem
he may be onto some unique romantic theme....
Some men catch fish
some men tie flies
some earn their living baking bread
My husband, he goes a little crazy
making movies instead.
My husband spins fantasies, he lives them
then gives them to you all
when he was working on the film on ancient Rome
he made the slave girls take the gladiators home!
Some men buy stocks
some men punch clocks
some leap where others fear to tread....
my husband as author and director
makes up stories in his head.....
(to herself)
Guido Contini, Luisa Contini
Number one genius and number one fan,
Guido Contini, Luisa Contini
Daughter of well to do Florentine man.
Long ago, 20 years ago,
once the names were
Guido Contini, Luisa del Forno,
Actress with dreams and a life of her own
passionate, wild, and in love in Livorno
singing with Guido all night on the phone
long ago, someone else ago!
How he needs me so
and he'll be the last to know it.....
(to reporters)
My husband makes movies
to make them he makes himself obsessed
he works for weeks on end without a bit of rest
no other way can he achieve his level best.
Some men read books
some shine their shoes
some retire early when they've seen the evening news;
My husband only rarely comes to bed
My husband makes movies instead.
My husband makes movies....
Reporter: Thank you, Mrs. Contini.
~*~*~*~*~
5. A Call From The Vatican
Guido: (speaking) Pronto.
Maid: Signor Contini, telephone.
(Carla appears from above wearing only a bath towel, phone receiver in hand)
Carla:
(singing) Guido.....
I was lazing around my bedroom
When an idea occurred to me.
I thought you might be wondering about, Guido...
Who’s not wearing any clothes? I’m not!
My darling.
Who’s afraid to kiss your toes? I’m not!
Your mamma dear is blowing into your ear,
So you’ll get it loud and clear,
I need you to squeeze me here...
And here...
And here......
Luisa: (speaking) Something wrong?
Guido: I-I’m not sure. It’s about my film. It’s from the...Vatican. (into the phone) Go ahead--Monsignor.
Carla:
Cootchie, cootchie, cootchie, coo,
I’ve got a plan for what I’m gonna do to you.
So hot you’re gonna steam and scream
And vibrate like a string I’m plucking--
Kiss your fevered little brow,
Pinch your cheeks till you say “Ow!”
And I can hardly wait to show you how,
Guido.
Who won’t care if you come to me tired and overworked?
I won’t! Bambino.
Who knows a therapy to beat what you can get from me?
I don’t!
But this will have to be enough for now, Guido.
Ciao!
I love you, Guido!
Sound file--"It's from the...Vatican"
~*~*~*~*~
6. Only With You
Guido:
Being just me is so easy to be
when I’m only with you...
Open inside and with nothing to hide
from your view.
Seems long ago I was destined to know,
And the moment I saw you I knew.
I could be totally happy
with no one but you.
Passionate night after passionate night
I give over to you.
Utterly changed,
I’m at each prearranged rendezvous.
Lured by the fire of your endless desire,
I still wonder the way that it grew.
Never elusive, it comes from exclusively you.
Finding a special person we can love is so rare--
How in the world can there be two:
Claudia:
Guido..!
Guido:
Send me a love that will mend me with love,
I am desperate for you.
Giving you chase like some goddess of grace
I pursue.
Blinded by need, I will follow you lead--
Monkey see, monkey say, monkey do.
Taken for granted,
completely enchanted by you.
Small wonder it seems
that my life’s made of dreams
And of wishes that never come true.
I wouldn’t be lonely
if I could be only with you.
(to Carla)
…And you
(to Luisa)
…And you...
Sound file--gentle laugh
~*~*~*~*~
7. The Script
(Liliane le Fleur appears with Guido, a wiry and energetic woman in her sixties with dyed black hair, chicly dressed in a dark grey cloaked outfit with a fuchsia silk scarf)
Liliane: (speaking) Now if you can just tell me what your new film is about, maybe I can help you with its plot...which has always been one of your weakest points.
Guido: Right. Thank you. That’s very generous. Let me see, what do I see? At first...thing....music. (music plays)
Guido: (singing)
The action begins in a graveyard.
A man has been buried alive.
He’s scratching and clawing.
Poor fellow, he’s caught in a terrible crunch!
He’s fighting his way to the surface.
It’s likely he’ll never survive.
He hardly can breathe,
And he’s desperate to keep
an appointment for lunch.
Liliane: (speaking) An appointment for lunch? That’s absurd!
Guido: It’s humorous.
Liliane: It sounds depressing.
Guido: It does?
(singing)
In fact we begin with a wedding,
A prologue to what I’ve described.
We’re happy and gay and in love,
And it’s spring and the trees are all green.
A trio of capuchin monkeys insinuates into the frame.
They chatter a bit and then one disappears.
But the others remain...
Have I mentioned the train?
Liliane: (speaking) The train??
Guido: Of course. There are trains in all Contini films. It’s my...signature!
(singing) With a bold clean masterstroke,
A bold clean masterstroke,
Suddenly, suddenly, suddenly, suddenly,
Suddenly we see fire and smoke.
With a bold clean masterstroke,
A bold clean masterstroke,
Suddenly, suddenly, suddenly, suddenly,
Suddenly there’s a train!
With a bold clean masterstroke,
A bold clean masterstroke,
Suddenly, suddenly, suddenly, suddenly,
Suddenly one colossal joke!
And the monkeys all get on,
The monkeys all get on,
Suddenly, suddenly, suddenly, suddenly
Suddenly they’re all gone! Ciao!
Liliane: (speaking) Contini--this is not what I want! There are no trains in a spa. There are no monkeys in a spa! And where is the singing, where is the dancing?
Guido: What singing, what dancing??
Liliane: When we had lunch in Paris, you told me you could not wait to do a musical!
Guido: A musical??
Liliane: Why do you think I gave you this contract?
Guido: WHAT was I drinking at that lunch??!
Liliane (stream of French) Madonna, madonna!
~*~*~*~*~
8. Folies Bergère
Liliane La Fleur:
Le cinema today is in a crisis.
Directors are so existentialistes.
The movies are not worth their entrance prices.
If no one sings a love song when he’s kissed.
Love cannot be love without “le singing.”
A string, a clarinet, a saxophone.
Take a lesson from this old Parisienne
And the finest entertainment she has known.
Folies Bergère
What a showing of color, costume, and dancing!
Not a moment in life could be more entrancing
Than an evening you spend aux Folies Bergère.
Folies Bergère
Not a soul in the world could be in despair
When he is glancing
At the fabulous stage of Folies Bergère.
Think of the footlights bright and gleaming.
Le striptease, le can-can we all adore.
Life is too short without dreaming,
And dreams are what le cinema is for.
Folies Bergère!
La musique et la danse, le son, la lumière!
Les jolis p'tits seins des belles bouquetières
Sur la passerelle des Folies Bergère.
Pas de mystère...
Le spectacle est tout à fait découvert.
Et pas trop cher!
Viens ce soir avec moi
Aux Folies Bergère!
Stephanie Necrophorus:
The trouble with Contini, he’s the king of mediocrities,
A second-rate director who believes that he is Socrates.
He never makes a “movie” or “picture or a “flick”
He makes a “film”--get it--a “film.”
A typical Italian with his auto-nonbiography
A mixture of Catholicism, pasta and pornography,
A superficial, womanizing, moderately charming Latin fraud.
Guido:
Grazie!
Necrophorus:
Prego!
La Fleur:
Darlings!
Folies Bergère-
La musique et la danse, le son, la lumiére!
Les jolis p'tits seins des belles bouquetières
Sur la passerelle des Folies Bergère.
Pas de mystère...
Et pas trop cher!
Le spectacle est tout à fait découvert.
Both:
Viens ce soir avec moi
Aux Folies Bergère!
ALL:
Folies Bergère-
The music, the lights and the laughter.
The answer to what you are after
Each night at the Folies Bergère
Folies Bergère--
La Fleur:
To you modern ideas I simply compare one derriére!
All:
At the Folies Bergère!
The answer to what you are after,
The music, the lights, and the laughter
Of the Folies Bergère!
Necrophorous:
The trouble with Contini,
he’s the king of mediocrities.
A second-rate director
who believes that he is Socrates.
He never makes a “movie”
or a “picture” or a “flick,”
He makes a “film”-get it?-A film.
A typical Italian
with his auto-nonbiography,
A mixture of Catholicism,
pasta and pornography,
A superficial, womanizing,
moderately charming Latin fraud
.
And what are his movies about?
Just beauty, truth, death,
youth, love, life, anguish, angst.
Thanks to him we have boredom at the movies!
~*~*~*~*~
9. Nine
(The spirit of Guido's mother, a comely middle-aged woman, appears from the stairway, holding Little Guido, aged nine, in her lap, drying him with a towel.)
Guido’s mother:
Guido...
Caro mio..
Time to come out of your bath,
Wrap you up in a mother’s love,
Take a towel and dry your little head.
Time to come out in the air,
Sleepy pup in your mother’s arms.
Plant a kiss on your lips and put you to bed.
Nine, Guido!
Happy birthday to you.
Nine, Guido,
So much to do!
Time to start out on you own.
Open up to a brand new world.
Time to leave early dreams and live them instead.
Nine, Guido
Nine months of the year to make you appear.
Ninth in a family of nine.
Ninth grandchild
Ninth son-
Ninth…but number one.
Guido’s mother & aunts:
Time to come out of your egg,
Crack it open and show your face.
Guido’s mother:
Don’t conceal what you feel,
Mother and Aunts:
Let it shine....
Mother:
That you’d like to always be nine.
~*~*~*~*~
10. Ti Voglio Bene (Be Italian)
(Saraghina, a handsome, amply built woman of about 30, in a low-cut and rather sleazy dress, appears to Little Guido and big Guido together.)
Saraghina: (speaking) So, you little Italian devil, you want to know about love? Listen to Saraghina, she will tell you!
(singing) You never say “I love you, it’s too English.
Don’t be like the Inglesi,
Little Guido:(not the Inglesi)
Saraghina:And never say “je t’aime.”
It's too pretty
It’s good for the Francesi
Little Guido: (for the Francesi)
Saraghina:In Dutch they say “ick liebe”
They can keep it
With all the Hollandesi
Little Guido:
(The Hollandesi)
Saraghina:But now I teach you three words,
you will learn them
And drive women crazy.
“Ti voglio bene” you will say.
It means “I want you every day”-
“Ti voglio bene.”
Little Guido: (Ti voglio bene)
Saraghina:“Ti voglio bene” you will learn
means
Every night for you I burn-
“Ti voglio bene”
Little Guido: (Ti voglio bene)
Saraghina:Now when you grow to be a man,
You follow Saraghina’s plan;
“Ti voglio bene” Little Guido:(Ti voglio bene)
Saraghina:Remember how I taught you first
These words of love that we rehearsed
“Ti voglio bene.” Little Guido:(Ti voglio bene)
Saraghina:
But love is more than speaking
When your speaking is all through-
Come here a little closer,
I will tell you what to do....
(speaking) You close your eyes, and if you want to make a woman happy, you will rely on what you were born with--because it is in your blood!
(singing) Be Italian, be Italian.
Take a chance and try to steal a fiery kiss.
Be Italian, you rapscallion
When you hold me, don’t just hold me
But hold this!
Please be gentle, sentimental,
Go ahead and try to give my cheek a pat.
But be daring and uncaring,
When you pinch me,
try to pinch me where
there’s fat!
Be a singer! (Be a singer)
Be a lover! (Be a lover)
Pick the flower now before the chance is past;
(before the chance is past)
Be Italian. (be Italian)
You rapscallion! (you rapscallion)
Live today as if it may become your last!
Be a singer! (be a singer)
Be a lover! (be a lover)
Pick the flower now before the chance is past
(Ahhhhhh)
Be Italian. (Be Italian)
You rapscallion (you rapscallion)
Live today as if it may become your last!
~*~*~*~*~
11. The Bells of St. Sebastian
Mamma Contini: (speaking) I still don’t know how it happened. Nine years old, and my son goes to see a woman like that! Father Manfredi told me lots of the boys from St. Sebastian went to see her. Father Manfredi said she was a devil!
Little Guido: I didn’t know, I didn’t know!
Guido: (singing)
I remember St. Sebastian with a memory most unkind.
I can hear the bell I heard when I went there
Inside the church, inside my mind.
The bells of St. Sebastian only ring once in you ears,
But if you’re very young when you hear them,
Their sound can last a hundred years.
ALL:
But the music of the ringing
Was the music of our singing
When we were singing Kyrie Eleison
Kyrie Eleison, Kyrie Eleison....
GUIDO (echoed by all):
Each day at lauds. (each day at lauds)
Each night at vespers. (each night at vespers)
From every tower the hour would be tolled.
For those of us at St. Sebastian,
No longer young and not yet old.
Each day at St. Sebastian
In the classroom we would hear
That devils lurked behind every corner,
If you tried to look, they would disappear.
The nuns of St. Sebastian
Tried to teach the facts of life.
Explaining there are two kinds of women-
One was a whore, one was a wife.
ALL:
But the music of the ringing
Was a different world that opened through our singing.
When we were singing Kyrie Eleison,
Kyrie Eleison, Kyrie Eleison....
Mamma Contini: (speaking) But why did you go to this woman?
Little Guido: To see what she was like!
GUIDO (echoed by all):
They ring at dawn (they ring at dawn)
They ring at midnight (they ring at midnight)
In tones well-rounded they sounded down to the nave.
For all the souls of the little boys
at St. Sebastian too young to save.
ALL:
Kyrie Eleison, Eleison, Christe Eleison, Eleison
For lunch at St. Sebastian,
country cheese and buttered bread.
GUIDO:
A prayer we never learned sung in Latin,
Then a midday nap in a makeshift bed.
ALL:
The music of the ringing,
Then the music of our singing,
And we were singing Kyrie Eleison
Kyrie Eleison, Kyrie Eleison....
Mamma Contini: You brought such shame on us!
Little Guido: But Mamma, I didn’t know, I didn’t know!
GUIDO (echoed by all):
We should have known (we should have known)
They should have warned us. (they should have warned us)
At St. Sebastian they never spared the rod.
(At St. Sebastian they never spared the rod)
GUIDO:
But in the music of the bells at St. Sebastian
We looked for God.
LITTLE GUIDO:
Kyrie Eleison!
Mamma Contini: Guido, where are you running to?
~*~*~*~*~
12. A Man Like You/Unusual Way
[Spoken dialogue]
Claudia: Guido, I have just flown in from Paris, I am extremely tired, hungry, cold! Why have you brought me to this beach?
Guido: What?
Claudia: Guido, where is my hotel?
Guido: I’ll drive you there in a minute. But first I thought you would like to see the beach. An extraordinary woman once danced with me on this beach.
CLAUDIA: (singing)
A man like you
One woman’s not enough for you, Guido.
GUIDO:
One’s plenty if she’s you, Claudia.
CLAUDIA:
Not true,
You need two, Guido
My charming Casanova
GUIDO:
Casanova?...Me?
CLAUDIA:
Maybe even three, Guido...
GUIDO:
Me...Casanova!
CLAUDIA:
In a very unusual way, one time I needed you.
In a very unusual way, you were my friend.
Maybe it lasted a day,
Maybe it lasted an hour,
But somehow it will never end.
In a very unusual way, I think I’m in love with you.
In a very unusual way, I want to cry.
Something inside me goes weak.
Something inside me surrenders,
And you’re the reason why,
You’re the reason why.
You don’t know what you do to me.
You don’t have a clue.
You can’t tell what it’s like to be me
Looking at you.
It scares me so that I can hardly speak.
In a very unusual way, I owe what I am to you.
Though at times it appears I won’t stay,
I never go.
Special to me in my life,
Since the first day that I met you.
How could I ever forget you,
Once you had touched my soul?
In a very unusual way, you’ve made me whole.
GUIDO:
Oh…..
CLAUDIA:
In a very unusual way
I owe what I am to you.
What you have done for me.
Though at times it appears I won’t
I don’t go.
As always to me.
Special to me in my life,
Since that first day.
Since the first day that I met you.
GUIDO AND CLAUDIA:
How could I ever forget you.
Once you had touched my soul?
In a very unusual way, you’ve made me whole.
Guido: (speaking) Luisa, my angel, light of my life! I am about to enter a realm I never dared enter before. Wish me luck. Casanova--what an idea!
~*~*~*~*~
13. Contini Submits
GUIDO:
Contini submits that the flops are not hits
Because no one is willing
To film a romantic spectacular
That’ll use the vernacular.
And he says furthermore
That the present’s a bore.
But historically speaking
More interesting subjects are myriad
In a period.
Period.
Contini contends that the past
Makes the present look dull and half assed.
Let others directors investigating sectors
Of image and meaning
Once commonly thought of as current
‘Cause the aren’t-and weren’t
Contini suggests that today’s not the best
But that yesterday’s better
And long ago is still betterer
Et cetera., et cetera.
And now I have found the right location
That perfectly suits this new creation.
A picture so broad and serpentining
That it will contain a world of meaning.
And it’s already here in front of my nose.
This is the answer to what I proprose.
Venice by day, Venice by night.
Right where I am is terrific’ly right.
~*~*~*~*~ACT II
14. The Grand Canal
Guido and Spa Visitors:
This is the Grand Canal (La la la la la la)
Its resemblance to life is not obscure.
It is filled with the milk of human kindness
In spite of the fact it’s really a sewer.
But don’t let that spoil your morale.
It’s a grand canal.
GUIDO:
This is a gondolier.
Seeking love is the center of his life.
But he will never go as far as wedlock--
That would really annoy his present wife.
He strums his plaintive pastorale.
ALL:
On the Grand Canal.
Look at the people in the square.
Look at the steeple in the air.
Can you deny that it’s a stunning view?
Faces are brimming with delight.
Children are swimming late at night.
Why don’t you try that? It is fun.
And who can it harm to feel its charm?
GUIDO AND HALF THE WOMEN:
I love it. I love it.
I love it I do.
On the Grand Canal.
I love it. I love it.
I’m happy with you
On the Grand Canal.
|
OTHERS:
Row me. Row me.
Down the Grand Canal
Row me with my gal.
Row me. Row me.
Down the Grand Canal
Be my bosom pal.
Grand Canal
|
GUIDO:
And this is a courtesan (She is a courtesan)
It’s a shame that people think that she is a leech.
True, she once in a while destroys a marriage.
But other than that she’s really a peach.
ALL:
Sweet as the sweetest madrigal.
On the Grand Canal.
Sound file--"Action!"
~*~*~*~*~
15. Amor
GUIDO-CASANOVA:
I, Casanova, have come to Venice
With my dear wife, Beatrice, mi amore.
Here to take a rest, enjoy the waters and the food.
And to be with her, the apple of my "cuore".
MARIA (AS “CARLA”-MARIA):
Casanova!
GUIDO-CASANOVA:
Maria! What are you doing here?
MARIA:
I’m staying at the Hosteleria Caldissima
Numero venti-venti
Drop by tonight at ten o’clock,
I’ll give you plenty.
GUIDO-CASANOVA:
I can’t believe how my good fortune still
Does serve me.
So much romance at hand, I really don’t
Deserve me.
GUIDO WITH LADIES:
Amor, I love them all, every beauty,
Short or tall, there’s a duty
To make love to each and all.
Amor, it’s my profound obligation
To go round every nation
And make love to one and all.
Yes, I have lived and breathed and slept amor.
I freely give and do accept amor.
Big amor, small amor, all my life has been amor.
I’ve always known what I am living for-amor!
GUIDO-CASANOVA:
But alas, I am distressed by all this beauty fine
If I must choose but one concubine.
NECROPHORUS:
Contini can’t seriously believe we will accept
This fatuous rendering of a seventeenth-century opera
As an excuse for a movie.
No way, no way, no way!
GUIDO’S MOTHER:
If only Guido had become a priest or a lawyer,
But no, he makes these films I can’t explain to my friends.
CLAUDIA-BEATRICE:
Casanova, you must relax.
You will exhaust yourself
and soon become too "stanco".
Look, I have prepared a picnic basket,
Prosciutto, olives,
And of course your favorite vino-bianco.
GUIDO:
Beatrice...Beatrice...
Sound file="deserve ME!"
Sound file="Maria!"
~*~*~*~*~
16. ONLY YOU
GUIDO-CASANOVA:
Only you will I ever see,
Forever will you be by true love.
I’ll forswear all others for thee,
No, never will I have a new love.
No new love, no new love,
And you will be my true love.
GUIDO-CASANOVA &
CLAUDIA-BEATRICE:
No new love, no new love,
And you will be my true love.
LADIES:
Casanova takes a vow,
Telling Beatrice now,
There will never be another woman in
His live but her,
Now until forevermore, evermore.
GUIDO-CASANOVA:
(to Maria)
Only you can stir in my breast
The fire of an endless passion.
Late tonight I’ll be in your bed.
Expect me in the usual fashion,
Our fashion, our fashion.
Ah, fire of an endless passion.
GUIDO-CASANOVA & MARIA:
Our fashion, our fashion,
Ah, fire of an endless passion.
LADIES:
Casanova breaks a vow.
Where is Beatrice now?
There was not to be another woman in
His life but her,
Now and forevermore, evermore.
GUIDO-CASANOVA:
(to La Fleur-Claudetta)
Only you bring out from my soul
The poetry that I have written.
Not one line would I have composed
If I had not by you been smitten.
LUISA: (dismayed and furious)
Guido...No!
[Spoken dialogue]
Guido: Luisa, ma chi cosa? [what’s the matter?]
Luisa: You’ve made a joke of my love!
Guido: Luisa, it’s only a farce!
Luisa: My life is not a farce!
Guido: This is only a film, capici, solo un film! [understand, only a film!]
Luisa: Solo un film, il nostro amore solo un film? [Only a film, our love is only a film?]
Guido: Luisa, you’re taking this too seriously! Va bene, va bene, va bene, [all right, all right, all right] I’ll cut the scene from the film!!
Luisa: But not from here!
Guido: Luisa...listen to me! As an artist I have to use everything in my life--everything!
Luisa: Fine! Use it, but use it well!
Guido: Luisa....
Luisa: No--no more! Basta! [Enough!] Go to hell!!!
Guido: Keep running! Cut! Print!!!
~*~*~*~*~
17. Every Girl In Venice
OUR LADY OF THE SPA:
Every girl in Venice is in love with Casanova.
Every girl has kissed him once or twice.
Every girl in Venice is in love with Casanova.
As long as Casanova pays her price.
Every girl in Venice is expecting Casanova.
Every girl is combing out her hair.
Counting every minute til they see their Casanova
And staring out their windows everywhere.
Every girl in Venice wants to hear from Casanova.
She will be the only girl for him.
Every girl is grinning ear to ear for Casanova
And waiting to attend his every whim...
~*~*~*~*~
18. SIMPLE
CARLA: (appears with valise)
Simple these affairs that touch the heart.
Simple are the ways of love.
Simple as the touch of another’s hand.
Simple enough for anyone to understand
But you...
Simple are the ways we come apart.
Simple as as a babe is new.
Simple as a tree, and as simple as a cloud.
It’s as simple as the simplest things
Have always been.
Simple as the sun and the moon and
The stars in the sky,
Simple are the ways we say goodbye.
Simple these affairs that touch the heart…
...Simple are the ways of love...
...Simple as a tree…
...Simple as the ways we say goodbye.
Claudia: (speaking) I live in Paris with a man named Michel Bouland. Michel is 53, he is an investment banker, very handsome, charming, wealthy. The house we live in overlooks Parc Manseau. When I am not making a film, I usually get up around 7:30, have breakfast with Michel, then walk, if the weather is good, to the Studio Marquet* at Place Clichy where I take a dance class. For lunch I generally eat at a small bar in a basement at the school. After lunch I take an acting class. Acting is what I care about, Guido, and Michel understands. Michel does not distract me. I’ve made choices in my life. I know what I want. Ciao, Guido...ciao!
~*~*~*~*~
19. Be On Your Own
Luisa:
Be on your own!
You’ve always talked about your need to travel,
Now be off and revel on your own!
Go find some restaurant attendant, go show her
How independent you have grown!
Go on, be on your way!
There’s not a single reason I can find
to make me want to keep you one more day!
There isn’t any sort of word that you could say
There isn’t any sort of price that you could pay
There isn’t any sort of magic
to avoid this tragic-comic little play....
We need to pay
Be on your way!
Go on, no need to carry out these masquerades
When all that we’re about’s begun to fade!
I set you free!
There’s not much longer to complain
I’ll soon relieve you of your pain
when I set you free!
If that is all you wish to have
then I agree!
No need for thanks,
your just reward will be my fee.
Go off and live your petty fictions
full of blatant contradictions
you can’t see.
And what will be
is that you’ll leave...
And you’ll take with you all you own
from A to Z
and all of me!
~*~*~*~*~
20. Getting Tall
LITTLE GUIDO:
Guido...Guido...
Scraping knees, tying shoes,
Starting school, paying dues,
Finding there’s no way
We can spend a lifetime playing ball-
Part of getting tall.
Learning more, knowing less,
Simple words, tenderness-
Part of getting tall.
Guido, you’re not crazy, you’re all right.
Everyone wants everyone in sight…
But knowing you have no one if you try
To have them all
Is part of tying shoes, part of starting school,
Part of scraping knees if we should fall-
Part of getting tall.
~*~*~*~*~
21. I Can’t Make This Movie
GUIDO:
"Not since Charlie Chaplin
Has there ever been a film director like
This, Guido Contini.
Everything he does gets world attention,
Whether it’s a hit or a miss,
Guido Contini.
He writes the script..." (laughs bitterly)
I can’t make this movie,
There’s no way that I’ll complete it.
I can’t bear to see the cameras roll.
Problem is the subject,
There’s no pleasant way to treat it.
Problem is the author’s lost control.
How I wish it didn’t have to be so.
But we cut the losses-starting now.
Strike the set and keep it for some
Sideshow.
Tell the cast and crew that they can all go!
Find another genius!!
I can’t be one or become one.
I can’t even tell how I’d begin!!!
Help Luisa, help me!
Help me Mamma, help me someone!!!
Here’s a place where I have never been.
Guido out in space with no direction,
Guido at a loss for what to say,
Guido with no intervening actors,
Guido at the mercy of detractors,
Guido here with no one else but Guido
This day!
~*~*~*~*~
22. Reprises
GUIDO:
"Guido Contini, Luisa del Forno,
Actress with dreams and a life of her own,
Passionate, wild, and in love in Livorno,
Singing together all night on the phone..."
LUISA'S VOICE: (offstage)
Long ago...
GUIDO:
Someone else ago,
How I need you so,
And I’ve been the last to know it....
Guido...caro mio...
Time to go off on my own.
You belong in your mother’s arms.
Each of us in our place, we’ll be fine.
I’ll be forty and you’ll be...
LITTLE GUIDO:
You’ll be forty and I’ll be...
GUIDO & LITTLE GUIDO:
...Nine.
(Luisa appears for a moment, Guido reaches an arm to her and the stage goes dark.)
=====
*"Studio Marquet, in Place Clichy" is the name of a famous French portrait photography studio located 50 km
south of Paris (in a village called Etrechy), specializing in show biz
personalities. Maybe the composer/lyricist saw the name at the bottom of the
official pictures of many of his dancers and singers and assumed it was
a famous dance studio in Paris.