Here We Are Again Do I Hear a Waltz Lyrics

By Rick Pender

Do I Hear a Waltz? was Sondheim'southward fifth Broadway musical. Coming on the heels of the brief troubled run of Anyone Can Whistle, he and Arthur Laurents hoped for a striking—for financial reasons and to restore their credibility. Before Oscar Hammerstein's death in 1962, he urged Sondheim to discover a project he could exercise with composer Richard Rodgers. He decided he could revert to the role of lyricist since Rodgers'due south name on a marquee was valuable. They converted Laurents's 1952 play, The Time of the Cuckoo, into the musical for Exercise I Hear a Waltz? It is a story about the clash of American spirit and European worldliness, in the form of a love thing in Venice betwixt a naïve adult female and a suave Venetian shop possessor.

RIchard Rodgers and Stephen Sondheim

The project was an unhappy venture. Rodgers was also the show'due south cautious, conservative producer, hard from start to finish and unwilling to collaborate meaningfully with Sondheim and Laurents. The playwright mourned that the show "had no style. No concept." Sondheim called information technology a "Why? musical"—"a perfectly respectable show, based on a perfectly respectable source, that has no reason for being." He regretted the experience and added, "Friendship, obligation and greed are non good plenty reasons to write anything."

SYNOPSIS

Act one

Elizabeth Allen as Leona in the original Broadway production

Information technology'southward the 1960s. Leona Samish, a unmarried, idealistic thirty-something secretary from New York Urban center, travels to Venice, Italy, for a stay at the Pensione Fioria. Wandering the canals, alleyways, and piazzas, she is flooded by romantic emotions ("Someone Woke Upward"). She recruits Mauro, a nine-year-old urchin, to help her find her way, just not before she falls into i of Venice's canals and is drenched. At the pensione, the owner, Signora Fioria, greets her  — and Leona discovers all the guests are from America ("This Calendar week, Americans"): Eddie and Jennifer Yaeger, an unhappy young couple from Rome who meet renewal in Venice, and the McIlhennys, a middle-aged couple on a bundle tour ("What Do We Exercise? We Fly!"). Leona tries to be friendly, simply they all accept dinner plans. She is left behind, wishing for a "wonderful, mystical, magical phenomenon" to modify her solitary life.

Shopping the following day Leona sees a cute eighteenth-century Venetian glass goblet in a store window. Renato Di Rossi, the store's handsome older possessor, tells her information technology's authentic, not a reproduction, and offers to locate a match so she can have a pair. He offers to show her the sights of Venice ("Someone Like Y'all"), but she suspects his motives. He tutors her regarding the ins and outs of shopping in Italia ("Bargaining"). She is enticed but not quite plenty, and then she spends another evening solitary ("Hither Nosotros Are Once more").

Sondheim with Sergio Franchi and Elizabeth Allen during the bandage recording

Leona returns to the shop the following twenty-four hours, but Renato is not there. She buys the unmarried goblet from his assistant, Vito. Back at the pensione she receives a second goblet from Renato. Shortly he stops past with an invitation to a concert. She remains suspicious, simply he allays her fears.

Later, the McIlhennys prove Leona a set of glasses they have purchased—exactly like hers. She is dismayed and questions whether the wisdom of meeting Renato in Piazza San Marco ("Thinking"). She wonders if he lied to her about the value of the goblets, simply Signora Fioria assures her they are antiques.

Vito comes with a message that Renato is late considering one of his children is sick. Leona discovers that Vito is Renato'southward son. Disillusioned, she cancels their rendezvous. He explains that he and his wife accept not loved each other for years. Divorce is not an option in Italy, and they have children to consider. Leona believes extramarital diplomacy are wrong, only she is deeply attracted to him.

Sarah Stiles, Claybourne Elder and Karen Ziemba in the Metropolis Center Encores! performance

Meanwhile, Jennifer and Eddie'south marital problems continue. He is enamored with Signora Fioria, but delays his flirtation by giving an English lesson to Giovanna, the maid ("No Understand"). Fioria continues her pursuit and convinces Eddie to make beloved in a gondola. Leona sees their assignation and is shocked.

Leona adamantly rejects Renato'south advances, and he accuses her of being romantic and puritanical. He urges her to accept his affection during her stay in Venice ("Accept the Moment").

Act 2

Sergio Franchi and Elizabeth Allen in the original Broadway production

Later that evening after her date with Renato, Leona, Jennifer, and Fioria study the moon ("Moon in My Window"). Jennifer is in denial about her marriage, while Fioria is realistic. Leona is wistful, still waiting to hear romantic music.

The adjacent day, while Leona wonders if Renato will return, Eddie and Jennifer fight, and so pretend all is well ("We're Gonna Be All Right"). Renato is late because he stopped to buy Leona a necklace with garnets that she admired. For the first time, she hears music and succumbs to romance ("Practise I Hear a Waltz?").

Renato asks Leona to remain in Venice ("Stay"). She hosts a party in the pensione's garden to gloat ("Perfectly Lovely Couple"). Vito arrives with a jeweler demanding the remainder for the necklace, which Leona willingly pays. But then Vito returns to give Renato his committee for the sale. He denies being afterward her money, just she refuses to believe him and throws him out. Wounded past the turn of events, she lashes out at the Yaegers, revealing Eddie'south dalliance with Fioria to Jennifer. Leona is immediately regretful.

The next mean solar day the two couples leave Venice, and Fioria is ready to welcome more guests ("Last Week, Americans"). Renato informs Leona that her suspicion has extinguished his affection: she only trusted him when he gave her the expensive necklace. She recognizes how she has failed and hopes to brainstorm once again with someone else. Perhaps her run into with Renato has left her more than mature: She has changed plenty to express her gratitude ("Thank Yous So Much"). They part as friends.

Rick Pender previously editedThe Sondheim Review andEverything Sondheim. During 2018 and 2019 he assembledThe Stephen Sondheim Encyclopedia for the publisher Rowman & Littlefield. This comprehensive, one-book resource will be published in 2020.

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Source: https://everythingsondheim.org/do-i-hear-a-waltz/