William Finn
Prologue: 911 Emergency / I Have So Many Songs
[RHODA]
Gordon! Gordon!
[ENSEMBLE]
911 emergency
Take him down to NYU
Stroke's a possibility
[RHODA]
I should try to locate Roger!
[DR. BERENSTEINER]
Lift him carefully on one, two, three
[ENSEMBLE]
And up!
[RICHARD]
Take the pulse and watch his eyes
[NANCY D.]
Call the Department of Neurology
[RHODA]
I should try to locate his mother
[ENSEMBLE]
Somebody try to locate his mother!
[RICHARD]
When was he last seen eating?
[RHODA]
I don't know!
[NANCY D.]
Hysterics are self-defeating
Don't you know?
[DR. BERENSTEINER/RICHARD/NANCY D.]
Presence of bleeding
Where this whole mess is leading
We cannot say for sure yet
[RHODA]
Roger's sailing near Martha's Vineyard
[NANCY D.]
Patient's name?
[RHODA]
Gordon Schwinn
[NANCY D.]
Are you next of kin?
[RHODA]
I wish! We work together. He's gay
[NANCY D.]
Is he HIV?
[RHODA]
I can't be absolutely sure but I don't think so. No! The answer is no! I think?
[NANCY D.]
First the blood test then EKG
[ENSEMBLE]
And then?
[NANCY D.]
Get a CAT scan and watch his eyes!
[ENSEMBLE]
And then?
[NANCY D.]
Call the Department of Neurology!
[RHODA]
I should try to cancel my meeting
[ENSEMBLE]
And then?
[RHODA]
I should get in touch with his mother!
[ENSEMBLE]
And then?
[RHODA]
I should try to locate Roger!
[GORDON]
All the songs I never wrote
Fizzle and remain
All the songs I did not start
All the rhymes I never made
All the stories I delayed in telling
Are welling up inside my brain
I should explain
I have so many songs!
I have so many songs!
I have so many songs!
[THE MINISTER]
Stories of passion
Stories of friendship
And tales of how romance survives
[GORDON]
I have so many songs!
[THE MINISTER]
Stories of yes-es
Of frogs making messes
And poor, unsuccessful and fat people's lives
[GORDON]
Stories of living
[THE MINISTER]
Stories of living
[GORDON]
Stories of dying
[THE MINISTER]
Stories of dying
[GORDON/THE MINISTER]
And ways we can deal with our fears
[GORDON]
Stories of horses
Parental divorces
And how rich or poor
It's a very small sphere
Where we appear