John Kander
Russian Movie/Good Times
[MOLINA (spoken)]
"Flame of St. Petersburg," the final reel. Tatyana Alexandrovna, vidette du cabaret, is singing her final number
[TATYANA]
Ah, ah, ah, ah
Ah, ah, ah, ah
[MOLINA (spoken)]
All of St. Petersburg is there. The tsar himself is in the audience. It is a farewell performance, for tomorrow she will become the Countess Ostrovsky
[TATYANA]
There's going to be good times
Nothing but good times
They're going to be scattering those clouds of grey
And all of those bad times
Those terrible, bad times
Are going to be packing up and leaving town today
So put on a smile
Start waving your hand
Whatever was grim is going to be grand
And
[TATYANA/AURORA'S MEN]
There's going to be good times
Nothing but good times
[TATYANA]
Good times are coming your way!
[MOLINA (spoken)]
Cut to her dressing room, and her faithful maid, Lisette
[MOLINA (as Lisette)]
"Madame?"
[TATYANA (spoken)]
Yes, Lisette?
[MOLINA (as Lisette)]
"This note arrived for you."
[TATYANA (spoken)]
Oh...
"Count Ostrovsky has deceived you. Your lover, the student revolutionary Bolshevik anarchist Anatol will be shot as he waits for you in vain on the Pushkin bridge this evening at the stroke of midnight. A friend."
I must save him. Summon my troika!
[MOLINA (as Lisette)]
"But, Madame, the danger!"
[TATYANA (spoken)]
Not a word, Lisette. Pas un mot. To be in love is the sweetest thing, Lisette. But to risk everything for love is even sweeter
[WARDEN (as Ostrovsky)]
"Tatyana, my love!"
[TATYANA (spoken)]
C'est lui, Ostrovsky?
[MOLINA (as Lisette)]
"How you hate him!"
[TATYANA (spoken)]
Oh god...
[WARDEN (as Ostrovsky)]
"My carriage is waiting, my love!"
[TATYANA (spoken)]
Quick! There's no time. I must slip out the back way. Hold him at bay for as long as you can
[WARDEN (as Ostrovsky)]
"Tatyana!"
[TATYANA (spoken)]
Adieu, Lisette! Courage!
[WARDEN (as Ostrovsky)]
"Tatyana!"
[MOLINA (spoken)]
Cut to dark, shadowy streets. Snow is falling. The wind is whistling, a night of terror. The clock strikes midnight. Tatyana dismisses her troika driver, and as she hurries down the empty, terrifying, night-shadowed streets, her whole life swirls before her
At last, she sees the bridge over the canal, and in the light of a solitary street lamp, her lover! She is in time! She will save him! They will flee to Paris! She begins to run, but his figure seems to recede. It's like a terrible dream!
[TATYANA (spoken)]
Anatol!
[MOLINA (spoken)]
He turns. His eyes light up. He calls to her!
[VALENTIN (as Anatol)]
"Tatyana!"
[MOLINA (spoken)]
Bang! Close up: joy, not pain, illuminates her features. Courage, not fear, is writ large across her face. This is not death---this is ecstasy
[TATYANA (spoken)]
Anatol... My Anatol... I wanted to warn you
[VALENTIN (as Anatol)]
What have you done for me, my Tatyana?
[TATYANA (spoken)]
Nothing. Nothing, my Anatol
[MOLINA (spoken)]
Red blood stains the snowy street. Ah, she's fading fast. But she is in her lover's arms again at last, and, somehow, forever
[TATYANA (sung)]
So put on a smile
Start waving your hand
Whatever was grim is going to be grand
And
There's going to be good times
Nothing but good times
Viva la guerra!
Viva la revolucion!
Viva---
[VALENTIN (sung)]
Good times are coming our way
[MOLINA (spoken)]
Fade to black. The end