SCENE THREE
THE NEVA CLUB
#18A UNDERSCORE NEVA CLUB
COUNT GREGORY
(raising his glass)
Thank God for The Neva Club. St. Petersburg on the sand.
LILY
(sitting on the bar)
Only a fool would go back. My husband was very sorry he did. Ten families were living in our ballroom alone. There were chickens in the wine cellar!
(She laughs.)
It's not the Russia he remembers.
COUNTESS GREGORY
The Red Russians are for that.
LILY
What was it our great poet said?
COUNT GREGORY
Which one, Lily? We have so many.
(The ENSEMBLE starts to ad-lib Russian poets.)
LILY
It doesn't matter, they all say the same thing: past glories. Present griefs.
#19 LAND OF YESTERDAY
LILY
ONCE I HAD A PALACE
HERE, MERELY A FLAT
I FLED WITH SOME DIAMONDS
AND THAT WAS THAT
ARISTOCRATS
IT'S VERY TRAGIC
LILY
ONCE, LADIES-IN-WAITING
ALL BENDING A KNEE!
NOW, ONLY ONE LADY-IN-WAITING-
-ME!
MEN
NO FANFARES
WOMEN
OR SEDAN CHAIRS
MEN
AND NO COUCHES
WOMEN
AND WE SOLD OUR BROACHES!
COUNT LEOPOLD
NO AFTERNOON CARD GAMES WITH THE TSAR
LILY
NO CAVIAR!
BUT I SAY WE'RE NOT DEAD NOW!
ALL
WE'RE NOT DEAD NOW
WE'RE IN FRANCE INSTEAD, NOW
LILY
LET US NOT BE SAD!
THE NIGHT'S YOUNG
AND RUSSIANS ARE MADSO...
LET'S LIVE IN THE LAND OF YESTERDAY
LIVE IN THE GRAND IMPERIAL HEYDAY
LET'S LIVE IN THE LAND OF YESTERDAY RUSSIA!
ALL
HUSHA!
LILY
LET'S PUT ON THE FANCY CLOTHES
AND LET'S WHILE OUR WOES AWAY
LILY AND ALL
IN RUSSIA
LAND OF YESTERDAY
LILY
IN DIRE CIRCUMSTANCES,
WHY WALLOW IN REGRET?
WE'RE OUT OF SECOND CHANCES
WHY ARE WE HERE, EXCEPT TO FORGET?
WE KNOW THE WORLD IS FICKLE
LIFE IS A LEAKY SIEVE!
PASS ME A GLASS
AND GIVE ME A BOW-
-AND DRINK TO THE "COUNTESS NOBODY" NOW.
WHY SHOULD I CARE
AS LONG AS I DARE TO LIVE...
ARISTOCRATS
IN THE LAND OF YESTERDAY...
LILY
LET'S RUN UP THE BILL
AS IF WE'RE STILL
ROYALTY AT PLAY!
LILY AND ALL
IN RUSSIA, LAND OF YESTERDAY!
(The ENSEMBLE wants LILY to dance)
LILY
No, no, no.
(slight pause)
Okay!
(LILY leads a dance break. Everyone spins out of control and lands on the ground, except for LILY, who is still dancing, while holding a wine bottle.)
THE NIGHT'S YOUNG
AND RUSSIANS ARE MAD, SO..
The ENSEMBLE
(starts to get up)
LET'S LIVE IN THE LAND OF YESTERDAY.
ALL
LIVE IN THE GRAND IMPERIAL HEYDAY.
LET'S LIVE IN THE LAND OF YESTERDAY
RUSSIA!
HUSHA!
LILY
LET'S BRUSH OFF THE DAYS OF OLD
AND LET'S HOLD THE WORLD AT BAY...
ALL
YES, HERE'S TO
(They make a circle around LILY.)
LILY
RUSSIA!
ALL
HERE'S TO
LILY AND WOMEN
RUSSIA!
ALL
HERE'S TO RUSSIA!
LAND OF YESTERDAY.
(VLAD sneakily joins in the circle from offstage.)
LAND OF YESTERDAY.
HEY!
(They all pose, VLAD with LILY. Everyone breaks pose and enjoys the fun they just had. LILY sees VLAD and freaks.)
LILY
Oh! Vlad Popov!
VLAD
Aha!
LILY
I thought the Bolsheviks put you in front of a firing squad!
VLAD
They did. When they gave the order to fire, no one could pull the trigger.
LILY
I can't imagine why not.
VLAD
I still melt hearts, ma chere. Just as you still melt mine.
(VLAD and LILY walk downstage and The Club turns into a park, outside.)
YOU ARE READING
Anastasia Revisioned
RomanceThis is kinda not(?) a fanfiction, but a retelling of a mashup of Disney and Broadway's Anastasia. In playwriting format. --- Anya, a girl suffering from amnesia, doesn't remember her past. Her only clue to it is to go to Paris. She teams up with tw...
